So, i'm a teacher and i've got about 8 more weeks of vacation. I've also got an extra laptop floating around. Today I will install linux and I will actually have time to figure it out. What's a good distribution? I am a complete beginner. I have installed linux before, but only for about 24 hours over a weekend. I am a quick learner though, so i want something that can easily be installed for a newbie but has a high learning curve, so i don't get bored with a GUI that looks sorta like windows. Currently, I am downloading ubuntu and opensuse. I will be able to install either of those, or whatever other ones you guys suggest.

On a side note, are openoffice files compatible with MS office files?


edit: I do know that I start one of these threads every summer, but this time i actually have time and resources available to f--k around with linux for enough time to learn.

Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu Ubuntu

Without a doubt, my favorite distribution. Its debian based, so you get the benefits of apt-get and other such Debian features, its easy to install, but of course gives you ample room to customize or do whatever you want via the terminal.

There is also a large community with plenty of support available at ubuntuguide.org and ubuntuforums.org. Almost any question you have can likely be answered by searching those two sites.

any opensuse props out there? I saw that they released a new version yesterday, so that's current as current can be. I'm still waiting to install.

If you're concerned about how up to date your linux is, just run apt-get

don't know wh at you're talking about, but ok!