There's nothing wrong with Mepis--and it is generally quite good at hardware recognition, which may be an issue with an older box.
That said, I'd be concerned with any memory limits in your old desktop. Unless I am mistaken, it probably has a relatively small amount of RAM. Thus, one distribution I would seriously consider is Lubuntu. It is an Ubuntu variant, but uses the LXDE graphical environment, which is much less RAM-hungry than the larger Gnome or KDE variants. Because it's a flavor of Ubuntu, though, it has all the resources and ease of use of the Ubuntu family in general.
As for "Fairpoint not supporting Linux"--that is highly unlikely, although they may not have help or official support, Internet connectivity is not generally dependent upon which operating system you use.
Look in your area to see if there are any Linux user groups. Many have "install fests" where they will get you up and running with the distribution of your choice. Also, many individual Linux enthusiasts will help in a case like this--ask around, or maybe post an ad in a local free want-ad paper or website. You might be surprised at what you'll find.
David
--- In LINUX_Newbies@yahoogroups.com, "papasmurf" <papa.smurf5@...> wrote:
>
> HI FOLKS:
> Am retired senior. Have very old, slow, tired Gateway desktop. Seeking good used AMD dual core tower, to finally bring my home pc into the 21st century. When I find one, was pondering installing Linux on old pc, so I can spend time familiarizing myself with the system. Is this a good way to go?
> Am in the dark on how to access the internet on a Linux-based pc. Live in New England and have Fairpoint Communications for home phone/ internet service and they don't support Linux. Is there a way around this?
> Having answer to these questions will help to get me started.
> Just read about a program called Mepis and it seemed like a good starting point. Comments on this?
> Thank You in advance. TTFN. Old Tom aka papasmurf
>
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