Hello all,

as I believe Linux is probably the only system that will be usable in the future, and of course WAYS lighter than Window$ on many points, I installed a Ubuntu 5.10 distro on an old PII 233/96Mo from Dell, an OptiPlex GXa (bweurg...), more as a test to see what I could do with this box before switching to a more powerful computer for an everyday use.

That's it, I'm still used to Window$, and some of the programs I use only work on it. I believe there are many equivalents on Linux, but I presently need a machine that will work immediately with the few knowledge I have (which is not presently the case with the Dell box).

With Linux, my goal is to be able not only to understand how it works (which, as an end user (sorry geeks..), is of limited interest to me), but to make it work reliably, without any random bug such as in Window$. OK, choosing a brand name, proprietary computer for this task isn't the best choice, but I don't have the budget right now to assemble a new comp. And, if I'm able to make it work on such a config, why not on a more standard one ?

Anyway, back to the goals: witht the penguin, I want to setup a secure file server for my stuff (i.e. encrypted), and to be able to get the max out of the battery life in my portable computer, as I was told a well-configured distro will outperform Windows on may points.

But, as a complete newbie, I will probably need help many times before being able to get Linux to work, so that's the reason why I registered here.

Well, that's it for now...

Hi and welcome to LQ