Linux newbie at 39th & Camelback

[stu]

On Tuesday 16 August 2005 14:09, Josh Coffman wrote:
> --- stu <wien33 at cox.net> wrote:
> > Hi Vic;
> > 	The Distro that I usually start Newbies out on is
> > MEPIS 3.3.1 mostly because
> > it's so easy to use. I've even convinced a few
> > people to dump WindowsXP for
> > it. Still something of a newbie myself, I've been
> > using it since it was
> > released, and have had very little trouble with it.
> > The Firefox browser comes
> > pre-bookmarked to Shoutcast.com, and a few other
> > media sites as well. It
> > streams in through either XMMS or one of the other
> > players with very little
> > configuration - I listen to it myself all the time.
> > Kstream ripper saves the
> > broadcasts in neatly organized files that are fairly
> > easy to understand and
> > replay later, once you figure out how to enter the
> > streaming audio IP address
> > into it. For a person who just wants to browse the
> > web, check and answer
> > e-mail, listen to music, watch dvds, and .wmv files
> > (you have to install the
> > mplayer "essential codecs" from the Mplayer site),
> > it works as well as
>
> [snip]
>
> I'd have to strongly second the Mepis suggestion. I
> started with it myself(also noob) after trying several
> distros.
>
> I've read Ubuntu is supposed to be really easy and
> I've tried it some. Other than the Gnome interface,
> seems comparable to Mepis. Mepis was definitely easier
> to install and get started on though. Even loaded my
> found my Broadcom wifi and setup ndiswrapper for me.
> Ubuntu has a seperate install from Live cd.
>
> The Mepis LiveCd also helps you recover from config
> mistakes really easily.
>
> I'm on Fedora now and found Yumex is a good GUI
> package manager, but Synaptic is still better and is
> included in Mepis.
>
	I forgot to add that it runs fine on older computers
if you use the 2.4 Kernel (MEPIS gives you the choice of loading
either 2.4 or 2.6 on startup). I have an old Compac Presario with
a K6-2 400Mhz proc that's so obsolete that even Windows 98
refuses to run on it - the drivers are unobtainable. Running 
MEPIS with the 2.4 Kernel has restored the old box to make it 
fully functional for home use. 
	I've tried Ubuntu also, and although I like it a lot, I like MEPIS 
about 0.01% more. (Ubuntu is also the only major Debian flavor
which has NOT joined the DCCA - ergo my choice of OSs, but
that's just my opinion). Running *anything* Linux is better than 
running "Pig-In-A-Poke" ware!