I want Linux but at the same time I don't. Just read and you'll understand.
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There are many things you'll want to do with your Linux OS that just won't get done if you're not willing to read and learn a good bit.
Well, it's like trying to recompile your Windows kernel...
On a more serious note: I agree. you are very precise about the core (kernel?) of the issue:
Quote:
It's a thinking man's OS, not for those who want to be spoon fed.
- at least, as I posted above, if you play an admin role, even if it is only on one system. The user mentality is different. To sum it up: Are you a user or a su'er?
Most comparisons of linux and Windows are apple and orange comparisons. A majority of Windows users get their systems reinstalled, and if they want to do something dramatically different, they need help. To date a majority of linux users install it on a certified windows computers, which means you gotta' be a geek.
Over on desktoplinux, there are tales of 70+ year old grandmas who get linux systems setup preinstalled, perhaps from family members, and if they have a problem they do what they do on a Windows system when they want to change something, that is, they ask someone for help, usually the person who built it for them.. In most such cases, as llong as they can use a word processsor and print their letters, can handle e-mail, and maybe some simple internet surfing, there is no need to change anything.
when you address a lot of system changes, this refers to geeks, since they are the ones who are always wanting to change things. Non-geeks as a rule do not want to do a lot of things.
Every1 has convinced me to try it again, so I got Knoppix from a friend. I have some questions though, does Knoppix write anything to your computer, is there a risk about not getting into Windows. Also, can I download things when using a CD, and what distro and window manager comes with Knoppix 3.4. When you download OpenOffice etc., does it just save to the windows partition so when you put the cd in again you can still access things? But the most important thing is, Slack, SuSe, Debain, or what and Red Hat, Gnome, Fluxbox, etc.
Last edited by simeandrews; 08-19-2004 at 02:23 PM.
Knoppix and other live disks DON'T touch your computer UNLESS YOU TELL THEM TO, EI telling it to mount a drive and you save something onto it or you choose to install it to the HD
any other operating system will work fine.
I think knoppix uses KDE but I honestly don't know what distro it uses
don't think U can install stuff onto it while using it, if i'm wrong please someone tell me.
Last edited by bunnyknight13; 08-19-2004 at 02:39 PM.
You may want to consider a book titled "Moving to Linux - kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye" writen by Marcel Gagne. This book contains a Knoppix CD that lets you run linux from your CDROM without installing it. Also the book is great at explaining how to get things done in Linux.
Also while you are at a bookstore, the is a magazine called Linux Format. In it is almost always a CD based system. The July issue had among other disks, one named DYNE:BOLIC. This is a run from CD distro which is interesting, if nothing else.
If you started with Slackware, and came from a Windows background, I am amazed that you still are interested in Linux.
Yeah, the person who put me onto Linux told me I would learn the most by using a more difficult system. It was fun, but I want an easier distro. Is debain easier than Slack? because Knoppix comes with a Debain based system.
U can use knoppix as a live disk and you can also tell it to install to the HD so you can use it w/o the cd(or at least knoppix-STD will)
you can also mod it, thats how U get knoppix-std (knoppix-std.org) and other live disks,
+
debian is easy enough
Does that mean things can be downloaded and installed? I've been getting mixed answers, maybe someone can clear this up.
It means that a Knoppix CD distro can include up to roughly 2gb worth of extra apps because the apps are compressed on the CD itself. For example, when you boot with Knoppix, it actually decompresses the Linux environment and KDE desktop from the CD and loads it into RAM. If you then start OpenOffice, it will also be decompressed from the CD and loaded into RAM. Knoppix can mount your hard drive, so you can read and write your existing files. It isn't necessary to install Knoppix to its own partition on your hard drive. Does that help?
FWIW, I initially used Knoppix to see how my laptop (WinXP-MCE) would run under Linux. I liked it, and installed Mandrake 10.0 last week. So far, so good. IMO, the learning curve for Linux is already steep enough without jumping right into Slackware. To use a car/motorcycle analogy, it's sort of like buying a Miata or Ninja 250 to start off with instead of a Corvette or Buell Firebolt. You might outgrow the Miata and want more horsepower someday, but you'll still have a lot of fun in the meantime.
Okay, very simply here it is. Wether you are using the most intuitive distro, or the most geeky, they all share one common characteristic that differentiates them from Windows. Windows puts a GUI over all settings, and hides the "low-end" from you. There are linux distros that do the same, but you still have the available access to that "low-end". In windows, there is no way to access it. all settings are done through a GUI, and if there isnt a GUI for it, there isnt a way to change it. Windows=100% GUI, 0% CLI (Command line interface)-- Linux allows you to tack on a GUI to anything you want, OR use the CLI for some things... YOU decide... Linux is 50% GUI, and 50% CLI. Linux lets you choose, where as windows chooses for you. "Linux... Telling Microsoft where to go today since 1991."
A good comparison is:
Windows is to linux (except for the intuitive distro's) as an automatic tranny is to a manual.
It's been a long time since I made this post, but I have decided that I am getting an 80GB HD and putting Mandrake 10.1 onto it. I just thought you all might be interested, and in a few months Ill probably move into something a bit more difficult.
I thought this was a very interesting thread about the fundamental differences. In the mean time, I killed off my WinXP partition and am now Linux-only with Ubuntu.
Good luck with Mandrake - Mandrake was the first distribution with which I felt that everything worked right. It is nice, I am looking into buying a new laptop this spring, and with the new enhanced laptop support of Mandrake 10.1, I considered it.
So actually, the correct answer to the poll was: No - not yet
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