Okay so Tuesday morning I find that my main webserver running apache, php, mysql and many other things had a hard drive failure. Lucky me, I had just made a bunch of recent changes to my sites and didn't have a current backup of my configs or a large majority of my files for my websites. The main one was my personal site so no biggie but let me just tell you this, after I found a hard drive to replace the bad one with.. I not only reinstalled the OS with the specific packages I use on the system but also brought the machine current... now its fully Slackware-Current and with most of the configurations all back in place within about a 2 hour time frame.. I did some testing and now I just have to redo all the pages I lost for my sites.. well, its probably time for a redesign of my personal site..

Linux isn't the trouble, its the person using it that causes the trouble.. no pun intended. If you only knew how to drive a car but hopped in a plane to only wreck it.. would you say planes are unreliable and your switching back to cars?

Two, well maybe two-and-a-half points to make:

1) A lot of people who try linux install it on their almost brand new systems that contain lots of hardware that is not supported at the CD installation stage. Your first experience should NEVER be on a brand new system. Things are a lot simpler if you start out on a computer that is about 3 years old.

A newbie who wants to try linux should go to eBay, buy an old P-III system and at least 256MB of memory for under US$100, order a two-system KVM switch with built-in cables for under US$50, set up the box up next to your current system and install linux on the second box. Then when you screw up linux, and you are going to screw it up, you can just dump it and start over. No damage done. No time wasted getting xp to run again. Eventually, the second system will probably become your home file/backup server, web server, etc.

1.5) If you just want to see what this linux thing is about, first try a live-CD version like Knoppix. Nothing to install and nothing to fix if you screw up.

2) You install linux because you have a need for something it can do. My original need was for a simple Samba file server, but that grew into needs for ftp and web servers along with WINS support and master browser support for a primarily windows network and the ability to run software written for the UNIX environment. Linux/firefox is also really nice for getting downloads of a missing dll’s, etc. from one of the sites-from-hell that tries to stuff your windows system with garbage in exchange for downloading something you need.

Two, well maybe two-and-a-half points to make:

1) A lot of people who try linux install it on their almost brand new systems that contain lots of hardware that is not supported at the CD installation stage. Your first experience should NEVER be on a brand new system. Things are a lot simpler if you start out on a computer that is about 3 years old.

A newbie who wants to try linux should go to eBay, buy an old P-III system and at least 256MB of memory for under US$100, order a two-system KVM switch with built-in cables for under US$50, set up the box up next to your current system and install linux on the second box. Then when you screw up linux, and you are going to screw it up, you can just dump it and start over. No damage done. No time wasted getting xp to run again. Eventually, the second system will probably become your home file/backup server, web server, etc.

1.5) If you just want to see what this linux thing is about, first try a live-CD version like Knoppix. Nothing to install and nothing to fix if you screw up.

2) You install linux because you have a need for something it can do. My original need was for a simple Samba file server, but that grew into needs for ftp and web servers along with WINS support and master browser support for a primarily windows network and the ability to run software written for the UNIX environment. Linux/firefox is also really nice for getting downloads of a missing dll’s, etc. from one of the sites-from-hell that tries to stuff your windows system with garbage in exchange for downloading something you need.

You're advice is not *updated*. What I mean by it is:

1.) People need servers or systems that are up-to-date.
2.) Speed, graphics, stability are the much needed things.
3.) It is better off to look for new drivers and solutions then to spend more money to de-grade your current system. Only reason to do this would be some deadline that is almost impossible to reach.
4.) The only thing I agree with you are the live cd's. No screwing around with your current system, no mess, all on cd.
5.) For needs, any system can basically do what you want. Document writer, sharing utilities, other tools, are on almost all major operating systems. It is just a matter of which one does better. In a few ways, Windows is better than linux but open-source has proved it can compete in mainstream. It's just a matter of a few weeks new applications to come out.

I'm at school and the bell is just about to ring. Will continue discussion later.

--Abid Kazmi

I do not blame you and agree in a lot of respects. I love Linux. Gentoo is the best IT thing that ever happened to me, but I will be one of the first to admit that it is not the kind of OS that my grandma will pick for her first IT experience. While some distros like SuSE and Ubuntu (and some others) are close to providing that I-do-not-have-to-fiddle-under-the-bonnet kind of experience, I still have to run XP for my GPS software, engineering software, Palm Office suite software etc. And yes, trying to get some simple things to work could sometimes be more effort that it is worth.

Linux is the ultimate OS for someone who has the time for fiddling and playing and learning. (Or for someone who only wants to surf the internet and write OpenOffice documents). It is not the everything for everyone OS that Windows is so good at.

Yet.

regards
p.n

I agree up to a point.
I want to be unbiased also, but reason Windows is "easier" for administration (if you don't count security problems) - its because we've had years and years of experience.

I do remember when I first tried installing a dial-up modem on Windows 98, it was just impossible.
Then an "expert" came over to do it for me - he managed after 4 hours of struggle. This was a guy with experience!

When I had my system reinstalled, it took me - I am *NOT* kidding 24 hours of sweat to get internet working. Printers, scanners, etc .. but as time passed by these became easier and easier. You could say Windows became easier due to constant feedback from its customer base and supporting vendors.

Then comes Linux.
Expect the same thing.
The same learning curve, not only from us, but from the distro maintainers, kernel programmers and also software/hardware vendors.
In some areas Linux is easier than Windows.

Try and installing Windows 2000 (ok XP is easier) onto a any laptop, it is harder than Linux! So XP was a culmination of everyone's learning.

But if you can't afford the time or frustration of getting to learn all the (I would say powerful/flexible) in and outs of Linux.
Pay someone else to install it for you!

So many Linux enthusiasts are students or hobbyist that have reinstalled/recompiled/reconfigured many flavours of Linux a thousand-times over.
Why not help them and get a good service? (provided they are reasonably proficient of course).

Recently I've upgraded someone else's laptop Compaq Presario 2100
He wanted Mandrake.
He got everything: from all the plugins installed (Adobe Acrobat 7, RealPlayer 10, Java, Flash, mplayer-plugin: Quicktime, Divx, asx, asf, mpeg, divx) ..
Hardware tested: Logitech Quicktime, Epson Style C46, HP Scanner 3300C (so he would know what works before purchasing)
Compaq Internet Keys enabled (volume control, snapshot, etc via the keys)
Desktop customization: anti-alias, more fonts, weather, time-zones: london/paris, ntp sync, 3D enabled, etc.
System adminstration: optimizing stuff, removing unneeded services, checking the cron-tab, checking good auto-mounts, recompile kernel made it Win4Lin enabled.
Then loads of stuff and productivity software.

The list is huge.
When I first started Linux setting up something like that would probably take me over a year. Now it takes me a weekend.

If you find Linux that administration hard, just get a keen student to do it for you, that will also explain things in a more digestable manner.

Linux in itself is not hard (anyone can point and click)
- adminstration can be hard; but that is good and necessary for robustness and security. If only people knew how powerful Linux really is, untapping it's power is the key.
I am sorry to say but Windows is a bad attempt at an OS, a sub-par Mickey Mouse system. Popular only because of an aggressive succesful marketting team that managed worldwide domination binding everyone to write programs only for that.
So people miss pirated software and games.
Also people complain some gadgets were not made Linux ready; who is to blame for that?

Padawan,

Let's do a simple math:

a copy of WinXp - $100, Linux - $0.00
MS Office $200, Linux - OpenOffice $0.00 (included with a system)
Graphic suite (ehm - Adobe?) $400 Linux - Gimp $0.00 (included with a system)
anti virus software $100 Linux - not needed! $0.00
anti spyware software $100 Linux - not needed! $0.00
firewall free, if you're lucky $0.00 (included with a system)
no-headache installation huh?? , PRICELESS!

My advise to you is really simple: keep the $1,000 that you have to spend on the software and buy yourself a two-week vacation in Jamaica. Then go back home, install a Linux and just ask someone for help with your wireless setup. Try the newest SuSE 9.2 Linux. It's VERY professional and user friendly.
Once you have it done forget about Windows. That's what I've done four years ago. I've wiped out the WIndows and never installed it back. Some programs didn't want to work, I had to learn and ask smarter people for help.
Today I laugh at viruses, hackers and spyware. I ENJOY using my computer.
Take a dive, and you too can ENJOY your PC, instead of worrying about all that stuff.
I promise you - you'll be struggling, in the beginning, but.. JUST ASK FOR HELP. There are smart, good people out there, willing to help others, who want to learn. You've already got to this website. It was a step in the right direction.

have fun!

Don't forget Fedora Core 3 too =) Very nice, neat, and professional.

--Abid Kazmi

Well, I will give you that Linux is probably not ready for prime time yet as far as the average home windows user... I will say in Linux deffense, however, considering it is Open Source and there is really not much insentive at the moment for someone to persue a currier in developing software and hardware for linux based systems. Probably 90 plus percent of engineers developing hardware and software are doing so for Windows systems and are heavilly motivated twards ease of use. Linux then has to play catch-up to try and update to support these new devices without nearly the resources of Windows based developers.

I think Linux has come a long way in the last 5 to 10 years in hardware support, considering the above. Sure it's a little bit more involved getting things up and running but I still think it run's much more secure and stable then windows ever will.

KC