[center]Everything in this guide is all in my own personal opinion/limited linux experience[/center]
[center]This article is only concerned about 'Which Distro' and the semi-noob in Operating Systems[/center]

Introduction

* Installation of Linux: There are tutorials out there for specific Linux installations which is beyond the scope of this guide.

We've all seen the threads that always get asked on a weekly basis and sometimes you'll notice similar replies:
- Good Place To Get Distros
- Help Me Choose A Distro
- Which Distro Should I Use?

So it's time a page was written to deal with most of them, and hopefully if we see a new thread that isn't a specific problem, then people could direct them here for some help. For a current poll on the neowinians 'best' distro thread you can go to: The Definitive "WHICH LINUX DISTRO?" Thread: 2005. There are currently 12 pages so I don't expect you to go through them all

Q: What's a distro and why are there different ones?
A: Distro stands for 'Distribution', and basically they are all the same but works slightly differently. There are a number of 'flavours' which all have their pros & cons, so it's up to the individual in the end. Besides, every distro is built on top of the Linux Kernel (and ALL distros [except live cd's] can be upgraded to the latest kernel).


Client / Server Distros

Regardless of the following (Client / Server Distros), it really doesn't matter because every distro can be used for all purposes, which is what Linux is all about. I've only listed a couple as these seem to be the most popular, so I won't even bother writing out the entire list due the fact that there are hundreds of distros out there. But here would be your starting point before you go exploring old & new distros.

Client Distros
Fedora Core 3 (aka, Red Hat 12)
Mandrake 10.1
SuSe 9.3

Server Distros
Gentoo 2005.0
Slackware 10.1
Debian 3.0
FreeBSD 5.3

Discourage Against (Due to instability)
Fedora Core 3.90 (aka Fedora Core 4: Test 1)
Ubuntu 5.04
Kubuntu 5.04

My Own Internal Linux Network (still in design stages)

Desktop
Operating System: Fedora Core 3
Kernel: 2.6.11.5
Usage: Surfing the net, doing everything as normal
GUI: KDE 3.3.0 (3.4 is available, but I'm in no rush)

Server
Operating System: Gentoo 2005.0
Kernel: 2.6.11.5
Usage: Web Server, using Apache 2, MySQL 4.1.10 & PHP 5.0.3
GUI: Don't need one, and this will increase the overall speed and effeciency, also using less storage, less memory and less processing.


Further Neowin Reading Materials
- [FAQ] Linux File System Overview
- [FAQ] How is Linux Layered?

- Completed Client HOWTO & FAQs
-- [HOW TO] Installing Wireless Networking
-- [HOW TO] Recompiling kernel
-- [HOW TO] Install NVIDIA Drivers
-- [HOW TO] Install ATI Drivers


Further External Reading Materials
- Distrowatch
- Google's Linux Zone


Linux ISO Downloads (non-direct links)
- Fedora Core 3
- Mandrake
- SuSe
- Gentoo
- Slackware
- Debian
- FreeBSD

[center]If there are any errors or suggestions please let me know[/center]

Ubuntu 5.04 is unstable? I know it's taken from the unstable branch of Debian; but IMO I don't find it at all unstable.

umm yeah i'm going to have to aggree with my buddy here i've been running it on my laptop for 2 days without turning it off now and just learning a few of the commands, and i havent had anything go wrong with it yet. But then again it might just be YOUR experience with it....

I have never used Ubuntu, but I don't think that it is generally unstable.

I might also be inclined to change the "Fedora Beta" to "any distro in beta". The beta releases, just like in the Windows World, are for testing and reporting bugs to be fixed, and aren't recommended for daily use.

i've been using ubuntu for a while now, at home and at work, and i have to say that it has been nothing but stable for me, no problems at all, and painless to use.

Kubuntu is not unstable at all.

Is there a distro thats good for eyecandy?..

I agree.

Any of them can do the same things, so there isn't too much of a difference in what can be done from one to the other.

The link to the The Definitive "WHICH LINUX DISTRO?" Thread: 2005 thread is broken.

Cool thread

Link fixed

Maybe it was in march when this post was started.

This guide should be updated, as it is very informative. I've done a bit of the work, so just C & P it (source is below for easier-ness):

Client Distros
Fedora Core 4
Mandriva Linux 2006
SuSe 10
Ubuntu 5.10
Kubuntu 5.10

Server Distros
Gentoo 2005.1-r1
Slackware 10.2
Debian 3.1
FreeBSD 6.0

Educational (school-suitable) Distros *this would be a new list
Edubuntu

Further External Reading Materials *add to current list
- DistroGuide


Linux ISO Downloads (non-direct links) *add to current list
- Kubuntu
- Ubuntu
- Edubuntu



Code for easier C & P-ing