PREAMBLE: Experienced Linux users, please check for facts.

-=> PHIL MARLOWE wrote to MAURICE KINAL <=-

 PM>  === Thanks for your input ON Linux. It's
 PM>  definitely appreciated, although I have to say
 PM>  I'm not really knowledgeable enough to even ask
 PM>  pertinent questions. But the idea does sound
 PM>  tempting.
Everyone starts somewhere, Phil! <-; Most of the trouble seems to 
be how deeply you want to delve into it.

RedHat did seem brainless to install on a fiends' machine, where 
the secondless-brainless (so I've heard) flavor or distribution 
(If you want to be hip, that would =  distro.) - Mandrake - was 
being adog about setting up the GUI, X-Windows on the same 
machine. I've heard Debian (Probably spelled it wrong.) is equally 
easy to use.

I used Mandrake here for a few months. I was in the habit of 
trying to take away more controll than I likely should have. This 
compounded my frustration, when I could have just done what the OS 
expected me to, and things would have been much easier. (EG: 
Communications ports, Printer setup...)

If you want to dig into it, maybe post a bit on one of the Linux 
echos, or just lurk around. There's a good FAQ posted there. My 
total time on Mandrake was maybe a year, so I can mostly speculate 
on most questions.

 PM>  === I mentioned the steep learning curve, which
 PM>  you confirm. That's a negative. But one thing
 PM>  among the positive stuff I've heard that sounds
 PM>  on the mark (and what attracts me) is that you
 PM>  get back some of the control that you had with
 PM>  DOS and that was lost with Windows. How this
 PM>  actually works in practice with Linux, though,
 PM>  I don't know.
I suspect a distro called Slackware might be more your, and maybe  
my speed. I've read it gives you a command prompt only, and if you 
want a GUI, you add your own. Blackbox is a tight looking system 
for managing X-Windows, but otherwise, the command prompt is 
*really* powerfull.

The draw for one of the easier distros is the installation 
routines, and something called RPM. (RedHat Program Management if 
memory serves me.) If you go with a Slakware like OS, EVERYTHING 
is up to you,and you will have to learn what file to edit, and 
what edits to make. (I sure hope I'll be corrected if I'm off base 
here.) Naturally, there's some rather strong opinions amungst the 
learned on the subject, and OS wars are avoided in the Linux 
echoes.

 PM>  ===  I am however thinking: Old dog, new tricks.
 PM>  And because of the investment of time involved I
 PM>  may just be dreaming, because I'm so backed up
 PM>  with other stuff to do that I may never get to
 PM>  it.
Benji, the dog learned new tricks for the movie. He was an old man 
by that time, and also the dog on Petycoat Junction!

 PM>  === So I think I should at least read up on it a
 PM>  bit before I pester folks here with dumb
 PM>  questions. Then I might very well get back to
 PM>  you.
I, too tried to read up as much as I could on it. It wasn't a 
loss, but it might have confounded me more than was helpfull. If 
you can try it out on a second machine, or even a replacement 
drive first, that should save you from making your present OS
inaccessible. (Partitioning, and multi-boot installations being 
what they are.) Every distro, by law, comes with a complete set of 
docs. If a Linux users group is near you, perhaps a local `good- 
guy/girl' can help with the install. Just be sure others agree 
(s)he is indeed a good-guy/girl, and not just a blow-hard like me. 


Personally, I can't wait to fire up another Linux box. I miss it a 
lot! The reason I reverted back to Windows on this machine, was to 
run ONE commercial application for dad. (Don't ask why my Linux 
box is MIA. Ruddy proprietary PS!)


... Gone crazy, be back later, please leave message.
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