Want to get into Unix

As French is my second language, i personally used Mandrake. Then I discovered Suse. I enjoyed its GUI and it ships with a lot of softwares.
I did not use Ubuntu because of the way it manages packages. Since i used to install RPMs, i got the habit.
So my advice is to follow a path like this one:
Mandrake/Suse --> Redhat -->Slacks
it is just a choice.

I think Debian distributions are nice for their packaging system and stability. I find Gentoo takes way too long to build a system just to gain a few seconds. If you want to learn I suggest you go with Arch for it is simple and it uses a nice packaging system.

I personally prefer Slackware, but you'd be better starting off with Ubuntu , which is very easy to install and also allows you to mess around if you wish. You'd also be better off using VMWare server rather than Virtual Server, as it has better support for Linux as a guest OS. Also check out the Bishop's post on his experiences while installing Ubuntu

So how does this work? Do you install Ubuntu from my xp desktop? This sounds more like a full blown OS rather than an emulation you can run under XP.

Does this VM server provide a virtual machine I can then install Ubuntu in?

Yes, Vmware emulates all the hardware a typical computer has, allowing you to create virtual computers on which you can install anything.

Vmware is very good software and should suit you well for installing any OS. You can also check Qemu which is open source and will do the job just as well

Yes, Vmware emulates all the hardware a typical computer has, allowing you to create virtual computers on which you can install anything.

Vmware is very good software and should suit you well for installing any OS.

Agree..... but .... Make sure you have a lot of memory 1gb-2gb

Uasable with 768 but noticably slow.


BTW: VMServer then install ubuntu is surprisingly easy to be up and running. Takes a while but very easy.


See Dalight's post for the links to all you need to get up and running.