the Linux decision

I like Mandrake 9.1.

9.2 has had some problems, I would avoid it for a few days. Redhat is good too. I think it's just as easy to set-up as Windows. Either is good.

And you are thinking of WINE for the software that does Windows programs. I would consider yourself lucky if a app works under WINE, I wouldn't expect it.

But Linux is great. To get your camera working you should find a Linux forum. http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=frm&s=50009562&f=96509133
They can help more then I can. Linux people like helping out new users.

I would check out the link above. They have a sticky discussing distros.

What is Linux anyway? I mean, I don't have the slightest mental picture of what you're talking about.

Linux is an open source operating system (which means it's like Windows or Mac OS except that it's free and anyone can look at or modify its programming, which is why there are many competing versions of Linux). Well, it is free, but full distributions of it along with technical support and training are available for a fee from vendors such as Red Hat Software www.redhat.com and The SCO Group www.sco.com . Due to its stability & speed it's quite popular with ISPs as the OS for hosting Web servers (for example Able2Know is hosted on a Linux server).

Personally I've only used Red Hat 8 (and very little at that) so I've got nothin' to compare it with.

So is it a GUI interface like windows?

Yes.

ps: Welcome out from under your rock, dude.

So we have operating systems such as Windows and Mac OS X. It's what you see and how you interact with a computer. Applications, such as Word, Photoshop run on top of this. Your applications do something and the OS tells the hardware what to do.

Linux is a OPEN source Operating System. Everyone can view how the system works (source code). With Windows you can't do this.. Only Microsoft knows the underlying code that makes things tick. That is why Linux is secure, and Windows is not. Blaster, ect.. A million eyes fixing thing before the 12 year old in the basement finds a hole. And the big cool thing about Linux is it's free, and most software is free. I'm tired, I could say more. But Google Linux. It's very cool.

[edit: damn, i'm slow]

To be honest. If you have to ask what Linux is. You shouldn't be using it. Do some research on the history of it. And it's current uses. Then decide if you want to give it a whirl.

http://www.gentoo.org/ Has live cd's. You can give Linux a try without installing it. It runs from the CD.

For someone who may soon be studying computer science, I have a lot to learn!!!!!!

I wouldn't sweat it too much. Your first class will probably teach you how to use a mouse.





If any of that makes any sense. You are cool.
The code is Python..

i would suggest mandrake for a 1st timer.
whether you want to keep windows or not is a decision you have to make based on your need for windows apps. personally i need some video editing tools available only in windows so i dual-boot (or at least that's what i'm trying to accomplish. it's not working at the moment).

I use Linux almost exclusively both professionally and personally.

I recommend Red Hat for the first timer. I had some problems with Mandrake (and I am a computer geek).

You can pick up Red Hat for about $40. It is pretty easy to install and comes with email support.

Modern Linux provides everything you expect on a computer. It comes with a GUI desktop environment (actually you have a choice of two). It will automatically manage your internet connection and your printer.

It also comes with a surprising about of software including a decent office suite, CD burning software and a set of games.

There are many advantages to Linux including stability, economy and a community of other Linux users that will help. Best of all there is no Microsoft trying to control everything.

The downsides to Linux are there are less fully polished commercial software. My kids use Windows becuase of the games. But, you can do just about anything on Linux, but the applications aren't quite as slick.

There are also some pieces of hardware that Linux doesn't support. This is the fault of the hardware manufacturers who won't give up the proprietary information needed by Linux developers. The most famous problem is with the so-called WinModems. You can check on the Internet if your modem is OK.

If you like getting your hands dirty this is an advantage since generally you have more freedom to get "under the hood".

Linux is a bit harder to use. But now days there are very good books on how to manage. There is also a large amount of very good stuff on the Internet.

It is also possible to set up your computer so that it can boot either Linux or Windows. This is pretty easy to set up. I keep Windows around for the occasional time that I need to test on Window for work, and to let my kids play games.

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eLviintuaxbilse

The Linux GUI is only like the Windows GUI if you use the KDE desktop. Enlightenment, for instance, is quite different.

I have SuSE 8.1, and it's pretty decent. Something used to be wrong with the APM, but it's fixed now. I had some trouble with networks on 8.0, but I haven't tried again since I upgraded. I've heard the new Red Hat is pretty nice too.

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I'm sorry for not posting any progress for so long ... but I have a couple updates and mostly thanks.

Since I posted this, I have been reading a lot of news, events, propaganda, etc. both for and against Linux, Windows, and a few other optional OS's. And, yes. I have a live CD on order (I found a package slip in my mail box today ... it could be it! But it was too late for packages) and I'm anxious to begin experimenting.

So thanks for the help, all!

Howdy:

The new RedHat Fedora is out as a free download and it looks real good.. Been playing with it for awhile now.. Setup was a snap, smotther and faster than Windows (what isn't) and it found my network and internet setup right off..

Murray

I recently installed Suse Linux Enterprise Server and found it to be quite easy to do, and, the security settings right out of the box were superior to anything I've seen. The only problem was with the FTP daemon which needed to be replaced with a more secure version.

Well, those are the two I'm considering. But with too small of a memory key, no access to a CD burnewr at work, and 2 weeks or more for anything to get here in the mail, I'm not sure if I should wait or order it (sometimes Suse shows up here, but it's never the latest and always disappears Quickly -- and the store here sells EVERYTHING computer related at nearly twice what I could get it for back in the States). So my only personal decision now is which of the two to start with, and how exactly to go about getting it -- simply downloading is NOT an option. The connection here is 28.8, and the server periodically disconnects users every 5 or 6 hours.

I don't have a link on hand but there are online sites that sell various flavors of Linux for very cheap. It's perfectly legal, they just don't offer the tech support that the retail versions come with.

Thnaks ye110man ... frtunately things have turned out a little better than I expected. One friend has mailed me Suse, and another sent me Gentoo. And that was right after miraculously finding a coppy of Red Hat in the book store. It's a bit of a miracle, considering I haven't seen anything Linux here for at least three months.

So now I'm trying to decide whether I should simply do a ual boot with one, or go out on a limb and install each on a different partition, as one person (almost jokingly) suggested. I just hate to leave software sitting around unused ... Then again, I plan to get a laptop soon as well, so I might just save one for that (unless I go for yet another distro and go way too overboard).

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