Another thing, if you are to use a gui, use openbox or fluxbox. Openbox is compatible with GTK+ with is what gnome is built on. So can run most apps designed for GnomeX.

You don't have a lot of options with a system with 32mb of ram. I recommend using one of the light distros like puppy linux, archbang, debian, and antiX. Your best option is to install a distro without GUI.

Look at www.distrowatch.com to get more information.

Take what arochester suggested. The only way to know what you like or what is proper is to test out several linux distros. Stick with the ones are designed for new users, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Mandriva. Using the liveCDs, figure out how to do things and what's easiest for you.

Want to know the difference between linux and unix,

Linux vs Unix

It is worth taking a look at.

@srvtk

I'll keep it brief and give you the systems I prefer for servers.

1) debian squeeze
2)ubuntu server 10.10
3)centOS
4)fedora

These distros are freely downloaded from www.linux.com, www.distrowatch.com and from the distros' website. I like the debain/ubuntu based systems for desktop and servers because they incorporate methods for easy software installation and system administration. If you want a system for testing, I prefer to use, Debian core, slackware, or Archlinux. Happy hunting.

Your CD-ROM may be broken. Did you try to replace it and make sure that your system is set to boot from a CD/ROM?