Going to try to send this again with some removed. > Carol, Hart, and Anne. > going to combine my reply in one note here, and speak to Janina's > new suggestions below. > No carol, this machine would not suit my Linux needs, even though it is both > a Pentium class machine and has a fair amount of memory for dos, 80 meg. > It does not have a cdrw drive, nor does it have a hard drive of the size i > have read suggested for some of the packages I might consider. Additionally, > Linux does not have a word processor in the sense of wordperfect as we discussed some time back. I > do a great deal of work daily with this and other programs, and I would > prefer having a separate machine for the Linux activity. Not that such might > not be done with the additions of other hardware, just not how I want to try > this. > Someone the other day posted of losing 20 or more gig of data to this > adventure. as Hart and I just almost discovered, even losing a great deal > less than this could be devastating. I want to both be able to keep working > at my pace and bring in these new tools. > > You are quite right as to reading up, however. I have asked two questions > more than once on this list, and never gotten an answer above, "it is a > matter of personal taste." > I will ask them again. > If one wants to compare distribution packages, pros and cons of them, where > can one go? and second is there one good book or set of text that is a Linux > guide from commands up? > I have no problem learning as i go, when i got my first computer, I learned > operating system, major programs screen readers and the like in two days, and > have rained others on operating systems, including older editions of > windows. > i will certainly not be in a situation of using commands I do not understand, > as there are only certain tasks I want to perform with this machine. > > > > I know from reading posts here some I would want to avoid, as I do not want > to have to compile things. > Too I would rather have more than i need in a a Distribution, than have to > make changes later. Still there are some programs I know I want based on my > extensive use of Linux in my shell. things like screen and pine and > anti-word and pdf-to-text and both editions of the browsers, LINKS, as in a > chain, and LYNX, as in a cat. > I am guessing that things like listening to audio on line become easy with a > Linux desktop, something that I cannot do on my shell, as it is not tied to > my system directly.. > I have not heard much discussion of firefox here, or even opera, which may > not run in Linux, but if accessing media sites and taking part in online > conferences < another feature I have not heard talked of here> is still a > windows thing than this box may become a Linux/windows one. > Part of my work requires me to listen to archived programs, an increasing > number of mpu setups, and the like. > As for Anne's suggestion to contact a local Linux users group, before this > morning I would have said there were none. I have searched on occasion, and > found none, but apparently one has been started. Whether this will translate > into someone interested in helping me locate the hardware and do the > installation remains to be seen. > I am sorry but I flat disagree as to the time idea. I have a job and run a > production company. I want indeed to read up as much as i can so as to > choose the distribution best for me, guide the choices of system equipment, and run the programs, but I would rather > get someone else to help with or actually do the installation and work with > the hardware. Its my time and my money, and I do not think i will be using > commands with no understanding of them. No reason why this should happen. > Lastly Carol, I have a dec express which i could move from machine to > machine and I believe this does work with speakup. I would rather a dec > internal card for this machine, as I want to use the soundcard only for sound > work. Thanks for all of your input. > > On Sun, 26 Sep 2004, Terry D. Cudney wrote: > >> Hi Karen, >> >> Well, if you have a machine running DOS now, you have a machine >> that almost certainly would run Linux. The only two criteria that I
