Hello, I have been using Windows since 95, and decided to switch to Ubuntu a few months ago. I really like Ubuntu, but I want to use an OS that would enable me to learn more. I don't want an OS that would be COMPLETELY controlled by me since I am still a newbie, but I want an OS that help me learn about linux. I was thinking about slackware but I don't know if that would be to complicated for me to figure out, and I watned to know if you could please give me suggestions about an OS that doesn't hold my hand while I'm using it, but I don't want one that would make me break my computer, if you know what I mean. Thank you.

I'd try Sidux. : www.sidux.com : Don't forget the ever useful smxi scripts : http://smxi.org/ : Or if you want something a little more involved, try Arch Linux : http://www.archlinux.org/

Oh, I really, really, really think you should check out Gentoo. What's great about Gentoo is it has really good instructions. You will learn as you install, and installation is not very difficult if you can read instructions. But it will give you medium-to-low level control of your system without being inscrutable. I've been running it now for almost 7 years. I have a lot of other distributions running in virtual machines and Debian on my router and fileserver, but for a tinkerable desktop system, you can't get much more bang for the buck than Gentoo.