the whole 'Ford vs. Chevy' thing in the Linux world. Most of the
discussion is going somewhat over my head. I understand the concepts
well enough, but I'm not familiar with the specific programs and all
their quirks.
As a long time programmer who has started to delve into the Linux world
about three years ago, all I can really recommend is that you download
or order the live CD version of whatever distros interest you, and try
them. Install the one you like. If you like more than one, install
several. You can keep your Windows installation if you like.
I'm somewhat of a purist by nature, but I have become much more
pragmatic in my old age. I like my solutions to be elegant inside and
out, and I like to know what's under the hood. Pragmatically, though, I
was happy to pop a Linux Mint 5 Elyssa live CD into my computer three
years ago and let it install itself along side the Windows 98 OS I had
been using for years. I found it easier to get used to than the Win XP
system that my brother gave to me a couple years later.
It bugged me that I didn't know how to use the command line interface
(terminal,) but I didn't let it slow me down because I have had very
little need to use the MS DOS command line interface in Windows in the
past few years. I doubt if more than a few percent of the Windows users
in the world can use the command line interface, and it's OK if most of
the Linux users are the same way.
Please don't be intimidated by all the discussion of the 'pure' distros.
I'm glad that they're there, and I'm glad that there are thousands of
users out there who really like to get under the hood, but there's a lot
to be said for being to just be able to turn the key and drive.
The two distros that were recommended the most to me as a former non
Linux user were Suse and Mint. I found out about Ubuntu later. I
heartily recommend that you try those three and decide what you like. If
you have an older machine, you might want to try Puppy Linux. My son
likes using it on an old 500 MHz machine.
By the way, I use Linux Mint (I just upgraded to v. 10 Julia) for almost
everything, and I have Ubuntu ArtistX installed so that I can try a
whole bunch of different video editing software. I have played with
Suse, but not long enough to get familiar with it.
Ray Drouillard
On 10/24/2010 08:48 AM, papasmurf wrote:
>
> HI FOLKS:
> Am TOTAL Newbie/long-retired senior. Shopping around for good used
> desktop I can afford, so wife can do her photo files of kids/
> grandkids/surf net and I can install Linux on other and expand my
> horizons[had XP for yrs; comfortable with...no surprises, have good
> security program]. HATE IE 7 with a Passion! NOT interested in Windows
> 7, as MS is rich and greedy enough; has been for years and am sure the
> Good Lord will some day level the playing field.
> Linux intrigues me, so started reading and learning more about it.
> Followed this Top Five Mistakes thread closly. Found it interesting,
> even though, most of the time, your're talking WAY over my head. One
> thing I did notice: No mention was made of Mepis-Linux; Good or Bad.
> Stumbled upon their website awhile back; am considering this as my
> desktop choice, when ready to 'make the plunge'.
> NOT intending to start another 'flame war' here; just expressing my
> own personal opinion....which I notice just about EVERY Linux user
> does very often[Exercising Free Will and Opinions are like butts:
> Everybody HAS one, ROFL!]. TTFN.....Old Tom aka papasmurf in NH
>
>
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