Linux newbie questions

[smyrna]

I recently read with amusement the thread http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... ilit=linux about how to identify Linux users on the forum and realized we have several IT personnel or other tech savy people on board, so I have some Linux questions from a "Newbie".

First a little background info...
Within the last year I replaced our home computer system and bought a nice Dell with Vista. And, maybe I'm in the minority, but so far, I like Vista...very easy to add hardware, etc. I have yet had to download drivers for older hardware or have any bad experiences with connectivity. My only gripe is, MAN, there are A LOT of updates for Vista when you first start using it.

Anyway, I got to tinkering with our old system, an OLD HP Pavillion, 650 Mhz, 128K RAM, 40 GB HDrive (I know a dinosaur). I added a new faster hard drive, got the RAM up to 896K, tweaked the BIOS to make it boot faster, reinstalled XP and stripped all the useless software, added a USB 2.0 card, and MAN was I impressed. This thing will boot as fast as the new Dell running Vista and is not bad for a second computer. Then I got to reading about the various Linux based OS. I couldn't resist. I took the old harddrive and installed Freespire and toyed with it for awhile. Couldn't get the dial up modem to work right and read about the software modem vs. hardware modem issue and couldn't bring myself to throw more money at it. I also exprienced issues with the CD drive when playing music files. The music tended to "skip" but continue playing forward.

Next, I tried Ubuntu. I was even dual booting Ubuntu with XP for awhile, but I experienced the same issues with Ubuntu. I really like the look and feel of the Linux systems, but I haven't had much success in getting all the functionality from it as an OS when compared to XP or Vista. So, what am I doing wrong? I was under the impression that the Linux systems required fewer resources than the Windows OS but that has not been my experience with my old dinosaur of a computer. So what gives? I really want to give it another try and I am looking for suggestions.

Also, I have recently aquired a third computer from a surplus sale. A dell optiplex 270 with 3 Ghz, a 1 GB of RAM, and 80 GB Hdrive and was told it was running Vista before the drive was wiped of data. Bought it for $30 and got it home and it wouldn't POST. I started unplugging components until I got it to go to the BIOS. Turned out to be a bad video card. It still wouldn't boot. I put the drive in another computer and I could see the windows files but still no boot. So on a whim, I attempted to fix the files with my Vista recovery CD and BAM, she started booting. So, can anyone suggest an Linux OS for a Newbie? Is the dinosaur a lost cause with Linux? What about the optiplex? Oh yeah, I now have DSL so dial up is not an issue.

Thanks in advance.

[KD5NRH]

Next, I tried Ubuntu. I was even dual booting Ubuntu with XP for awhile, but I experienced the same issues with Ubuntu.

Google becomes your friend when dealing with Ubuntu or Debian. Most of thepossible issues have already been hashed out pretty thoroughly on various message boards.

FWIW, even a pared-down Ubuntu doesn't seem to work as well on this ancient laptop as Debian does. I'm not sure what the big difference is, since Ubuntu is based on Debian, but I get the same functionality without as many delays. I'd probably do even better with Slax or DSL on here, but both are designed to run from LiveCDs rather than installed to the HD, and I've never had much luck with trying to hack them into proper installations.

Also, I have recently aquired a third computer from a surplus sale. A dell optiplex 270 with 3 Ghz, a 1 GB of RAM, and 80 GB Hdrive and was told it was running Vista before the drive was wiped of data. Bought it for $30 and got it home and it wouldn't POST. I started unplugging components until I got it to go to the BIOS. Turned out to be a bad video card. It still wouldn't boot. I put the drive in another computer and I could see the windows files but still no boot. So on a whim, I attempted to fix the files with my Vista recovery CD and BAM, she started booting. So, can anyone suggest an Linux OS for a Newbie? Is the dinosaur a lost cause with Linux? What about the optiplex? Oh yeah, I now have DSL so dial up is not an issue.

Play with different distributions; sometimes a machine that just won't work right with Ubuntu will do fine with PCLinuxOS, or Slackware, or whatever. If you don't want to deal with download times just to try them out, there are places out there that will send out distros on CD cheap. For the price of a new video game, you can have six or eight Linux distributions delivered to your door.

[The Annoyed Man]

Fwiw, I've been playing with various Linux OS's for close to 10 years now, and it's come down to Ubuntu for me. Very easy to install and use, and it is getting *very* close to the "it just works" functionality that Windows has going for it.

Mac OS users always grin when somebody says that.

[dthowell]

I am a all three users but love my MAC's. I do run Linux servers at the house because you can't beat a linux server. I was always a redhat/Fedora user and just switched to Ubuntu 8.0. I use the server version and I put the desktop version on a dell inspiron 1100 with a dell 1350 wireless card and worked like a champ, wireless just works. the documentation for Ubuntu on there own website (not including 3rd party websites) is just awesome. I am very impressed with Ubuntu. http://www.tuxcds.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has all versions for download as ISO files just use Nero to burn to disc's. They are free to download.

[The Annoyed Man]

Fwiw, I've been playing with various Linux OS's for close to 10 years now, and it's come down to Ubuntu for me. Very easy to install and use, and it is getting *very* close to the "it just works" functionality that Windows has going for it.

Mac OS users always grin when somebody says that.

When working at Circuit City I always used to grin at a mac user that would come and ask where the mac-compatible software aisle was

hehe

Why, any Mac owner would know that it's at the Mac store!

[WarHawk-AVG]

I recommend finding a bootable livecd

It will allow you to boot and play with linux, then pull the cd, and reboot back to windows

http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are tons of distros out there...just grab one an play with it...it depends on how deep you want to dig into linux

[KBCraig]

When working at Circuit City I always used to grin at a mac user that would come and ask where the mac-compatible software aisle was

hehe

Did you grin when they turned around, went home, and ordered everything they wanted from MacWarehouse?

The sellers of Mac hardware, software, and accessories are pretty healthy these days compared to Circuit City.

[KinnyLee]

Oh they may be, but they are also paying the Apple Premium in order to have the privilege of buying their hardware and software at limited vendors

I think there is a hacked version of Leoperd out there that will run on a PC with specific parts. That would be interesting to see.

[KBCraig]

Oh they may be, but they are also paying the Apple Premium in order to have the privilege of buying their hardware and software at limited vendors

Apple hardware runs neck-and-neck, price-wise, with any quality PC vendor when comparably equipped. Dell and Lenovo are often more expensive than Apple hardware. So is Sony, and if you want to talk proprietary, they're the worst offenders.

There's no premium attached to the software: it's the same price for both platforms.

There's also no advantage to Windows when it comes to software selection. Yes, there are many more Windows titles, but 99% of them are buggy junk written by middle schoolers. When you compare actual usable (and useful) programs, the number is about the same. There are titles available for Windows that aren't available for Mac, but the reverse is also true. Almost all major productivity titles are available on both platforms.

Because of the Unix underpinnings, there is a much healthier Open Source community developing for Mac.

The one clear advantage to Windows is in gaming, where most titles are released for Windows first (or even exclusively). It makes me chuckle compared to 15-20 years ago, when the conventional wisdom was, "Sure, Apples are great for games, but if you want to get any real work done, you need a PC." It wasn't true, but it's a funny contrast to today's CW, which is, "Sure, Apples are great for graphics and design and productivity, but if you want to play any real games, you need a PC."

[KBCraig]

I think there is a hacked version of Leoperd out there that will run on a PC with specific parts. That would be interesting to see.

http://hackintosh.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;