im going to say debian i just switched to it not to long ago, and my favorite thing for that is apt-get and the amount of pacakages you can get for it
 
the install isnt the hard just have to know a bit about the computers
and the computer is customized to what u want
 
now albeit debian still doesnt have the easiest installer
so these are debian variants i know of
 
ubunutu excellent and easy enough to install
knoppix
mepis
 
alright other than debian ive tried fedora core 2
good distro as well, my main complaint for that is up2date not real
stable id have to say, but good news is you can get apt-get for fedora as well and that will make it easy to have it comes with alot of different packages, and the install is a breeze with anaconda, only thing is i beleive core 3 is coming out soon
 
those are my favorite 2 distros
(note for debian im using sarge)

Debian/Sid I like to live on the edge
 
SoulNothing is right on. The main reason I love Debian is apt pluss I enjoy the Debian istallation process. I feel like I'm in total control of everything and the first thing I do is compile the latest kernel the way I like it. That is what I think Linux is all about Freedom.

it is about freedom i agree
 
on core 2 i ran a tweaked kernel and decreased my load time by 10 seconds thats why i love it so much
 
i wanted to try unstable but my computer is unstable as it is so i thought i would try testing
 
egorgry could you possibly explain how to make the kernel bootable ie where i should put it and how i should change the bootloader
i wanted to compile one myself but couldnt get it to work my boot loader is lilo
 
also somethingotherthenwindows
 
i would recommend trying not something different then suse but get a feel for different window managers as well and heck compiling a kernel could make your system faster and met to your specifics and theres plenty of help here
 
i beleive ximian is a gnome clone or enhaced gnome
http://www.novell.com/products/desktop/features.html
http://www.novell.com/products/desktop/sysreqs.html
 
check here dont know if your using suse 9.1 or 9.0 but ill point some more binaries this way
 
also im using a 3d desktop enviroment something microsoft is giving in their next version
 
that is the freedom egorgry is talking about

I prefer Mandrake 10.1
 
easy to install
detects all my hardware which is fairly resent
it is alot faster with the kernel
2.6.8.3

soulnothing,
 
Kernels in Debian are easy. You basicly make a .dep of the kernel image and install it.
 
this doc is great. If you have any questions I'll help you out.
http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/tutorials/kernel-pkg/intro-kernel-pkg.html.en

You laugh about Linspire?
 
Installs in less than 10 minutes. Great for the person who does not want to learn all the syntax and just have a solid OS. Tons of packages with CNR. Of course, I have been an insider for two years. I am testing the beta version right now.
 
Of course, Debian for those of us who like to tinker.

 
 
 
 
 
An A-Z Index of the Linux BASH command line
alias Create an alias
apropos Search Help manual pages (man -k)
awk Find and Replace text, database sort/validate/index
break Exit from a loop
builtin Run a shell builtin
bzip2 Compress or decompress named file(s)
 
cal Display a calendar
case Conditionally perform a command
cat Display the contents of a file
cd Change Directory
cfdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux
chgrp Change group ownership
chmod Change access permissions
chown Change file owner and group
chroot Run a command with a different root directory
cksum Print CRC checksum and byte counts
clear Clear terminal screen
cmp Compare two files
comm Compare two sorted files line by line
command Run a command - ignoring shell functions
continue Resume the next iteration of a loop
cp Copy one or more files to another location
cron Daemon to execute scheduled commands
crontab Schedule a command to run at a later time
csplit Split a file into context-determined pieces
cut Divide a file into several parts
 
date Display or change the date & time
dc Desk Calculator
dd Data Dump - Convert and copy a file
ddrescue Data recovery tool
declare Declare variables and give them attributes
df Display free disk space
diff Display the differences between two files
diff3 Show differences among three files
dig DNS lookup
dir Briefly list directory contents
dircolors Colour setup for `ls'
dirname Convert a full pathname to just a path
dirs Display list of remembered directories
du Estimate file space usage
 
echo Display message on screen
egrep Search file(s) for lines that match an extended expression
eject Eject removable media
enable Enable and disable builtin shell commands
env Environment variables
ethtool Ethernet card settings
eval Evaluate several commands/arguments
exec Execute a command
exit Exit the shell
expand Convert tabs to spaces
export Set an environment variable
expr Evaluate expressions
 
false Do nothing, unsuccessfully
fdformat Low-level format a floppy disk
fdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux
fgrep Search file(s) for lines that match a fixed string
file Determine file type
find Search for files that meet a desired criteria
fmt Reformat paragraph text
fold Wrap text to fit a specified width.
for Expand words, and execute commands
format Format disks or tapes
free Display memory usage
fsck File system consistency check and repair
ftp File Transfer Protocol
function Define Function Macros
 
gawk Find and Replace text within file(s)
getopts Parse positional parameters
grep Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern
groups Print group names a user is in
gzip Compress or decompress named file(s)
 
hash Remember the full pathname of a name argument
head Output the first part of file(s)
history Command History
hostname Print or set system name
 
id Print user and group id's
if Conditionally perform a command
ifconfig Configure a network interface
import Capture an X server screen and save the image to file
install Copy files and set attributes
 
join Join lines on a common field
 
kill Stop a process from running
 
less Display output one screen at a time
let Perform arithmetic on shell variables
ln Make links between files
local Create variables
locate Find files
logname Print current login name
logout Exit a login shell
look Display lines beginning with a given string
lpc Line printer control program
lpr Off line print
lprint Print a file
lprintd Abort a print job
lprintq List the print queue
lprm Remove jobs from the print queue
ls List information about file(s)
lsof List open files
 
make Recompile a group of programs
man Help manual
mkdir Create new folder(s)
mkfifo Make FIFOs (named pipes)
mkisofs Create an hybrid ISO9660/JOLIET/HFS filesystem
mknod Make block or character special files
more Display output one screen at a time
mount Mount a file system
mtools Manipulate MS-DOS files
mv Move or rename files or directories
 
netstat Networking information
nice Set the priority of a command or job
nl Number lines and write files
nohup Run a command immune to hangups
nslookup Query Internet name servers interactively
 
passwd Modify a user password
paste Merge lines of files
pathchk Check file name portability
ping Test a network connection
popd Restore the previous value of the current directory
pr Prepare files for printing
printcap Printer capability database
printenv Print environment variables
printf Format and print data
ps Process status
pushd Save and then change the current directory
pwd Print Working Directory
 
quota Display disk usage and limits
quotacheck Scan a file system for disk usage
quotactl Set disk quotas
 
ram ram disk device
rcp Copy files between two machines.
read read a line from standard input
readonly Mark variables/functions as readonly
remsync Synchronize remote files via email
return Exit a shell function
rm Remove files
rmdir Remove folder(s)
rsync Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)
 
screen Terminal window manager
scp Secure copy (remote file copy)
sdiff Merge two files interactively
sed Stream Editor
select Accept keyboard input
seq Print numeric sequences
set Manipulate shell variables and functions
sftp Secure File Transfer Program
shift Shift positional parameters
shopt Shell Options
shutdown Shutdown or restart linux
sleep Delay for a specified time
sort Sort text files
source Run commands from a file `.'
split Split a file into fixed-size pieces
ssh Secure Shell client (remote login program)
strace Trace system calls and signals
su Substitute user identity
sum Print a checksum for a file
symlink Make a new name for a file
sync Synchronize data on disk with memory
 
tail Output the last part of files
tar Tape ARchiver
tee Redirect output to multiple files
test Evaluate a conditional expression
time Measure Program running time
times User and system times
touch Change file timestamps
top List processes running on the system
traceroute Trace Route to Host
trap Run a command when a signal is set(bourne)
tr Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
true Do nothing, successfully
tsort Topological sort
tty Print filename of terminal on stdin
type Describe a command
 
ulimit Limit user resources
umask Users file creation mask
umount Unmount a device
unalias Remove an alias
uname Print system information
unexpand Convert spaces to tabs
uniq Uniquify files
units Convert units from one scale to another
unset Remove variable or function names
unshar Unpack shell archive scripts
until Execute commands (until error)
useradd Create new user account
usermod Modify user account
users List users currently logged in
uuencode Encode a binary file
uudecode Decode a file created by uuencode
 
v Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b')
vdir Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b')
vi Text Editor
 
watch Execute/display a program periodically
wc Print byte, word, and line counts
whereis Report all known instances of a command
which Locate a program file in the user's path.
while Execute commands
who Print all usernames currently logged in
whoami Print the current user id and name (`id -un')
Wget Retrieve web pages or files via HTTP, HTTPS or FTP
 
xargs Execute utility, passing constructed argument list(s)
yes Print a string until interrupted
 
.period Run commands from a file
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