Ken Elliott wrote:
>Good advice, but I'm thinking of trying Debian and Gentoo for the learning
>experience. I've time to install both and I've heard that if you take the
>time to get Gentoo running, you learn an awful lot about Linux. By backup
>plan is to install SuSE 9.0 (have it) or 9.1 (buy it).
>
>
Actually, I would argue that Slackware is the "best" way to learn how
Linux really works.
Gentoo's packaging and init scripts are quite different than many of the
mainstream Linuxes, and not something I would recommend to a newbie. For
a seasoned user or admin, you can't beat the ease of keeping a system on
the bleeding edge.
Slackware, on the other hand, is nothing but simple tarballs that force
you to learn how things really work. It also hasn't changed in structure
over the past decade. SLS/Slackware are where I started out, and I would
recommend it to a newbie in a heartbeat if they really want to learn Linux.
Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to maintain a disparate network
of slackware boxen (Debian is simply the best for me), but it does force
newbies to address how things work behind the scenes that a modern
distro like SuSE (the only RPM based distro I would ever recommend to
anyone) would potentially hide from a user.
The right tool for the job. This is how I see it anyway.
- Ian
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