Re: [BLUG] Linux

A 2GHz proc and 1G of RAM should be sufficient for most installs.

My suggestion would be to download, burn, and boot to the Live disks the
latest versions of these four distros, in no particular order:

SimplyMEPIS
PCLinuxOS
Ubuntu
Mint

Running them through their paces in Live mode will give you an idea of
hardware compatibility. If it works Live, it will work installed. (Do
understand that performance will be greatly degraded while in Live mode.)

The first two are native KDE distros, while that latter two are native
Gnome distros. Gnome is in transition now to version 3, and Ubuntu is
moving to what's known as the Unity desktop on top of Gnome, while Mint
is using a desktop (MATE?) that runs on Gnome 3 but is designed to
operate like Gnome 2.

MEPIS is built on Debian stable, is known for it's stability and ease of
use, and NOT for being the "latest and greatest".
PCLinuxOS is a rolling release, with constant and continuous updating.
That said, it rarely suffers from serious breakage.
Ubuntu is based on a snapshot of Debian unstable/experimental, is then
modified/reworked, and released in six month cycles.
Mint is based on Ubuntu, and follows its release cycle. Many consider it
more "user friendly" than Ubuntu.

Once you've taken these for a spin, you'll have an idea of what kind of
hardware compatibility you've got (probably very good -- most
difficulties arise with brand new hardware), and what the various
distros look like and a basic idea of how they operate. I suspect one of
these four will just feel right. If so, just hit the Install Icon on the
Live disk desktop, tell the installer to take the whole disk, and turn
it loose.

Then the fun begins.

---
Mark Warner
MEPIS Linux
Registered Linux User #415318

Paul W. Proctor wrote:
> Hi,
> Got several spare machines with about 2ghz processors. All I really want to
> do with them is internet access and email. All experimental machines, backup
> not an issue. Got a bunch of spare time, on SSDI. I have a couple of 2 yr
> old Ubuntu disks somewhere.

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