tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14400013.post112134959044924318..comments2023-06-04T04:20:56.501-04:00Comments on Diatribes - Computer, Economic & Political: Adopting LinuxUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14400013.post-1122927683235603662005-08-01T16:21:00.000-04:002005-08-01T16:21:00.000-04:00here are 2 replys i got when asking for help on sw...here are 2 replys i got when asking for help on switching to linux:<BR/><BR/>1)<BR/><BR/>Hi Jason,<BR/><BR/>I have some time to spare to help a fellow man discover Linux.<BR/>If you're short on people that would like to help you, you may always<BR/>send me a message,<BR/><BR/>I myself started with Linux 3 year ago with Mandrake (now Mandriva)<BR/>but now a would recommend (K)ubuntu or xandros.<BR/>For the moment Xandros is my main Linux installation.<BR/><BR/><BR/>2)<BR/><BR/>Just about everyone I know would love to help you with your Linux questions. Trouble is, they probably won't. Most serious GNU/Linux users are either developers or sysadmins with lives of their own and time is a precious commodity for them.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps I'm misreading your post, but my impression is that you're a young (12-17) male without much (relative term) computer experience who is probably interestd in 'hax' and developing 'l337 5kiLLz'. Projecting that impression gets you exactly nowhere in the Linux community (if you're lucky).<BR/><BR/>RTFM and STFW (Read the 'fine' manual, search the web) are the refrains most commonly heard by newby ears. For starters, you MUST read this:<BR/>http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html, then follow through. Right now, you may not be sure where to start, but pick a place and work out what the problems will be. Be a scientist: use scientific method, break your problems down into bite-sized chunks. You'll find things starting to fall into place fairly quickly.<BR/><BR/>For information on which distribution is best, check out distrowatch.com. Pick one of the distros specifically cited as being good for beginners, Suse or Mandrake come to mind. My pick would be Knoppix - they have a live disc you can use - boot your computer with the disc in the the drive and bang, you're running linux (assuming your bios is set to boot from disc). Another reason Knoppix is a good choice is that there is an option to install it to your hard drive. Plus it's based on Debian, which is my favorite distro, but probably also the hardest to break in to.<BR/><BR/>Finally, just do it. Preferably on an old hand-me-down non-critical computer. GNU/Linux doesn't require all the latest hardware like Micro$oft systems do. Trying to set up dual-boot on your working system is just begging for trouble if you don't have any previous experience.<BR/><BR/>P.S. This email has been sent from one of my spam hole accounts. I don't check it frequently, but if you're desperate, feel free to write me here. Be sure to put "GNU/Linux question" in the subject line. I might even answer. Best wishes, and good luck!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com