[Scottish] Re: time spent on Linux stuff...

[William Anderson]

J.R. Seago wrote:
> It might be a good idea to get back to the beginning. First of all think 
> about why you want to use GNU/Linux. Secondly, decide what you want it to 
> do. Thirdly, do you need to be able to inter-operate between GNU/Linux and 
> Microsoft, (if you do you'll need to have at least Open Office).
> 
> Let us, the rest of the mailing list subscribers, have the answers to the 
> three questions above, in as short a message as possible, and then we can 
> arrive at a point where we can advise you on what distribution would suit 
> your needs and wants. We can then go on from there.

This is the Wrong Approach, imo.  As Ben mentioned earlier, it's awful
to turn round and say to someone "the distro you have selected is teh
wrongness".  For general purpose personal computing, Ubuntu is just as
appropriate as Fedora, Slackware, SuSE; more so in some cases, and
especially wrt later Ubuntu releases such as Edgy, as the UI and
usability is just so strong and easy to pick up (usually).

If I have a problem with my 2003 Fiat Punto, I really don't expect to be
advised "tsk, you want a Ford Fiesta, that'll tidy up that disc brake
problem you're having".  Or "can't change channels on your Thomson 28"
CRT TV set?  A 42" LCD Sony Bravia will sort that out just nicely".  See
my point?

-- 
_ __/|  William Anderson      |  Tim: Your cheese game is strong.
\`O_o'  neuro at well dot com | Zane: My cheese game. It's all about the
=(_ _)= http://neuro.me.uk/   |       cheese platter.
   U  - Thhbt! GPG 0xFA5F1100 | -- Tim Westwood, Zane Lowe, R1, Dec 2005