Steve, Just my $ .02... * icewm & fvwm (fluxbox too) are your friends with an older system. * gnome & kde are desktops that are robust but also will run somewhat slower on older PC equipment.
I would encourage you to find a version of Knoppix, Mepis or possibly Ubuntu LiveCDs to try out. A LiveCD will let you get the Linux system running in system RAM (if your computer is capable of booting from the CD device). Running in system RAM will not change the contents of your hard drive. With most Live CDs they are equiped with memtest86 which will allow you to test your system memory if you wish. I would suggest 64mb or more (probably 128mb would be a good midpoint). You may also wish to checkout DSL (Damn Small Linux). Its resources are minimal. There are also more than two architecture differences. One is RPM based (Redhat Package Manager) and APT (Debian-based). Either one will use repositories to find the software beyond your initial installation media (GIMP 2.0 is on media, but GIMP 2.1 is available at xx repository). In windows-speak, ide hard drives are numbered 0,1,2 etc. corresponding to their device listings. In Linux-speak, they would be /dev/hda for the first IDE hard drive, /dev/hdb for the second and so on. The primary partitions contribute to more complete device listings (ie. /dev/hda1 is the primary partition on the first IDE hard drive connected to the computer). SCSI-type devices are /dev/sd* following the same pattern. This might apply to actual SCSI hardware, as well as thumb/Flash drives, etc. These are building blocks to Linux distros. I don't want to start a wordwar with anyone, but just some pointers to help you to start thinking about a Linux distro. Advice that was once given to me is find a distro and stay with it for awhile. On your installed hard drive that is totally cool, but the LiveCDs allow you to test drive more than one distro and see how they compare. TTFN jontheisguy __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To unsubscribe from this list, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] & you will be removed. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
