[NBLUG/talk] Which distro is best for a newbie?

Bill Kendrick nbs at sonic.net
Thu Jun 23 10:38:11 PDT 2005


On Thu, Jun 23, 2005 at 09:39:45AM -0700, E Frank Ball wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 23, 2005 at 09:03:51AM -0700, Edward wrote:
> } 
> } Later I can switch. But do I have to erase an old distro from the harddrive 
> } if I switch to Debian?
> 
> Yes an installation of Debian will wipe out the previous SuSE
> installation, but if you partition your hard drive right you can retain
> your personal files.

Well, he could always dual boot, just like one might do if they had
Windows already, and wanted to add Linux to the mix.


> Create a /home partition, this is where your
> account will be and all your personal files and configuration settings.
> When you switch or upgrade do not reformat /home, just tell the new
> installation to use it.

One thing to keep in mind is version compatibility between the two distros.
If Distro1 has version 1.2.3 of an app, and Distro2 has version 1.3.9,
and they're very different in terms of the "~/.XYZrc" file in your home
directory, you might have troubles.  (Esp. when going back to the distro
with the older version of the app.)

Not that I have first hand experience with that, but it comes to mind.

-bill!



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