Re: Where to ask really newbie questions

notPythias wrote:

In approximate order of importance, as close as I can figure,
here's what I do with my computer:

* Emailing and internet browsing.
* Typing stuff (with word processors like OpenOffice and MSWord
and also with LaTeX). I do this less, but it's more important.
* Multimedia. A lot of basic stuff, like playing with the
contrast on a photograph or watching a movie. A little bit of
music. No video editing or music mixing or original Photoshop
art.

However, I'm off to university in a year, and I might get
courses paired with a specific program, like math and
Mathematica, physics and Matlab, etc. At the very least,
PowerPoint or something compatible, both viewing and
presenting. I've got a Windows laptop that can do that, but
wouldn't it be nice not to have to get upor reboot into Windows
when I finally stop procrastinating?

Your university will probably have a licence for Mathematica, etc.
(There is a Linux version of Mathematica.)
LaTeX would be easier under Linux than Windows, I think.

The machine I plan to run Linux on has the following hardware:
* VIA C3 800MHz CPU
* 248MB DDR-RAM
* 7.85GB total HD, but maybe only 3-4 for Linux
* Bootable CD-ROM and 3.5" floppy drives
* USB of some sort (how do I distinguish 1 and 2?)
* Some kind of video and sound and ethernet NIC (I can probably
get more specific information if it's important)

That sounds fine, except that I think you will find 8GB
is rather tight to run both Windows and Linux.
I would think about getting a bigger disk.
(The standard size in a laptop is 80GB now,
and disks smaller than that go for very little on eBay.)

I plan to test for compatibility by popping in the LiveCD and
waiting for the error messages.

That sounds very sensible.
I'd use a Knoppix CD for this, personally.


--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (<80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
.

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