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Thread ID: 46143	2004-06-15 00:43:00	Discussion: What Do Newbies (And you) Need to Make the Switch to Linux??	Chilling_Silence (9)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
244519	2004-06-15 05:58:00	> My gawd Growly. Remind me never to be in the same > landing craft with you if we ever play Battlefield > together. :P Hehehehe - I would have a) killed myself b) taken a tan or c) blown the landing craft up from a dirty battleship (when on your team) by then.... and i was gonna say that I meant the network thing in debian, just the CLI. I didn't load the GUi, to much work. (Actually it's because i didnt have enough ram)	Growly (6)
244520	2004-06-15 06:06:00	Growly> Email me man and I'll hook you up with Xandros OCE. Its faster than Fedora / Mandrake in my experience, and a lot more windows-like in its look/feel so it'll help you get used to the idea of it. Either that or there's Ark Linux which I'd prefer to send you, but email me and we can sort something out alright :-)	Chilling_Silence (9)
244521	2004-06-15 06:29:00	Well said nzStan regarding the Windows Admin account vs the Linux root account and security. :) >If you are using Linux as your only OS, what would make you use Windows? At home I hardly even touch Windows now, and that is only to play some of my games. Given a choice, I would purchase a native Linux port of the same game (unfortunately they are not widely available). A year ago (exactly), I decided to give Linux a real go rather than my previous little dabbles where I loaded it and then booted into it maybe once a week just to poke around. I went out and bought Red Hat Linux 8 for Dummies book and installed RH8 determined to give it a real go. I soon moved onto RH 9, then Fedora etc. I haven't looked back, and with encouragement from fellow Linux users (especially Chill), I went on and learnt how to use it and developed my now strong interest in it :) I can use my digicam, TV-tuner card, scanner, play music, burn CD's, do my work stuff paperwork with ease - makes no difference to me it is all under Linux. It is awesome what I can do with it :D I think Linux is making real inroads into the desktop market, and the current quibbles are being ironed out so that it is or soon be newbie friendly. >> You even looked at the net lately? Kde 3.x far >> outstrips Windows in presentation, and is just as >> functional if not more so. >HAHA, very funny, even so it is still crap. Stu> You really need to look at some of the distro's rolling out now - very presentable! Examples of my KDE under Fedora Core 2 Burning a CD (sal.neoburn.net) KMenu (sal.neoburn.net) KDE Control Centre (sal.neoburn.net) :)	Jen C (20)
244522	2004-06-15 06:45:00	>If you're not using Linux, what is stopping you? Well personally for me, I would love to try it! I have talked with all you converts from F1 and I'm itching to try it! Whats stopping me?, well i guess nothing;-), however i am a little hesitant to try it on my main puter as my partner uses it for gaming etc... and have heard it can be troublesome it that area? My plan is - hopefully - that i would get another cheap system and set it up and use/learn solely Linux on that ;-). I "could" dual boot, but would rather hold off and just dedicate a computer to it solely, in preparation for all the messes I will get myself into ;-). After all i have to have a computer which can access F1 to help me get out of all the messes i get into using Linux;-). I guess its fear of the unknown and sticking to what we are familiar with, makes us feel a little safer maybe?? :-) Also i figure i have still got soooo sooo much more to learn on windows yet!! ** Poor young Chill will be ducking for cover when i get Linux ;-) - hes already my online tech for windows,lol ;-) :-). As a side note - I have yet to see a Linux install :O , so i guess that says it all:-( I was told that DSE had Linux machines in there shops? however not in my area they don't? Anybody know of any shops that do have demo puters with Linux installs? I would love to have a look at one :-), oh well i will have to make do with Chills screenshots for now ;-)	J ZEP (336)
244523	2004-06-15 07:10:00	>As a side note - I have yet to see a Linux install An easy way of seeing a Linux installation is to use a Linux Live-CD which loads off the CD only and doesn't touch the hard drive at all. You merely ensure your machine can boot off CD's, pop it in and start up the machine. When you are finished, the CD is removed and Windows is back. You do however have to be aware that the speed of the Linux is dependant upon your RAM and CD-drive speed with these live CD's. Knoppix is one of the most well known live-CD's, and myself or someone else can send you a disc if you like to have a look. :) >I guess its fear of the unknown and sticking to what we are familiar with, makes us feel a little safer maybe?? I think that is one of the big reasons in getting people to try something different, because Linux is not Windows and so it does appear and act very foreign to some (this is also very distro dependant as some do emulate Windows appearance very well). No one has to try Linux, it is just another Operating System that is available if you are looking for something different, don't want to have to pay for a new Operating System or wish to take on a new challenge and learn about it. DSE (and other PC shops) do sell pre-installed Linux desktop computers which get around the worry of possible hardware not working first pop and learning how to install an operating system. Also by getting a commercial Linux distro such as SuSE or Xandros, the user gets email support to solve any issues they might have. But, go for it J ZEP, we need more Linux girls out there! :p I am definitely in the minority at the local Linux User Group meetings :D	Jen C (20)
244524	2004-06-15 07:18:00	Alright chill!!! Dangnammit... everything works for you guys!!! Hmm... I will certainly email you chill!	Growly (6)
244525	2004-06-15 07:33:00	I have only 2 reasons for not trying Linux YET. (Yes, you enthusiasts have aroused my curiosity & enthusiasm since I joined PF1 - so you've done a good job there, Chill et al) Reason 1 is that I'm a totally self-taught newb ( never touched a computer until last year) with no support system worth speaking of apart from Google & you guys. Yes, I know you're great, but I'm still struggling with Windows. Shouldn't I get better at that first? (And before you say No because Linux will be easier, note Reason 2....) Reason 2 is that my system isn't up to trying the ideal situation - having both on my computer to experiment. I'm running 98SEon 10Gigs/600MHz/128RAM. Yes, I'll add more RAM, but my system is currently two thirds full. When I buy my NEXT computer, it'll be a different story. I'll be back for Linux advice from you experts then. Keep up the good persuasive work..	Laura (43)
244526	2004-06-15 07:54:00	Well its funny how some topics just pop up at the right time . Over the last couple of months I have been trying as many distributions as a can lay my hands on without coughing up any money . The FTP (ftp://ftp2 . jetstreamgames . co . nz) site at Jetstreamgames is a great resource as if you have dsl of any flavor you can connect at full speed and download until your hearts content . I have made the decision that aside from games (V8 supercars wont run in linux damnit) I am going to make a concerted effort to use linux only . Is it easy? Hmmmm not really but then neither is windows . If it was then PF1 wouldnt be here . Have a search through the forum and see how many linux problems remain unresolved vs how many windows ones . Aside from gaming what do I use my PC for? 1 . Surfing . No reason not to do this in linux but you do have to install java and flash in most dists (Not Xandros tho) 2 . Email . Go on send me a virus :D I dare ya . 3 . Music . XMMS, Rythm Box etc . Do a great job . 4 . Anything else I have forgotten and I'm sure that all of it can be done on linux if I try hard enough :) Oh by the way Jen C, watch out . I have some questions coming your way . I ended up with Fedora FC2 :) If anyone is interested in trying a dist and you cant get it off the net . EG dial up . Gimme a yell and I will gladly burn a copy for you to try as I'm sure CS and Jen C will be . Hmmm This could the start of a blog . Cheers Shaun	Shaun Minfie (2961)
244527	2004-06-15 08:41:00	Atten Laura::: I to am a self taught, and installed redhat linux 9 on a 330mhz p2 with 128 meg of ram (have a hp6320). I was a little apprehensive for a start but got a "dummies guide" from the library to help me through the setup(which was as simple as hell). The book said I needed a 600mhz processer to run red hatbut it seems to run well and I havent had any probs in the last 6 months or so. I even managed to partition my hdd into 1x 16.5 gig for windows 98se and 1 swap file thingee of about 500meg and the rest of my hdd for linux(about 12gig i think). I think the hardest thing was working out how to get the partition program to do the right thing, this became a lot more simple when I read the chapter on "partitioning your hdd"(typical male, try first then read instructions) So I guess what I am trying to say is that you should just give it a go, there is always the pf1 guys to fall back on if you get stuck and you wont regret doing it. Cheers Mik	miknz (3731)
244528	2004-06-15 09:22:00	As has been said . if your apprehensive give a live distro a try (boot & run from CD) . That's what I did with Mepis and Knoppix . I then installed Mepis to the HDD and it could not have been simpler . Ive got about another 3 distro's I want to try before making a final decission, no make that 4 I'll give Fedora a run as well . I find it a reasonably steep learning curve do do the anything other than the basics . I haven't set up my camera yet for eg, can't find ghoto or Kamera (CLI here I come, erk! )but all the usb is detected right off and anything else you care to mention . Network, video, display, audio, players, CD and burning is all very simple . The rest is no harder than windows if you don't know what your doing to start with . BTW, Growly, I'm sure you have a Red Hat based distro not Debian, could be some of your problem :) another BTW, if your using a nForce board Growly your network card may not set up so easily, I poped in a Realtek and was away with a few clicks . Give a live CD a try, Mepis, Knoppix, Mandrake Live, etc . Cripes its easier than when I started out in win 95 . Live a little, have fun ;) And to answer your question Chill, nothing will stop me from using Linux . Cheers Murray P	Murray P (44)
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