[newbie] A true newbie asks...

[Andrew Willard]

On Saturday, December 6, 2003, at 10:12  PM, Ed Lyons wrote:

> From what I've briefly read on VLUG and LWN sites, the types of distros
> seem to come with varying levels of stability, development, security
> applications, ease-of-use, etc., so the question of which one best suits
> my daily use applications is a key issue for me.

The topic of 'which to use' is one of the greatest challenges that anyone
faces when they first enter the world of Linux. Most people are not used 
to
being given a choice, they are given a system with a specific desktop 
and told
that's it live with it. In the Open Source community the individual is 
given the
power to use and do what they wish. Too many choices is sometimes used 
by those
in the media to convey the difficulties of new users entering the Linux 
world, this
may or may not be true depending on how you view the word "choice".

As far actually deciding upon a distro you should spend some time 
reading any number
of web sites dedicated to keeping track of all the distributions. I 
could spend an hour
or two writing down all the pros & cons of each one but truthfully these 
websites
have done the work already... it's just a matter of 
reading/understanding.

> I know many folks in LinuxLand are keen developers and that make's
> it interesting. But I want to buy a hammer and pound nails to start 
> with! I
> use a computer principally for work and better utility encourages me to
> change technology more than the techno stuff qua. That's me.

So maybe a brief synopsis of the applications you use on a daily basis
and possibly what you hope a completely new operating environment will 
provide you
will help us to make a more informed decision.

> I reiterate my willingness to pay for some 
> "consulting"/handholding/intense
> guidance, as I want to get to a minimum comfort level quickly (business
> /time reasons), then continue on my own with help from friends. I have 
> found
> this works best for me.

Willingness to pay is fine, but it does not guarantee that your skill 
level will
approach the level required for 'pounding nails' as you put it. If 
you've had little
or no exposure to *nix systems switching to one of those systems can 
seem like
a very steep learning curve... picture a line straight up into the 
stratosphere :(
On the other hand I've hand-held a number of people that have caught on 
very quickly
and have taken the credo of the Open Source movement to heart, becoming 
extremely well
informed in very short order.

> To recap, I'm using the computer in a stand-alone (non-networked) 
> desktop
> environment that won't likely change in the next several years.

Will this system be capable to sporadic network access? For system 
updates etc??

> I would like a more stable and "lighter" (on computer resources) OS 
> than Windows.

Stability is not a problem, however being light on resources is not 
something I'm
familiar with... I tend to push my machines to the edge! ;)