Very Computer

Hi,

I have a P75 machine with 24MB of RAM and running Windows 95.  The
problem is that Win95 crashs a lot. At least once a day and during
every internet sesion it will crush the browser (Netscape or IE).  So
I am considering upgrading to a more stable OS. I was thinking of
either OS/2 WARP 4 or Windows NT 4.0. When I heard that Linux could be
an  alternative.

What exactly is Linux and how does it copares with Warp and NT?

Are there good (and inexpensive) wordprocessors with WYSIWYG. How
about spreadsheets and Internet/Newsgroup browesers, E-mail?

Thanks

Ken

Please E-mail me a copy of your answes as my Newserver is always
missing a few posts.

[Posted and mailed]

Quote:> either OS/2 WARP 4 or Windows NT 4.0. When I heard that Linux could be
> an  alternative.

> What exactly is Linux and how does it copares with Warp and NT?

Quote:> Are there good (and inexpensive) wordprocessors with WYSIWYG. How
> about spreadsheets and Internet/Newsgroup browesers, E-mail?

Thanks to all who responded, your help were most appreciated. Most of
my questions were answered and I am ready  to dive in. My only
concernis regarding hardware support. Does Linux support:
Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16
AST Advantage 14.4 Data/Fax/Voice Modem
Cirus Logic SuperVGA (CL-GD5424) with 1Mb
Sony CD-ROM CDU55E

I have found a place on nearby city that carries Red Hat 4.1($70 Can.)
and Caldera OpenLinux Base ($80 Can.) .  I understand that OpenLinux
comes with a GUI, is there any other diference between them. $10 more
for a GUI seems to be a good deal.

Actually, I have used Unix before (in fact, I took C programming class
under Unix at Tech. School), it just never occoured to me that you
could run it on a desktop computer.  I always thought of Unix as a
mainframe operating system. I only heard of linux for the PC by chance
while killing time browsing the Net.  

Also, on my junior/senior high days, I used OS-9 Level II (a Unix-like
OS for the 6809s) on an Tandy CoCo III.  It had true multitasking, a
GUI with multiple windows, long filenames. It fitted on a single 360Kb
floopy. It always amazed me that able to do all that on a 2Mhz system
with  128k. It was a sad day when I  moved to DOS/ Windows (due to
lack of support for OS-9). and discoverd, to my dismay, that
DOS/Windows 3.1 required a lot more memory and  lacked multitasking,
long filename support and was slow on my 386 25Mhz system. A new
coputer and Win95 improved things a little, but it is too flaky, and
its "mutitasking" choopy,  

So, I will be glad to have thouse features back, without the
flakeness.

Ken

Quote:> AST Advantage 14.4 Data/Fax/Voice Modem

Quote:> Cirus Logic SuperVGA (CL-GD5424) with 1Mb

Quote:> Sony CD-ROM CDU55E

Quote:> I have found a place on nearby city that carries Red Hat 4.1($70 Can.)
> and Caldera OpenLinux Base ($80 Can.) .  I understand that OpenLinux
> comes with a GUI, is there any other diference between them. $10 more
> for a GUI seems to be a good deal.

Quote:> Actually, I have used Unix before (in fact, I took C programming class
> under Unix at Tech. School), it just never occoured to me that you
> could run it on a desktop computer.  I always thought of Unix as a
> mainframe operating system. I only heard of linux for the PC by chance
> while killing time browsing the Net.

Quote:> Also, on my junior/senior high days, I used OS-9 Level II (a Unix-like
> OS for the 6809s) on an Tandy CoCo III.  It had true multitasking, a
> GUI with multiple windows, long filenames. It fitted on a single 360Kb
> floopy. It always amazed me that able to do all that on a 2Mhz system
> with  128k. It was a sad day when I  moved to DOS/ Windows (due to
> lack of support for OS-9). and discoverd, to my dismay, that
> DOS/Windows 3.1 required a lot more memory and  lacked multitasking,
> long filename support and was slow on my 386 25Mhz system. A new
> coputer and Win95 improved things a little, but it is too flaky, and
> its "mutitasking" choopy,

Quote:> So, I will be glad to have thouse features back, without the
> flakeness.

--
Open mind for a different view, and nothing else matters.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

The people at the comercial OSes will tell you not to look at
Linux because it has no support.  The reality is that it has
an excellent user-support system based on the Usenet that should
fullfill most of your needs.  If you think you need more than
that, there are companies that will sell you the support.

You can download it for free (as in without paying a dime) from the
Internet or you can purchase one of its many CD-ROM incarnations.
You will find that there are three major "distributions" of Linux.
A Linux is an assembled, installable package that is ready to be
used by end-users.  The major distributions are Slackware, RedHat,
and Debian.  Each one has its advantages and disadvantages.  None
is intrinsically better than the others (saying otherwise is asking
for a religious war).  If you ask me, start with RedHat (which is
by far easier to install), and the switch to Debian (I find it much
more flexible).

Quote:> Are there good (and inexpensive) wordprocessors with WYSIWYG. How
> about spreadsheets and Internet/Newsgroup browesers, E-mail?

Office Suits:

  * StarOffice:  This one is free for non-commercial use.  You
    _might_ want to purchase the Motif 2.0 libraries, however, which
    should cost $80-$120 depending on what you want.  At the
    very least, StarOffice can read Word 95 files.  It is supposed to be
    able to handle other Office 95 files too, but I haven't tested
    this.  NOTE: You can get StarOffice to work without these libraries,
    but it is a pain to set up.

  * Applixware: This one is commercial.  It should cost around $90
    if you are a student, and somewhere between $200-$300 otherwise.
    I have heard reports that this one also handles Office95 files,
    and that is faster and better than StarOffice.  I have never
    tried it, though.

Internet:

  * Netscape Navigator 3.01
  * Netscape Navigator 3.01 Gold
  * Netscape Communicator 4.0 Beta 2
  * NSCA Mosaic
  * Arena
  * Chimera
  * Red Baron
  * Lynx
  * I have heard rummors of IE (aaagh!) being ported to Linux.  Any
    way, it is not available yet.

Newsgroups/Email:

  * Pine
  * Netscape products
  * Elm
  * tin
  * nn
  * slrn

Also, you will find these little jewels:

  * DOSEMU:  The DOS emulator.  Allows you to run DOS software.
    I have heard that people have managed to run Windows 3.1 under
    this.  So far, I haven't succeded in it (not that I have tried
    a lot, mind you).  People report being able to run some hardware
    intensive DOS games (i.e Quake/Doom/Dark Forces) under this.  I
    never tried (I don't like this kind of games).

  * Wine:  Windows Emulator.  This will allow you to run Win16/Win32
    programs under Linux.  Unfortunatly, the product is not ready yet.

  * WABI:  I don't know much about this one.  It is a comercial
    package that allows you to run Windows 3.1 programs under Linux.
    Think Word 6.0.

You will also find lots of communication/fax/security/etc software.
Most standard Unix software will work.  You will find that the Linux
machine excels in a network environment, and it makes a better server
than NT (since it will serve to TCP/IP, Novell, Macintosh, and Windows
networks and it is more stable than NT).

Obviously, you will need more information than what I am giving you.
The best place to look is in the Internet.  Read through these sites
for an abundance of Linux information.  One of the things that you
will find is the Linux Software Map.

http://www.linux.org
http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP

Quote:> Thanks

> Ken

Quote:> Please E-mail me a copy of your answes as my Newserver is always
> missing a few posts.

Hope this helps,

Victor R. Rivarola

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Thanks Nathan,

I nearly forgot, will Linux support my old Citizen 120D?  If not no
biggie, its about time I bought a new one any way.  

Thanks again,

Ken

Quote:>So
>I am considering upgrading to a more stable OS. I was thinking of
>either OS/2 WARP 4 or Windows NT 4.0. When I heard that Linux could be
>an  alternative.

>What exactly is Linux and how does it copares with Warp and NT?

Quote:

>Are there good (and inexpensive) wordprocessors with WYSIWYG. How
>about spreadsheets and Internet/Newsgroup browesers, E-mail?

Quote:

>Thanks

>Ken

>Please E-mail me a copy of your answes as my Newserver is always
>missing a few posts.

------------------------------------------------------------
* Matthew Borowski, http://mkb.home.ml.org/                *
------------------------------------------------------------
* "Macintoshes have to be smart computers --               *
* they must make up for their users' lack of intelligence."*
------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:> Caldera OpenLinux Base is US$59 and Redhat 4.1 is US$39. And these are
> official, fully supported versions.

> Do not try Caldera OpenLinux Base, it is not as good as Redhat. Redhat

Quote:> is a very nice system, complete with the full X Window Graphical User
> Interface and 3.1 of the X11R6 based system, with a Windows 95
> look-alike Window manger and more.

> Check out mouth-watering GUI screenshots at http://afterstep.edoc.com/

> A very good Redhat CD is available for 1.99 plus $5 S&H at
> http://www.cheapbytes.com/

> I myself purchased it and am very satisfied.

> Check my page at http://www.jnpcs.com/mkb/linux/ for more info.

> Have a nice day.

Quote:

> ------------------------------------------------------------
> * Matthew Borowski, http://mkb.home.ml.org/                *
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> * "Macintoshes have to be smart computers --               *
> * they must make up for their users' lack of intelligence."*
> ------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Thanks for the concern though.

Ken