My Webstar modem was connected to the internet by the Blueyonder installation man under Windows XP. When I decided to try Linux I found I could run Knoppix from a CD and it automatically connects to the internet but I wanted a hard disk installation so I tried Mandrake. It would not connect to the internet so I tried replacing it with RedHat. The automatic connection to the internet was fine but I found the jargon for installing applications after downloading was too confusing. So I replaced RedHat with Linspire because that offers easy downloading and installation. But it did not automatically connect to the internet. Why do different versions of Linux behave like this? Surely automatic internet connection is a primary requirement? I am still waiting for a reply from the Linspire help desk and I can find some complicated information about connecting Webstar modems under Linux by doing Google searches. Please can someone tell me what I need to do to make Linspire connect with the Webstar modem - using instructions that I can understand.
Hugh

diff commercial distros have diff agendas. some of them are bleeding edge and include the latest of software, while others are geared more towards stability and use "older", more stable software. as far as installing software, redhat has a similar prog to handle installation to linspire. it is called apt4rpm and it works the same way linspires click and go works, sorta. The best bet for u, if u want to keep linspire is to search and find out which module u are missing, the one for ur modem (i think ur module is "CDCEther"). then, check to see if it is included in the kernel with modprobe command. if it is, just add it to ur rc.conf(i believe linspire has this naming) to the modules at boot. for example mine is "alias eth0 tulip" As u spend more time with linux, u are going to fnd that most distros behave and are configured differently. good luck