Let's lean about Linux...

Hi everybody. I need a little help that I think could benefit us all. I am building a Linux box for a relative who hates Gates (who doesn't). I wanted to know the best components to use. I want as minimal crash potential or installation incompatibilites as possible. As of now I am planning on using Mandrake since it is easier to use for a beginner. So, what I'm askin is, what components are working well for you. What is the best to use that the OS will recognize. What's a good board and chip. The reason I need help is that I tried installing RedHat on my PC and It wouldn't even install, it just froze. And Mandrake wouldn't recognize half my ****. I think there was also some conflict with my Athelon processor. So, if you could help me outI think we all could learn what configurations are the best and learn more about Linux. Thanks.

red 7.2 has issues with athlon processors, I think you just have to put "noathlon" in you ur lilo.conf or something like that.

However I agree with Mandrake....it will be the easiest for those less experienced. How much do YOU know about linux...I think that's what it comes down to. Because once you have everything set up, I'll stand by linux for stability

glad to see that you're bringing people over to the lighter side of life :)

As a Mandrake user I reccommend mandrake for ease of use, but it has a few bugs in it that can cause a little bit of trouble. So I reccommend Red Hat for stability. Ive heard of Linux sometimes having trouble running on AMD systems, but I know of some people who say it works just fine. If he is using a dial up connection to the internet, be sure to get a driverless(hardware) modem. Also Linux doesnt have support for all the latest peripherals yet. So that new USB 2.0 hard drive might not work. There are compatibilty lists for Red Hat at:

http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/genpa...i?pagename=hcl

How much does this this person know about linux/computers in general? Unless you want to be called constantly for help by this person, you might want to invest in a good linux book.

don't make the same mistake i did!

check out all the parts you're putting in BEFORE you build to see if they're supported. my motherboard brand new and i had to wait 2 months before anything supported it.

Cadio,
I had the same problem with the athlon processor. It's easily fixed though. During installation, when you're asked what boot loader to choose and what parameters to pass the kernel, type "noathlon" without the quotes. If you've already installed, boot into rescue mode and type the following:
chroot /mnt/sysimage
pico /etc/lilo.conf or pico /etc/grub.conf

(depending on whether you've chosen to install lilo or grub as the boot loader)
Scroll to the line that says /boot/vmlinuz....
put a space and type noathlon at the end of that line.

Press Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X and Y in sequence.
type exit twice to reboot and viola! you have aworking Linux system.
Cheers,
cgkanchi