Which linux distribution should I install

I suggest centos !

Wow I am drowning in replies of the Ubuntu fanboys.

Ubuntu is a good Linux Distribution if you like Windows, but you are switching to Linux for a reason.

Ubuntu does not in any way adhere to the FOSS (Free Open Source Software)

Ubuntu is a Social Desktop that is not easy to use at all. It is catered towards people who do not know any better. If you use Ubuntu do not plan on switching Linux distributions. Chances are you are not going to learn anything about Linux, and will be stuck with that piece of crap software that they call a Distribution.

Red Hat / CentOS / Fedora / Free BSD are all much better solutions.

If you would prefer a debian solution then you should just use Debian, in which Ubuntu is based off of.

Whatever you do make sure that you do your research on this. Linux is free, and Open Source. Why would you want your Linux Distribution to have software that is not free, and open? What is the point of switching then? @Ubuntu

I also want to point out that Ubuntu feels the need to tell it's users what Desktop Environment to use, and does not willingly support the others. There so called Unity desktop is crap, and based on GNOME. Unity drains resources, not very configurable, tells you what you what it is going to do, and hardly lets you do what yo want with out the risk of something messing up so bad that it becomes pointless, it is hard to navigate, does not care about Linux standards, and so on.

Why use a Linux Distribution that claims to be free and open when it is shipped with all third party software which is not free and open. Way off the mark and vision of Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds (among with others) who is and always will be the creators of Linux.

What is Linux, and What is Ubuntu? Long story short Ubuntu is not Linux. It unfortunately uses the Linux kernel so it somehow is considered a Linux Distribution.

As you (Ubuntu Fanboys) are complaining about how wrong I am read the above mentioned again, then realize who is trying to mimic Microsoft, and is funded by a company that cut a deal with Microsoft for some cheesy improvement's the Microsoft Virtualization World. Also who admits that Open Source software is no good for anyone, and has admitted to buying up as many open source patients just so they can attempt to destroy FOSS, and Linux. That would not be Microsoft would it?

If your OK with buying into that Ubuntu crap then you might as well be using a MAC.

Thank You to Richard Stallman, Brian Kerrigan, Linus Torvalds, and others (Too many to list) for keeping your standards. You guys are awesome, and have created one of the greatest software movements in the history of mankind.

My post would not be complete without quoting Linus and adding a few to the list myself.

F$$$ You Nvidia, Ubuntu, Canonical, Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, just to name a few.

PS: I used dollar signs just to show the representation and intentions of the above mentioned companies.

I would suggest Centos as it is free, an exact clone of Red Hat and is a well supported distribution. The latest release Centos 6 has support until 2020. You can install a minimal version easily using Fluxbox as your Desktop from the tutorial at http://minimallinux.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/centos-6-minimal-install.html

You must install Mint -> http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

You could install Ubuntu.

I suggest Ubuntu, You can easily find about it in the network. It's the most popular!

Just use ubuntu, like everybody else. Once you feel comfortable and you want to know more, you can start writing shell scripts, build you own kernel, etc... do not listen to crazy people talking about their weird little distribution. To be able to learn, you want something that works and supports your hardware.

AND MOST IMPORTANT: Always use the LTS (Long Term Support) version of ubuntu. The normal releases are very often unstable. Especially when canonical are experimenting new stuff like UNITY (a new desktop environment based on GNOME)

EDIT: And I'm not saying other distributions are not worth a try. Many are very interesting.

I'm probably biased, but I use Mageia, a fork of Mandriva, started about a year ago. It is nice and friendly -- basicly a cleaned-up rationalised version of Mandriva with some improvements. It is community-based, and has lots of friendly contributors very willing to help you with any questions. One of the better ways to learn Linux is by contributing, in some small way (at first), and there are plenty of ways you can do so.

We're at http://mageia.org/ ... our blog at http://blog.mageia.org/ ... downloads available at http://www.mageia.org/en/downloads/

You could use the live CD's to try out Mageia without installing it, but if you have enough free disk space, I would recommend downloading the DVD or using the network install, as running from disk is necessarily much faster than running from a CD. Also you will invariably want to try some package that can't fit onto the CD. As well as wanting to save your configuration to disk.

So presuming that your running a version of Microsoft windows, it is advisable to unfragment your hard disk partitions if you don't already have some free partitions. Then Mageia will be able to repartition your drive(s) as necessary during installation. (making various suggestions subject to your approval, of course) More info on what to download with installation tips at http://www.mageia.org/wiki/doku.php?id=mageia_installation_media

BTW, a lot of the friendliness of Mageia comes from utilities inherited from Mandriva, with our various enhancements. As well Mageia supports a number of desktops (graphic window environments), including Gnome, KDE, LXDE, and Xfce. (Starting with their next release, Mandriva will support only the KDE desktop.)

Mageia also has good support for server and development packages. And if you're interested in games, more and more are being loaded all the time. Like most major distributions, Mageia is multi-purpose. As well as conforming more and more to evolving Linux standards.

So why not give Mageia a try ?

Use whatever you want to use, they all have the same software available (sometimes you have to work harder). If you actually want to learn about linux, pick up a copy of bare Debian, Arch, Slackware, or maybe even Gentoo (or slews and slews of other similar distros).

If you want a more "friendly" experience, Ubuntu or Mint are good choices (although http://zorin-os.com/ that Aamir linked looks nice)

I suggest TinyCore or Floppix.