Branching out...

[Brian Kelsay]

You can try from Debian 3.0 disks and upgrade once its installed, be sure to choose  a 2.4 kernel 
during install.  Apparently I'm to retarded to install Debian with their installer, because I 
couldn't answer the questions they ask that no other distro asks.  So I found Morphix, which let's 
you choose which GUI you want when you download the .iso (KDE, Gnome, Xfce4 and one for the 
Gamers).  Morphix is based on Knoppix, which is also good, if you want all KDE.  Both have an 
installer once you decide you want to run from HDD and not from CD.  Gnoppix is Knoppix, but w/ the 
Gnome desktop exclusively.  Gnoppix is in talks w/ Morphix to combine efforts.  Then there is 
DamnSmallLinux, which is Knoppix stripped down to its shorts (30MB) and then built back up w/ 
fluxbox as the wm and a bunch of micro apps to get the job done (web, email, irc,icq, word proc., 
spreadsheet, VNC) to finally weigh in at 50MB.  Phlak is a security disto based on Morphix 
LightGUI.  Then there is Flonix, Puppy, Mepis, feather, Libranet, Progeny distro is dead, Lindows, 
Lycoris, and Xandros (was Corel a few years back).  

Supposedly, if you use Lindows, Lycoris,  Xandros and possibly Libranet, if you point your apt 
sources.list at the debian.org archives you may break compatiblity.  But I could be wrong.

http://www.distrowatch.com 
http://www.osnews.com 

>>>>>>>>Quote
I am attempting to branch out from RedHat/Mandrake and learn some other distros.
<snip>
I see a number of the people on this list using Debian.  Any suggestions or insight as to the
direction to take.

This would be for a desktop/workstation box, used for data recovery/forensic
research.

Obviously I am no Linux guru, but am hoping to learn a bit more.