"One of the things that is very confusing to new Linux enthusiasts is the "distro," or distribution. And one of the most confusing things about distributions, for the beginner, is that there is no official definition of what a distribution is, exactly: distributions existed in many forms long before anyone cared."
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betaluva
16 years 42 weeks 4 days 15 hours ago
yes,this is going to become a huge
yes,this is going to become a huge issue in the future,if linux geeks want people to switch to linux they are going to have to reduce the number of distro,s that are avaialable or at least create a rankng system - beginner-intermetiate-advanced.
aboutblank
16 years 42 weeks 4 days 14 hours ago
I disagree. The correct advice
I disagree. The correct advice for newbies should be to go visit a knowledgable friend or go visit a local Linux user group. They would either take the newbie under their wings or point them to other places where they can get more advice.
Jimbob
16 years 42 weeks 4 days 14 hours ago
As far as I'm concerned, there
As far as I'm concerned, there is only one distro worth promoting for newbs: Ubuntu. It has the best, most friendly, most welcoming, most newbie-oriented community of any distro. Once they newbies get more proficient/experienced they can make their own decisions.
I think the whole Linux community should rally behind Ubuntu as the distro for the newb. This is the way to get wider adoption on the desktop. Once we get more users everything else will fall into place. This will benefit all distros.
Don't get me wrong though; I'm not saying Ubuntu is the be-all-and-end-all of distros. I'm not saying it's better than [insert your distro of choice]. I wouldn't want to replace the 100s of distros out there for just Ubuntu.
I just think it is the only distro we should promote for new users. Giving new users one choice will benefit everyone. The Ubuntu community knows how to handle new users. Smaller distros just don't. Once they know what they are doing and if they have the desire new users can and should try out other distros.