I was think of getting Linux for the OS of my computer, I have heard it is more reliable with less virus than Windows, any comments??

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2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke 4x4
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"I love the smell of burnt diesel fuel in the morning, it smells like ....VICTORY"

Semper Fidelis
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You should base your choice of operating system on the application(s) that you require, ease of use, and availability of support.

For the vast majority of people, I would suggest Windows XP or MacOS X, both being mainstream, robust, easy to use/maintain, with plenty of applications.

By it's very nature, Linux is not the most consumer friendly OS, so unless you have friends or family members who are Linux/Unix savvy that you can depend on for support, steer clear.

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Glen Tokuhara
Beauty & the Beast and the wagon that could!

I've been playing with the best of both worlds myself. My primary machine runs OSX. My firewall/router runs OpenBSD. I've installed an played with Linux on several machines.

For my purposes, OSX suits very nicely on the desktop, while I feel secure with one of the most paranoid OS distributions guarding the gateway.

OSX lets me use as much or as little linux style opensource software as I want, which still giving me the option to use best of breed commercial applications.

I can run Photoshop, Microsoft Office, as well as free opensource implementations like The Gimp and Openoffice at the same time, as well as take advantage of Apple's nifty video editing and music playing apps, etc. Apple's new browser, Safari, is pretty spiffy too.

If I were going to ditch the Mac, I would probably go with some flavor of BSD on a PC box, because it appeals to my paranoid geek heavy taste in PC junk.

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jeremy wood
'88 260E ~200,700 miles
- All stock, except for Blaupunkt "Miami Beach"

Hi

I am a management consultant who works mainly from home and I am using linux (SuSE 8.1) on my desktop at the moment. It requires a greater investment of time and effort than Windows and there are still compatability issues.

For example, I require .doc and .xls files when dealing with clients and I have found no open source product that adequately handles these formats. However, I have purchased a product called Codeweavers Crossover Office which allows me to run Microsoft Office 2000 under linux. I can't get my Palm Tungsten working, but I hope the next release, due next week, may help. I keep WinXP on computer because I need it to interact on line with the Australian Tax Office.

Nonetheless, I like linux because it is not monolithic, because of the open source ethos, because it is different and because it does not belong to Bill (the antichrist) Gates. I like OSX and have an iBook - but desktop Apple hardware is expensive and you can't (really) build it yourself - another hobby.

Give it a whirl - you could download the latest Mandrake distribution, which includes the facility to resize your Windows partition, and run it alongside for a while to see how you go. On the other hand, you could be really perverse and install BeOS or OS2.

I go back to early versions of Unix and even VMS. The first computer I had my hands on in 1974, a DEC PDP/8 didn't even have an operating system. We did most everything in assembler.

The most widely available dialects of Linux, like Red Hat, are not bad if you are somewhat Unix literate for the installation and maintenance. The only people I've seen use them are the Bill Gates Haters of the world and the geekiest of computer geeks.

If Linux, in its current state, had been a choice five to ten years ago when Windows was fraught with all sorts of "General Protection Faults (GPF)" and other problems, it would have been a real hit. But now, after only about 20 years of development, Microsoft opsys' are pretty solid. Its amazing what you can do with enough processor power to put a Man on Mars if we were to decide to do so.

Have a great day,

And Larry probably punched those cards with his teeth as well

I would recommend that you purchase a different HD. I've managed to screw mine to the point of no return messing with partitions and stuff. Better yet, buy a new used computer and install Linux there and keep an internet connection open to various Linux chatrooms and on irc #linux.

The first Linux installation I did was on a school library computer It sat there for at least 2 semesters.

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