[AuckLUG] Installing Linux

[Guy K. Kloss]

On Friday 27 April 2007 4:32:05 pm Denise Bates wrote:
> Ironically, most of the requests for help that I have had from fellow
> seniors involve sorting out older versions of Ubuntu. Problems involve
> difficulty of use (particularly with dial-up modems) instability and
> heavy resource demands upon older boxes. My solution: Start from scratch
> with a fresh Slackware installation. I've had no complaints so far...

One of the major resource hogs in Ubuntu mostly is the Beagle daemon. 
Unfortunately, as I find it quite handy. So turning that one off usually does 
a lot of good on a desktop session on an older box.

And if a system is an administered system most people don't have the troubles 
to sort out themselves anyway. One of the most content setups in my 
experience so far was a terminal server setup (diskless thin clients only). 

But talking about these setups is a bit academic, as the current request here 
on the list was geared towards *doing it yourself* and not having someone to 
do it for you. And that's also one of the biggest show stoppers for Linux in 
my opinion. Most people buy their boxes with Wintendo pre-installed. They 
(usually) cannot do that with Linux. If something goes wrong, there's some 
kiddie type of wannabegeek around that can fix/re-install a Windows box 
(mostly).

With Linux the soon-to-be do-it-yourselfer needs something with a good 
installer and package management, and with good package repositories. 
Otherwise he/she will be soon a "yeah, I tried it once ...". Those usually 
have got their boxes at home for playing around that are capable of running 
some version of (almost) current Wintendo anyway, so screw utter resource 
friendlyness, and give 'em something that helps climb the first few walls 
without too much frustration. And I think in this respect *Ubuntu is a hell 
of a good choice for the ones who are willing to give an alternative on their 
multi-boot box a try.

(stepping off of soap box)
Guy

-- 
Guy K. Kloss
Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences
Room 2.63, Quad Block A Building
Massey University, Auckland, Albany
Private Bag 102 904, North Shore Mail Centre
voice: +64 9 414-0800 ext. 9585   fax: +64 9 441-8181
eMail: G.Kloss at massey.ac.nz  http://iims.massey.ac.nz