Recommend a good book/website/distro for a beginner?

Can anyone recommend somewhere to get started with Linux? Preferably aimed at someone with good general IT skills.

I've been in IT for a few years now, but I'm very much a 'Microsoft Man'. Its about time I got involved in this Linux thingy. It seems to be where all the interesting stuff is going on now.

I use quite a few windows ports of Open Source apps already - Firefox, Thunderbird, NVu, OOo. I'm very impressed with the standard generally of Open Source nowadays.

Last week a got a copy of Linux Format, fired up the Gentoo CD from the cover, then got stuck. I had no idea what to do with it. Help!

Thanks.

post questions here is an obvious way to start. Failing that...

O'Reilly do good books on various aspects of Linux and Linux application software.

http://linux.oreilly.com/

Also try the Linux Documentation Project.

http://en.tldp.org/

Don't forget Linux has online documentation. If your stuck on how to use a command simply issuing:

Code:

---

man <whatever>

---

will tell you all about it. Try 'man man' for example. :)

Finally, don't forget to check out your distro's documentation, forums, newsgroups, mailing lists etc. There's usually lots of people there who can help.

Try out the OCE version of Xandros if you're used to M$ - It's designed to be easy for M$ users to switch to...
You can install to a machine with an OS already on... just download, burn the ISO to CD, boot from said CD, 4 clicks and you're done! Once installed - just play... still the best way to learn!!

www.xandros.com

There are script installs for Gentoo - seems an easier way to do it than pure commands - tho' you still have to be a little familiar with some linux terminology. They just cover standard installs too - so if you have more than 4 partitions the script only covers 3, for example.

Ubuntu seems to be new top dog - they ship CD's to you for free too.

Search for Geoff's postings to find some useful sources.

Hated Xandros BTW - too damn restrictive - unless you wanna pay money for it. It is simple from an M$ angle but the free version caps things like CD burning to x2!!

Liked the update feature tho' - very slik.

http://www.linuxiso.org/ for downloads.

Just try a few and find one that suits you.

Quote:

---

There are script installs for Gentoo - seems an easier way to do it than pure commands - tho' you still have to be a little familiar with some linux terminology. They just cover standard installs too - so if you have more than 4 partitions the script only covers 3, for example.

---

You can get Gentoo with a graphical installer.

http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/installer/

However I recommend you do everything manually the old fashioned way. You will learn *a lot*.

Thanks.

I've spent most of the day downloading Fedora and Mandriva .iso's as they seem to be two of the most popular. I'll have a stab with them later. I'll also check out the recommendations above.

I'll also look into the Linux Made Easy O'Reilly book.

OpenSuse 10 has got some good reviews too.

http://www.opensuse.org/Download

I've followed the links from tldp.org to http://www.linuxcommand.org/

This is very useful, though I'm just reading through it at the moment. I still haven't installed Linux!

It's like going back 17 years and learning MS-DOS all over again.

You also might want to try installing coLinux on your windows box.

http://www.colinux.org/

In a similar vein to Linuxcommand.org I've always found the CLI Magic series of articles interesting.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sit....com+CLI+Magic

I first delved into Linux at uni a few years ago before the GUIs and hardware detection became anywhere near as advanced as they are today.

I would recommend a distro that has a good GUI (I like Mandrake since it seems to install on any hardware you through at it) and then you can play with the command line as and when you need/have time.

Once you're comfortable with the basics you can try a few other distros (I like Debian) until you find one with the package management you prefer and the right mix of features for you.

Thanks Geoff, Ric and everybody. This is enough to be getting on with.

I'm hoping to be able to get a decent dual-core machine at Christmas, so I'll use my old machine for playing with Linux.