[kwlug-disc] Newbie... Playing with Linux etc...

[Chris Frey]

On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 02:52:20PM -0700, Michael Savage wrote:
> 1. What Linux distro would be a good one to start on...

I'd recommend one of the Debian-based distros:  Debian itself, Ubuntu,
or a Ubuntu flavour.  The reason is that the package repositories are
large, work well together, and you can get used to the Linux way of
package management, and enjoy a lot of that work done for you.


> I'm a window geek. It needs to have some power, as eventually I'm
> probably going to use one of my more successful products, and migrate
> it to teach myself a lot of the things I know well in Windows, but don't
> have a clue how it works in the Linux world.

What languages / libraries are your products written in?
Some folks might be able to point you in better directions for this
project, if they knew what you're familiar with.



> 2. Setting up mysql... What are the best tools to use to manage and
> administrate it?

I'd recommend to give the command line a chance.  It may or may not
be right for you, but since you come from the DOS world, it shouldn't
be that shocking.  And with Linux, you are able to administer
very well from the command line, both local machines and remote.

If, or when, the command line gets tedious, you might start looking at
web-based admin tools, if available, since that preserves the remote-access
aspect of it.

- Chris