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Subject:RE: Linux From:mlist -at- safenet-inc -dot- com To:barry -dot- campbell -at- gmail -dot- com, Caroline -at- radcom -dot- com Date:Thu, 23 Nov 2006 09:52:28 -0500
Barry Campbell [mailto:barry -dot- campbell -at- gmail -dot- com] offered:
> On 11/22/06, Caroline Tabach <Caroline -at- radcom -dot- com> wrote:
>
> > I would like to give the users some basic information about Linux.
> > Actually I think I would like to read a little bit about it myself,
> > Can anyone direct me to an internet site they have found useful?
>
> Reading about Linux is a good idea, but the best way to learn about
> and get comfortable with Linux is to use it!
As for reading, there's Wikipedia, various "For Dummies" books,
and the books that come with some boxed-set Linux distributions
(there aren't too many of those left...) like Novell's SUSE Linux.
10.2 is coming out in December, but I don't know how good the
included dead-tree documentation will be for an absolute newbie.
In previous versions (I'm running 10.1 and have had every version
going back to 5.2) it's been quite good as an intro.
> Many distributions are now available in "Live Distribution" format; if
> you have a PC that is capable of booting from the CD-ROM drive (most
> recently built PCs will do this) you can download a disc image, burn
> it to a recordable CD, and then boot from that and run Linux on your
> own PC, whenever you want to, without changing anything on your hard
> disk.
>
> There are a gazillion "live" Linux distributions, but the two
> best-known are probably:
>
>http://www.knoppix.net/ - Knoppix
>http://www.ubuntu.com/ - Ubuntu
>
> My opinion is that Ubuntu is probably best for beginners, especially
> since there's quite a bit of good documentation at
>https://help.ubuntu.com/ and good advice at the community wiki:
>https://help.ubuntu.com/community/
My choice there would be Kubuntu.
It's Ubuntu Linux that uses KDE as the desktop.
A lot of similarity to Windows... only better. :-)
The base Ubuntu strain features GNOME for its desktop,
which is good in its way, but less friendly for people
coming over from Windows.
However, in terms of "providing some basic information about
Linux" to users of your company's product, the approach would depend
on:
a) is the new product _like_ your old product, except it
works in Linux, or has Linux built in?
b) is the new product a general departure from your company's
previous products, and its Linux affiliation is incidental to that?
c) is the new product a general departure from your company's
previous products, and its Linux affiliation is crucial to that?
d)other?
Big differences.
Really, if your company has a certain product line, and has just
recently decided to support Linux for it, as an adjunct to their
long-time Windows version(s), then what you are saying is that
you are now selling to Linux users. What you have to do is to
explain your product and its use in OS-agnostic terms. The Linux
users will already know about Linux.
I'm late getting to this and haven't read to the end of the thread,
so no doubt Geoff has already made these points better than I have. :-)
Yes, I know I'm replying to Barry, but mostly talking to Caroline.
Kevin
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