On Friday 29 December 2000 11:41, you wrote:
> ok, here is the real question: why do people try running linux?, the
> impression i had gathered was that it was a lighter os and could be used on
> older machines, (i386 etc). I was a little dismayed when i saw the download
> size. How much disk space will a bare install need?
>
> David and Alicia
>
> Would mandrake run on a p60, 540 mb hd, ?
>
Yes it would, a stripped-down version. Just because we have 2000 packages in
the application doesn't mean you need to run them all.
For example there are about 20 computer languages, some compiled, some
interpreted, in that distribution which are mainly of interest to programmers
or people who want to learn programming.
There are also three web servers, 20 text editors, 14 window managers (for
different graphical user interfaces), a Scanner interface program, four IRC
chat programs, ICQ and AIM clones, a complete office suite, a word processor,
ten publishing programs, several electronic books, one of them numbering over
2000 pages if you print it (HOWTOs), two or three web browsers, at least ten
graphical editors ranging from paintbrush clones to Photoshop workalikes.
Why use it? Read the license agreement you have for Windows. Then read the
COPYING file in any of our distribution directories.
If you want to own your own computer and be free to use it as you choose. If
you want to change how it works, if you want to share your changes with
others, our licensing permits that, and in fact takes it one step farther by
requiring you pass on those basic rights to those you choose to share it with.
This is the GNU General Public License, which covers all but one of the
distributions of the GNU/Linux system.
Yes, you can use WindowMaker, Gnome(heavy), KDE(heavy, but with a lot of
apps), BlackBox (simple and fast, and runs most Gnome and KDE apps), IceWM,
and many others.
You are unlikely to need drivers for most aftermarket hardware. Only a few
manufacturers keep their drivers secret and therefore do not get distributed.
Linux will come up first time most likely running your modem (unless it is a
new, cheap software modem), your sound card (older ISA cards may require you
to run sndconfig), your video (not in 640x480 and 16 colors as with a windows
install, but fully configured).... Also, unlike WindowsME and the NT-series,
GNU/linux still has support for ancient hardware, like the non-ATAPI CDROMS
that ran from sound cards and gave PC users win3.1 nightmares.
But the real issue is "freedom". I remember planning once to be an ISP and
buying WindowsNT workstation to run my server. In the blink of a Microsoft
attorney's eye, it became a criminal act to use NT Workstation for more than
10 simultaneous connections--yes they changed the license after I bought the
software, and by clicking on agree or typing Yes, I had given them permission
to do that. I instead had to buy the NT Server, which came equipped with the
"Free" IIS rather than the competing number from Netscape I was planning on
using on my NT workstation. "Had To?" I ended up with Mandrake 5.3 running
Apache, and I could change it as I saw fit. If Linux weren't here, I would
have had only the choices Microsoft offered for the use of my computers, and
I would have specifically been prohibted from changing it.
Civileme
