A n00b asks..

[LinuxN00b]

Hi, iam a typical Windows user and i'd like to learn Linux just for the sake of it, but before i do anything, i'd like to get some feed back from the Linux comunity.

While doing some 'research' about Linux on the book store, i came across this book named 'Teach yourself Linux Red Hat', the book comes with two Linux 6.2 cds (or something) and tons of useful information about how to install it etc, which by the way i though it was pretty cool.

Before i go on, I'd like to add that before asking this question, i first search the forums and did not come across anything which would answer them.

So i have a few qestions, which i'd appreciate very much if anyone takes the time to put out with my english.

1) Which version of Linux would you guys recomend me (e.i, Red Hat, Suse etc,?

2) Should i still get that book and isntall the latest version of Linux Red Hat 8.0 or the one that comes with it (6.2)?

3) what are the difference bettwen Red Hat, Suse etc, is it the users interface or GUI?

4) What are also the difference betwen the versions of Linux )i.e 6.2 and 8.0), are they just patches and fixes or new version like Win95, Win 2000 etc?

Thanks in advantage and God bless you.

[trommaster]

1) Which version of Linux would you guys recomend me (e.i, Red Hat, Suse etc,?

enie, menie, mine, mo
make a choice, no one is going to think any different of you for it
redhat is fine for a starter

2) Should i still get that book and isntall the latest version of Linux Red Hat 8.0 or the one that comes with it (6.2)?

6.2 is quite old, it might be better if you found a book that came with 7.3 or 8.0

3) what are the difference bettwen Red Hat, Suse etc, is it the users interface or GUI?

different linux 'distros' are put out by different groups of people. some are by companies, like redhat and mandrake, while otheres are community efforts - like debian

4) What are also the difference betwen the versions of Linux )i.e 6.2 and 8.0), are they just patches and fixes or new version like Win95, Win 2000 etc?

a linux distro is basicly the latest versions of a whole lot of programs, so redhat 8 will have far newer and sometimes better technology than 6.2

Thanks in advantage and God bless you.

you're quite welcome

[LinuxN00b]

Thanks a lot dude.

[x0xCRIZx0x]

1) Which version of Linux would you guys recomend me (e.i, Red Hat, Suse etc,?

I would recommend Redhat or Mandrake for beginners.

2) Should i still get that book and isntall the latest version of Linux Red Hat 8.0 or the one that comes with it (6.2)?

The internet and forums (such as this one) was an integral part of my learning process. Certain distributions have wonderful documentaion (i.e Gentoo). If you have an internet connection, then I would suggest saving your money and just googling or ask on the forums If you're set on getting a book, I would recommend "Running Linux" by O'Reilly. It is not distribution specific, and comes with all the helpful commands you will come across with in you linux journey

3) what are the difference bettwen Red Hat, Suse etc, is it the users interface or GUI?

From my experience, distributions have their own way of handling system configuration. For example, RedHat has their own up2date system, which handles software upgrades. Suse has a similar tool called Yast. Mandrake had Control Center. But once you're comfortable with your chosen distro, it's all linux underneath
As for user interface, there's two major "window managers": Gnome and KDE. It's all a matter of preference.

4) What are also the difference betwen the versions of Linux )i.e 6.2 and 8.0), are they just patches and fixes or new version like Win95, Win 2000 etc?

When you say that, it makes me think of the linux kernel, not distributions like Redhat. Don't confuse the two. If you tell someone "I have Linux 6.2 installed", people won't know what you're talking about (in terms of the distribution). Unless the kernel version is up to that, in which case I think I have a major case of amnesia