Hello, I'd just like to ask, which distro would best suit me.

I am a student and need the office equipment, and I know that just about all distros come with open office. I am also a net bum.

So something with a good firewall that can be set up in seconds with GUI would be great. I really liked the way SuSE's Firewall simply asked you a few questions and BAM! You had a firewall set up.

I would also like something stable with plenty of tools and gadgets that are shipped with the distro.

The hardware doesn't concern me, but I am a client using an NIC to connect to a switch, which connects to a modem, which connects to the net, so something, that isn't too hard to set up the net, on.

I would really like it if the distro had as much features as possible via GUI, instead of console.

What's Lycoris, Lindows, Redhat or Yoper like?

I've already tried; MDK 9 (didn't like it) and and SuSE (I really liked it, but would like to have a look at other distros before sticking with this one)

Thanks
mediab0x

Well, any distro can do what you want it to do. They all can act, perform the same functions. They can all have the same GUI interface. Its just a matter of taste for yourself. The only way to answer this is for you to try out several distros and find which one you think best suits you.

Should I consider buying the SuSE 8.1 Personal version? Or should I wait till the updates to version will come soon, so instead of buying 8.1, I purchase 8.2, or if a 8.3 comes out. I don't really need the Pro version, because firstly, I would not use is to it's full potential and secondly I would be waisting money by doing that.

BTW is there any advantage of buying the OS, instead of downloading the ISO (not in SuSE's case) apart from helping the company and getting phone, email, and internet support?

Has anyone bought any of SuSE's products, that can tell me their thoughts on it.

EDIT: I would really like one of those easy to set up firewalls, that are effective, and more than suffiecient for home users. It would also be great, if i could get the ISOs for the distro. Can anyone please help me.

Thanks
Mediab0x

I purchase SuSE's pro version with each new release for the following reasons:

* It's only $79
* It's very convenient to have the entire install on DVD
* You get decent hard copy documentation
* As you pointed out, you help support the company

However, I find their free installation support (30 days, 90 days with Pro) to be pretty much useless. I get much better help from Google, this forum, and my local Linux user's group.

Afshin

I bought SuSE's 8.1 Personal and I'm a first time Linux user. I had Linux installed in about 20 minutes. I'm pretty happy with it and since have removed my windows partition.

What's Lycoris like? It looks alright, all I am worried about is if it has a poor firewall, and I am too n00bz0r to set up a decent one, that's the one thing I like about Windows.

/me prepares to get bashed.

Is there any easy set-up via GUI firewall, that is more than effective for us home user, net bums?

Thanks
Mediab0x
A.K.A. N37 BuM n00bz0r K1nG

The big selling point for Lycoris Desktop/LX is that it is really easy (virtually automatic) to install, provided your hardware is supported. It comes with desktop software that ordinary desktop users tend to use, but it doesn't come with a lot of development tools. If you get the $39.95 Deluxe edition, it does contain a development tools CD, which enables you to then download and build whatever software you're interested in and need.

Lycoris does come with a basic firewall and it also comes equipped such that only a limited number of network objects are enabled by default. So using the simple firewall is usually plenty for anyone that uses the software.

I'm a big Lycoris fan, and I encourage people to get it. Installation is trivial, look and feel are excellent, and you can now get a variety of add on software packages, such as the Productivity Pak, if you want more office apps, the Game Pak, if you want a collection of full screen, full capability games, and if you need better connectivity, there's the Lycoris Desktop/LX Interconnect. Each of these Paks are layered products.

With even the base software, though, if you purchase a license (which comes with any Desktop/LX box) you gain access to the IRIS software gallery. Using this gallery and the update wizard, you can get both product updates and new software that wasn't included in the base software.

Just to be fair about its limitations, Lycoris Desktop/LX does not yet come with an automatic disk partitioning tool. That means if you intend to run Desktop/LX alongside other operating systems, you need to either have a spare disk or you need to create the extra disk partitions in advance (or create free, unpartitioned, unused disk space). I've asked the company to add an automatic tool for partitioning, and they've made it available in the IRIS gallery, but it hasn't made its way to the base product (yet).

If you want something easy that even looks a bit like XP, Desktop/LX is worth a look. Free downloads are available for community use. If you want full support and all the capabilities, it's a good idea to support the company and buy either the $29.95 base software or the $39.95 Deluxe software (that adds the source code CD and the Development tools).

Redhat 8.0 personal edition , round $40. Free software updates and upgrades with up2date, lots of software, easy on the eyes...

I run Redhat 7.3 which came on 3CDs in the book "Red Hat Linux 7.3 Bible" by Christopher Negus for $49.99. It has a thousand pages of very useful information on almost everything. I don't know if he has a book for 8.0 yet. It's worth checking out.