Re: Do I Want Linux?

["Craig Ede" <craig.ede@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(excerpted with my comments following)
>When most people, such as yourself, ask "should I consider Linux", they
>are asking about using Linux as their primary operating system for a
>single-user PC.

Many people run a dual-boot system. If you go with an entire drive dedicated to Linux, it's pretty simple to set up.

>HOWEVER, Linux has an incredibly steep learning curve.  Don't kid
>yourself. 

Not my experience, really. But I have some UNIX background.

>Just the same, if I was going to experiment with Linux on the Desktop
>(remember, you can always build a multi-boot environment and have BOTH
>Linux and Win9x on the same PC), I would ABSOLUTELY use Red Hat 6.x. 
>Pay the $60-some dollars for their CD, documentation and included
>installation support.  Don't try to download a free version of the core
>Linux, because you WILL want and need the support.

I recommend SuSE, the European "leader" although I run RedHat as well. The SuSE distribution is a much better value with essentials such as xemacs included in their 6 CD distribution (list $49.95). Also, excellent documentation and support availability (though I've never used either support line).

>REMEMBER, ALL THIS SOFTWARE and O/S IS TYPICALLY **FREE**.  

The OS is free. SOME of the apps are free. 

>Another important aspect, especially for people like you, Rick, is that
>as part of the Linux license, the source code for Linux software must be
>available and EVERYBODY has the right to modify and redistribute -- if
>you have a better idea, YOU can make it happen.

This is the beauty of Linux. You can always modify the source to support your needs.

>I have not seen the FrameMaker Linux distribution, however, if all is
>done properly, one should be able to have the FrameMaker source code and
>MODIFY/FIX/IMPROVE it as desired.  Now, wouldn't that be interesting....

Hmm. Your conception of what releasing a product for Linux requires is flawed. ("done properly"? ) 

Source is mandatory if the application is distributed under the GNU license. Applications do NOT have to supply their source (which in the case of FrameMaker is their intellectual property). Adobe would be very foolish to release the source for FrameMaker since this would be giving away a huge investment.

I'm sure the source code will not be distributed. Why should they?

>.."Gnome" (one of the possibilities) desktop which is an "X" program
>which is run on Win95 by a "X windows manager" (XServer) ...

I prefer KDE. At one point it was more mature than the GNU Gnome. This may have changed. I still think it is more flexible.

>..WordPerfect environment is still not up
>to "PC users" expectations.  ..

WordPerfect is quite good. I don't see it's Linux version as crippled in any way.

Craig Ede
Los Jugadores Bazutadores


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