[Coco] OT: Keeping Current.... ("loaded" Linux Qs)

[Mannequin*]

farna at att.net wrote:
> I'm going to stick my neck out with this off-topic post simply 
> because you guys are up on Linux, and I'm not! ... at least most who
>  have been responding to Linux issues are familiar, trusted names!

Well... I might not be a trusted name...

> I have two "loaded" questions:
> 
> 1. What do you recommend for a computer USER -- someone who doesn't 
> want to get into a lot of tinkering and programming, including 
> compiling distributions and such. I've got a live disk of Ubuntu 6.06
>  LTS and a Freespire live CD of unknown version -- it says 2006, and 
> was picked up at a computer show in October 2006. I've read a lot 
> about SimplyMEPIS though, sounds really good for a Linux beginner.

I suggest a flavor of Ubuntu. KUbuntu or XUbuntu. Seriously, it's
Whatever distro suits you best. A good thing about Ubuntu is the #1 bug
report: "Microsoft has a majority market share in the new desktop PC
marketplace. This is a bug, which Ubuntu is designed to fix." :)

> I hope to load WINE so I can continue running Adobe PageMaker 6.0 for
> a while, as I test some of the Linux DTP programs. I was planning on
>  using OpenOffice, but also want the ability to run MS Office (XP, 
> 2005 version) as well when/if necessary. My understanding is WINE 
> will do that.

Try <http://www.winehq.com/> or more importantly for you
<http://appdb.winehq.org/>.

For PageMaker: <http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iAppId=329>
Microsoft Office: <http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iAppId=31>

> I don't want a dual boot system -- when I give up XP, I
>  don't want to look back! Easy updates is important, and something 
> similar looking/working to XP is important just to reduce the 
> learning curve.

Ubuntu has very easy updates. They have a "Software Updates" application
that sits in your Notification area when there are updates to be gotten.
(Which I'm actually doing as I type.) Or if you like the old fashioned
(but what I use more often than not) way, there's trusty ol' "apt-get"
to pull in almost anything you desire. There are also other options such
as Synaptic and aptitude.

Your window manager (this will probably go for any distro out there) can
pretty much look like whatever you want it to. Download the theme,
install, and use. I'm currently using "Clearlooks" which is _similar_ to
 XP, although I'm beginning to get bored of it, so I might move on to a
different theme soon. :)

> You guys play with Linux, do you really USE it as a 
> main OS??

It's all I use these days. I work with Windows machines when people
screw them up.

I've recently had ClamAV check all of someone's data for viruses, to
have it find well over 90 of them. I then wiped the guy's drive, clean
installed XP, and put his data back. In the process, I installed 2
antivirus and 3 malware detection programs that caught another 2 more
trojans and > 250 malware.

I'm never going back.

> 2. As if the above isn't enough, which GUI has the best support as 
> far as software, easy updates, and ease of use? KDE or Gnome? I'm 
> leaning toward KDE -- specifically MEPIS of KUnbuntu. Gnome doesn't 
> look bad though. I'm leaning toward KDE since Scribus uses KDE's 
> drag'n'drop feature, but that appears to be all that will be lost if 
> using Gnome. So which is easier to use?

As someone else said it's a religious thing. :)

I think Gnome is more geared (these days anyway :P ) for immigrants from
Windowsland. It tries to hide some things from the user, so the user
doesn't get bogged down with computer management. (I think.) I use it,
but only because I love GTK+ (the underlying GUI library), there are
some really great apps for it, and I think it's purdy. ;)

KDE is just as nice but in different areas. KDE gives the user the
benefit of the doubt. It gives the user options. Not only that, but KDE
also has some quite mature apps that are pretty powerful. I'm not saying
the Gnome doesn't (think GIMP here), but there are things that KDE has
that Gnome needs, IMHO.

In my experience, though, I've been able to run KDE stuff in Gnome and
the same in reverse. As long as the proper libs are installed, I haven't
seen any issues in that regard. (Other can correct me here if I'm wrong...)

Easiness is in the eye of the beholder. This beholder's eye thinks that
Gnome is easier to use. But I have experience with KDE as well, so...
*ahem* It's all up to you. (Non-committing commitment. ;) )

Most importantly, HAVE FUN. :)

HTH,
-M.