Re: [Usability] distro for novices?

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

I'm not sure this is the best place to ask "what distribution?" or if
there is any good place as everyone seems to have wildly different
opinions.

On Tue, 9 Nov 2004, David Feldman wrote:

> Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 19:12:08 -0500
> From: David Feldman <mailing-lists interfacethis com>
> To: Usability List <usability gnome org>
> Subject: [Usability] distro for novices?
>
> In the course of writing some articles on security, I'm trying to
> recommend one or more Linux distros for novices, particularly Windows
> switchers. I've been doing a lot of testing on my own and have some
> ideas, but am interested in others' opinions.

The easiest distribution to use is whatever your friends are using willing
to support you gettting started with.

> Except for specific
> distros that customize their KDE installs (such as Xandros), I'm

If you are considering KDE then Lindows and Libranet are supposed to be
more user friendly than most.

> favoring GNOME because I think it's a better option for novices.
> Distros that seem promising:
>
> Xandros 2.5
> SuSE 9.2 Pro (with GNOME)
> Mandrake 10.1 (with GNOME)

I like Mandrake and I'm using it today but as a KDE distribution they are
slower to updage their version of Gnome, but they are at least in theory
aiming to serve "Desktop users".  Mandrake make it very easy to install a
huge selection of sofware which I expect would confuse some beginners but
will delight others (same goes for most distributions).

> Ubuntu Warty

Ubuntu has the huge advantage of being very much up to date and using the
latest version of Gnome and I think I'll be switching soon (particularly
if the Live CD in the next release is any good, the version I tested was
looked promising).  I'm a little relectant to recommend Ubuntu if only
because it is a new distribution.

For beginners you cannot beat a good Live CD, lets you get started quickly
and takes away so much hassle until you are really sure you want to
switch.

> Fedora Core 3

Haven't tried Fedora Core 3 yet, only officially released on Monday, hope
to upgrade to it soon.  I started with RedHat because it was what others
were using as I suggested above and as far as I'm concerned it is the best
way to decide.

Sincerely

Alan Horkan

http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/
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