I really want to switch to Linux. I am soooooo tired of windows. However I am in IT student and need to learn programming. Any Linux gurus here have any suggestions for me? What distro would be the best, what emulator program would be the best, and are there any Linux programming programs for beginning programmers? I don't really want to dual boot because that would mean I would have to shell out $300 for windows (the windows im running is bootleg, and I inherited it on this pc), however I will as a last resort.

1. thx in advance
2. You don't need a windows emulator at all. There is a Linux-native version of VB.Net and its performance would be a lot better.

   Check it out here:

   http://www.go-mono.com/

   No emulation - this is an open source implementation of the .NET Framework, and includes a VB.Net compiler implementation.

3. If you are tired of Windows, then you should ditch VB and go with Java. Beleve it or not Windows does have some good points. One of them is VB, C#, and a pretty solid IDE (Visual Studio).

   I guess you think you are a Linux convert. Just as an FYI, Linux does have pitfalls. Although it is much more stable, cheaper, and takes much less of your machine power, it is just plain harder to work with.

   If you truely want to make a break from MS, then go all the way.

Tags: linux, understanding linux kernel