I'd like to contribute to this discussion by saying a bit about my own history. I was a teacher as well: I gave up being a deputy head at Christmas to come and work at SuSE. I first got interested in Linux between 2 and 3 years ago when we decided to use it to run a small network at the Hellenic College of London. I can assure Kudlip and anyone else that one week after first installing Linux I knew virtually nothing. Two years later I knew enough to get a job here. Think back to when you started using computers at all. For different people that will be at different times historically: in my case apart from a brief interlude with an Apple II in about 1984, it was with DOS 6 and Windows 3.1. How much did I know after a week? - again the answer is virtually nothing. However at the time I didn't think I was learning about or evaluating Windows, I thought I was learning about using a computer ... There is a big distinction between these perceptions. It is very easy to stick to what is familiar - `to keep hold of nurse, for fear of finding someone worse' (Hilaire Belloc). But I promise you that to persist with Linux will pay dividends both in terms of your own personal satisfacton with what you are doing and in your appreciation of the power and usefulness of the system as a whole (and its usefulness in your institution to do what you need done). One thing that is special about Linux is that when you learn something, you really learn and understand it. Nothing is hidden from you: you can dig as deep as you want into how it works and you never meet a brick wall. -- Roger Whittaker SuSE Linux Ltd The Kinetic Centre Theobald Street Borehamwood Herts WD6 4PJ ---------------------- 020 8387 1482 ---------------------- roger@suse-linux.co.uk ----------------------