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FoulDragon@aol.com wrote:
>>OpenOffice 2.0 series-- Has anyone been using the betas?  I've been on
>>1.0.2  cos I don't want to download 115Mb on a 56k connection, so I'm
>>wondering if  the geological-time loads have been improved any?
>>
>>A pathological inability to delete large files which slowly swallowed my
>> Linux and BSD partitions has left me in Windows-land for a while.  I
>>finally got a  DVD burner, so I now have the space to do a new install.
>>Can I break an NTFS  partition down gracefully with gratis tools?  I
>>just want to chop 20 or 40Gb  off the end.
>>
SystemRescueCD includes a nice tool, QTParted, that does pretty well resizing a NTFS partition to create room for a dual-boot, make sure you back up the Windows system before trying this.
>>What's good choices in a 64-bit distro (x86-64)? Do any BSDs do a decent
>>job?
64-bit is still a bit lacking in many areas, I've found that even the 64-bit distros sometimes include software that's not 64-bit clean (GPass is a good example, it has a serious problem when running on a 64-bit system, but there's a partial patch posted to their bug database if you're willing to recompile).
I haven't tried the BSD's.
>> Cost-free Solaris?  (I like *ix, however I fear the GPL will eat my
>>soul)  I
Not sure why you'd fear the GPL, running Linux does not subject you to GPL conditions, only distributing a version you have modified would do that.  The GPL is easy to understand and adhere to, while the "Open" license for Solaris requires a lawyer, and has a lot more dangerous clauses...
>>formerly did Mandrake and Slackware like a few years ago, never really
>>felt  confident with Mandrake.  I don't trust pretty and easy.  The
>>distro has to not  rely heavily, or indeed at all, on decent networking.
>> I can't spend six  weeks apt-get dist-upgrading just to get out of 2.0
>>kernel land, Debian fans. :D
I've tried quite a few distros on my AMD Athlon-64 box, and Ubuntu is the most friendly one so far.  It's also really easy to get a pressed CD if downloads aren't reasonable for you.  Most everything you'd normally use is on the install CD, but the Debian apt-get and synaptic are available.  If you prefer the KDE desktop, then Kubuntu is the same system with KDE, it's not as easy to get, but you could get a burned CD from me at the installfest if you let me know beforehand.

That said, Fedora Core 3 has a decent AMD64 distribution, and Suse has a distribution that works well on AMD64.  I haven't found any others that don't have an irritating tendency to crash at odd times.
>>
>>
>>Is USB handling any better in 2.6?  I recall how my seemingly standard
>>old  digicam which emulated a disc drive in Windows could never be
>>recognized in  linux.
USB handling (indeed all hot-plug services) is MUCH improved on 2.6.x, I highly recommend retrying any devices that didn't work before.
>>
>>I'm probably going to get OO on a disc from one of those "99 cent linux
>>CD"  houses, cos I'll also need the windows version for the dual-boot
>>and for a  friend's machine, so I figured I'd perhaps select a
>>distribution at the same time  and pay only one postage.
> 
Ubuntu CD's are available free direct from Ubuntu (although it'll take 4-6 weeks to have it shipped).  Order several, and give the extras to your friends and relatives (or to the PLUG installfests).
You can get the other 64-bit distros I mentioned from the usual places.
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