DistroWatch has published a Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Linux Distribution

The bewildering choice and ever increasing number of Linux distribution can be confusing for those of you who are new to Linux. This is why this page was created. It lists 10 distributions, which are generally considered as most widely used by Linux fans around the world. There are no figures to back it up and there are many other distribution that might suit your particular purpose better, but as a general rule, all of these are popular and have very active forums or mailing lists where you can ask questions if you get stuck. Lycoris, Xandros and Lindows are considered to be the best for new Linux users who want to get productive in Linux as soon as possible without having to master all its complexities. On the other end of the spectrum, Gentoo, Debian and Slackware are advanced distributions that require plenty of learning before they can be used effectively. Mandrake, Red Hat and SuSE can be classified as good middle-road type distributions. Knoppix is a special case - it is great for trying out Linux without getting your hands dirty as it runs directly from a CD, no installation required. These distributions are listed in order of popularity on DistroWatch, which is NOT an indication of their market share or quality. As always, comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Read more