linux freshman wondering

so i am looking to run some version of linux, just a a hobby, for fun and to learn about linux (i know virtually zilch). i have looked at different versions and decided to try red hat 9, but i guess that i didnt burn the iso correctly or maybe i got a corrupted file. anyway, might some other version of linux be better? i am not partitioning my hard drive, i have an extra pc that will be just for linux, so crashing/losing data/disasters are no prob.


thanks

That is a much more difficult question to answer than you might expect; one which will, no doubt, spark countless debates into the semantics of one distro over another (READ: personal opinions).

Here's the best answer I can muster; it depends upon what it is you wish to learn.

I know that sounds ambiguous, because it is. It truly does depend where your particular interests lie. If you want to learn how to run desktop applications, server applications or learn the inner workings of what makes something like Linux tick -- all of these might prompt a differing response.

I think that no matter what you choose, you are already one step ahead of the game for simply having the desire to learn something new -- but more importantly, admitting that at present you are a clean slate. That's the toughest hurdle for most people.

So I will skip right to the meat, since IMHO, you need to have the foundation to build upon before one goes and plays with the pretty X-window applications such as OpenOffice.
So having just provided my disclaimer, I would argue that the best Linux to go with would be one of the most difficult to configure in terms of understanding each step in the process. The more one is forced to read/research the more one truly learns. It is for that reason I would go with Gentoo -- it's like the Linux version of FreeBSD, or at least is trying to be.

Not a lot of pretty pictures and gui interfaces... just some command line action which delves into the heart of what makes a *nix a *nix.

Best of luck to you.

Cheers.

Yup I second Daemonguy's suggestiong, if your main purpose is to learn Gentoo is a great way to start. There's also a few other distributions you might want to try out, IE Slackware and Debian. Both are relatively a hard system to get into.

If your just starting out you might just want to use a standard distribution and learn your way around the system though. After that I'd suggest Gentoo both for everyday usage and learning.

Good luck.

thanks for the input.
i'll download isos tonight
is there any reeason why i wouldn't be able to have severals distros on my hard drive at the same time?
say, fedora and gentoo and something easier to use? like lycoris?
has anyone heard anything about lycoris?
thanks

I usually just say "Knoppix" lol.

Knoppix (or Freesbie) are great, if you really don't intend to learn very much and just want an out of the can x-window machine.

Just a quick question...

I'm going to try Gentoo, from here

http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/mirrors.xml

do i need to download all the files listed here

http://gentoo.osuosl.org/

No, pick a mirror and drill down till you find the .iso that matches your requirements.
i386 for intel/amd hardware, latest version, latest date.... etc.

Grab the .iso, burn it to cd, and away you go.

There's some instructions on the Gentoo site, as to how to go about making an install CD.

Cheers.

there are different ways to install gentoo, there are three stages, stage 1, you really have to do everything from scratch, including bootstrapping.. stage 2 you'll have to compile your system, and with a stage 3 you really don't have to do anything except a kernel compile (you can use genkernel if you like)

by the way a stage 1/2 will take a couple of days to install

If you're going to have a network connection during the install, all you need is the minimal live cd

If not you can use the universal live cd, which contains everything you need for a stage 1 / stage 3 install

good luck