In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
<newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Thu, 06 Jul 2006 14:29:18 +0100
<12034061.BoR4FlT6eY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> (This was in the main page of Yahoo News)
>
> Six Things You Didn't Know About Linux: A Beginners' Guide
>
> The following fallacy caught my eye:
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Apart from the fact that most vendors can make more money with Windows,
> | there are two major reasons more users haven't been convinced to take the
> | Linux plunge. Most importantly, Windows is a one-stop operating system
> | in a box. It ships complete with nearly all the drivers any user could
> | every need, and can be up and running with several mouse clicks, a
> | half-hour wait, and the entry of an annoying license code (which then has
> | to be verified again online within 30 days to prove you didn't steal the
> | thing).
> `----
>
> If you think that's bad, read the first paragraph: "Originally developed by
> German vendor SUSE..."
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20060706/tc_cmp/190300285
The number scrambling is also rather interesting:
2) What applications are available for Linux? And what the heck is LAMP?
4) What "desktop" environment should I use with my distro?
6) You've given me lots of facts, but not much advice. How do I get
started?
3) How can I listen to some tunes?
1) How many versions of Linux are there?
5) Linux on the server, Linux on the desktop -- which is it?
Bizarre.
To take these in somewhat proper order:
[1] There are many distributions, and many versions of Linux kernels.
However there's far less than 350; there's only about 7 major branches:
1.0
1.2
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
unless one goes into development kernels, which are (a)
cutting edge and (b) dangerous. Of these, only 2.4 and
2.6 are all that current; the others are quite long in
the tooth (and 2.4 isn't all that new either). Granted,
one might count the individual subversions.
Similarly, the Top Ten of distros -- as ranked by DistroWatch, anyway --
is:
1 Ubuntu 2845=
2 SUSE 1949=
3 Fedora 1460<
4 Mandriva 1054<
5 MEPIS 1024=
6 Damn Small 926<
7 Debian 797<
8 KNOPPIX 703=
9 Gentoo 666=
10 PCLinuxOS 643>
(< - moved down, = - same, > - moved up)
[2] This is far too general a question to address properly. However,
OpenOffice.org is probably the single biggest Linux app, apart from
structural items such as Gnome, KDE, and X. (I'm not sure Firefox is
really an app as such; it's more structural than app.)
[3] I don't do music, but have had reasonably good success on some
websites in viewing news videos -- sadly, CNN is not among them.
[4] The one you like.
[5] I'm frankly not sure where the stumbling blocks are, anymore, though
part of that may simply be the outdatedness of my hardware.
[6] I've not had too many problems with WinXP living
with Linux. GRUB in particular boots Windows XP handily.
There is the risk that Windows might wipe GRUB or Linux,
though it's less than in the past.
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Windows Vista. Because it's time to refresh your hardware. Trust us.
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