Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 14:26:04 05/25/03
Go up one level in this thread
On May 25, 2003 at 02:43:33, Kurt Utzinger wrote:
> Hi Christophe
>
> Sounds very promising and people should start thinking to use Linux. What
> about problems for users [like me] who don't understand much about
> programming, OS and so on?
>
> Regards
> Kurt
I have found Linux to be as simple as Windows to set up and manage.
Well that means that Linux is also as complicated as Windows! :)
The reason why some people find Linux complex is that they are used to Windows
and do not realize that getting Windows to work has been complicated as well.
But either they have forgotten about it, or at the time they had to install and
configure Windows they have got help from other people.
Anyway as soon as you have to go "under the hood", both Windows and Linux can be
a nightmare. So help from an expert can be necessary in both cases.
Once Linux is set up and configured, I find it clearly more stable than Windows.
In other words, once it works it keeps on working. That's not the case with
Windows, and I think everybody has experienced the frustration of booting
Windows one morning just to discover that the graphic card has lost its
configuration (back to 640x480 in 16 colors), that some USB peripherals were not
working any more, that the sound card had disappeared from the hardware list or
whatever...
It has never happened to me in several months of use of Linux on at least 6
different computers (laptops and desktops). You cannot imagine how good it is to
know that your computer will just work and that you are going to be able to
focus on YOUR work until you have actually experienced that feeling.
So if you are interest in trying out Linux (and I think it's a good idea), I
would advise you to first find somebody who is familiar with it. You will need
help from that guy or girl, exactly as you would have needed help the first time
you have tried Windows.
Select a distribution that is both mainstream and simple to use (Red Hat,
Mandrake), or just use the same distribution as the person who will help you
out.
For a comparison of Linux distributions, this site is excellent:
http://www.distrowatch.com/
This page in the site gives you a short overview of the main distributions:
http://www.distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
If you want a distribution of Linux and do not want to spend several days
downloading it, this site is excellent: http://www.linuxcd.org (on that site and
for a reason that is unknown to me, Red Hat is called "Blue Jacket"). For a few
dollars you will get your Linux in your mailbox really quick (it took me just 4
days to get the Red Hat 9, and I live overseas for them).
You can just order Red Hat or Mandrake and install it yourself on your PC. It's
really easy: just boot from the CD and follow the instructions of the graphic
installer. In less than half an hour Linux and its beautiful graphic user
interface is on your PC.
But then your problem will be: OK, now I want to do this or that. How do I do
it? In other words, you will need to know what application to use to perform a
given task. That's why you'll need somebody who knows the system, mainly.
Christophe
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