Mandrake and Redhat are sort of the same thing. Mandrake is based on Redhat but with some extra stuff tacked on. Redhat can be a pretty good distro when starting out because it's the most common one so lots of people are familiar with it and software/hardware can be easier to get working with it. As far as hardware goes check one of the following: www.linhardware.com linux.com/hardware Oh yeah and if you like a windows type interface make sure you install Gnome and/or KDE when you install your distro. I love Gnome myself and version 1.4 just got released today. Brady >As for you asking what distributions are the best... I think you probably >just started a flame war. :) I like Mandrake for desktop boxes, and debian >for servers. I haven't used Slackware in a long time, so I don't know how >they are, and I don't really like RedHat, it seems to suck for a desktop >system, and for servers it works OK, although it installs tons of >unnecessary crap. > >Jay > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Matt Waters [mailto:thefishyone at hotmail.com] > > Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 8:08 PM > > To: tclug-list at mn-linux.org > > Subject: [TCLUG] New to linux > > > > > > Hello. I just subscribed to this list last night, and am very > > new to Linux, > > so I preemptivly apologize if I ask a stupid question. > > > > Anyway, I used to run a redhat box on an i686 but took it > > down because I > > could never figure it out. After several months of cussing > > out my windows > > machine (I switched to Win2k, and although a massive > > improvement over Win9x, > > is still very buggy) and at the recomendation of a friend's > > father who is a > > huge UNIX guru, however, I decided to give Linux another try. > > My 3 major > > problems with getting Linux up and running are the fact that > > I can't find a > > modem anywhere that will work with Linux, my Voodoo3 and SB > > Live cards don't > > have drivers written for them that I know of, and the fact > > that I have > > virtually no experience with UNIX. If any of you would give > > me the name of a > > good, relatively cheap modem, point me to some Voodoo3/SB > > Live drivers, or > > give me a few pointers on how to learn Linux, it would be > > most appreciated. > > > > Also, I know it's fairly subjective, but what distributions > > do you guys > > think work the best, based on your experience? > > > > The Fishy One's Infinite Wisdom #28: "Life is anything that > > dies when you > > stomp on it." > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > tclug-list mailing list > > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > > https://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > >_______________________________________________ >tclug-list mailing list >tclug-list at mn-linux.org >https://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list