So, I'm planning to try to put linux onto an old computer of mine (old-ish anyways) and I'm wondering which distro people would recommend for this. I have used linux before so I am somewhat familiar with it but I've never set it up on my own and would like the simplest set up I could possibly find. Any suggestions would be great.

http://distrowatch.com/

My dad is a linux guy he has had a lot of linux operating systems he uses this site a lot also I recommend Ubuntu its setup is fast and easy (compared to windows at least) and its a pretty good operating system

ps: there is A LOT of stuff you can download for it from games to hacking tools

i would totally install linux because its far better than microsoft...
but then half my apps and games wouldnt work, grrr.

thenumberone : there is this program called play on linux it lets you play Microsoft games

I'm actually fairly experienced with Linux. I used it for a while and learned quite a bit. I would recommend using Ubuntu 10.10, it's the easiest to use.

well, I have 2 votes for Ubuntu so I'm going to check that one out. Hopefully I have some success with it

icrazyforpokemon : For the past 11 months I've been disliking the 11.04 update...

While I was at the computer shop getting my computer fixed up, the tech guy there asked me if I wanted any programs that I had last time installed again for me (as long as they were free programs, of course). I fibbed a little bit and I told him I had Ubuntu installed before my hard drive died. So, he took a burned disk and installed it for me. I currently have it on my computer, and I use it from time to time.

I definitely recommend getting Ubuntu.

You're getting a linux? I heard those things were AWESOME. Tell me how it goes if you do get it.

My father used Ubuntu and I believe it worked fine.

So yeah, I would recommend that.

Yeah, like the others said, Ubuntu is pretty much the easiest to install. Also, if you have windows installed, you don't even need to partition your hard drive, or overwrite windows to install Ubuntu!
If you ever want to get more involved with building a system though, I would recommend that you try out arch-linux. Basically, you start out at the command line, and you build your Linux from basically nothing. It is easier & faster than Gentoo, cause you are not compiling from source. The first time I done it, it took me a long time to get my laptop fully working, but once you figure everything out, it is one of the best feelings in the world knowing you put it all together yourself.

Try LinuxFromScratch. You'll learn a lot about your computer, and operating systems in general. Personally, I prefer BSDs, but they can be a bit more difficult to get working on some hardware...  

Regular Ubuntu seems a little bloated for an old machine. You can do a minimal install, but that may be a bit much to ask of a newcomer to *nix.

I would recommend Peppermint OS with Jupiter power manager (Google "Jupiter Applet" to find the SourceForge page) if you use your computer mostly for surfing the web, and WattOS if you want something geared more towards local computing.

Those are both based on Ubuntu, but the former has alot less pre-packaged software and is built for heavy internet use, and the latter uses lightweight programs to do just about anything you care to on the machine itself.

Personally I go for Peppermint with Jupiter because I mostly use the web, and I love the speed and extensibility of Chromium, but WattOS would be perfect for use on an older machine for someone who's not so keen on cloud computing.

Some others that would be worth looking at are Elementary OS, which uses the popular Gnome desktop environment but manages to keep the iso under 1 GiB with exclusive lightweight applications built by the OS developers, and MacPup, which is built to boot from a disc and run entirely in RAM and uses the lovely yet lightweight Enlightenment desktop environment.

I haven't taken much of a look at Linux Mint, but it's supposed to be reasonably light and very beginner friendly, and is based on Ubuntu so you have access to Ubuntu packages, as with all the other distros I've mentioned aside from MacPup.

If you want to get a more in-depth look at any of these distros, or just want to really browse around the different distros, check out sneekylinux on youtube. I haven't managed to find any distros he hasn't reviewed.