Gee, surlyjoe! You beat me to that exact same question!
I've done (some) reading around, and as I see it, there are three fairly idiot-proof distributions, which I'm gonna need, seeing as I'm installing it over the solstice (much beer).
The ones I've found are Mandrake 8.1, SuSE 7.3 and RedHat 7.1, of which the first two are the most up to date, but the latter is more idiot-orientated.
OK, so I'm here with a linux-compatible box of bits, a screwdriver, and a brand-new hard-disc. Pick any one, experts...