I have purchased as a Christmas present a barebones Athlon 64 3200+ socket 939 computer and added the accoutrements to make it a complete computer. I also want to start afresh with Linux.

Looking for experience and advice regarding this combination. Having lost my HD partitions too many times trying to load Linux, I have given up on this computer and have developed the new strategy.

I would like to start out with Linux on this new setup - new HD, new programs, and so on.

Don't know what will get me loaded and onto the web fastest. I will still have this operating, so won't be dependent upon the new arrangement to get help and advice, but I don't know where to start.

et recommends Gentoo, which I will probably try first, review below. Nick Hoffman had the great idea of disconnecting one of the HDs in a system into which one was trying to load LInux, and a new computer seems to be simply extension of that.

Gentoo Linux

Gentoo Linux is a special flavor of Linux that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need. Gentoo Linux is a source based distribution, with a powerful package management system. Extreme performance, configurability and a top-notch user and developer community are all hallmarks of the Gentoo experience.

And then there's

SUSE Linux

SUSESUSE® LINUX Professional 9.2 from Novell® combines a fast, secure operating system and more than 1,000 popular open source applications. It is the first complete Linux package to harness both the improved Linux kernel 2.6 and the recently enhanced GNOME 2.6 and KDE 3.3 user desktop environments.

OpenOffice is a great suite, and I use it now. Firefox as a browser would be fine, but I don't remember how to get a new computer onto the web to download the first browser.

Anyway, Nick's suggestion was a nifty one, and if there are others like that which wouldn't occur someone who is far more of a nosepicker than computer technician, it would be nice.

Thanks.

Arf (Bow, you'll be faster 'n shit, slicker 'n snot, and still have no place to go! I know, but at least I'll be dressed for it.)