[vox] Distribution for an adventurous newbie?

[Marteen]

On Wed, Aug 04, 2004 at 01:03:22PM -0700, donw at examen.com wrote:
> A friend of mine wants to give Linux a try, and she being the type that
> she is, wants to do the installation herself -- she has a spare hard
> drive, so she probably won't blow away her data, and I've already given
> her the standard list of cautions, as well as an offer to do the
> installation for her.  Still, she wants to do it.
> 
> So -- what distribution should I burn to a CD for her?  I'm a Debian
> man, but I know that the Debian installer isn't friendly unless you know
> Linux.  In fact, because I've been a computer type since the age of six,
> I'm pretty much guaranteed to give her something difficult to install.
> 
> So -- which distribution?  Focus is on ease of installation and use; as
> she progresses, she will learn more, and eventually I might move her to
> Debian.  Anything bundled with OpenOffice.org is a plus, and she has a
> card reader and a camera (both supported by gPhoto2 and usb-storage)
> which would be nice to have working.

The new Debian Sarge installer is a breeze, quite neat, though still
being tested (but not for too long). It's a 5-minute install, not many
questions asked.

Anyway, I think it all depends on the kind of newbie your friend is. The
Linux-newbie, but knowledgeable about computers might find in Debian lots
of fun and a great learning experience. Probably the 'adventurousness
degree' needed for this might be real high.

On the other hand, probably the easiest Linux starting point would be
Knoppix, where most of everything is automatic, there are lots of
useful apps (including OO.org), and hardware recognition is fantastic.

'Plain' Debian:

Pros:

* Personalization right from the start (you don't waste space for stuff
you don't care about)
* You learn a lot while you try to get everything working
* Low hardware requirements (ideal for old machines)

Cons:

* Harder (you need more time and patience)


Knoppix:

Pros:

* Fast and easy fully working Linux experience
* You can tune it to become a standard Debian (but only once you're ready)

Cons:

* Hard drive install takes up lots of space (2+ gigs)
* Higher hardware requirements for fancier setup


-- 
: M a r t e e N                                   Debian GNU/Linux
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