Oh, the decision: RedHat or Mandrake

[ArcticFox]

Well, I think it's time to throw Linux back on my laptop after a long break, but I'd like some 3rd party opinions on which one to use. I'm a super-n00b with *nix, so I need something easy like RedHat or Mandrake. Which one would you choose for someone starting out, and not just limited to the two distros above? I did like Mandrake when I had it, but of course I hadn't used anything else prior to that.

[Telexen]

I haven't messed with Redh00t since version 6.1 ... and I'm not at all impressed with any recent version of Mandrake (7, 8, 9)

I played with SuSE 8.0 for about a week...maybe you should look into that...their free version is a little limited though.

People think "newbs" should stay away from Slackware ... I don't think so as it's pretty easy to install...but you have to do a lot of stuff manually to set it up (which means a lot of reading)

If you want to take the time to really read and have a GREAT distro running, check out Gentoo ... they have a good documentation and even better support forums. Gentoo is FAST.

[shawshank62]

i tried redhat but i didnt like it and i am ubernoob so i went with Drake 9.1 and i love it. Get mandrake.

[linux_guru]

Go for Mandrake 9.1. It's just the slickest distro around now.

[squeech]

Another vote for drake. Very easy to set up and use until you get used to Linux, but still allows you to do some powerful stuff once you've gotten your feet wet.

[CMonster]

Go for both -dual boot. Personally, I don't think Mandrake 9.1 did a good job with the default KDE desktop for user and especially root -but easily changed. Other than that it's great.

[ArcticFox]

Well, dual-booting with Win2k and Linux is hard enough to do as it is, due to the 9.35GB HD in my laptop (which is the only machine that can run *nix. Soon I hope to get a 40gb 5400rpm drive to replace this old thing, but first comes more RAM. Many attempts to get Mandrake on my currently-non-working desktop have failed, so I hope another run with maybe the latest version of Drake or even RedHat will work.

Another thing: I've heard of issues with ISA cards and Linux, and if my memory serves me correctly at the time of install I was running an old ISA 56k modem by Creative Labs in my main desktop box. That is now gone, and once my next PC is built I'll be able to download the latest versions of the two and try them out.

[storm2k]

i personally prefer redhat9, but i woudn't be the mad redhatter if i didn't

i think redhat is every bit as easy to install and use as drake, but sometimes i find myself in the minority around here.

as for isa cards, some of them will have problems with linux, if there's not a driver for them, and if linux can't decipher its settings (especially true for older cards with jumpers... most linux drivers for them only understand one jumper setting). however, since most modern mobos dont' even include isa slots, nor are there many isa cards on the market anymore, you needn't worry.

[Mike]

I first thought of the dual boot idea as well. Right now I have Mandrake 9.1 installed. I am thinking about doing a dual boot with either Slack or Debian shortly.

[ArcticFox]

Read my post:

http://www.techimo.com/forum/showthr...499#post743499

then start talking about dual-booting.