RE: [newbie] Questions, questions and more questions from a potential buyer
perhaps it may be an idea to look into Lindows, the new distro that has a new version of Wine that has had commercial input, it will apparently run alot more windows software, including apparently MS office, possibly even ie.. Its just about to be released now.. just a thought, I don't know anything about it... Mandrake packages could in theory run on a 486, but you would lose some of the benefits of the pentiums.. depending on your needs, something like peanut linux or trinux or one of the others are perfect for that.. I love Trinux, fits on a floppy, port forwarding, firewalling, routing, all from a menu system.. can even be a mini ISP.. (ie dialin) perfect for use of your 486.. rgds Frank -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Sridhar Dhanapalan Sent: Friday, 2 November 2001 3:16 PM To: Michael Peligro Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [newbie] Questions, questions and more questions from a potential buyer On Thu, 1 Nov 2001 14:57:03 +0800, Michael Peligro [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear Sir/Madam: No need for formalities - this is a list where users help other users! :) Good day! I am an avid gamer and I plan to migrate to Linux. The Windows upgrade is too steep and the product requires me to upgrade my computer hardware as well. I am sad that I have to pay expensive licenses and hardware for Windows XP only to get an operating system that is technically inferior and buggy compared to the rock-solid performance and cost savings of Linux. I have been looking at the other Linux distros and based on my research: Linux Mandrake 8.1 is the solution for me. Is it? To begin with, I have several questions: 1. Will Mandrake 8.1 run on my system? AMD-K6-2-500 64MB RAM SIS 530 on-board AGP 2x 8MB video RAM ES-SOLO on-board sound card Does Mandrake support the drivers for my devices? Does it have a generic driver if in case the manufacturers for my devices are nowhere to be found and have ceased support? The processor and the RAM will work, although I recommend that you upgrade to at least 128MB of RAM for a full graphical experience (the same would go for any OS). I don't know about the on-board stuff. Try checking these sites: http://lhd.zdnet.com/ http://www.linuxhardware.net/ http://www.linuxhardware.org/ http://www.linux.com/enhance/hardware/ http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/hardware.php3 2. Is Mandrake 8.1 vulnerable to viruses such as CIH or BIOS-infecting viruses? Are there any antivirus software for Mandrake? There are no virii for GNU/Linux, and it is likely that there will never be any effective ones, due to superior design. Hence, there is no need for a virus scanner. There is also no need for tools like Scandisc and Defrag. GNU/Linux filesystems take care of these things themselves. 3. Will Mandrake 8.1 run on a 486DX2 33mhz with 16MB RAM? One of Linux' strengths is running on old computer systems. Will Mandrake give a new lease of usable life to my old system? Mandrake is optimised for i586 (Pentium-class) and above processors. For 386 and 486 computers, you should look at another distribution, like Red Hat or Suse. 4. I plan to use some legacy Windows programs (Office, Quicken, etc.) on Mandrake. What Windows emulator would you recommend for Mandrake? Will WINE work for me? How about Win4Lin? I also wish to play my Windows games with Linux until such time when Linux ports for these games have been released. Microsoft applications won't work reliably in WINE, because MS designs them so that they don't. Win4Lin and VMware are good virtualisation applications, and Windows works reliably in them. Ultimately, you should be looking for replacements for your apps. There is no point whatsoever in running GNU/Linux if you're in Win4Lin or VMware all the time. For example, StarOffice/OpenOffice is a great alternative to MS Office, and it handles the MS Office file formats admirably. To replace Quicken, there's Gnucash and Moneydance, which can also read Quicken files. The GIMP is better than Adobe Photoshop in many ways, and GNOME and KDE beat the Windows interface for power and functionality. All of these are 100% free, both in price and in source. Games may pose a problem. Win4Lin and VMware don't handle games too well. WINE can play some games (e.g. The Sims and Starcraft), but most won't work. The Windows version of Quake III can be made to work natively (not through any emulation) in GNU/Linux with a small patch. Loki has a number of ports of Windows games to GNU/Linux, including Unreal Tournament. There is a special Gamers' Edition of Mandrake 8.1, which includes The Sims and a version of WINE especially tweaked for gaming. This sounds like the distro for you. You should keep a dual-boot system for maximum enjoyment of your system. For serious work, you can benefit from the power and stability of GNU/Linux. For high-speed gaming, Wintendo is still around to boot into :) 5
Re: [newbie] Questions, questions and more questions from a potential buyer
In reply to John Hokanson Jr.'s words, written Fri, 2 Nov 2001 08:51:44 -0800 Yes, KDE 2.x is rather painful with only 64megs. :( Supposedly it is the bare minimum. You're probably going to see a lot of swaping and slowdown. GNOME isn't terribly better at this point. They supposedly do make windows managers will low memory overhead though (KDE isn't one of them). www.xfce.org :) Actually, there are supposedly two or so virii for Linux that were specifically engineered to infect the system. I don't know how effective they are though. These are old ones. The precautions against them have been inside the kernel since long. Paul -- It is better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all -Lord Alfred Tennyson http://nlpagan.net - Registered Linux User 174403 Linux Mandrake 8.0 - Sylpheed 0.6.3 claws Open Source, Open Minds. Linux. Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Questions, questions and more questions from a potential buyer
well i can try on a few of these On Wednesday 31 October 2001 22:57, you spoke unto me thusly: 1. Will Mandrake 8.1 run on my system? get more ram. it will run, but ram is the best thing you can do to a linux box. 2. Is Mandrake 8.1 vulnerable to viruses such as CIH or BIOS-infecting viruses? Are there any antivirus software for Mandrake? hehehehehe. no! 3. Will Mandrake 8.1 run on a 486DX2 33mhz with 16MB RAM? One of Linux' likely not, but if you have a broad band conection try it as a firewall. there are distro that specialize in this on such machines. 6. Can I run servers for Unreal Tournament, Quake III, Half-Life, and ran a tfc, cstrike and halflife server while running a web server on almost the same hardware. not one of those games, all 3. bandwidth ran out before the system strained at all. try that on windows. ;) 8. I plan to use my Mandrake system as a point of sharing internet access for the other computers in my home network. Is it possible to do this with Mandrake? yep, but look into using that 486 instead. -- To live is to war with trolls -Isben shane registered linux user #101606 @ http://counter.li.org/ http://www.mystic-light.net/personal/ Proud to be a DMOZ editor since 10-98 http://dmoz.org cause humans do it better! Link different. Profile at: http://dmoz.org/profiles/shen.html Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] Questions, questions and more questions from a potential buyer
On Thu, 1 Nov 2001 14:57:03 +0800, Michael Peligro [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear Sir/Madam: No need for formalities - this is a list where users help other users! :) Good day! I am an avid gamer and I plan to migrate to Linux. The Windows upgrade is too steep and the product requires me to upgrade my computer hardware as well. I am sad that I have to pay expensive licenses and hardware for Windows XP only to get an operating system that is technically inferior and buggy compared to the rock-solid performance and cost savings of Linux. I have been looking at the other Linux distros and based on my research: Linux Mandrake 8.1 is the solution for me. Is it? To begin with, I have several questions: 1. Will Mandrake 8.1 run on my system? AMD-K6-2-500 64MB RAM SIS 530 on-board AGP 2x 8MB video RAM ES-SOLO on-board sound card Does Mandrake support the drivers for my devices? Does it have a generic driver if in case the manufacturers for my devices are nowhere to be found and have ceased support? The processor and the RAM will work, although I recommend that you upgrade to at least 128MB of RAM for a full graphical experience (the same would go for any OS). I don't know about the on-board stuff. Try checking these sites: http://lhd.zdnet.com/ http://www.linuxhardware.net/ http://www.linuxhardware.org/ http://www.linux.com/enhance/hardware/ http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/hardware.php3 2. Is Mandrake 8.1 vulnerable to viruses such as CIH or BIOS-infecting viruses? Are there any antivirus software for Mandrake? There are no virii for GNU/Linux, and it is likely that there will never be any effective ones, due to superior design. Hence, there is no need for a virus scanner. There is also no need for tools like Scandisc and Defrag. GNU/Linux filesystems take care of these things themselves. 3. Will Mandrake 8.1 run on a 486DX2 33mhz with 16MB RAM? One of Linux' strengths is running on old computer systems. Will Mandrake give a new lease of usable life to my old system? Mandrake is optimised for i586 (Pentium-class) and above processors. For 386 and 486 computers, you should look at another distribution, like Red Hat or Suse. 4. I plan to use some legacy Windows programs (Office, Quicken, etc.) on Mandrake. What Windows emulator would you recommend for Mandrake? Will WINE work for me? How about Win4Lin? I also wish to play my Windows games with Linux until such time when Linux ports for these games have been released. Microsoft applications won't work reliably in WINE, because MS designs them so that they don't. Win4Lin and VMware are good virtualisation applications, and Windows works reliably in them. Ultimately, you should be looking for replacements for your apps. There is no point whatsoever in running GNU/Linux if you're in Win4Lin or VMware all the time. For example, StarOffice/OpenOffice is a great alternative to MS Office, and it handles the MS Office file formats admirably. To replace Quicken, there's Gnucash and Moneydance, which can also read Quicken files. The GIMP is better than Adobe Photoshop in many ways, and GNOME and KDE beat the Windows interface for power and functionality. All of these are 100% free, both in price and in source. Games may pose a problem. Win4Lin and VMware don't handle games too well. WINE can play some games (e.g. The Sims and Starcraft), but most won't work. The Windows version of Quake III can be made to work natively (not through any emulation) in GNU/Linux with a small patch. Loki has a number of ports of Windows games to GNU/Linux, including Unreal Tournament. There is a special Gamers' Edition of Mandrake 8.1, which includes The Sims and a version of WINE especially tweaked for gaming. This sounds like the distro for you. You should keep a dual-boot system for maximum enjoyment of your system. For serious work, you can benefit from the power and stability of GNU/Linux. For high-speed gaming, Wintendo is still around to boot into :) 5. Is there a virtual-cd program for Mandrake? Some games require me to have the cd on the drive while playing. In Windows, I use a virtual-cd program to create a virtual cd that resides on my hard drive. This lets me run games without reshuffling the cds on my drive. Any programs on Mandrake similar to this? Provided that the CD isn't copy protected, you can easy make a CD image and store it on your hard drive. 6. Can I run servers for Unreal Tournament, Quake III, Half-Life, and Counter-Strike simultaneously with Mandrake, while at the same time acting as a file-and-print sharing computer on the network? Will it crash or live up to the legend of Linux as a crash-proof server OS? I've never tried it myself, but I see no reason why it shouldn't work. I think that there is a native Half-Life server for GNU/Linux, and all of Quake III works. 7. I live in the Philippines. How can I purchase Mandrake 8.1 Powerpack from my area? Do you have a reseller in my country or do I have to
