--- Matthew Johnson
Got this e-mail back from the guy who did the Forbes review:
Thanks. I requested a review copy of SuSE, and the package arrived yesterday--nearly one month later. Another form of amateurishness in the Linux world.
I did try StarOffice 6.0 briefly. It still has major compatibility problems with all but the simplest MS Office docs. That makes it a stiff unless you don't ever communicate with anybody in the real world.
There are still major problems with peripherals, fonts and the like. As I said, Linux is getting there for ordinary users; it's not there yet.
Steve
Good day Steve,
Thanks for trying out those two distrobutions, however I do recommend trying these two also:
SuSE 8.0 Mandrake 8.2
They are all getting easier, but just like buying a car one needs to try them all, or even better for someone new, have someone else try them all and review each one.
Also, might want to try pre-installed workstations:
Lots more vendors here:
http://www.linux.org/vendors/systems.html
Also might want to check out StarOffice 6.0, which can be found on the Amazon website.
Hope that helps with future reviews.
Many kind regards,
Matt
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I think the guy is basically right -- until linux can install perfectly without requiring users to drop in to the command line to update the XF86Config file in order to get nvidia drivers working, or to change the font installation directory, or to change symlinks and edit lilo.conf and fstab in order to get a cdrw working, or do other such things, it is not ready for the masses. Don't get me wrong and please don't flame me. I love linux and it is all I run at home. While I certainly do not know everything there is to know about computers, I do have some experience -- I used to program in assembly language on my old apple II in the late 70's and programmed in Pascal in the early 80's. Still, I have difficulty with linux sometimes. There is no way that my father, for example, who knows absolutely nothing about computers, could successfully install and use *any* linux distribution as they are currently packaged. I've tried Mandrake, SuSE, Lycoris, Red Hat, just to name a few. I am using SuSE 8.0 right now (with a Gentoo dual boot) and I love SuSE -- it is a fantastic linux distribution. But, it is not at the point of replacing Windows as an everyday OS for the masses. I think it will, someday, just not yet. Just MHO. Best regards, Charles __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience http://launch.yahoo.com