The Real Truth About Micoshaft

Tommy B wrote On 04-15-2006 01:00 PM:

Oh, I butture you, an OS can make you "stupid." Microsoft works by catering to the lowest common denominator, while also succeeding at making life hard for the experts by crippling it so that you have to install third party software so that you can do simple things with system, the GUI is *mandatory*, makes me shudder.

I'm not saying that Linux will make you "smart," either. What I am saying is that it's a great deal more flexible, even in the end-user distributions, then Windows ever has been.

If you're just starting out, you may want to check out (K)Ubuntu. Kubuntu is KDE based, while Ubuntu is GNOME based. You can find screenshots for both on the Internet; Google is your friend.

Personally, I use Gentoo Linux because of its flexibility. It takes some time to set up initially, but it is, IMHO, well worth the wait. You get binaries that are built directly for your system, and while that doesn't tend to make much of a difference for a single piece of software alone, when you take a look at how many different programs you can have on the system, it is quite worthwhile.

Also, with Gentoo, the biggest advantage is that you determine what goes on the system based on your own needs. But I don't recommend it for someone just starting out; you'll want to get familiar with the systems that you can build first, and then start building them later, so that you can see what it is that you *don't* need and can leave out. I'm a fan of the "most minimal system to get the job done," myself.

- Mike