Downloading Linux

I know this doesn’t have to do a thing with programming, but I’m sure now one will answer this unless it’s here. People at the Other OS’s forum seem to be more interested in Mac.
When I try to download some Linux distros, I find many CDs. For example when I visit the following link: http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/5.0.3/i386/iso-cd/
I find around 30 CDs for the i386 platform. I’ve always wanted to know what’s the difference between them all, and which one should I grab.
Please remember that ALL links must be coded, including, but not limited to, e-mail addresses, passwords, and internal links. Coded for you this time.

Answer #1
http://www.debian.org/CD/faq/index.en.html#which-cd
Answer #2
Grab the entire distro DVD, if there’s one available.
Answer #3
The best choice would be the latest stable version
http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/

V
Answer #4
ubuntu is still the best intro to linux os.
debian is similar but it’s a bit more complicated. The debian stable release is very safe, it uses releases that are tried and tested but as a consequence getting edge updates for pretty much anything is impossible unless you compile the code yourself. Debian stable is a good choice for a live server. You’ll probably want to go with unstable for a desktop environment. I’d much rather use ubuntu though because it’s much easier to set up and it’s created for a desktop environment.
But i have a mac so i don’t really care about desktop linux anymore.
Answer #5
Slackware is pretty bomb too IMO. Only problem is, you gotta know what you’re doing lol.
Answer #6
Depends what you are looking to use it for. I hate all linux desktops as I only use it for command line work, so which distro doesn’t make any different to me. When I have used an X windows system I always chose Fedora.
Answer #7
Thank you guys, yet I wasn’t asking about the best distro to use! I’ve been using Linux for a long time; however, I only wanted to know what’s the difference between all those 30 CDs available for download at debian.org
Answer #8
go back up one directory, then, go into the list-cd folder and you will find a list file for each CD..which will tell you what is on each of the CDs.
normally, CD1 will give you a base install and possibly desktop environment..any other apps that you may want can be found somewhere on one of the other CDs.
Answer #9
The first CD/DVD disk contains all the files necessary to install a standard Debian system.
To avoid needless downloads, please do not download other CD or DVD image files unless you know that you need packages on them.
Answer #10
This topic has been posted in the wrong section.
Moving.
Answer #11
Just download the first cd (there’s a gnome_cd1, kde_cd1 and xfce-lxde_cd1, choole the desktop environment you want, the default by debian is gnome).
The stuff contained on the other cds are available through the package manager (apt).