New To Linux

The choice of distribution based on service and economic considerations is hard to determine.  You can get just about any distribution on CD for under $10(US) from www.cheapbytes.com.
As far as service goes...well redhat are considered by many to be the de facto "linux" to the extent that there is explicit support from them from many other hardware and software companies.  There's even been a little complaining about this from fans of other distro's as no-one wants to get a single Linux company (plurality is good!).  If you spend about $120(US) on the top-o-the-range from RedHat you get phone and email help/support for a good long time (check out their website www.redhat.com).  They seem to be liked by businesses because they are a large company and the pointy-haired-bosses like to deal with large companies. (Also RedHat used to be one of the few that used RPM - an easy way to install/upgrade packages on your system.  But that advantage no longer really applies any more as rpm is now a common tool thanks to RedHat).

However the other distro's provide service and support too.  SuSE, which you mention, might be a better bet than RedHat if you are based in Europe: they are bound to be more knowlegable about internationalization issues and it might be cheaper on the phone (although RH do have a UK operation).

Mandrake is very graphically swishy and is basically RedHat with extra-stuff in terms of GUI.  It's a nice distro.

Debian GNU/Linux is the choice of many that are concerned with stability, security and robustness.  It tends to put out fewer versions and to test them rigourously.  They also have a cool "Package" system (the apt tools) which IMHO knock the socks off rpm.  It's a not-for-profit distro and when you know what you're doing it's great.

You may also want to consider one of the BSD's.  They tend to get forgotten in the Linux broo-ha-ha, but OpenBSD is the tops for security, FreeBSD is supposed to have a better tcp/ip stack and to have better virtual memory management and to scale better across a large "farm".  It's the choice of  a lot of serious set-ups.


All the above is just my opinion!

Extending,,

Is good the modulus'answer but... if you're a windows user you can start with a easy linux/windows use, like winlinux or armored, these linux distributions are easy to install and configure, later you could try with a KDE linux interface such as Caldera or SUSE are easier to use than gnome interface like Redhat is.
Luck.

Thanks both of you for answering my question.

Basically, I am doing programming in PHP/MySQL till now I have worked on Win 95/98. I want to learn Linux so thinking about installing on my PC.

How good is winlinux? Will I able to continue working on both Win98 & Linux after installing it.

Thank You,

-Tripat

Hi,
I would advise you to go for a good linux distro and not get fooled in by a winlinux and other linux. There are many linux which are good. Winlinux or any other umsdos filesystem linux is not worth going in for, cause you will only be wasting your time. If you seriously are considering winlinux, you might be better of with zipslack or bigslack from slackware. No doubt the BSD's are better of keeping the security aspect in view.
Generally all linux are similar with only difference being the installation part and few extra tool which you obtain in different distro - of course the tools differ from distro to distro.
Have a look at Matt Welsh's installation & getting started in the LDP which describes a few of the linux distros widely used and choose the one which is appropriate and suits your need.

I personally would advise slackware, but the choice is yours, make a wise one by not chossing linux which run on umsdos filesystem such as winlinux and the beta versions of linux(leave the beta versions for the experienced).  

My thanks to all the experts, and with points no problem. But only request is  answer my questions as much as you can.

-Tripat

Hi Tripat,
I'm irritated at your acceptance of joweilee's "answer".   - you should have given the points to either 1.me, 2.tretznor, 3. smile.  joweilee is merely summarizing previous posts that have been submitted as comments.  A lot of us submit a comment and allow you to select it as an answer.  We put a bit of time into it.  If you are going to give the points to a summarizer that has added little/no new information then there is no point in us submitting comments.  joweilee has been using this tactic on all other questions he has answered.

best wishes,
modulus

Hey modulus,

I have a very good background in the field of Linux from other message boards that I often visit. I did NOT read your posts before proposing an answer nor do I need to.

Unlike most of YOUR answers, my answers actually HELP the user in need. If this was perfect world, there would be no points, but alas it's not.

I do not appreciate you criticising my work, so stop it.

Jowei

Well, I think my answer record stands for itself....as does yours: if anyone examines the questions that you've answered and the posts that appear BEFORE yours there is a suspicious trend.  I don't appreciate it - it is against the ethos of the site, will lead to a decrease in the number of helpful posts and is generally counter productive - except perhaps to you.  For those doubting this I suggest clicking on the joweilee name and noting the occurence of joweilee "answers" and their placement _below_ all the other answers.  I'm not going to say anything else on this.  Have a nice day,
modulus

:) And I thoght that WIN people are the grunchy ones