Brothers and Sisters, I Have Seen the Light!

[Lukav]

Today my Windows 98 registry crashed once again. And along with that I get nice lil' blue screens of death, and a lot of games refuse to run. So now I've decided to go open-source. I'm going to reformat my hard drive but I need a few questions answered if any of you guys would be so kind. First, I'll be using a copy of Mandrake 7.x, I believe it's 7.2, but not completely sure. From screenshots it looks pretty nice, but I'm wondering if Mandrake is newbie-friendly? I know nothing, and my only experience is in Windows. Second, I'm worried about software compatibility. I know there's a lot of stuff I don't need to be concerned about, like XMMS looks like a kickass replacement for WinAmp, but I'd like to know if there is some way I can make my games and some of my other apps that were meant for windows run in Linux, because I'd like to go with Linux all the way and not have to do a dual boot. Thanks for any help, and I'm sorry for all the newbie questions, but I hope that I'll be able to enjoy Linux, and hopefully it'll be much more stable than my POS Windows 98.

[j.harrison]

Congratulations, and welcome to the free world!

Mandrake is an awesome newbie distro, as it's got a GUI that's about as close to what you're familiar with as Linux is going to get. Also, it's loaded with software (some say bloated) which is good for a newbie who's not sure what he really needs in a distro yet...

Might I suggest Drake 8, though? It's the latest release, its' hardware support is awesome, and it's got the latest and greatest apps with it (which will make it easier to try all of the stuff you'll read about on this BBS). You should be able to find a supported version of Drake 8 on the shelf at Walmart/BestBuy/CompUSA (if you live in the states) for less than $30, or you can buy a full (both CDs), unsupported version from Linuxcentral.com for about $5.

For more info go to Linux-Mandrake.com.

[ 03 August 2001: Message edited by: j.harrison ]

[Lukav]

Awesome! So the rumors about the Linux community being really helpful is true after all. I saw a version of 8.0 for download at their site, for free. I've got a friend with cable, so it shouldn't take too long. Also, I'm a little confused about something called GNOME. I have no clue what it is but I've heard a lot about it.

[ZinovyLR]

Gnome is a desktop manager. It is the Linux equivalent of what you consider your desktop in Windows. The same thing can be said about KDE. On another note I dont suggest you start out with Mandrake. It is just too easy and after running Mandrake it will be hard to migrate to harder Distros. Try an easy install Distro but not one that is too easy such as Suse or Caldera

[Choozo]

GNOME is just another 'desktop' like KDE.
Whatever you do here, don't ask which is better! You'll just start another war like "Coke-is-better-than-Pepsi" then :D

And yess, Welcome to this wonderful world of Linux! :)

[Lukav]

Ah, I see. Well, where would I be able to grap a copy of one of these desktop managers? Do they come with Mandrake or is there a place to download them?

[Choozo]

Originally posted by ZinovyLR:
<STRONG>On another note I dont suggest you start out with Mandrake. It is just too easy and after running Mandrake it will be hard to migrate to harder Distros.</STRONG>

I totally disagree with that one. Getting your feet wet with Linux without drowning is how I see Mandrake, and I don't think anyone will have any problems switching to something like Debian or Slack after they get into this.

Cheers :)

[Choozo]

Originally posted by Lukav:
<STRONG>Ah, I see. Well, where would I be able to grap a copy of one of these desktop managers? Do they come with Mandrake or is there a place to download them?</STRONG>

Mandrake 8.0 comes with KDE, GNOME, and a lot of others, ...... just choose which one to use at each bootup until you find one you like :)

[Necro Lin]

I use Mandrake 8.0 and find it very easy to set up and install. It comes with some great applications too...web browsers, office suites, games, etc..All of your hardware including printer, modem (and internet connection), etc is set up during the install...cool. Half an hour and you're set. And it doesn't crash!!! No more rebooting because you added a printer, changed the settings of your monitor etc. Linux is beautiful.

I also use Red Hat7.1, also a cool system. I actually like it a little bit more, but it's not as easy for a newbie as Mandrake8.0

My suggestion is to get a good book on Linux because it is different than windows, and to do some reading before you install...it'll just make life a little bit easier for you.

Only major problem that I had was that I had a winmodem that was unsupported by Linux...so make sure that you can either get support for your winmodem or that you have a hardware modem.

Welcome to the Linux community!
:D :D :D

[j.harrison]

Originally posted by ZinovyLR:
<STRONG> On another note I dont suggest you start out with Mandrake. It is just too easy and after running Mandrake it will be hard to migrate to harder Distros.</STRONG>

I don't understand how "too easy" can be a bad thing for someone's first Linux distro. Also, I've been learning Linux on Mandrake, and lately I've been spending far more time in CLI on tty1-6 than in GUI, as I learn Linux. As a matter of fact, I'm spending nearly ALL of my time in CLI, come to think of it, and loving it! Right now I'm surfing in Lynx, which has become my favorite browser (super fast & keeps me from having to visit tty7). All this newbie growth is occuring in Mandrake 8. Not so bad, eh?

[TacKat]

Mandrake's a good start. Once you get a little familiar with the differences between Linux and Windows, you can start to tweak stuff and mess around with the system to get your feet wet. Then, when you blast the whole system by trying to make your first delete script in root, you can re-install and be back to normal operation in 30 minutes max. :)