Hi, I'm new to Linux, but I really want to give it a try. I've done some research, and I have a few distros in mind. I want the distro to be fast, somewhat stable, and having good community support is a plus. I might be gaming on whatever distro I choose, but I'll probably just duel boot for the windows games. Also as a summer project I'm going to be teaching myself a programming language (hopefully). lol [u]These are the distros that I liked the most:[/u] [b]Mandriva[/b] -- I heard that Mandriva is a good beginners distro, but I'm worried that it might be too simple. [b]Zenwalk[/b] -- I like the GUI of this distro, and it's Slackware based, so it'll be fast. Although, I heard that Slackware isn't for noobs. [b]Kanotix[/b] -- I heard that Kanotix is a good gaming distro, plus it's based on Debian with a modified Ubuntu kernel. But I don't know if I'll get very much support since the main language of Kanotix is Deutsch. [u]Some other distros I was looking at:[/u] [b]Fedora 9 Open SUSE Ubuntu[/b] There's only one problem I've had with all these distros, my audio card doesn't work. It's odd because it looks like most of them know what type of audio card it is. I have a [u]Creative SB Live! Series Audio Processor[/u] btw ;) [u]More questions:[/u] Can't I just copy all the dll's from xp into wine and have everything work? What is winelib? How do I compile programs? Can someone give me a link to a complete list of commands for the command line? How long will it take me to get used to Linux? What percent of computer users use Linux compared to M$ windows and Mac? Is Cedega worth it, is cxgames worth it, should I just use wine, or is duel booting the answer? If wine isn't an emulator, then what is it?

I wouldn't worry that any of the distros you mentioned would be too simple for you. That's not a typical concern about Linux :) As a noob (like me), it's best to start with the easiest to install and configure. Having the largest, most active community and expansive repository helps too. You'll learn plenty as you investigate. Try different software choices for each purpose - there are so many - you'll learn a lot of theory and practice in doing so. In that regard, any of those you listed would be good choices. I'd be partial to Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Fedora, but Mint, PCLinuxOS, and MEPIS would be good too. But the communities for Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Fedora appear largest, so you might get the most help there. Exploring different distros is a lot of fun, so do check out others. Rather than dual-booting, you can multi-boot - there isn't a limit in GRUB of just 2. Also virtual choices (virtualbox, qemu) are lots of fun and viable alternatives to multi-booting. I haven't used WINE myself since I either use the Linux equivalent software or Win as needed. However, simply copying files won't work. You'll have to do installs after configuring a WINE environment. See http://wiki.winehq.org/ for details. WINE is more of a translator than a mimic (emulator) of Win. Note that gaming on Linux, while progressing, isn't nearly as developed as on Win, so expect difficulties in getting many Win games to work when run in WINE there. You've probably already seen that discussion. For Linux commands, see http://www.linuxmanpages.com/ , though I'm not sure it covers all options. Such info should be accessible for each command using the 'man' command on your Linux system. How long does it take to get used to Linux? That depends on how much familiarity you mean by "used to" and how much theoretical knowledge you can apply from your past experiences in different systems. Basically the same as it would take to get used to Windows or Mac if you're switching between them. If you don't run into hardware issues, the major Linux distros are easier than Win and probably close to Mac-like. Familiarity though might mean knowing how to run the software you want, or install and configure the system as needed, or maintain and trouble-shoot routine issues, or address less common hardware and software glitches, or configure network/server environments for large workgroups with multiple client platforms and services, or participate in software development. 99% of users fall in the first category listed without any theoretical understanding, but don't care for much more. Because they have more exposure to Win, ~90% PC buyers are currently Win users, ~5% Mac, and ~2.5% Linux (recent data cited). Linux has been the bastion of the non-conformist (more than Mac), but expect it to grow rapidly (I hope). At least the hardware vendors are now starting to offer more drivers and pre-configured systems.

Thanks I'll make sure to check out Mint, PCLinuxOS, and MEPIS before making a final decision. I don't know about multi-booting it just sounds like more work. I mean I would have to configure more than just one system than. But I heard from somewhere that WIn has 86%, Linux has 10%, and Mac has 4%

Ubuntu has the best community by far and is easier to use compared to most. If you are a hardcore gamer dont switch to Linux. If you are expecting to just run whatever you want in WINE it is not going to happen. Linux is not Windows and expecting Linux to run Windows things easily and in the way that you are used to in Windows is unreasonable. If you still want to run games I suggest you dual boot and use Windows as a gaming OS and Linux for everything else. You wont even miss Windows after you realize there is a Linux answer for everything Windows does (except of course gaming). [Modified by: Drunk_Mexican on June 23, 2008 03:12 AM]

[quote=Radikll][u]More questions:[/u] Can't I just copy all the dll's from xp into wine and have everything work? What is winelib? [/quote] Not necessarily, no. Please note that running Windows applications under WINE always is a last resort - try to accommodate yourself to existing, native alternatives to the programs you used to run under Win32 - there are usually plenty to choose from. Winelib is a library that applications can compile/link against, to enable Windows programs to run under WINE without requiring a dedicated WINE runtime in the background - Windows sourcecode compiled and linked against Winelib results in a native Linux binary. [quote=Radikll]How do I compile programs?[/quote] Most of the time, by running `make` against the programs Makefile. The specifics differ from project to project, howerber, so you should always check the source distribution's accompanying documentation. [quote=Radikll]Can someone give me a link to a complete list of commands for the command line?[/quote] There is none - the number of CLI programs available depends on the packages installed. To get an overview about standard UNIX usage from "back in the days", run `man intro` on a shell. [quote=Radikll]How long will it take me to get used to Linux?[/quote] Depends on your usage - for regular desktop stuff from one to a few more weeks, maybe. For mastering everything in the book, including development and service administration a whole lifetime may not be enough ;) [quote=Radikll]What percent of computer users use Linux compared to M$ windows and Mac?[/quote] GNU/Linux desktop market share is rather low, with some national/regional exceptions like Brazil, for example. It's very widespread on servers, however. [quote=Radikll]Is Cedega worth it, is cxgames worth it, should I just use wine, or is duel booting the answer?[/quote] Depends on the game. I'd try "vanilla wine" first, and use an existing Windows license and dual-booting if that fails. [quote=Radikll]If wine isn't an emulator, then what is it?[/quote] A system- and library-call translation layer. (Well, emulators don't do much else, either, but WINE not being one is kind of a running gag ;))