by Jack Roviere

Created on: January 16, 2007   Last Updated: March 20, 2010

For someone who's completely new to Linux, suddenly Linux's greatest strength becomes its greatest source of confusion. After all, Linux is about choice...but choice can be crippling.

How can someone with no previous experience with Linux make a decision concerning package managers? How can the uninitiated even tell the difference between .debs, .rpms, ebuilds, and gzipped tarballs, much less actually *pick* between them.

And that's just the beginning.

For someone who's already acquainted with linux, these terms mean the world, but for someone who's new, all of this IS very intimidating. The same could be said for desktop environments - there are so many choices, but not enough information to make a great decision without jumping in. Gnome? KDE? XFCE? Or maybe just go with a minimalistic window manager?

Luckily, there is a way to jump into Linux with no cost but your time and a spare CD: most distributions offer a liveCD that allows anyone to download it, burn it to a CD, and then pop it in. When the person restarts his computer, the liveCD should load, allowing him to get a feel of a particular linux distribution and its included applications.

But where should you start? Do you really want to spend your time downloading and burning CDs for distros that you may end up not liking at all? Fortunately, there ARE tools to help.

1) www.distrowatch.com

This site posts news articles relating to new releases of most linux distributions. Furthermore, on the righthand column of the site, it has a 'page hit ranking' per distro-this may not be an accurate measure of how successful a distro is (like stock prices might be,) but for sure, this column does record which distributions are currently in the spotlight.

2) http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

This site features a survey that allows you to answer your preferences on what you want in an operating system and what your level of familiarity with linux is. From there, it sets up a list of linux distributions that correspond with your preferences. If you want a linux distribution that sets up most things for your system so you don't have to personally life a finger, it can advise you about distros that pride themselves on user friendliness. On the other hand, if you want to 'get under the hood' of linux, it can also recommend the more hardcore distros.

All in all, I can give you a few tips. Choosing a Linux distribution has to deal with your personality and what your goals with linux are. If you want to tinker and dig deeply within the hood, then some distributions are better for that than others. If you want something that is more comfortable to use, set up with some of the most commonly enjoyed options out of the box, then other distros will shine. Some distros are restrictive as to what they will immediately let you do (because they keep the guardrails on for you), and this can be frustrating for people who want to go in deeper. However, other distros will give no warning as you potentially do something that could ruin your installation and force you to start over from scratch.

In the end, it all just depends on your personality and goals. The above mentioned tools can help you find the distro that fits.

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