I personally am a Gentoo user, but, for a first timer, I'd have to recommend Debian as well.
Although not recommended, it is certainly possible to get an UNIX-like system up and running by yourself, albeit quite difficult. My first serious Linux installation was on an old Pentium 166 machine (which is sitting right next to me at the moment), and I had inteded to do it from the ground up. Although I eventually messed up the kernel, it wasn't as impossible as I was first led to believe. Granted, having an already existing installation helped tremendously, but I learned some very valuable lessons on the way nevertheless.
They key is to try and do as much as possible yourself. There's nothing like hands-on experience for learning new materials.
On the topic of distributions, if you eventually become comfortable and really adventuous with Linux, I would highly recommend giving Gentoo a try. Unlike most other distrubutions, Gentoo is source code based, and the primary method of installing anything is by compiling it yourself. It sounds intimidating, but compilations are automated, and the end result is a very customizable system consisting only of what you need and want. I currently run Gentoo on the above mentioned Pentium system, and the entire installation, including a desktop system, Firefox, and GIMP, is contained under 1.7 gigs. I'm going to be tweaking the portage tree (a database of softwares that can be installed) in the near future, which should reduce my installation size even more.
If you, or anyone else feels like giving Gentoo a try, be forwarned that the process takes a lot of time. My installation took roughtly a week to complete due to installation "bugs", cluelessness, and general stupidity. If I were to do it again, I would say it would take roughly four days, most of which will be spent waiting for various software to compile and install; for modern systems, plan to allocate at least a weekend.
Although not recommended, it is certainly possible to get an UNIX-like system up and running by yourself, albeit quite difficult. My first serious Linux installation was on an old Pentium 166 machine (which is sitting right next to me at the moment), and I had inteded to do it from the ground up. Although I eventually messed up the kernel, it wasn't as impossible as I was first led to believe. Granted, having an already existing installation helped tremendously, but I learned some very valuable lessons on the way nevertheless.
They key is to try and do as much as possible yourself. There's nothing like hands-on experience for learning new materials.
On the topic of distributions, if you eventually become comfortable and really adventuous with Linux, I would highly recommend giving Gentoo a try. Unlike most other distrubutions, Gentoo is source code based, and the primary method of installing anything is by compiling it yourself. It sounds intimidating, but compilations are automated, and the end result is a very customizable system consisting only of what you need and want. I currently run Gentoo on the above mentioned Pentium system, and the entire installation, including a desktop system, Firefox, and GIMP, is contained under 1.7 gigs. I'm going to be tweaking the portage tree (a database of softwares that can be installed) in the near future, which should reduce my installation size even more.
If you, or anyone else feels like giving Gentoo a try, be forwarned that the process takes a lot of time. My installation took roughtly a week to complete due to installation "bugs", cluelessness, and general stupidity. If I were to do it again, I would say it would take roughly four days, most of which will be spent waiting for various software to compile and install; for modern systems, plan to allocate at least a weekend.