Questions about Linux

[holeinboatoutatsea]

I have an old windows 95 machine with a severely corrupted registry, and am thinking of throwing red hat on it just to see if and how it works. I know nothing, or next to nothing, about Linux.

Would this even work? Is it difficult to figure out how to use?

What other questions should I have, and what answers do you have for me?

Thanks in advance.

[Florida_Geek]

1. Probably would work OK

Linux is made for smaller memory models. The only problem is the video card. Linux understands most but not as many as Windose.

[DBoon]

2. Try Mandrake

Or Redhat 9 or Redhat Fedora.

I've been playing with Linux since 1997, and over time it gets easier and easier. Fedora is a breeze to install and comes with all kinds of goodies. Redhat is getting out of the consumer Linux market, though.

Mandrake is supposed to be the easiest Linux for beginners. Haven't used it myself, but give it a shot.

If you have a fast Internet connection, you can download the ISO images and burn them to CD. Convenient and cheap.

To install, just boot off the CD and follow the prompts.

[cprise]

3. Redhat is better for servers

For a workstation, try onr of these:

Xandros (commercial)

Lindows (commercial)

Knoppix

Progeny

Mandrake


If I were going to settle on a free one, it would be either Knoppix or Progeny.

[Deja Q]

4. SuSE is the 2nd highly rated distro in the US...

only behind red hat.

SuSE was bought by Novell.

It's made for workstations. (as said, Red Hat is better for servers.)

And SuSE is very easy to install.

[mike_c]

5. linux is a superb OS, but you need to consider a couple of things

First, if your hardware is old, slow, and memory/storage short Linux performance will suffer just as Windows performance suffers, especially if you want to use the machine as a general purpose workstation, as opposed to just a firewall, for example.

Second, you should be prepared for a bit of a learning curve if you've never used a *nix before. What do you plan to do with this machine? How old and moldy is it, really?

on edit: Third, no matter what distro you install, you need to give some serious consideration to optimizing the software (and probably the kernel) if your hardware is limited. Do you need a full installation of EVERYTHING plus the kitchen sink? Are your needs less comprehensive? Many Linux distros are angling for the "one size fits all" personal computer user, but in truth, such a user barely exists. If you just want to surf the web and play mp3's for example, most distros will install far more software than you need (and correspondingly drag system resources unnecessarily).

[lagniappe]

6. It should work fine. But it can be difficult to learn.

I use RedHat 8.0 for my desktop. In many ways Linux is vastly superior to Windows. The Mozilla web browser (which you can get on Windows) is a better and more secure product than IE. Linux is stable and will not crash. It is more secure and is immune to many of the viruses that are transmitted through IE and Outlook. Linux is more customizable than Windows. There are many very slick themes that you can apply to the windowing system.

However, it is very difficult to use for a novice. I'm a software engineer, and sometimes I get a little frustrated with it. It doesn't have all the ease of use features that Windows or OSX has. For example, copy and paste is not fully functional between applications. The Mozilla web browser does not come with Flash or Java script so you need to install those plugins to view many websites. However, you could download Opera, which seems to be a nice product. Additionally, the Evolution email client is ok but not great. If you want to add printers or hardware, prepare for a little adventure. Installing software is not as straightforward as Windows or OSX.

Be prepared for some frustration. Linux takes some getting used to. You will definitely have to buy a good Linux book for which ever distribution you decide to use. If you do want a Linux desktop, I would check out either Mandrake or Sun's Java Desktop System(which is really just a desktop Linux package). Many Linux users seem to like Mandrake but I have never used it. Sun's product on the other hand has a lot of pre-installed software.