Yes, all the things I wanted to say and probably should have. A couple/few (depending) key things here being "The particular use for the computer in question" and that covers both the "Home Desktops" and the "Web servers/office use too" all at the same time.
I had to cut three or four lines out here in order to not throw Troll Food and Flame Bait. So, there is KNOPPIX, there is also Coyote Linux on a floppy for a complete interaction between Windows and Linux and any other platform you can throw at it. So I think most importantly, the new Linux user should first think about what they want to do with their new Linux system, and then start deciding which distro suits them better. Who knows? Maybe they just need the 486 with a floppy drive and 16 Megs of RAM to act as a proxy or a networking box like the Coyote Network on a disk. On Mon December 30 2002 20:05, you wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > On Monday 30 December 2002 06:58, Pat Roche wrote: > > After an unsuccessful weekend struggle to get Red Hat 8 working properly, > > I'd like to hear the views of this technically adept group on whether > > non-technical people should attempt Linux at all? > > it first depends on what you are trying to accomplish. as a desktop, i'd > say sure. as a server, you'll want a bit more knowledge (though even that > is getting pretty simple these days). > > but .... if you are doing the installation of the OS yourself, i'd suggest > probably not. but i'd say that for most any OS install. Windows has the > slight advantage of usually being tested with the hardware configuration > you received, but if you have changed hardware or it isn't the same version > of Windows that was installed when you got it then that benefit pretty much > goes out the window. > > both SuSe and MDK tend to be quite solid and usable once it is installed > and things are in order. this is why, as you stated in an earlier email, > OEM support for linux is sooooo important to it's growth into the general > desktop market. it isn't as much of an issue for companies with their own > IT grunts, but for most home users and small/medium size businesses, it is. > > past the installation, it isn't very difficult to use on a day-to-day basis > at all. i base that comment on having several *Very* non-techie people that > run Linux in my immediate surroundings (sales people ;)... > > having a knowledgeable person around is a good thing though, but that's > true regardless of what you're running =) > > - -- > Aaron J. Seigo > GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43 > > "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler" > - Albert Einstein > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) > > iD8DBQE+EPtw1rcusafx20MRAntkAJkBvKooaJcD+5dI1xnYd8sSkrlPZQCdETNG > rN6ZCQc2v3iiIbrNAVGnIF8= > =bZ1h > -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
