The best way to learn is to actually do it yourself. If Thane's intention is to learn Linux, then using the bf24 install and building the system one package at a time is the best way to do so. Getting a giant lump of preinstalled stuff (Debian or not) on a system is overwhelming, IMO.

Of course, if he's really into serious pain, he could use the patented kmself chroot install like I did.[1] :-)