The message 001401c53c20$54ee4a90$02332850@bdf from "Bob Dove" bdfoto@tiscali.co.uk contains these words:
I'm an ungruntled Win user.
Win's OK so long as you know which bits you can dump without borking the rest.
I'd like to try Linux but it seems I have to go back to the dreaded command line.
Nope.
I did conquer this in CP/M and DOS but having used Win since v.3.0 I have forgotten a lot about command lines! The Linux 'language' is akin to Terry Pratchett and you 'lug' members seem to have a bit of a sense of humour.
Command-line is fun! You can do *ALL SORTS* of nasty things in Linux. Linux *TRUSTS* you. Linux expects you to know what you're doing. If you tell it
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda
or
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda
it will do so - without question...
I must say that installing Win is much MUCH easier than installing Linux!!!
Having tried (and failed) 22 times to install Win 2000 on one of my boxen (PIII), on which Debian went on without a murmur, I'd contest that statement.
Win 2000 installed perfectly well on another box (PII) from the same CD, but the PIII fell over when I tried grafting the Win 2000 PII-loaded HD into it.
Something I haven't managed so far.
You don't need to. There are plenty of Linux distros which run straight from CD - Knoppix; ATmission Live CD; Mempis, to name but three.
Then there is the problem that I absolutely need to be able to run QuarkXPress and Photoshop (PS). I understand that 'WINE' can be used to a degree with older versions.
Why not have a dual boot system, then?
GIMP is not in anyway equal to PS as any PS user will confirm, in fact there is no other program equal to PS! I already use OOo v 1.3 (in Win) in preference to MS Office. I like it and looking forward to using v 2.0. I need to know what program to choose as a starter, how to partition my C drive to install Linux into &c.
Humph! PS is OK for some of its functions, but crap at others.