Re: Where the F**K do I begin?

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:54:34 -0500, GregForester@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I have never even had any interest in Linux, but since I just got a
new computer I have my old Pentium III 700mhz. I also have a spare 15
gig harddrive to install it on, and by swapping hard drives, I can put
back my regular drive.

Or if you have about 10 gig of space, have a mulit-boot system on your
new computer. You know, be able to boot either OS.


Anyhow, I went to linux.com to download it.
That's where I about *** my pants. First of all, there are 20 or 30
different versions.

No, not 20 or 30, goto http://www.distrowatch.com and check out which
one of the 362 linux distribution that people are looking into.


So which one do I use?

The one which you like. Not the one we like.

I thought Linux was Linux.

It is, and being Linux, you are free to generate, package, and
distribute it however you like.

Then I see that to download I need bit-torrent or emule.

Not realy.

Well, that's not going to happen because no computer of mine will ever
connect to either of those virus ridden things.

They are not virus ridden things on Linux. They are on Micro$not.

I finally find one that has a link that directs me to a FTP site.

Most of the popular Distribution have ftp and/or http sites for download.

I decide to just download it and see what happens. That's until I
discover there are many files. Some are smallish .ZIP files, and I
highly doubt they are the OS.

Well, Damn Small Linux fits on a diskette. There are others which run
from a USB memory stick and we have distributions which fit on a
pocket cd. Then you have to decide what you realy need to fit your
computing requirements.

There are numerous text files, and finally a 700 meg file
with an .iso extension.

Those will be the ones which give you a lot more programs than you get
with a Micro$not.

I assume from the size that the .ISO is the actual OS, but what the
f**k is a .ISO file?

No, Linux is kernel of the OS. The Distribution is linux with lots of
other packages containg your games, desktop managers, office tools,
documentation, help files, webservers, mail, browsers, firewall,
multimedia apps,.........

Just for grins I clicked on that ISO file, and was told that the
download would take about 4 and a half days on my dialup connection.

Yeah, dialup bites. I got FiOS with 15MB a second down, 2MB up and can
download the iso faster than I burn one. :(


Well, all I really wanted to do was see what Linux looked like on my
screen.

Well that is a bit of a problem because you get your choice of 8 or
more Desktop Managers instead of just one desktop manager supplied by
Micro$not.

I really had no intention to actually use it.

Yeah, we can kinda tell, from your rant. Most will believe you are
just a troll wanting to pick a fight.

I dont love Microsoft or even like them, but at least my Win XP on
one computer and Win98 on the other both work and make sense to install.

I cannot see how Micro$not OS is a sensible OS to install. Too damn
insecure as proved by all the malware created daily shows. Much less
able to support several Anti Malware companies.


(I still prefer Win98 over XP, not that this matters to Linux).

Yep, linux can co-exists with Micro$not and will boot both.
I
heard Linux was complicated

Yes, I can see how a moped driver sees a stick shift car with radio,
air, heat, wipers, gps, doorlocks,... is too complicated to use.

and was really only for the ultimate
class of computer geeks, which I am not.

Nope, depending on which Distribution you pick, anyone can click the Install
icon and less than an hour later do the reboot and linux is up and running.

However, I do have 18 years of computer use under my belt, so I
thought I could at least install the friggin thing and take a look
at it. But hey, if it takes a geek diploma just to
download the damn thing, I think I'll pass.

Guessing those 18 years experience is from playing MineSweeper.

Hey, Micro$not has dumbed down Vista basic to where you do not even
get a caclulator as part of install.

As a power user, I happen to like Mandriva. If you look at
http://doc.mandrivalinux.com/MandrakeLinux/101/en/Starter.html/drakx-intro.html
you will see it is probably way over your head. I can agree it allows too
much control over what you want to install and asks way too many
questions about what you want to configure.

I would suggest picking something much simpler, Say Kubuntu. That
would be your average Mom/Pop Six Pack who just click the Install icon.
Downside to that is your slow dial up.

Since you failed to indicate your computing needs, you need to read
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
if you want real input to solving your problems.

I am guessing for you, you need to get the Suse cd set.
That would give you a fairly easy install without needing dial up to complete,
much less pesky questions and give you a powerful linux install.

You would be at home pretty quick in the KDE desktop manager.
You would also have a quite powerful application selection to play
with if those 18 years experience is not just MineSweeper.

Maybe someone can post a few .jpg pictures of their linux screens,
because I think that is the closest I will ever get to it, and at
least I can see what it looks like without hours of torture.

Screenshots will be of desktop managers. I suggest the least
pain, fastest learning curve for the Microsoftie would be the KDE
desktop manager.

For KDE screen savers, wallpaper, theme screenshots http://www.kde-look.org

I'm not posting this to bash Linux, just stating the truth.

Oh yeah, right.
Your whole post is a rant about how hard it is for YOU to make a
decision because of all the freedom to chose and your slow dialup
won't let you pick one.

I don't know much
about it, but from what I saw on their site, if Linux ever wants to
gain popularity they will need to get ONE version, not 20 or 30,

HAHAHAHAhahahah. The reason there are over 360+ Distributions of linux
is because it is popular. If your old computers came with the Linux
installed, you would not believe how much Micro$not sucked when you
powered up your new computer.

and upgrade that one version the same way that MS does every few
years with patches in between.

Oh, no, we get updates as soon as people find a problem with any software.

Doing a quick count of basic programs on my system, I see I have
4,771 applications installed.

Micro$not does not come close to that and yet goto
http://research.eeye.com/html/alerts/zeroday/index.html and see how
long Micro$not is taking to fix know exploitable problems.

Micro$not has you brain washed. Micro$not was getting bad press on the
constant patch release counts, so they bundled them into monthly sets
to get the "fix counts" lower.

They also need to make their website so that anyone can make sense
of the site itself.

You are looking at just one site someone has put together. You just do
not get it, Linux is not company. What you see is a community of
people creating tools for everyone to use at a reasonable price. :-D

Here, take a look
http://www.libervis.com/wiki/index.php?title=Table_of_Equivalent_Software

OK, I know someone is going to tell me to buy it on CD. Well, if the
price was the cost of a blank CD, plus actual shipping I might
consider it.

I'll call your bluff, here
http://shop.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart/os.html?id=qTESGSyE&mv_arg=Linux

Hehehe, but you still have the problem of which DISTRIBUTION that fits
your computing requirements.

but I would not pay more just to "look at it", and likely
never use it again, "IF' and "ONLY IF" I could even install the damn
thing. Like what the hell does one do with a .ISO file anyhow?

You burn it to a blank cd, and boot it. Depending on the image/ISO
contents, it can be a Live cd, and/or Live/install cd, or an Install cd.

Live cd is a Linux Distribution which runs from cd and does not
require a hard disk install. They run slow because they are uncompressing the
program from the slow cd then running it in memory.

Go ahead, post photos..... That's all I need.....

I feel for your slow dial up. Here http://www.kde-look.org
.

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