Mepis Linux Review by First Time User

[PeteF]

Mepis Linux Review by First Time User
By Pete Federico
Aug 10, 2006

This is my first experience with any Linux Operating System.
This review will basically describe my first impressions with
Mepis Linux from a MS Windows user's point of view. My goal in
testing Linux is to evaluate the possibility of setting up
computers for certain people who might be disgusted with all the
malware issues related to MS Windows or people such as senior
citizens or novice computer users. In other words, people who
just need a computer to process Email, surf the Internet, and
write some letters. It's my impression that Linux comes with all
the software to do all that, plus much more.

I'm testing Linux on a Pentium II computer,
400mhz speed, with about 320 MB of memory.
The computer has Windows ME installed.

Ok, I received a CD titled as follows:

TaFusion MEPIS Linux
Frontier
Non-Installable
Fully Functional
TEST DRIVE

It is amazing to me that this CD will supposedly start the
the computer and run the Mepis Linux operating all from the
CD without actually installing anything to the hard drive
or messing with my Windows ME setup.


LET THE TEST DRIVE BEGIN!

I boot to the Mepis Linux CD.
I select... MINIMUM BOOT (For older computers)
and within about 4 minutes I'm looking at the Linux desktop!
Very cool! I'm impressed! [smile x 3]

THE DESKTOP

The names & terms used in Mepis Linux are not comforting as
they are in MS Windows. What the heck is a MEPIS?
What does TA FUSION mean or relate to? These names are going to
intimidate a novice user because they have absolutely no meaning
to the user. Microsoft uses more common words such as "Windows"
or "Explorer" or "START" which all have meaning to even a novice
user. I see that Linux uses names & terms that have no meaning to
a novice user such as "KDE", "K-Menu", "Konqueror", etc. [frown]
A minor issue perhaps, but first impressions are so important
when you are trying to sell a new concept to someone.
Marketing Linux is going to be an uphill battle. [frown]

My first impression is that the desktop looks very similar to
MS Windows, with the task bar at bottom of screen and about 6
Icons on the desktop. [smile] However, I don't like background and
the Icon's font is hard on the eyes, so I immediately need
to change those. [frown x2]

I right click on desktop -> Configure desktop,
and I easily found the options to create a solid blue
background and set the font background to the same blue
color to make the Icon font easier on the eyes to read.
[smile x3]

I click on an Icon to start an application and some silly
looking mouse pointer icon starts bouncing up and down to
indicate the computer is busy loading application. [frown]
I much prefer the subtle motion of the animated hour glass
that MS Windows utilizes. I checked the mouse settings, but
unfortunately, there does not seem to be any way to change
that bouncing icon. [frown x3] I really hate that thing.
I don't know why but I just find it annoying and
distracting. [frown]


FIREFOX BROWSER

I see Firefox is already on the Panel! Great! [smile x2]

FYI: In Mepis Linux, the "Panel" is basically the same
as the task bar in MS Windows. The Panel also has a
"quick launch" area with Icons just as the Taskbar
in MS Windows does. [smile]

I launch Firefox and it takes about 55 seconds to load.
Remember, this is all running from the CD so I suspect it
will load much faster when Linux is actually installed
to the hard drive.

I'm connected to a router on a DSL connection and Firefox
works fine to access the Internet. Very cool. [smile] Mepis Linux
had no problems automatically setting up my network adapter
and making the Internet connection. [smile x3]

Just for the heck of it, I tried closing Firefox and reopening
it to see if it would load faster the second time, and it did. [smile]
It loaded in only 20 seconds compared to 55 seconds the first
time. [smile]

FYI: In MS Windows, I often use a short cut to close down any
window by double clicking the window in the upper left corner.
Unfortunately, this does not work in Linux. [frown x2]

FYI: I tried moving the Panel from the bottom of screen to the
right side and it does allow you to do that, but unfortunately,
you can't resize it to be wider as you can in MS Windows.
This is most unfortunate because I depend upon that feature
as a power user. [frown x3] . However, for most other people,
this will not be an issue. [smile]


THE K-MENU

Instead of the START button (as with MS Windows taskbar),
Mepis Linux has the K-MENU button. It seems that the desktop
and user interface is called the KDE (K Desktop Environment).
However, even after looking through the help system I can't
figure out what the "K" means. [smile] Again, a minor issue but
it adds to making a new user uncomfortable with the user
interface. Linux seems to use lots of geeky names and terms
that will be meaningless and intimidating to novice users. [frown]
This is most unfortunate because novice users are the ones
I most wanted to promote Linux to. Very bad from a marketing
viewpoint. [frown x3]

Ok, upon clicking the K-MENU button, I see a menu very similar
the START MENU in MS Windows. [smile] Even better is the approach
that Linux takes to classify programs into groups such as Games,
Graphics, Internet, MultiMedia. This makes good sense! [smile x2]

I'm also impressed at the number of useful applications that come
pre-installed with Mepis Linux. All nicely organized in groups
as described above. Below is brief list of what's included.

* GAMES - About 6 games

* GRAPHICS - Fax, Scanning, OCR, Image viewer, Photo management,
Screen Capture

* INTERNET - 2 browsers (Firefox & Konqueror, Thunderbird Email client,
File transfer, Instant messaging, Newsgroups

* MULTIMEDIA - CD & DVD Burning, CD player, Wave editor, Audio player,
Media player, Mixer, Realplayer10, Video editor

* OFFICE - Open office suite includes wordprocessor, spreadsheet,
database, contacts, presentation apps., a few simple text editors,
checkbook tracker, PDF viewer

There is much more to it than what I described above but those
are the most important applications. They also have a SYSTEM
group and a UTILITIES group that deal more with apps and tasks
related to the operating system. I see it includes apps for
AntiVirus (KlamAV), and a Backup system too. Interesting. [smile]

BTW: I won't be covering the use of the
above applications in this review.


HARDWARE PROBLEMS

Mepis Linux seems to have detected most of my hardware but not
my legacy ISA SoundBlaster sound card. The card is not plug-n-play
and I can't figure out how to set it up manually, using the IRQ
and memory settings that I have set in Windows ME, so I have no
sound. [frown x3]


FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Overall, I think Mepis Linux is worth looking into further.
With the right hardware and actually installing it to the
hard drive, it might have potential to be setup for a user
who does not require the flexibility and wide range of
applications available to MS Windows. [smile]

Mepis Linux comes close to duplicating the MS Windows
experience, but it's still rough around the edges and
limited in it's capabilities in many respects when
compared to MS Windows. [frown]


RECOMMENDATIONS

I highly recommend that you get hold of a TEST DRIVE
version of Mepis Linux and try it out because it runs
quite well from the CD alone and won't interfere with
your current system. Get familiar with it. Then one
day if your MS Windows system crashes and you need to
get online, you can simply boot the Mepis Linux CD
and be online in 5 minutes. It's a good backup OS! [smile]
See how you like it!

---pete---

[Terry Hanushek]

Pete

Thanks for the First looks

A very good perspective of Linux for the Windows user (most of us here at KH).

Terry

[PeteF]

Pete

Thanks for the First looks

A very good perspective of Linux for the Windows user (most of us here at KH).

Terry

Ok, cool.

I just tested the same on a much newer system and it was a disaster.
PC is about 2003 custom build, w/P4 2.4 GHZ Intel motherboard with
onboard video.

Unfortunately Mepis Linux did not load the proper video drivers and
the only screen res was 640 x 480 which made it impractical to
run the Linux OS. Some dialogs were so large that they went off
screen at the bottom and I couldn't access the OK button. :D

What really puzzles me about running an OS like Linux is how people
get it to work with their hardware when the Linux OS does not have
the proper driver and the manufacturer only has MS Windows drivers.
Seems to me like you'd be very limited in what hardware or peripherials
you use. This is what scares me most about using Linux.

---pete---

[mylanta]

What really puzzles me about running an OS like Linux is how people
get it to work with their hardware when the Linux OS does not have
the proper driver and the manufacturer only has MS Windows drivers.
Seems to me like you'd be very limited in what hardware or peripherials
you use. This is what scares me most about using Linux.

Well this is my problem exactly...I access internet from usb wireless adapters and I have yet to find a version of Linux that can find the right driver to do so. I must have 8 versions ready for an eBay "grab bag" sale anyday now.
I will download this and try it as it is one more to "put on the block".

[Pi rules]

Drivers can be troublesome in Linux, but I'm hoping that as it spreads, manufacturer's will finally create Linux drivers (some do :)).

I just can't believe MEPIS ships with a Real Player. :sad:

What the heck is a MEPIS?
Supposedly, the creator of MEPIS misheard a friend over Skype and decided to keep the name.

Since you are looking for a Linux distro that is easy to use for novices, try something like Linspire or Xandros.

btw: It's called a Live CD when you run the Linux distro from a CD. ;) I believe they usually copy the necessary files into the RAM and read from the CD when necessary.

Thanks for the detailed review; I may check out MEPIS, although it's based on Ubuntu, which I use already.

[Terry Hanushek]

Pete

What really puzzles me about running an OS like Linux is how people get it to work with their hardware when the Linux OS does not have the proper driver and the manufacturer only has MS Windows drivers. Seems to me like you'd be very limited in what hardware or peripherials you use. This is what scares me most about using Linux.
The concern I hear most often is drivers. Rich mentioned it above, Larry discussed it in a WinV dual boot discussion earlier. And if there is one thing that less experienced users do not need, it is driver problems.

I thought your plan to use a then Linux on an older, still functioning computers was very innovative. It very may be viable given the large supply of older computers and the considerable number of low-impact users. The thing that would concern me given your limited exposure to MEPIS is that the supply of candidate computers would present a wide range of hardware configurations requiring considerable driver investigation / resolution. From your report, it does appear that there is sufficient software for basic installations.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

Terry

[rVidia]

Well this is my problem exactly...I access internet from usb wireless adapters and I have yet to find a version of Linux that can find the right driver to do so.
I recently decided to set up another Linux box, though I too have wireless USB adapters (which were not supported), so I ended up having to get a wireless ethernet bridge instead, which I'm still trying to set up. Hardware can be very frusturating with Linux; I'll leave it at that ... :D The best advice I can give is to check to see if it's compatible before buying- http://www.linux.org/vendor/hardware/index.html - http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/index.php/cat/5

[PeteF]

Supposedly, the creator of MEPIS misheard a friend over Skype and decided to keep the name.

Since you are looking for a Linux distro that is easy to use for novices, try something like Linspire or Xandros.



MEPIS, named by a fluke. Hahahaa, that figures.
The Linux teams are certainly no marketing experts.
The folks at Microsoft must be laughing their asses off.
Linux still offers no real competition to MS Windows.
Too bad because I was hoping the Linux teams had their
act together better than what it is.

What I'm finding with Linux is one frustration after another.
I just spent about 20 hours downloading on a DSL connection
the FreeSpire Linux which is the closest version to Linspire.
The download page has no info on what to do next. I spent an
hour searching & reading the Freespire Forum trying to figure
out what to do with this 702 mb download of FreeSpire.
I know I have to burn it as an ISO, but it's too large to
fit on a CD. To my way of thinking, the download page should
have all the info required for what to do after downloading to
complete the installation. I'm quickly noticing a pattern here
where most things with Linux, you have to search and spend
enormous amounts of time to figure out how to do very
basic things that MS Windows does automaticaly :(

This Linux thing still might be worth looking into but I
can see now it's going to take a lot of time and energy
to get it going.

---pete---

[PeteF]

The best advice I can give is to check to see if it's compatible before buying- http://www.linux.org/vendor/hardware/index.html - http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/index.php/cat/5

rVidia, I am beginning to see the wisdom in your advise above.
By carefully selecting the hardware before attempting to install Linux,
you can avoid a lot of frustration. However, I'm even now questioning
this technique because I tried the Mepis Linux TEST DRIVE CD on
a PC with an Intel Mobo and according the first website you listed
above, Linux should work with Intel Mobos. My experience is that
it did not properly setup up the onboard video drivers, making it
impractical to run at 640 x 480 screen res. On the other hand,
the list does not include Asus Mobos but my Asus PC ran it ok
except for the legacy ISA soundblaster card.

I think what Linux really needs is a utility you can run from a CD
or online that tests your hardware compatibility *before* you
attempt to install Linux.

---pete---

[mylanta]

MEPIS, named by a fluke. Hahahaa, that figures.
The Linux teams are certainly no marketing experts.
The folks at Microsoft must be laughing their asses off.
Linux still offers no real competition to MS Windows.
Too bad because I was hoping the Linux teams had their
act together better than what it is.

What I'm finding with Linux is one frustration after another.
I just spent about 20 hours downloading on a DSL connection
the FreeSpire Linux which is the closest version to Linspire.
The download page has no info on what to do next. I spent an
hour searching & reading the Freespire Forum trying to figure
out what to do with this 702 mb download of FreeSpire.
I know I have to burn it as an ISO, but it's too large to
fit on a CD. To my way of thinking, the download page should
have all the info required for what to do after downloading to
complete the installation. I'm quickly noticing a pattern here
where most things with Linux, you have to search and spend
enormous amounts of time to figure out how to do very
basic things that MS Windows does automaticaly :(

This Linux thing still might be worth looking into but I
can see now it's going to take a lot of time and energy
to get it going.

---pete---

Pete,
I just did the same thing but and I fail to understand why the iso makes the same size cd. My problems occurred after that.
I have played with Linux for years, but normally never risked a working system and I have all sorts of Mandrake, Redhat and Suse, linspire and 3 others I cannot remember laying around that some day I will put into a giant eBay special for $5 (US) to prevent me from ever being tempted again. My problem is I access the internet in my lab from usb wireless adapters and I have yet to find a Linux suite that will recognize that
Nevertheless I went for my semi annual shot with this program called Freespire I read about on another forum (perish the thought) and attempted to install it to third sata drive on my backup system. I went slowly and carefully through format and install and somehow managed to install it to backup drive and 3rd drive, totally wiping out my backup image files and data backups on sata drive 2 and somehow miraculously not touching main C drive. Usually when I screw up this badly I blow away main OS and then just bring back with ATI. Unfortunately in doing this 7 years worth of email went bye bye as I keep OE store on backup drive...well the install was seriously corrupted and of course forget boot up so after a few fixboots and fixmbr (never remember the right order) I managed to limp into XP and reformat and recreate image files. Of course Freespire went to a "dumpster party" as do my Linux desires for another 6 months. When will those clowns ever get it right, I really choses the correct drive and did nothing wrong.

[rVidia]

This Linux thing still might be worth looking into but I
can see now it's going to take a lot of time and energy
to get it going.

Linux is definitely worth looking into, although your last statement couldn't be more true.

Try giving Ubuntu a try. Here is information on Ubuntu for the desktop (http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop), the download (http://www.ubuntu.com/download) page (you would probably want this (http://ubuntu-releases.cs.umn.edu/5.10/) version, as you can download a Live CD), and here is Ubuntu's documentation on how to burn the ISO (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto) image.

However, I'm even now questioning
this technique because I tried the Mepis Linux TEST DRIVE CD on
a PC with an Intel Mobo and according the first website you listed
above, Linux should work with Intel Mobos. ...On the other hand,
the list does not include Asus Mobos but my Asus PC ran it ok
except for the legacy ISA soundblaster card.

Unfortunately, neither of these lists are very thorough/complete, especially the first link, so probably the best way to check for compatibility would be to simply search your hardware here (http://google.com/linux).

Good luck, Pete!

Ray

[Tortanick]

MEPIS, named by a fluke. Hahahaa, that figures.
The Linux teams are certainly no marketing experts.
The folks at Microsoft must be laughing their asses off.
Linux still offers no real competition to MS Windows.
Too bad because I was hoping the Linux teams had their
act together better than what it is.

Actually Linux was never designed to compeat with Widnows, most Linux user's don't care one bit about market shares or anything. And how exactly is fluke nameing a problem? MEPIS is a cool name, GIMP is helarous and no more confusing than excel, prize for anyone who can explain the link between that word and spreadsheets.

If you ask me I'd have a look at PClinuxOS (http://www.linuxforums.org/reviews/pclinuxos_0.93a_junior_review.html). It got some great reviews (http://www.linuxforums.org/reviews/pclinuxos_0.93a_junior_review.html) if I remember and its quite popular. I also like the minime system of letting users chose what apps to install from the beginning, It has WMA, MP3, RM, MOV, Flash and AVI support out of the box.

Just don't expect them to have changed all the names into souless "spreadsheet" and "word"

[PeteF]

Actually Linux was never designed to compeat with Widnows, most Linux user's don't care one bit about market shares or anything. And how exactly is fluke nameing a problem? MEPIS is a cool name, GIMP is helarous and no more confusing than excel, prize for anyone who can explain the link between that word and spreadsheets.


Of course Linux is competing with Windows. The user interface
and most everything about it resembles MS Windows.

The point I was making with names & terms is that MS generally
uses familiar words and terms where Linux generally uses off the
wall terms that don't mean anything to the average user. This is
where MS has it over Linux in terms of making someone feel
comfortable with the OS. The names and terms that MS uses
have mass appeal and that's something that Linux does not.

See, even the name Linux is confusing.
Most people don't even know how to pronouce it.
Is it... LINE X or.. LIN X or LINE UX or LIN EX

See, what I mean?
It's a small issue, but it's also an indicator that the Linux
teams are not very marketing savvy and not in touch
with what it takes to make a user friendly OS. I wish
it were different because I'd really like to see something
better on the market than MS Windows.

---pete---

[PeteF]

Try giving Ubuntu a try. Here is information on Ubuntu for the desktop (http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop), the download (http://www.ubuntu.com/download) page (you would probably want this (http://ubuntu-releases.cs.umn.edu/5.10/) version, as you can download a Live CD), and here is Ubuntu's documentation on how to burn the ISO (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto) image.
[/URL].

Yeah, I found plenty of info on how to perform an ISO CD burn
but the Freespire Linux download is 702+ mb. How can I burn that
to a CD that only has 680 to 700 mb capacity? I can't find any
info in the Freespire forum or website that addresses that issue.
I have to assume it can't be run from CD. If true, I wish the
dpownload page had mentioned that before I wasted 20 hours
downloading.

What get me is that most software companies have things nicely
organized with all the system requirements and steps required
outlined in a professional manner. With Linux, everything is a
struggle, when it doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't take
much effort to do it right and that's what irks me the most.

---pete---

[mylanta]

Yeah, I found plenty of info on how to perform an ISO CD burn
but the Freespire Linux download is 702+ mb. How can I burn that
to a CD that only has 680 to 700 mb capacity? I can't find any
info in the Freespire forum or website that addresses that issue.
I have to assume it can't be run from CD. If true, I wish the
dpownload page had mentioned that before I wasted 20 hours
downloading.

What get me is that most software companies have things nicely
organized with all the system requirements and steps required
outlined in a professional manner. With Linux, everything is a
struggle, when it doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't take
much effort to do it right and that's what irks me the most.

---pete---

It isn't 700 it is 680 and I burned it to a cd pete.

[casey]

Pete,

I think your getting the idea...

[Pi rules]

With Linux, everything is a struggle, when it doesn't have to be that way. I don't think so. Try ordering some Ubuntu CDs (https://shipit.ubuntu.com/). They will even ship you CDs for nothing. The CDs are a combination of a Live CD and an install CD. You can install it through a complete GUI. Vista doesn't even do that. I think it's too simple, but just about anyone who is able to use a computer can install Ubuntu.

What get me is that most software companies have things nicely
organized with all the system requirements and steps required
outlined in a professional manner. Ubuntu has a huge "unofficial guide" here (http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper). It lists multiple places to go for help, troubleshooting, etc. It only requires ~32 MB of RAM (more recommended) and 1.8 GB for the standard installation (again, more recommended).

Of course Linux is competing with Windows. The user interface
and most everything about it resembles MS Windows. Not always. Some Linux distros try to resemble the Windows GUI for people coming over from Windows.

See, even the name Linux is confusing.
Most people don't even know how to pronouce it.
Is it... LINE X or.. LIN X or LINE UX or LIN EXSee this (http://www.safalra.com/science/linguistics/linux.html) for some possible ways to pronounce it.

It's a small issue, but it's also an indicator that the Linux
teams are not very marketing savvy and not in touch
with what it takes to make a user friendly OS. Most of the non-commercial Linux distros aren't out to make money, just a better OS.

MEPIS is a cool name, GIMP is helarous GIMP (GNU image manipulation program) is a good name. Speaking (or typing ;)) of GNU, that's an odd name: "GNU's not Unix". Let's see MS come up with names like that. ;)

I have all sorts of Mandrake, Redhat and Suse, linspire and 3 others I cannot remember laying around that some day I will put into a giant eBay special for $5 (US)
That would go quickly.

Sorry to hear about what happened, Rich. I usually install Linux on a virtual machine, but when I had several distros on my PC nothing bad like that ever happened.

[Tortanick]

Of course Linux is competing with Windows. The user interface
and most everything about it resembles MS Windows.


There are similarities between User Interfacese on both OSes, under the hood they are ireccogniseibly diffrent.

Both facts are irrelivent, just because there is a similar UI dosn't mean they are compeating, the linux UI exists because its creators want Linux users to have a nice UI, NOT because they want to move Windows users to Linux.


The point I was making with names & terms is that MS generally
uses familiar words and terms where Linux generally uses off the
wall terms that don't mean anything to the average user. This is
where MS has it over Linux in terms of making someone feel
comfortable with the OS. The names and terms that MS uses
have mass appeal and that's something that Linux does not.


After a while you'll never notice the names, as I said above, you never notice that Excel, Access, and powerpoint are irrelivent names that have nothing to do with spreadsheets, databases or presentations.


As a long time Linux fan I'm actually flattered by your critisum. You came up with a complaint against hardware support, Ok we don't have everything but we do actually have more hardware than any other OS, just not more user hardware than windows. And critisums against the UI, most of witch can easily be fixed with Linuxes HUGE, indexed, and well maintained documentaion (http://www.google.com), and the nameing system, that I think is better than Windows.

Compair to what a first time Windows user will see after years of Linux: No repositories, no software preinstalled, viruses, spyware etc.

[PeteF]

As a long time Linux fan I'm actually flattered by your critisum. You came up with a complaint against hardware support, Ok we don't have everything but we do actually have more hardware than any other OS, just not more user hardware than windows. And critisums against the UI, most of witch can easily be fixed....


Tortanick, please don't take my comments personally.
I'm merely reporting and commenting from my own perspective.
My goal being to sell the Linux concept to certain customers of
mine that might benefit by switching from MS Windows to Linux.
My critiques all stem from a window's user point of view as I point
out issues that would make my job difficult of selling the Linux
concept to my customers.

I appreciate all your comments but I think we are coming at
this thing from totaly different angles. I'm sure Linux is a great
OS for many people who are more the computer enthusiest
type and technically oriented. My concept is in the opposite
direction where I would setup and maintain a Linux system for
someone who is a novice type. The advantage to them would
be that the software is all FREE and it will do basicaly all that
they need while at the same time not having to worry nearly
as much about malware issues.

---pete---

[PeteF]

It isn't 700 it is 680 and I burned it to a cd pete.

Hi Rich,
I mentioned the range of 680 to 700mb because of the two specs.
A typical CD-R stores 680 worth of data but right on the CD it
often says 700mb.

So Rich, you say you burned a 702mb ISO file (The FREESPIRE
download) to a 680mb CD? And you installed using that CD?
I read something on the FREESPIRE forum that said you need
a CD that is larger than the ISO file. See below.
---pete---


Source:
http://forum.linspire.com/viewtopic.php?t=341407&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
OK, I downloaded the latest Linspire version, now how do I create a CD out of
the .ISO image? And then how do I get my computer to boot from it?

1. Have an available CD-R or CD-RW of the correct capacity. For example, if the .ISO is 658MB in size, you need at least a 700MB-capacity CD.

[RAK]

Actually Linux was never designed to compeat with Widnows, most Linux user's don't care one bit about market shares or anything. And how exactly is fluke nameing a problem? MEPIS is a cool name, GIMP is helarous and no more confusing than excel, prize for anyone who can explain the link between that word and spreadsheets.

If you ask me I'd have a look at PClinuxOS (http://www.linuxforums.org/reviews/pclinuxos_0.93a_junior_review.html). It got some great reviews (http://www.linuxforums.org/reviews/pclinuxos_0.93a_junior_review.html) if I remember and its quite popular. I also like the minime system of letting users chose what apps to install from the beginning, It has WMA, MP3, RM, MOV, Flash and AVI support out of the box.

Just don't expect them to have changed all the names into souless "spreadsheet" and "word"

I've been following these Linux posts all weekend and, having no life, decided to download several iso's and catch up on the new distros' available. I was curious to see if any have reached the point where they are usable to the "technically challenged":smash:

I used "live"cds, since I wasn't in the mood to potentially hose my system by partitioning. I must say, PCLinux was a pleasent surprise and seems to hold a lot of potential. Ubuntu looks like a close runner-up, but for some reason it didn't want to mount my hard drive. This wasn't a problem with the other disros; in fact PCLinux jr. showed them in the "My Computer" and Knoppix put them right on the desktop. As the reviewer said, PcLinux's KDE desktop does have a "Vista" look to it, transparencies and all. It loaded fine in memory (my machine has 768 ram) and ran quite smoothly. I may try installing it on an old machine to see what it's like. Knoppix was an old favorite, and helped me retrieve my files a while back during an "ME Meltdown", but the current version is a bit of a nightmare. It insists on defaulting to the highest screen resolution, making it hard to read anything. Attempts to change it ended in crashes and lock-ups.
Still, overall, Linux has come a long way in user-friendly operation, though PCLinux is the only one so far that I'd be willing to pay for. Great threads!
RAK

[Pi rules]

PCLinuxOS looks OK, but I don't like the fact that Koffice is installed instead of OpenOffice and Firefox isn't included either. Konqueror isn't a bad web browser, but I like Firefox more. The logo is (purposely I presume) a little too close to the Windows flag IMO.

RAK: The good thing about Linux is that (not including commercial distros) you don't have to pay. ;) Some of the commercial distros also have Open Source distros that are very similar.

Pete F: I'm currently downloading FREESPIRE and the size says 685 MB. Is yours 1.0.13?

Edit: Now the size says 702 MB in Explorer (the "tiles" view, but the "Details" sidebar reports 685 MB). I'm guessing that it really is 685 MB, so try putting it on a CD. I believe I can boot a virtual machine from an ISO without making a CD...

[mylanta]

Hi Rich,
I mentioned the range of 680 to 700mb because of the two specs.
A typical CD-R stores 680 worth of data but right on the CD it
often says 700mb.

So Rich, you say you burned a 702mb ISO file (The FREESPIRE
download) to a 680mb CD? And you installed using that CD?
I read something on the FREESPIRE forum that said you need
a CD that is larger than the ISO file. See below.
---pete---


Source:
http://forum.linspire.com/viewtopic.php?t=341407&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
OK, I downloaded the latest Linspire version, now how do I create a CD out of
the .ISO image? And then how do I get my computer to boot from it?

1. Have an available CD-R or CD-RW of the correct capacity. For example, if the .ISO is 658MB in size, you need at least a 700MB-capacity CD.

Pete,
I first burned it to a dvd because I assumed it wouod never fit, but after I saw it made a dvd the same size, I then burned it to a cd and of course the same thing happened.

[RAK]

PCLinuxOS looks OK, but I don't like the fact that Koffice is installed instead of OpenOffice and Firefox isn't included either. Konqueror isn't a bad web browser, but I like Firefox more. The logo is (purposely I presume) a little too close to the Windows flag IMO.

RAK: The good thing about Linux is that (not including commercial distros) you don't have to pay. ;) Some of the commercial distros also have Open Source distros that are very similar.

Pete F: I'm currently downloading FREESPIRE and the size says 685 MB. Is yours 1.0.13?

Edit: Now the size says 702 MB in Explorer (the "tiles" view, but the "Details" sidebar reports 685 MB). I'm guessing that it really is 685 MB, so try putting it on a CD. I believe I can boot a virtual machine from an ISO without making a CD...
Pi, when I said I'd be willing to pay for PClinux, I actually meant that I thought it would be worth supporting the continuing development. I love a freebie as much as the next guy, but to keep development going, they have to make money somewhere along the line. I guess its similar appearence to Windows is the reason I liked it; sort of a comfort-zone thing:) I found a work-around in Ubuntu to make my drive visible, but I haven't tried it yet. I'm surprised, though, that they didn't make this default. I just downloaded Freespire but I still have to set up a practice machine to try it out. I'm also looking at Winlinux, which says it can run on a Windows enviroment and installs on FAT 32 drive. But they want you to register before downloading. I'm a little leary of that; plus their sight is a bit of a mess.
http://www.winlinux.net/

Interesting concept, though.

[PeteF]

Pete F: I'm currently downloading FREESPIRE and the size says 685 MB. Is yours 1.0.13?

Edit: Now the size says 702 MB in Explorer (the "tiles" view, but the "Details" sidebar reports 685 MB). I'm guessing that it really is 685 MB, so try putting it on a CD. I believe I can boot a virtual machine from an ISO without making a CD...

Yes, that is exactly the version I downloaded.
I used CDBurnerXP Pro 3 to burn the ISO file to CD and it worked!
However, I did have to burn it a second time because the first CD was
giving me troubles where it would work part way and then hang up.
I originally burned at 4x speed (no good) and then at 1x speed (good).

Lesson learned, always burn a large ISO file like this one
at the slowest speed or you stand to waste a lot of time
trying to use the CD if the burn was not perfect.

---pete---

[rVidia]

I used CDBurnerXP Pro 3 to burn the ISO file...
May I recommend ISO Recorder (http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/01/05/iso-recorder-native-iso-burning-in-windows/)?

"Windows XP has reasonably good, if basic, CD burning support, but one thing it conspicuously cannot do is burn ISO images. ISO Recorder fixes that. It's an extension for Windows that adds native ISO image burning support. ... "

[mylanta]

I use Alcohol 120 for this, it's the easiest...I have been told nero does it, but I never could figure out how to use nero for much of anything frankly, and don't speak or write German so am left out of tech support route!