Distros & Installation

Step 1: The Distro

RedhatDebianSlackwareUbuntuSuseGentooArchlinuxMandriva

Appetizers

UbuntuMandrivaRedhat

Ubuntu

“Linux for people”Designed to “just work”Good software packagesSpecific versions for KDE, education, servers

Very Low customizabilityRoot? We don' need no stinkin' root!

Mandriva

More complex than Ubuntu, but still easyScales very wellExtensive software packages

Still has low customizabilityUses RPMs

Redhat

VERY scalableSoftware for everythingRun by a corporation so stable and reliable

Some customization, but still standardizedRun by a corporation so free support is crappy

Entrées

DebianSuseSlackwareGentoo

Debian

Aptget: integrated, easy to use package manager“deb” packages, no RPMs!“raw” linuxclosely associated with GNU

No default GUIpoorly structured RC scripts (truly, the worst)Debian foundation is a bit evangelicalDebian foundation not always reliableSometimes outdated software

Slackware

It's um...scalableFew restrictionsIt's just linuxNo bells and whistles

Difficult to usePackage manager is not particularly goodDefault software tends to be outdatedNo bells and whistles

Gentoo

Complete and total control over customizationPortage system is extensiveMany little improvementsVERY up-to-date software

Can be very difficultDefault options can cause some issuesPortage can be VERY slowEasy to break

Specialties

ArchlinuxPuppylinuxYellowdogLinspireTA-Linuxetc.

Step 2: Download an ISO

distrowatch.org

Step 3: Install!