Title says it all. I fancy playing with Linux, no particular aims. There’s a bewildering number of downloads available. Which one should I pick and why?
Martin/
Ubuntu
I’ve used linux at work and home for years.
Many years of using Redhat, Fedora Core, Mandrake.
For home desktop/window like use the ubuntu product is great and easy to use.
I am using it right now!
For someone just starting out I suggest Ubuntu, its certainly one of the best for use on the desktop.
+1 for Ubuntu 
Fedora is good too, and I’ve heard good things about Suse. If you really want to get into the bolts and learn a ton, and have a spare computer around, there’s also Gentoo. If you’re absolutely insane there’s Linux From Scratch 
Os X 
To be clear, there is but one Linux. It just happens to be packaged in a gazillion different distributions… i.e. bundled with various software packages and wrapped up in some sort of installer.
I guess the first consideration is your “geek level”… do you want to pop in a disk and go, or do some configuration, or compile the whole shebang yourself? This will be one of the determining factors in your selection process.
I’m not super hip to the latest and greatest (although I hear many geeks wet themselves at the mention of “Ubuntu”), but in the past I’ve had great success, and even a little fun, working with Debian.
What I liked about Debian was that, once installed, I could point it to a local file repository (over the Internet) and tell it, at the command line, to get any software package I liked, and Debian would download, install and configure it all in one fell swoop.
An easy way to play with Linux is to do it in a virtual machine. Install the VMware Player for the VM. Then browse the available premade “appliances” (just a disk image of an OS and software setup) and try some Linuxes. You avoid issues of trying to install a Linux distribution just to test it out and the VM has very standard hardware so you won’t have to deal with potential hardware issues getting in your way of just trying something out.
VMWare + different linux + disk space
Good point John.
What I actually use is Ubuntu 7.10 + VMWare server.
I have a 500gb disk and P4 3GHtz.
Using VMWare server I have server client O/S.
I have Win XP, Win 98, Fedora Core 4 as clients.
Using a common Samba share I have common files shared between them all.
This allows me to open an Win XP application inside my Ubuntu.
Its very cool. Especially for my tech support of office applications from home.
I have been using Ubuntu for a while now and I think it’s a good Linux:)
Ubuntu is actually a Debian variant and uses apt-get as well.
I would rather use FreeBSD than Debian, although they are for the more experienced users.
I use OpenSUSE quite a bit from a desktop point of view, and SLES from a server point of view.
Thats Unix, BSD to be exact. Not quite linux 
Anyways, I suggest getting the ubuntu live cd, it boots up nice and easy and you can play with it without installing a thing. I’ve been using ubuntu as a desktop for years now, and can safely say that its the best desktop linux I have flavored. Not ideal for servers, but thats not what your after
Yes, it is not quite Linux. It actually has commercial applications like Photoshop and specialty applications for all sorts of creative endeavors. The variety of well designed applications and hardware support will ruin the whole Linux-like experience.
Everyone is recommending the Ubuntu distro, which I’m using at the moment. It’s pretty good, but I think I preferred SuSE. I find the “invisible root” idiom a bit odd.
Ubuntu is quick to install, relatively user friendly, and low maintenance. I use it as the only OS on my personal computer.
Also, I’ve played with the VMware Player that John Childs mentioned. It works really well for trying out Ubuntu without wiping out your Windows system.
Thanks to all the geeks, anoraks and nerds that this question brought out of the closet.
I’m tempted to give Ubuntu a go, perhaps on one of the heap of old PCs lying around in the attic, or maybe I’ll take a look at VM which hadn’t occurred to me.
Watch this space…
Martin/
+1 for ubuntu i’m using it since the 6.06 (for 3 years now) and it’s a very good linux, easy to use and your can configurate it either if you’re a geek
- bobousse