[Gllug] Which Linux Desktop to go for?

[Vic Lilley]

I'm buying a new PC and want to move to Linux gradually and so
plan a dual partition of Linux and Windows XP. The idea is to
start using Linux for the Internet straight away, and open office
but falling back to Windows if I run into trouble and delays.

I was going to go for Sun Java Desktop but two responses from
gllugadmin, in response to an email I mistakenly sent them about
protecting Linux from Windows, suggested  I should not go for Sun
Java Desktop and also to join this list.

The reason I am thinking of going with Sun, was because my
institute IMIS
mentioned in an article the following distributors; Red Hat, Sun,

Mandrake, IBM and Debian. I tried ringing all of them and the
only one I
could through to was Sun. I had browser problems with the Red
Hats web site
and I couldn't find a phone number on Mandrake.

The only problem with Sun, was that when I mentioned the
potential problem with dual partition of Windows overwriting
Linux, that a friend had warned me about, the dealer said he
hadn't come across that before.

Gllugadmin wrote that Sun Java Desktop was  $50 a year and a
non-typical configuration and suggested  the standard big
distributors, Suse, Mandrake or Fedora(Red Hat) and more
precisely the latest Mandrake 10.1    or the latest SUSE 9.2.

As I hadn't tried SUSE I looked up their web site. Noticed they
have been bought out by Novell. I found a telephone number, I've
rung them and got through to a human but not to the right person.
They said they would call me back. We shall see.

It seems to me that Linux was basically a server operating system
and lacked a desktop like Windows. Now there are a number of
competing contenders with a proprietary desktop operating system
grafted on to Linux. So all other things being equal it seems
better to go for the most open options, which seems to rule out
Sun with its supposed very non-typical operation.

I wondered if you agreed with this or had any comments..

Also could anyone tell me what are the details of the next
meeting.

Reagards,

--
Vic Lilley, MIMIS, Director
Lilley Information Systems Ltd
Independent Consulting, Training and PR
16 Kingsway, Hayes, Middx, UB3 2TY, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 8573 3911
Fax: +44 (0)20 8573 3915
Website: http://www.lilleyinfosys.co.uk

Registered No. 1510702 Cardiff
Reg. Office: 30 Leys Gardens,
Cockfosters, Herts, EN4 9NA
VAT No. 225 6243 78


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