So much Linuxes, so little time

[The_YongGrand]

There's so many versions of Linux until I don't know how to even pick one... Servers.... and some other weird stuff... What's your advice for installing Linux and dual boot it? I'm using Linux for my computer and my brother's comp... just for quick, simple and stable system... Can you guys recommend me a Linux? (Forgive me, I'm Ignorant at this kind of other OSes...) Should I need so much of RAM to power-up Linux?

[rightcoast]

TechTv's The Screensaver's did a piece on Dualbooting Xp and Linux before G4 came in and completely ruined one of the only good shows on TV. A text tutorial and video download containing instructions can be found here...

http://www.g4techtv.com/screensavers...d_Windows.html

Another Tutorial on dual booting Redhat and Windows is found here...

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...-dualboot.html

Both links apply to Redhat Linux (which is very easy to install by the way if you just venturing into the world of Linux) But can be applied to any distro with very few, if any changes.
Most distros are very easy on RAM resources...how much do have? Anything at or above 128 MB will run any Linux distro easily.

[spyder003]

I just set up an XP/RH9 dual boot. I used Partition Magic to scale down the size of my partition, and left 5-6 GB of unallocated space. Then I let RH9 automatically partition the unallocated space. That way it just created the 3 partitions for me (root, boot, and swap). Works great.

[mikeL]

For a first time user I would try Mandrake, SuSE, until you get comfortable then move on to some of the more "adventurous" distros like slackware, debian, or even the BSD family.

There have been a few post about dual booting with XP and Fedora, unless the bugs have been worked out I would try one of the two mentioned above.

Mike

[The_YongGrand]

Oh, I see Mandrake, SuSE and stuff... but I want to play around with Linux and do some easy stuff in it (like surfing and doing light documents...) . Which version should I use?

[rightcoast]

Exactly what you should do is burn a set of Redhat, a set of Mandrake, a set of suse, and a set of xandros. Try each one out. You will learn a lot by installing and playing with different varieties. I would say those 4 are the best distros for starting out in Linux. You should be able to get any of these to install without any major problems, then see which one you like. It's pretty much what Linux is all about...preference.

[mikeL]

you will be able to accomplish all you want with the distros mentioned above, and more. Linux comes with a lot of software, enough to keep you busy for a long time. just remember that linux has a pretty good learning curve, and you will be overwhelmed at first but stick with it and you will be amazed at it.