Here goes Barbara Ann's... er, nope, Abarbarian's "Installing Mandriva" thread... oh, well, c'est la vie.
DISCLAIMER: I've been using Linux (Ubuntu, mostly) - and Linux
ONLY - since December 2005. So... "Objective" isn't my middle name. It's "Dork".
@Sir Flops:
I can experiment on a system THAT IS NOT 64 BIT as much as I like, no probs about messing up,
No problem here. Actually... if Mandriva's your poison, there is a
Live/Install version called "Mandriva One" - it contains all [proprietary] drivers and common plugins - which is available for 32 BIT only. Download linky:
http://www.mandriva.com/en/download .
I liked PC Linux OS 2007 a lot. The new Gnome version just won't start, it's problematic.
Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu) is working well, it recognises my Linksys network card anyway.
My opinions - bestest with a grain of salt:
PCLos is a "Mandriva derivative" geared for ease of use. The idea is great. But... during the last couple of years, Mandriva has improved vastly, and PCLos - one man's show, essentially - hasn't been able to keep up with the speed.
Mint has fared better... the way things are now, I can recommend it.
I am wary of people who over-promote Linux as there's room for OS's for everybody and Linux will not suit everybody.
How true. Now if only Steve Ballmer would live by that credo with his distro.
Actually - and sorry if you've read this one before - there is a very good article about this... a bit dated, but never mind that now:
If I were to generalize, I’d say most Linux users fall into one of these three categories: absolute novice, ex-Windows power user, *nix expert. I’m atypical in that in terms of my abilities and drive, I’m an ex-Windows power user, but in terms of my needs, I’m more like an absolute novice.
The Absolute Novice
Absolute novices become Linux users because they have a friend or relative who is obsessed with Linux and on whom the novice relies for all tech support. What happens is the novice has seemingly endless Windows problems (crashes, spyware, adware, viruses, slowdowns) and every time she encounters those problems, she calls her Linux-using friend or relative. Eventually, the Linux user says, “Look, I’m tired of supporting you on Windows. I’ll set up Linux for you.” After she installs and sets up Linux, she tells the novice, “Here is your web browser—this icon. Here is your email program—this icon. This is how you shut down you computer.” There is a little resistance at first: “Where’s the Start Menu?” “It’s right here.” “But it doesn’t say Start on it.” “That’s okay. I can change the icon for you.” After a while, the novice has no more computer problems and everyone’s happy.
The ex-Windows Power User
She knows Windows inside and out. She can edit a few things in the registry. She defragments. She does disk scans. She knows all the free but good anti-virus, anti-spyware scanning tools. She has a list of about ten or twelve programs she uses and loves to use in Windows. She also gets called to solve her friends’ and relatives’ Windows problems. Something happens one day, though—she’s tired of all the maintenance she has to do on her Windows computer, she’s tired of her Linux-using friends always talking about how great Linux is, or she just wants to try something new. So she installs Linux. Very likely, she will encounter problems. Either her wireless card won’t work, or the CD burning program doesn’t do absolutely everything that Nero does, or the Linux fonts “look ugly” to her. Then, there are two ways she can go. She either throws her hands up and screams (virtually or actually), “I can’t take it any more. This OS sucks. I’m going back to Windows. Linux is not ready for the desktop” or she rolls up her sleeves and says, “I’m going to make this work. This is fun figuring this out.”
The *nix Expert
This person has a lot of experience using Unix, Linux, BSD, or some combination of the three. She probably programs or does some kind of system administration for a living, and she uses Linux on her desktop at home because she thinks it’s fun, and it’s a natural extension of having to use Linux at work for administering servers. She probably doesn’t think most users should be using Linux, as she has a lot of training on computers and thinks that ordinary folks wouldn’t be able to handle installing and configuring Linux themselves.
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntucat/the-linux-desktop-myth/
Psychocat aka A.Y. Siu is an ex-Ubuntu Forums Admin. Here's a brand-new article:
And to those disgruntled migrants who think they have great suggestions for how to make Linux accessible for the masses, know that the Linux developers are all working as hard as they can to make good software, and recognize that good software alone won’t bring Linux to the masses. There are market forces at work. In the computer industries, money talks. If you want to do Linux for the masses some good, buy Linux preinstalled. I believe in choice. I will celebrate the day when Windows users can actually choose Windows instead of just being stuck with it. I will celebrate when you can go into Best Buy and see Linux preinstalled computers there to try out, and the sales staff will be able to talk intelligently about the differences between Windows and Linux. I will celebrate Dell recommending something on its website other than the latest version of Windows. I will celebrate TV advertisements explaining the advantages of using Linux. I don’t want all the masses using Linux. I just want them to be able to buy a Linux computer and use it right away without having to worry about hardware compatibility and burning .iso files correctly.
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntucat/linux-for-the-masses-narratives/
It's also full of restrictions, problems and despite the huge increase in Linux user-friendly GUI based systems, it still is awkward when it comes to configuring and loading apps and updates.
99.5% of the "restrictions and problems" - according to a fresh study by an independent Martian research institute
- have to do with unsupported hardware and the fact that not all programs have versions for Linux (or Mac). If you happen to own a "prices from" Lexmark printer... too bad. Photoshop for Linux? Naah... in your dreams.
But
"it still is awkward when it comes to configuring and loading apps and updates."? I'm going to - respectfully as always, mind you - disagree. Goes like this
:
The vast majority of software available is in repositories. If you want to install a program, open the package manager, select the program you want to install , install it ... done. Whenever the update manager - set up to run daily by default - finds updated versions of programs/OS/bits and pieces, it'll let you know.
What if - even when you have all the "usual" repositories enabled - the program you want isn't available? THEN - and only then - you do things "the Windows way": you hunt down a package (a rpm package for Mandriva, a .deb package for Ubuntu). You download it, double click on it to install. If the package you're installing requires odd bits and pieces (aka dependencies) in order to work, the package installer searches for them in repositories, and installs them first. Automagically.
