Look, I was attracted to Linux, philosophically, until I got it. I recently made the jump from Windows to Fedora. Here's my problem.
I want my computer to center around my life and to serve me. I don't want to build my life and consume my time with the computer. I want a system that installs easily and completely for the common applications I want to use. I haven't seen it yet. Is there another distribution I should use?
It would be nice if there was a good solid distribution for a casual user. To you programmers and developers of Linux I say, don't keep Linux as a refuge for the geeks.
With respect,
user Bob

Bob

When Fc5 came out I set up my 70 year old widow lady(across the street) on a PIII 1ghz. The first few months I did most of the stuff for her, the next few I double checked what she did, and now I just go over for the cookies. When FC6 was released she installed it before I did. She also installed a web came by herself (something I have never done). This was all done by a woman who never went to high school. I think if you can read and take some time to learn (and forget what you learned in windows) linux is very easy.

Lazlow

Indeed.. "They" say that people who have never used Windows, tend to learn and get comfortable MUCH faster when they experience Linux, than people who have already grown accustomed to Windows.
NOTE: I'm not starting a this vs. that debate here, just pointing out something I've read many times.

I definitely don't want to get into a "best distro" debate, but right now Debian Etch may be a good fit for you. Other distros may work just as well if you follow the Debian model. Setting up any Linux OS can be a bit of a hassle, but once it's set up, you can leave it alone, and it'll chug along nicely.

If you install Debian Etch now, while it's new, and get the apps you need, ... all the maintenance you'll have to do for the next 18-24 months is a weekly "# aptitude update && aptitude upgrade"

That will only update security related things.

If you want to try that, do it right. Here's my own howto for Debian newbies. In it I recommend using Testing rather than Stable, but that wouldn't apply to you.

Hi Bob,

I'm afraid your view is biased by your windows experiences. I'm a bit of of a DIY guy and never buy any pre-built computers. Many people like me will confirm that installing windows really isn't a ten-minute task. I have quite a powerful computer but installing XP64 takes just under an hour, then an hour more to find and install the drivers (sound, NIC, video, RAID, etc.) and anti-virus program and a firewell and then several hours more to install the various applications. Fedora, by comparison, took me 25 minutes and with the exception of a video driver it gave me all I could ever need: drivers, office apps, editors, programming IDES, media players, etc. Other, smaller distros take just over ten minutes.

Anyway, As I may have posted out in my previous reply, I think your interests would be best served by something like PCLinuxOS. If you want minimal effort, that is the way to go. It takes care of almost everything as far as I can see: it has the codecs, flash, mplayer, ... - all those things that other distros may leave for the user to fetch and install. On top of that, the list of software repositories is already configured for you so even that doesn't require any effort. Ubuntu is easy, PCLinuxOS is easier.

However, if your main objection is that Linux doesn't do everything exactly as it gets done on windows, you should wonder whether you're really interested in Linux at all. Linux is an alternative to windows, not a free clone.

Edit: I agree with rickh that Debian is absolutely marvelous. I still recommend PCLInuxOS first, though, considering you really want the effort to be minimal. And as soon as you feel comfortable using PCLinuxOS, you'll be ready to adopt Debian or anything else you may like.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in the General Forum and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Thanks to all of you, esp Jay73
I had forgotten how long it took me to do a Windows install. I guess that puts Linux in perspective for me. I admit I didn't read the release notes before I started installing. I just trusted intuition.
I'll give it another try. I want to believe.
Bob

Bob: Don't give up yet. In my opinion you have a decent distribution with a large user base and friendly support. I've not used Fedora and only used Red Hat back in the '90s. However, with any switch there will be a learning curve. I've been using Windows since 3.0 and NT (2K/XP/Vista) since 3.0 as well, when I first loaded the floppies on a SX/25 I had lying around.

I now use SUSE full time on at least three computers. Though I do some programming (www.donutmonster.com) my main interests are in music (Amarok) and video (you tube...) these days. Therefore, I want my computers to be able to be used for daily stuff like browsing, chat, document processing and multimedia. Oh, and let's not forget the games.

Yes, Linux is a bit of challenge to get used to. In particular, the folder structure is still vexing to me. My 64-year-old mother has been strictly Linux for over a year now. I just upgraded her system from 9.2 to 10.2 this weekend, and she's got what she needs all set up.

In addition, you can check out this guy using Linux: http://www.perfectreign.com/?q=node/51

If he can do it, you can, too!

@ Bob Singleton: So does Windows qualify as an OS you are looking for?
Also, why are you "stuck" in "Linux/Windows world"? There are more operating systems out there.

I have had to a lot less problems on Fedora than Windows. My only problem was how to install things, and a quick question on LQ helped me.

Also I installed Fedora and Windows Xp on the same day. Windows took most of the day (Had to set up Anti-Virus stuff, spyware stuff, network, and the sound is not even working yet). Linux selected the packages I wanted (All of them) and just feed it disks. Then I just set up the sounds (Under one minute task) and I was done. That took about an Hour to get Linux working.

Bob has seen the light, look at post#7.

Hallelujah!

Praise the Penguin!... or something.

You want to learn.

Just play around (don't forget to make backups though), it's really pretty easy nowadays. If you get stuck, search this forum, and if you don't find an answer just start a post. I wouldn't mind some more questions that I can answer :P

Good Luck!