[NTLUG:Discuss] Distro Recomendation

[Mike]

> give him some distros to play with on Monday, but I'd like some
> suggestions from you guys.

Read reviews from this link:
http://www.distrowatch.com

I recommend handing him 3-4 different bootable CD's on top Mandrake and SuSE.

Bootable CD's

Mandrake/Mandriva Move: Best first look without having to haggle thru a long 
install. The downside to Move is that it seems to suffer speed issues. It 
takes longer for programs to start than the other items listed here. 

SLAX : almost the best first glance, except the initial login is text. (but if 
he's a lead engineer, he can handle reading that screen and typing 'gui' to 
get X up and running.

Simply MEPIS : This will install itself from the liveCD, and comes with K as 
the default desktop.  Based on debian, It has a completely different feel 
from SuSE or Mandriva, but seems to have alot fewer problems with hardware-- 
for me anyway.)  

Damn Small Linux (it can be installed to a USB Flash memory stick from the 
boot prompt.)  This is a good base for an embedded project (but it doesn't 
have any "full" applications (no open office, no mozilla, etc.)

Full Desktop Install Sets
SuSE 9.3
Mandriva 2005 LE