Hi
I'm looking for any advice available for converting my old Windows 98 on a Dell Insprion 3500 to a Linux operating system, that will be good for audio editing & recording with software (free too?) good for professional audio/beats recording/producing.[my bf does music and I'm trying to make a nice present for him--portable audio]

The dell has only 4GB of memory, which is completely used up right now, but I'm willing to erase it all, since I got a new computer and havent gone back to the old one for over 6 months... Should I leave the Win 98 on there and install whatever Linux distribution as a dual-boot? (or whatever, all I know is what I learned from my 1/2 hour researching on the web).
I checked the system information on my computer, it says it has a GenuineIntel Pentium(r) (II) Processor Intel MMX(TM) Technology; only 192 MB RAM ...I'm trying to find the Audio info but I don't know what I'm looking for exactly.
Any info as to which distro/version for my setup, which software, and anything else I need to do to make this setup work? Will it even be worth it?

THANKS!!!!!

here is a link with a long list of audio editing software
http://www.linuxlinks.com/Software/M...rs/index.shtml

You'll prob have to read thru the requirements of the software though. those specs are kinda low, but prob do able.

okay looks good, and I've been doing more research though I'm limited by the fact that a) I'm totally new to Linux, b) I'm totally new to audio editing, etc.
So, that being said, what I really need is specific advice as to how to proceed in particular to what exact linux version/software combination is good. It looks like Ardour/Rosegarden/etc has been recommended a lot. But how to do I even begin, with the Linux system? I've read stuff I dont even know what they are talking about...
Anyways, I think I will need to erase everything on the computer and dedicate it just to the music, but being that it has low specs, like you said, and that I have no other equipment to add to it (mic, keyboard, etc), I am thinking that this would be good for just producing beats only, as something for him to work on when he comes over to my apartment.
For those Linux/audio experts out there, what would you do yourself, if you were in the same position?
Thanks,

Realistically, any distro will work for you/your boyfriend. The problem may be that some of the thinner distros can be a little intimidating for newbies to install.

There is this of course
http://demudi.agnula.org/wiki/DocumentsConcept
which is:
"A/DeMuDi is not a separate distribution to Debian, it's just a custom way to install an ordinary Debian system, which gets automatically configured for audio work."

I would also head over to
www.distrowatch.com
and review some of the distros.

Maybe someone else has a better idea, but Ubuntu(specifically xubuntu) might be another good one to check out. it is pretty easy on noobs, lots of support online, and a lot of available apps.

Also, pretty cool of you to do this, if you guys break up PM me!!! <- j/k

This distro might look interesting to you - especially
designed for multimedia.

http://www.mediainlinux.org/

I agree w/ earlier post, any distro, just about, will do
the job.

You're also welcomed to surf around in

http://shengchieh.50webs.com/index.html
-> softwares
-> Sound/Audio

and see what's listed.

Sheng-chieh

Depending on how much else you want to do with the computer, I might recommend the free download version of Mandrake. It comes pre-installed with Audacity (an audio editing program I've had good success with in both linux and windows) and Rosegarden. I've had problems installing additional software on it, but if audio is all you want, it has that. Installing the operating system was a breeze (and it's my first system too). No techno jargon, no command line, just pretty menus.

I appreciate all comments so far, and I think (this is a very uneducated decision on my part--I was hoping for somebody to tell me the 1 place to go, but I see that nobody wants to stop me from making my own choices--which is normally great but not necessarily for me in this situation ) I will go with either Debian (with the apt mentioned above) or planet ccrma so I can install the audio programs needed...If that's a bad idea given my laptop's specs (which I'm worried about), then somebody pls tell me. I heard some distros are better than others for certain computers.
Thanks for the links, though some had great info I couldnt even understand....especially the software req's I saw so far...
Thanks!!!!
N