CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I'm going to reset my computer (format, reinstall) today... I figure, since I'm getting a clean slate, maybe it would be possible for me to try out a new OS... I know there is Redhat out there, that's probably the most well known, but I was wondering what the best free version of Linux is... Of course, I know this is subjective, but give me some ideas... Here's one thing... I need a GUI... No DOSlike interface, please. Other than that, I'm willing to give anything a try... I would love to try a dual boot (XP and linux) and I'm not sure how to do that either... Any help would be greatly appreciated.

They are ALL free, if you count downloading as cost-less.

For GUI, try using Slackware. I found it quite easy to use, and it feels very 'generic'. Just follow the manual.

If you want to make a dual-boot (like me), then make 2 partitions. Install Windows in one partition. Then install Linux. Set Lilo properly, and everything will be fine.

Yes, a dual boot LILO system is a painless way to straddle both worlds. Alas, it's been ages since I've configured it ...

I heard about fedora being good

Actually, White Box Linux (whiteboxlinux.org) is a very good introduction to Linux - and it is essentially the same as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, but without the exorbitant price tag.

I have White Box on my Linux machine at the moment, and have used it for some time. I'd say it would be my recommendation.

Alternately, I've heard many good things about Mandrake (mandrakelinux.com) being easy to learn.

i have used mandrake before, and it is easy to use

For the record "Fedora" is the "free" version of RedHat. And as RH goes, the software is free, the support is costly.

And if slackware is easy to use now, it's come a LONG way since CB and I played with it... In 1996... Oh wow. Yeah, it could easily get easier to use in that time frame...

If you don't want to see the command line at all, go with Fedora or Mandrake.

Or you can use mine which is very easy to use "based on slackware"

http://animenewstoday.com/animeos/

by the way version 4.0 is coming out somewhere in september

I use Mandrake 9.1 and its' simple and boast a graphical interface...I actually installed my without partinioning a seperate partition, I used my availible space already so I actually have to start Windows to start it up but I just didnt' want to risk losing anything on my drive after the formating process. But it works nicely, has its' own Office Suite and can do almost all the things those evil guys at Microsoft can do.

Also SuSe isn't a bad option either but last time I checked they didn't offer free software in terms of price...just free in source code and such.

YOU MUST GET LINSPIRE! AKa LINDOWS!

No.

But if you want Xandros, I can give you a copy. (they have an open circulation edition - apparently they're smarter than Redhat, and are giving people working software rather than giving people the beta versions and using them as free testing)

my fiend has it, is it anygood? (Linspire i mean)

Linspire/Lindows historically had a number of problems, including wanting you to routinely login and run programs as root, a serious no-no. I don't know if they've fixed that or not, but most of the other Linuces do as much if not more and are much more security conscious.

For those who want a Unixy thing with a different philosophy, myself, I've migrated mostly to NetBSD: http://www.netbsd.org/

I saw this link, and immediately thought it was a call to bail linux out of jail. Odd.

I've played with BSD, and I think it's beginning to make sense. It's takeing some time, though.

FYI: That same BSD is what's behind apple's new OS X.

[note to all newbies to OS] Out of all BSD, just don't use OpenBSD unless you're prepared to really learn everything behind, well, everything. Since security is their first, second and third goal (maybe fourth too), ease of use is not exactly on the top of their priority list. More like under the whole heap actually.

I haven't played with NetBSD (yet), but I'd rather with FreeBSD for now. Unless you have a 286, then NetBSD will be one of few things that'll run on that machine.

I prefer NetBSD mostly for its small footprint and massive portability. I can even run it on my Dreamcast.

But why would you WANT to...?

Cheap clusters. The Sh3 in the Dreamcast is no slouch, and DCs are cheap. Just run them off an NFS mount for storage. (Unfortunately, the BBAs needed to do that are getting more and more difficult to find ... sigh, it was a nice idea at the time.)

Um, what is the so called "best" Linux... im planning on switching, my friend recommed SuSE as the best, but their icon are all ms painted! woot!

Honestly, the 'best' Linux always happens to be whatever the person who answered you is using. For example: Gentoo Linux is obviously superior to every other distribution.

yes *waits for mandrake, linspire, SuSE, redhat and other flavor users to explain why theirs are the best*