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Re: [News] Linux - Go All the Way Before Judging It

Roy Schestowitz wrote:

> The Value of Play
> 
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but this simply isn?t going to
> | work. Working with Linux does require having a sense of the value of
> | play, and being willing to engage in it, even if that involves risk.
> | 
> | My advice to anyone who is as nervous about moving from the Live CD
> | state to an "installed" state is this; back up your critical files onto
> | a USB key or writeable CD and go for it. Yes, there is an overhead if
> | not all of your devices are instantly detected by Linux; to be perfectly
> | honest, Linux is better at this than Windows. I have never been in a
> | situation when I?ve installed Windows and not had to have a packet full
> | of CDs with device drivers on them.
> `----
> 
> http://www.linuxextremist.com/?p=99
> 
> I heard similar arguments in the context of VMWare. The other issue is an
> assessment based on first reactions and incompatibility with 'Windows
> habits', as bad as they may be.

I agree with this from the point of view of Live CDs, because they tend to
be slow to load, but if the system is one that tends to be left on, then
they may not be a need to actually go through the install process. I also
pushed this idea particularly at a time when laptops tended to be low on
drive space, so why waste space with an install when you have a full distro
available anyway, then you have the full space of the drives available for
your data.

But there is another way too which I am in favour of even when the user
decides to ditch the Windows partitions and use the wasted space for their
own data.

So long as it has good interface speed there is no reason why the external
Linux would be at a disadvantage from an internally installed one. Except
from the point of view of adding additional applications, it can be done
but probably those that would use the Live versions like this are the least
likely to want to delve into what could be a complex task.

So with that limitation the Live linux's on keyfobs or external drives means
that there isn't a need to install at all. Just make use of the PC for the
user interfaces, hardware and additional drive space for the external
Linux. It also means that provided you have your own data backed up that if
you have a PC problem, you have not lost your OS.

I keep pushing the Mandriva Globe Trotter for this. I think Globe Trotter is
a real great way for new users to get the benefits of the Live distros
without the need to follow up with an install. 

Simmilarly of cause you could use your own favourite distro. But of cause we
are still talking about users that don't want to learn how to install OSs
onto an external drive, these are for people who just want to switch the PC
on and get started on what ever they want to do with the PC.

I know this goes a bit against the grain because we would like users that
know what they are doing, but the way I see it is if they are using Linux
then it wont be long before they can't see any real need to go back to a
Windows OS.



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