Definitly going to pitch choices; after all, that's what linux and Free Software is all about. I'm prob going to go with OpenOffice, seeing as how that's what I'm comfortable with (and I know its capabilities). Def looking for a graphic install (at least to start off with), I don't want to scare people away. As far as KDE v. Gnome, I'm not quite sure. I'm not big on the newest version of MetaCity, and I just installed KDE 3.2.3 on a new box and it looks / feels awesome. I'm probably going to lean more towards KDE but show gnome as well. Also covering Firefox, Gaim, and gnuCash. I'm trying to do an intro to computers class with linux. Don't know how it's going to work out but its worth a shot. I want to show people that there is more than the M$ way, (Windows, IE, Outlook Express, Money, etc) I'm open to suggestions of applications to cover keeping with every day tasks (Budgeting, net browsing, email, office type stuff,etc) Eric -----Original Message----- From: JONATHAN BEALL [mailto:joncbeall@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 8:53 AM To: chaines@gmail.com; wlug@mail.wlug.org Subject: Re: [Wlug] Re: Another distro Question Gentoo over Slackware for a new user? i think the 3 different types of Gentoo installs, plus the optimiziation steps would absolutely turn off a newbie. if a graphic installer is what you're looking for Redhat, Mandrake, and SuSe have that covered. i'm also a big Mepis fan, they have a great distro with a very simple install. partitioning is most likely going to be a tough sell to windows converts, but anything you can do to keep them away from the nasty windows-wanna-be flavors of linux (like Lindows and Lycoris) will help them in the long run. you said you'd be teaching them mostly GUI features... will you do Gnome or KDE? KOffice or OO.org? So many choices... that's why linux is great -jonathan beall
From: Chuck Haines <chaines@gmail.com> Reply-To: Chuck Haines <chaines@gmail.com>, Worcester Linux Users Group<wlug@mail.wlug.org> To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug@mail.wlug.org> Subject: Re: [Wlug] Re: Another distro Question Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 05:39:53 -0400
Slackware for beginners, ugh, I'd say not. If you want a good beginners distro, go with Gentoo (though it still has a little learning curve for installation and setup) or get one of the distro's that does more for you like Fedora Core 2 (which I'm running and like a lot), Mandrake or Suse. They make much better beginner friendly distro's. Remember, you want to make the switchover easier on users, otherwise they won't make it. IMHO, Slackware would be too hard to learn for a beginner (but don't get my wrong, I love Slackware, just not for a beginner).
Chuck
On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 05:32:12 -0400, Frank Rizzo <joe@crankhouse.com> wrote:
I'm teaching a Beginners Linux course in a few weeks for Nitelife with the Worc Pub Schools. I was almost ready to go with Fedora, but I don't think that has what I'm looking for. I want something easy for people to pickup, and I don't think RPMs don't give you the linux feel. I'm going to start out w/Knoppix, but I also want to get into a disk install. I've only used Gentoo, RHAT, and Knoppix. A friend mentioned SuSe, but I've never used it. Very open to suggestions, I
want as people to enjoy this class, not think that linux is out of their grasp. So, the question is what distro would people recommend
for beginners aside from Knoppix?
I would say Slackware would be a good distro to show people Linux. It's simple, secure, and stable. It does have the tgz packages, but you dont have to use them. The only problem is the install is not as pretty as some of the other distros.
-Joe
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