Easiest Linux distro for an ex-Windows user?
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From: Random Penguin on 16 Aug 2005 12:41 Hello all. I'm looking around for a Linux distro which would suit a computer-challenged friend of mine. They are used to Windows and it's "simplicity". We are talking about someone who would feel daunted by a command prompt, so we're really looking for a really "dumbed down" version of Linux to get them started. I thought SuSE might be a good idea, with it's automatic updates. However I am open for suggestions. Obviously the user wouldn't be happy if the distro didn't have the key features of Windows, namely Word Processing, Databasing, Spreadsheets, etc. Hopefully the Linux Office Suite would be compatible with the Windows office suite, Windows -> Linux or better still, Windows <-> Linux. IMVHO though, Open Office seems slow to load and process data. Excel starts at the click of a button for me while OO takes about 15 seconds. My Excel spreadsheets of a few megabytes crashes my OO software :(, and OO -> Windows compatibility doesn't seem to be existent.
From: Jon Harrop on 16 Aug 2005 12:55 Random Penguin wrote: > Hello all. I'm looking around for a Linux distro which would suit a > computer-challenged friend of mine. They are used to Windows and it's > "simplicity". We are talking about someone who would feel daunted by a > command prompt, so we're really looking for a really "dumbed down" > version of Linux to get them started. > > I thought SuSE might be a good idea, with it's automatic updates. > However I am open for suggestions. Obviously the user wouldn't be happy > if the distro didn't have the key features of Windows, namely Word > Processing, Databasing, Spreadsheets, etc. > > Hopefully the Linux Office Suite would be compatible with the Windows > office suite, Windows -> Linux or better still, Windows <-> Linux. > > IMVHO though, Open Office seems slow to load and process data. Excel > starts at the click of a button for me while OO takes about 15 seconds. > My Excel spreadsheets of a few megabytes crashes my OO software :(, and > OO -> Windows compatibility doesn't seem to be existent. Have you tried Knoppix? You just download the ISO, burn a CD and pop it in the drive to reboot into Linux with KDE and lots of apps. If you're looking to mimic Windows to the extent that you imply then I think you'll be sorely disappointed with Linux. The office tools (OpenOffice, StarOffice, KOffice etc.) are terrible. For example, they try to be compatible but I've never managed to get any of them to load miscellaneous Word documents that I'm sent without botching them up. However, if they are willing to try something new then LyX is a great editor that uses LaTeX to produce great looking documents that can include typeset maths, ideal for technical reports and books. There are lots of free programming languages with high-quality implementations, like OCaml. Some good games, like neverball, cube and tux-racer. There are also some new applications that I've heard great things about but haven't actually tried myself, like Inkscape. Knoppix is based on Debian which is a very stable but slow-to-adopt distro. In particular, Debian has a very stable and mature package manager. To install software you just type something like "apt-get install ocaml" from a root prompt. -- Dr Jon D Harrop, Flying Frog Consultancy http://www.ffconsultancy.com
From: Andrew Preater on 16 Aug 2005 13:11 * Random Penguin <nonexistent2032(a)yahoo.co.uk>: > Hello all. I'm looking around for a Linux distro which would > suit a computer-challenged friend of mine. [...] > > I thought SuSE might be a good idea, with it's automatic > updates. However I am open for suggestions. Obviously the user > wouldn't be happy if the distro didn't have the key features of > Windows, namely Word Processing, Databasing, Spreadsheets, etc. SUSE *is* a good idea. A former work colleague of mine recently tried dozens of Linux distros, he had bandwidth to spare and a spare hard disk so wanted to try lots. He's a Windows guy, so wanted something that would provide a smooth Windows -> Linux transition. In the end, he went for SUSE. Some general points I got from him: * KDE is nicer / friendlier than GNOME for someone with Windows experience. * some sort of 'Control Centre' equivalent such as yast or drakconf is a must. * A distro doesn't have ape Windows, but it must be easy to use and have a sensible default desktop! I tried SUSE on a spare machine and thought it was wonderful, so I would suggest either the latest SUSE or Mandrake (er, Mandriva) as a starting point. I'd always recommend a good Linux distro that knows it's a Linux distro over some crappy Windows impersonator (if you see what I mean). > IMVHO though, Open Office seems slow to load and process data. > Excel starts at the click of a button for me while OO takes > about 15 seconds. Hard to say in my experience. I find Office XP can be sluggish even on a decent PC (3GHz HT P4, 1GB RAM), and although OOo is slower to start from cold, it's fine from then on. > OO -> Windows compatibility doesn't seem to be existent. You install OOo on Windows, there's your compatibility. :) -- Andrew Preater
From: jdgamble on 16 Aug 2005 13:16 On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 09:41:50 -0700, Random Penguin wrote: > Hello all. I'm looking around for a Linux distro which would suit a > computer-challenged friend of mine. They are used to Windows and it's > "simplicity". We are talking about someone who would feel daunted by a > command prompt, so we're really looking for a really "dumbed down" > version of Linux to get them started. > > I thought SuSE might be a good idea, with it's automatic updates. > However I am open for suggestions. Obviously the user wouldn't be happy > if the distro didn't have the key features of Windows, namely Word > Processing, Databasing, Spreadsheets, etc. > > Hopefully the Linux Office Suite would be compatible with the Windows > office suite, Windows -> Linux or better still, Windows <-> Linux. > > IMVHO though, Open Office seems slow to load and process data. Excel > starts at the click of a button for me while OO takes about 15 seconds. > My Excel spreadsheets of a few megabytes crashes my OO software :(, and > OO -> Windows compatibility doesn't seem to be existent. I personally use Ubuntu Linux (http://www.buntulinux.org). I have been playgin with Linux off and on for several years and it was only until a couple months ago that I found Ubuntu and I am VERY happy with it. Easy to use, automatic system updates, the regulare distro uses Gnome which I am a fan of but you can also get Kubuntu if you think your friend will like KDE (not that it wouldn't be easier to change at a later date. I would suggest you download whatever live CD's you can get your hands on for the popular distro's. One thing I really like about Ubuntu is that since it's based on Debian it's got apt-get. Apt-get is a great tool for downloading programs and dependencies. One of the biggest things that has kept users from switching from Windows to Linux is that it's more difficult to solve those dependencies. Not any longer. Apt-get will download what you need and install it for you. Makes it easy to remove too. If you have any other questions just ask. Josh
From: bounce on 16 Aug 2005 13:17
On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 09:41:50 -0700, Random Penguin wrote: > Hello all. I'm looking around for a Linux distro which would suit a > computer-challenged friend of mine. They are used to Windows and it's > "simplicity". We are talking about someone who would feel daunted by a > command prompt, so we're really looking for a really "dumbed down" version > of Linux to get them started. > > I thought SuSE might be a good idea, with it's automatic updates. However > I am open for suggestions. Obviously the user wouldn't be happy if the > distro didn't have the key features of Windows, namely Word Processing, > Databasing, Spreadsheets, etc. > > Hopefully the Linux Office Suite would be compatible with the Windows > office suite, Windows -> Linux or better still, Windows <-> Linux. > > IMVHO though, Open Office seems slow to load and process data. Excel > starts at the click of a button for me while OO takes about 15 seconds. My > Excel spreadsheets of a few megabytes crashes my OO software :(, and OO -> > Windows compatibility doesn't seem to be existent. Have him try Mepis. Instead of using OO, he can install Abiword for a word processor and gnumeric for a spreadsheet. They are compatible with the windows versions, and are faster than the OO stuff. I don't use a database, so can't address that. Mepis is easy to install and he won't need a commandline for any of the standard uses. It uses Debian, so updating is easy. |