Linux at least mentioned in passing as an alternative to Windows

[Travis Roy]

Here's the text

----
Or, consider something else entirely. If you really want a new  
operating system, there are plenty of options out there for  
experimentation. And they’re free.

Yeah, I’m talkin’ ‘bout Linux. I know what you’re thinking: no  
applications, spotty hardware support and lots of command-line  
typing. I can’t honestly tell you that Linux is free of these  
disadvantages, but it’s easier than ever to try out Linux without a  
lot of pain.

Various Linux distributions have long been available for free  
download. All you needed was patience and a CD burner and a  
willingness to futz with your hard drive’s partitions. That was too  
much commitment and risk for some people.

Now, many distributions let you download what’s called a Live CD.  
There’s nothing to install — once you download the operating system  
and burn it to CD, it runs right from that. In some cases, you can  
even download to a USB flash drive. Best of all, a few distributions  
have been made a lot smaller for a quick download.

Take SLAX. Based on the hardcore Linux geek’s favorite distro,  
Slackware, SLAX comes in a few compact sizes. Frodo Edition is 53MB,  
but it’s just a text console. Popcorn Edition is twice the size at  
115MB, but includes a graphical user interface, the Firefox browser  
and AbiWord document editor.

Damn Small Linux packs a graphical desktop, a music player, three  
browsers, spreadsheet and word processing programs and a bunch more  
into just 50MB. Like SLAX, it can run from a mini CD or a USB drive.

There are literally too many other options to list here, but try  
looking at www.livecdlist.com. Or just buy a Mac.

---

I think he's a bit off the mark. Ubuntu, Fedora, Etc. are all VERY  
easy to install (easier than Windows at this point). Also, I don't  
know any "desktop" linux that -requires- you to mess around with  
partitions during the install.

He also fails to bring up really quality desktop linux distros like I  
mentioned, focusing more on LiveCDs (and not very popular or  
widespread ones in my opinion).

Talking about a "Frodo edition" that's only 53MB but is only a  
console is going to have people worried about trying Linux running  
for the hills.

On Jan 18, 2007, at 11:18 AM, Mark Mcsweeney wrote:

> Saw this article in the Hippo Press:
>
> http://www.hippopress.com/techie.html
>
> mentioned was the option of switching to alternative OS when Vista  
> comes out.
>
> I also wrote an email to him recommending that he look at some of  
> the current distros and review them in his columns.  It will be  
> interesting if and how he responds.
>
>
> Mark
>
> _______________________________________________
> gnhlug-discuss mailing list
> gnhlug-discuss at mail.gnhlug.org
> http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

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