1st time user questions.

[sturose]

Hi to all,

I am contemplating moving to linux from windows xp, obviously I will run both to begin with until I am used to whichever new OS I choose.
Reason: Sick and tired of windows unreliability!!! I suffer more and more system crashes every week, this morning I had to reboot windows 7-8 times before it would boot up properly, I only re-installed XP last week so I shouldn't be having problems yet! I have checked all hardware before anyone asks and its all fine.
I hear that generally linux is more stable but I have a few questions.
I have been playing around with live CD's for some time now but as they don't offer full functionality I thought I would get some advice.

I have four children using this PC and they need something fairly simple, Mandrake looks pretty simple, so does ubuntu, I will need to be able to set up user accounts for each of my kids though as they each do their own thing so any advice here?

Secondly I use Salfield Child Control to enable me to set time limits for internet and PC usage and block certain types of webpages/keywords etc, is there anything similar for linux as it appears that this program is just for windows.

How simple/complicated is it to install/remove programs or drivers in linux as I believe the process is a little different to windows, (although I may be wrong here as I have only read about these things).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Stuart

PS. My kids PC is quite an old one, its a P3, 700 MHz, 320 MB Ram, 40 gig HDD.
PPS. I have read the FAQ at the top or this board but I would just like some advice based on my specific needs and as for installing programs I just want to know if it is simple enough as it's obviously not as straightforward as double clicking the 'install' icon like in windows.

I have just taken a look at opensuse and this looks fairly simple too and it should run without any problems on this PC I believe, I just read that my PC may be too slow for ubuntu, I have only tried the live CD so far.

[arochester]

1) I would recommend that you look at Xubuntu. It is closely related to Ubuntu but it is not Gnome, nor KDE (Kubuntu) - it is Xfce instead and runs on less resources. Xubuntu Home Page | Xubuntu

If you are going to install it make sure you use the Alternate Disk and not the Desktop (LiveCD) disk. The Alternate uses far less resources to install.

2) You can child block different ways. If you change your router to use OpenDNS as the DNS servers then you can block or let through at that point. OpenDNS | Providing A Safer And Faster Internet

The oft quoted Linux child block program is called Dansguardian. DansGuardian - True Web Content Filtering for All

3) It is easy to install and remove. Just choose what you want and it comes FREE down the wire. See How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu! . You can install Dansguardian from repository.

[techieMoe]

I have four children using this PC and they need something fairly simple, Mandrake looks pretty simple, so does ubuntu, I will need to be able to set up user accounts for each of my kids though as they each do their own thing so any advice here?

You can most certainly set up several user accounts in Linux. Linux was designed to work like UNIX, which was one of the first multi-user operating systems, so you might say multiple users are in its blood.

Secondly I use Salfield Child Control to enable me to set time limits for internet and PC usage and block certain types of webpages/keywords etc, is there anything similar for linux as it appears that this program is just for windows.

There are child safety tools for Linux, such as Dan's Guardian. The only catch is getting it set up might not be as easy. There are some versions of Linux (Ubuntu Christian Edition) that have this program installed out of the box.

How simple/complicated is it to install/remove programs or drivers in linux as I believe the process is a little different to windows, (although I may be wrong here as I have only read about these things).

It depends. Most hardware doesn't require a separate driver install on Linux, period. Basic components like network cards, disc drives, and audio hardware have drivers baked into the kernel already, so they should "just work."

There are a couple of common exceptions to this, however. Some wireless cards tend to rely on proprietary firmware and require a manual install. Some video display cards also need a manual driver install to work with 3D graphics.
Pretty much all video cards will display your desktop and 2D graphics out of the box, but require special attention to get 3D.

In Ubuntu the process is greatly simplified. As long as you have an internet connection you can simply run the "Hardware Drivers" program and it will detect, download, and install the correct 3D drivers for your video hardware.

PS. My kids PC is quite an old one, its a P3, 700 MHz, 320 MB Ram, 40 gig HDD.

The limiting factor there is your RAM. You might not be able to run the latest version of Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. without some tweaking. It can be done, but you'll need to customize what desktop environment you use to better make use of your limited CPU and RAM.

I have just taken a look at opensuse and this looks fairly simple too and it should run without any problems on this PC I believe, I just read that my PC may be too slow for ubuntu, I have only tried the live CD so far.

If your kids' PC can run openSuSE, it can run Ubuntu. I'd actually be quite surprised if you can run openSuSE on a P3 with 320MB of RAM.... it's generally one of the more resource-hungry distributions out there. Do let us know if you run into trouble.

[thorkelljarl]

Welcome

I believe that you will find that openSUSE 11.0 will demand more RAM before it can be installed, at least if you do not install from a DVD and choose a lightweight desktop. You may find as a general problem that SUSE like other new distros presume greater resources than are present, and while they can be made to work and will work, it is not without effort and expertise.

Ubuntu has the wind in its sails, but many with older, smaller systems successfully use Puppy. It is growing in popularity with a good base of support in forums and among users. Other choices are DamnSmallLinux and VectorLinux.

If you do not have any great experience with linux, and have not done so, it would be in your interest to google for guides and explanations. You might try to practice more than basic usage with a live-cd, that is make changes and adjustments and break and repair things. The basic structure, terminology, and ways of doing things in linux are different, and different enough that any apparent similarities to Windows at some point will seem like an invitation to frustration. Everyone has problems with whatever operating system they use, but In linux they are generally solvable if you acquire some skills.

Linux is modular, with many of its parts being interchangable, thereby flexible but not amenable to the production of one standard installation working effortlessly for all systems.

If you want immediate simplicity for the user, it may be a question of choosing the right desktop and changing it for your needs, and looking at the package list during installation. Then there is a possible question of partitioning and the NTFS(Windows) files and whether they should have their own partition or not. Not to discourage you, but easy, smooth use may require insight and effort in the beginning.

If you have problems there is help here, but the ethos is that help comes to those who come prepared to help themselves. Perhaps you could find a local LUG. Good Luck

[sturose]

Thanks for the replies, I am currently running xubuntu on my PC and it looks great. I will try it on my kids PC tomorrow and see how it goes, (my PC is much faster with more memory).

I hope to make the jump from windows to linux as I want something that will hopefully prove to be a little more stable. Windows stresses me out!!!

[arochester]

Good luck!

There is a Xubuntu Forum at the moment. There have been some in the past but they fade away. See Xubuntu Forums - Index

The best Xubuntu blog is probably Xubuntu Blog