RE: [newbie] Why use linux at all? - not heresy, just want a straight answer please

[Dodd Carlton J MSgt 726 ACS/CSG]

Nice summation Paul!

-Carlton

-----Original Message-----
From:   Paul [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] 
Sent:   Friday, December 29, 2000 4:58 AM
To:     [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:        Re: [newbie] Why use linux at all? - not heresy, just want a
straight answer please

> ok, here is the real question: why do people try running linux?, the
> impression i had gathered was that it was a lighter os and could be used
on
> older machines, (i386 etc). I was a little dismayed when i saw the
download
> size. How much disk space will a bare install need?
> 
> David and Alicia

Hi,

Most people that 'try' running linux have probably not read enough about it
to know what
is possible and how to do it.
Millions of people run Linux and are happy with it.

Progress is made in all areas, in the development of linux, Windows, and
hardware. If the
hardware gets more potent, then the OS's of that timeframe will grow along
with that.
You can indeed run Linux on a 386, but you can not expect to take all the
advantages of
the new OS-technology using old hardware-technology.
Mandrake is optimized for Pentium class processors, not i386.
Redhat is compiled for i386, and when you use RH5.2 (from which, if I am not
mistaken,
Mandrake originated) or RH6.0, that will run nicely on an I386. You can not
install
everything, but a basic system with some Xwindow support should be possible
on your specs
of i386 with 540mb. Even with 8 megs of RAM, this should function. (Not
'run', but
'walk'.)

Compare what you need for a basic mandrake installation with a bare Xwindow
system, and
windows95, and you may not find much difference. Using Linux made me
microsoft
independent, free of blue screens of death, DLL's in all forms and shapes
and versions, an
uninterpretable registry file, and the power to influence the system and
repair it when it
breaks down. Windows does not let me do that.
If you seek the ease of windows, being taken by the hand by wizards which
make all the
decisions for you, then windows is what you want. If you want to be able to
use your
computer by what you put in it yourself, then you can go with Linux.
(My expression of thoughts entirely of course.)
Paul