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On Tuesday 27 March 2007 16:25, William Fidell wrote: > Perhaps people would find the following approach more helpful:- > > All linux is basically the same. The all offer x advantages over > non-linux, and suffer y disadvantages. The main flavours are x,y,z etc. > > x has these pros, and these cons. Support is rated good, user base is > high. Ease of use: easy > y has these pros, and these cons. Support is blah... > x has these pros, and these cons. Support is blah... > > Bit simplistic I know. However, the information should be presented > without bias or bitching. > > Two problems with this approach 1) no one would ever agree on a fair > rating. 2) The GUI interfaces and distro specific scripts are making > things different even if using the CLI is still pretty much the same. Indeed! Trying to be objective without allowing personal preferences to cloud things can be very hard! Even something as fundemental as the package manager can be the cause of some good "discussions" . As you say, all distros are based on the same core ingredients, so it is useful - and indeed very common - for newer users to change distro several times before settling on one they prefer. I think that is a great way to learn too - experience of different package managers, window managers etc is always good. For the really hard core new users, those who want to jump in at the deep end, I would suggest Linux from scratch, followed by Gentoo perhaps. For the user who simply wishes to try out Linux, then a live CD - preferably based on one of the well known distros - such as (K)Ubuntu or Knoppix with maybe Slax and the live Mandriva if that is still going as a few to check out before commiting to wiping Windows or setting up a dual boot. Ideally, a new user should check out the websites for the main distros - look at the screenshots and the blurb, then wander over to their forums and see the sort of response new users get when asking questions - that is often an eye opener! Luckily, the days of "rtfm n00b" seem to be gone from most forums but it pays to see how questions are dealt with - are the answers too technical to follow for example. Perhaps we need to get a few more reviews into the dclug review pages - they are in the main quite out of date now. Of course, personal bias will probably creep in, but a peer review is often a useful pointer to get started. Must admit, I have not written a review of any of the distros I use for the lug, so maybe I should give it a go. Mark -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html