On Mon, 9 Dec 2002, Janda, Bernard Theo P. - STSI wrote: > Question: If I get a zaurus as a 2nd PDA (shempre my Palm will be my > primary), will it be able to "teach" me how to use Linux?
Not quite. The Zaurus is a PDA which just happens to run Linux as its multi-tasking multi-user OS (yes if you are networked you can have someone dial in and use the machine with you, provided you install the proper software). The nice thing about it is that it is robust (does not hang like the Palm), free (so the total cost of owning the Zaurus is reduced by the free OS), multitasking (so you can switch from Calendar (appointments) to Opera browser to Calculator without losing your place in any one (and Zaurus does this naturally without each individual app being programmed to multitask). Also it is already bundled with a collection of useful software which you do not have to pay extra for (like the browser, Word, Excel, and Presentation programs). Of course there is the media player that plays music (mp3 and others) and video (avi, mpeg, etc). It is expandable (CF2 and SD slots). It does not make any sense getting both Tungsten and Zaurus, since the Zaurus is so much cheaper than the Tungsten, and so much more powerful. Of course it does not have the same "name recall" value as the Palm, but if it does the job better, I am not complaining. Of course, if you really insist, you can install the Terminal program which comes in the bundled CD, and this gives you shell (commandline) access to the underlying Linux OS. This will give you the opportunity to get familiar with Linux while you are on the go. However, nothing beats a desktop or notebook for learning Linux. > I'm still in a conundrum whether I'd go linux on my home desktop (and > eventually my office desktop) but I really don't know where to start. For > my home PC, I'm planning to get one of those refurbished/2nd hand units and > install either Mandrake or Red Hat -- Linux will run even on an 8MB AT/386 machine, but it will be so sluggish you might think it is a bad OS. I do not understand why everyone thinks that if you want to install WinXP at home you should get the most souped up machine that you can afford (Pentium4, 256MB ram, 40G hard disk, accelerated video, etc.), but for Linux at home anything will do. If you want Linux to perform well, give it as much resource as you would give to WinXP, and then you can really do a fair comparison. But if you really must get a refurbished unit, get one which is at least a Pentium 266, 32 MB ram, 2-4G ide disk, and S3Trio64 video. Then you would get acceptable performance, but very robust (as long as the hardware is not flaky--that is, good RAM. > for the office, I'll probably go for a > dual-boot system (else I'll risk being "dinged" for using non-standard OS > and apps) It is best if a separate partition already exists for another OS like Linux. But if you still have to create one by reducing the size of the existing Windows partition, then you have to find a suitable non-destructive repartitioning program to create the new partition. And you have to do this before you install RedHat. Good luck. P~Manalastas _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fully Searchable Archives With Friendly Web Interface at http://marc.free.net.ph To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
