Re: Which Linux distros would be best for me?

Walterius wrote:
When I ask which would be best, I mean: ease of learning, community support
and newsgroups, and availability of good, simple books.

I am retired from 20 years of aerospace software development. I live on a
small fixed income. I have used Windows since 3.11 and Office since O97, and
a myriad of other OS's and computers before that. I was a CAX systems
programmer for years.

I like to learn from newsgroups and books. This is, however, my first post
to any Linux ng.

I want to add one or more Linux systems to my multi-boot Windows
2000/Windows ME systems.

My goal is to Linux and OpenOffice and not need Windows or Microsoft Office.
As a retiree, I can no longer afford to keep chasing after Windows (DOS
4.01, DOS 6.22, Windows 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, WME, W2K) and Office (97, 2000,
XP). I also have a suspicion that Vista and O2007 would overload my Athlon
2000+, its 512 MB RAM, and 120 GB HDDs.

I have read that Linux can run on as little as a 286, and can prolong the
life of many an elderly computer?

I have been downloading and testing open source software for a few years
now, and it appears the open source community is close to producing the
tools I need, specifically an OS, office suite, tons of graphics tools, and
some good books.

I use BellSouth DSL. I don't know if they support Linux, but I don't think
so. A search of their Help site turned up no reference to Linux. I sent them
email asking for clarification. If they don't support it, I will eventually
switch to another ISP.

My greatest fear is learning a bunch of semi-meaningless Linux commands a la
DOS or Unix. Best for me would be something that closely resembles
Plug-n-Pray.

I also have a non-standard mobo that uses a special drivers CD (Mainboard XP
support V8.128--IDE drivers, VGA drivers, sound drivers, fax/modem drivers,
LAN drivers, USB 2.0 drivers). I tremble at the thought of not being able to
use my various peripherals, although I am willing to get another mobo/CPU
combination if absolutely necessary.

Thank you for your help, and I apologize for my lengthy post. (Future posts
will be shorter. :)) But I wanted to give you as much helpful information as
possible.

Walter Donavan


Particular distros and kernels like particular hardware.
Ubuntu, which was perfect on my desktop wouldn't install
on my new laptop. Mandriva, which wouldn't work on my desktop
installed fine on the laptop, but the Linexunt modem driver
wouldn't work. Finally got Mepis on the laptop and everything
works, including the winmodem.

You have to fiddle a bit and perform some experiments
with different distros and kernels on
your particular hardware. The problem is not just about
the 'best' distro, it's about getting everything you want
to work working. Be sure to investigate Slackware, too.

.