I give up........Thanks for you help if your one of the people who replied to my posts.......sounds to me like you bascically have to buy all new cards when you install linux cause it wont recognize anything.....my computer is from 1998....lol...the whole things in not worth more than probably 40 bucks........no way am i going to spend 70 or 80 bucks on the modem alone....I can surf just as good with what im using now....I thought in a week or so I could figure things out but.....I am basically still at zero.....god knows how any newbies get anything done......the graphical interface is very lacking....all the importants stuff you need to open a console...which i have no understanding of.................talk to you all later


steve

well first i'll just state linux is not for everyone .. so if its "too tough" or "not up to par" with you then so be it ...
as of the graphical interface lacking, well thats definetaly considered a personal preference ... i don't know exactly what your looking for in an interface, but thats just too broad of a comment ...
and then again, if you making a thread such as this, then you definelty didn't try various window managers, etc ...
80 bucks on a modem ? thats just retarded ... they're worth next to nothing ..
important stuff you need the console ... pff, not even ...
there is many many front ends for stuff that is command driven ...

and since you state that your machine is from '98 then i can't see how there is no support for any of your hardware ... not even knowing what your hardware is, i bet the only thing, that you may have a problem with is in fact your modem ...
name your specs, and i guaruntee that i driver will be found for most if not all of your hardware ...

anyways, it just seems to me that you didn't give well enough a chance ....
of course this is a whole new world from windows, and your basically learning from scratch again, when you first start using linux ...
but if you want it hard enough, then you will learn ...
but again, it comes down to the initial point .... linux is not for everyone, and you may be one of them people

so good luck with whatever you end up doing !
cheers...

Completely agree with DrOzz, clearly Linux isn't for some people, sounds like you might be one. If you ever choose to give it another run however, rest assured that we, and the entire Linux community, will still be here for you.

I notice from your profile that you only registered Feb 2004. Given that it is still Feb 2004 and you had only 4 posts before you gave up, I'm concerned that maybe you didn't dedicate the time that is needed to gain a new skill...

If you find yourself in front of a different machine, you might want to give Mandrakemove or Knoppix a try, as they are self-booting CD distros, which of course could mean you could keep your computer the way you like it, and still play around with Linux.

For the record, I've had one version or another of Mandrake installed and running on 6 compters "circa" 1998.

Wow less than 5 posts into linux and he quit. And he was running stuff win 98 has trouble with. Hate to find out later that hes a windows help tech.

Man don't give up I'm still trying to figure it out with linux, and I've learned some skills too, and what I sacrificed to really learn linux? I erased windows completely to feel I have no options is just linux or linux and thats how everything is working fine with me, and yes I've had great frustrations but this comunitty helped me through all of them and look 60+ post and I'm still learning the basics.

5 bucks says he's got a winmodem!

Linux may not be the easiest for all kinds of hardware, but I was able to get Linux running even on hardware that was listed as "not supported". I had a video card that started out with horrible results and the screen looked like a puddle of mush that would smear when I moved the cursor. A little tinkering, and I was playing games with better framerate than windows.

I think the biggest issue is that you had this expectation:
"I thought in a week or so I could figure things out"

I dont know how fast of a learner you are, but to learn a brand new operating system in one week is pretty bold. If you want to try something new, you have to be ready to learn. If everyone gave up so easily, everyone would be walking for transportation and would have never learned to ride a bicycle or drive a car.