On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 8:06 PM, Richard Owlett <[email protected]> wrote: > I suspect some answers are on www.pdxlinux.org, but I'm getting > timeout errors. > > I'm a senior citizen migrating to *nix whose last formal course > work used 026's and line printers for I/O. My personal systems > have progressed from CPM80 (Digital Research) thru Win 3.1 to > WinXP Pro. Some of my personal preferences are shaped by that. > > I have Ubuntu 10.10 up and running in test mode from a USB drive. > > My first impression is that the default installation suffers from > the same problems as Windows - trying to be "all things to all > people" while NOT supplying some specific tools that I want. > > Question 1. > While keeping the default configuration available, can I have a > massively pruned configuration be my typical boot? > > Question 2. > While browsing files available thru the default desktop, one > seemed to say that internet access via an external RS-232 dial up > modem was not available with standard drivers. BUT when browsing > the descriptions of installed software it appeared that pppcfg > (IIRC) handled that. I'm confused.
That will let you configure dial up but there needs to be drivers/modules for the actual hardware which may not be part of the default install depending on your hardware. > > Question 2a. > I didn't spot any reference to firewalls or ant-virus tools. Is > that accomplished in a different manner in the Linux world? > IPTables is the firewall, it's part of the kernel. You can download a GUI to configure it easier if you like. A/V can be handled by Clam AV and I'm sure there are others. > Question 3. > I wish to end up with > GUI - exists > Open Office - exists > Tcl/Tk - have appropriate executables on CD? > Scilab/SciosLab - will have to download > SeaMonkey - have strong preference for the suite approach > dial-up access with firewall and virus protection - *HOW* ? > > I'll leave the games,and sound/movie players as they will be > occasional used and see minimal benefit to removing them. > > Suggestions? > Am I on the appropriate list? > Recommended sites other than www.pdxlinux.org? > What are productive Google search terms? > You are on the appropriate list and most importantly Welcome to Linux :-) > Thank you. > > > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
