RE: Linux Recommendations

["Tony Butler" <roaming@xxxxxxx>]

> The most user-friendly distros are usually considered to be
Mandrake
> (http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/)
or SuSE (www.suse.co.uk). They have
the
> best installation tools, with the most comprehensive hardware
support,
> according to most reviews.

Damn, decisions decisions - I _knew_ there wouldn't be concensus on
this
:-)

> that. Unless you are on a broadband connection, donwloading 1200 -
1800Mb

Not a prob, I have a 1mb download link thanks to blue yoda :-)

> Linux provides you with a lot of help, if you know where to find
it.
The

Yeah I know.  To be honest, I looked at linux many many moons ago -
back
in the days when it fit on about 24? Floppies.  And it was all
there
alright, but finding any docs (on what a package actually did, never
mind how to install it!!!) and wading thru them was a complete
nightmare.  At least windoze installs tend to just work (software
that
is, not hardware) and are fairly intuitive.  I find *nix
commandlines
unfriendly at the best of times, and I really cannot be arsed wading
thru tons of docs just to get [insert package name here] working. 
This
is why I want as hassle free an install as possible.

Initially its for caler ID, but chances are I'd add JReceiver to it for
example, so my Windoze machine no longer has to be pollutes with Sun's
java :-)

> simply a matter of getting used to a different paradigm. Having
said
that,
> as long as you are using a GUI like KDE or Gnome, much of what you
see
> will
> look and behave very much like Windows - you won't notice the
difference
> until you look under the covers.

Ah yes, the shells designed to make linux look like windoze..... says
something about windoze methinks :-D

Seriously though, when last I looked at linux, there was still a lot of
crap you had to do to get to the gui stage.  I really don't want that
-
I remember pages of warning about how modifying your config file for X
free 86 could seriously damange your monitor (you had to manually mod
the file in those days - no fancy detection tool like you get now!)

> One other thought, before you even think about installing, have a
look
at
> the Hardware-HOWTO, to check the compatibility of your computer's
hardware
> (e.g. http://www.doc-linux.co.uk/LDP/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/index.html).
> Linux's hardware support is becoming more and more comprehensive,
but
> unsupported hardware is still the most likely cause of frustration.
In
> particular, watch out for problems with WinModems. 90% of internal
modems
> are software modems relying on proprietary Windows drivers to make
them

Thanks, I know about the winmodem issue - and have never used them in a
win environment anyway as I don't want to waste processor cycles doing
the job a 'real' modem should do.  I guess I should check that
whatever
'retired' hardware I use will in fact work......

> By the way, most linux users would see Microsoft as the Evil
Empire,
so
> you
> are now leaving, not joing the dark side. May the force be with
you.
Ah but I'm not leaving, merely operating on the edge :-)

To be honest, I can see arguments for *nix server side as there is a
lot
of software out there, a lot of it free, it works as well as the
commercial stuff etc, but I don't think I could _ever_ see it as a
desktop OS.
There's nothing else out there apart from MS that has the functionality
and ease of use of Word, Excel, visual studio etc.  It's about
time
there was, but there isn't so until that day, you gotta be using MS
somewhere unless you're crazy :-)


Thanks Bruno and everyone else for your suggestions.  I think I'll
just
have to take a flier and download either Red Hat or Mandrake and see
what happens.


Cheers,


Tony

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