Kicking Linux’s Tires

First off, if this guy is going to be reviewing Linux distros, what about Simply Mepis? I use both that and Xandros myself. I don’t know folks. This guy’s whole review seemed pretty ‘off’ to me.

I’ve been working on a Linux Tips column for an upcoming issue of PC World–a much tougher assignment than my monthly Free Agent ramble, for two reasons: First, I’ve got only one magazine page to work with, so I’m a bit restricted in what I can tackle. Second, the reality is that the overwhelming majority of our magazine’s readers run Windows, not Linux. Since we do our darnedest to make every page of PC World engaging to our readers, I’m out to craft a Linux column that might prove relevant to those who are still computing Bill Gates-style.

So the idea is to cook up some tips for kicking Linux’s tires. Like I said, I don’t have much space in the magazine, so I’m using this month’s Free Agent to post some more complete thoughts on the matter. I’ll also toss in a tip that may be helpful to readers who have written in to say that they’ve made the switch to Linux, but are soon going to switch distributions or reinstall, having not gotten it quite right the first time. (Don’t feel defeated if you find yourself in that boat, especially if Windows is the only computing environment you’ve ever known. It’s only natural that you may have made some assumptions that simply don’t hold on Planet Linux.)

Test-Drive From a CD

In times past, the only way to see if Linux would work on a given PC was to install the OS. Times change. These days there are many so-called Live CD versions of Linux that boot and run from a CD-ROM. Ubuntu Linux, the winner of our 2005 World Class Award for Best Linux Distribution, has a Live CD version available for download. [Read the rest]