Nix!

[athelind]

I'm planning to turn the Spare Computer that's currently gathering dust into a *NIX Box. I'm looking for a flavor of *NIX that is easy to install, and has a wide range of hardware support. I want to get more familiar with the care and feeding of Open Source software such as The GIMP and GRASS -- right now, I can't even decipher the installation in structions for the Windows version of GRASS.

I am, with no little trepidation, opening the floor to input. What flavor of *NIX would be best for a relative newbie?

Comments

[richardf8]

Mac OS X?

Cool OS, but I don't think it will run on the box Athelind's considering. Unles there's an Intel port?

Yes, but....

[yasha-taur.livejournal.com]

Actually, there is a port of the BSD part of OS-X that does run on an x86 box. It's called Darwin, it is Open Source, and you can download it from Apple and install it on a PC. It has NO GUI or any of the other stuff that makes it 'a Mac', it's just the BSD Unix part. It is actually a pretty nice flavor of BSD, I have been told. I believe it's meant mostly for developers. It also makes it nice for people that need complete compatability at the command line level between their Macs and a few PCs.

Obviously it wouldn't be the best choice for Athelind, but it is there....