Got my feet wet - now getting cold feet.

[Kenn Munro]

Its good to see that you are interested in Linux.  You might want to try
booting to a "live" Linux CD (such as Knoppix) to see how well your
hardware might be supported, although it may vary between distributions.

For PDF writing on Linux, you can print to a postscript file and then
convert it to PDF using the ps2pdf command.

I would seriously suggest dual booting until you are comfortable with
the change, especially if you don't have a lot of time to be
installing/configuring new software in an unfamiliar environment.  An
extra few gigs on an 80 gig drive shouldn't make *that* much of a
difference.

Good luck...

Kenn

On Thu, 2004-02-19 at 21:08, James Carruthers wrote:
> Hi,
> This is the first time I bring a question to this group. I've only
> started to get my feet wet with Linux. I installed it (RH 9 and 7.3)
> on a couple of boxes at work to see how it might benefit us. It
> doesn't look like management will go with it, however, I am personally
> quite impressed. I've explored around a little bit in KDE and Gnome
> and installed simple things like flash player.
> 
> I am considering installing Linux on my own inspiron 1100 (upgraded to
> 640MB RAM and soon to have an 80GB drive). However, I have some very
> strong concerns. I'd like to hear some thoughts on this to help me
> make the best decision.
> 
> Some of the many problems I have to learn how to solve are:
> 
>       * Will the Linux OS properly recognize all my hardware? I've
>         done some reading on the internet and found that installing
>         Linux on the inspiron 1100 "is not easy" and that certain
>         things won't work no matter what, like the power, but I don't
>         know if that goes for all distros or maybe I was reading
>         out-dated material? Should I stop before I start?
>       * How to extract the volumes of information from my outlook pst
>         file and import it into something like evolution? (I have
>         noticed that it won't import that format.)
>       * How to synch with my axim X5?, and would I need a new OS for
>         it too?
>       * Is there an open source pdf writer in the Linux OS?
>       * I do graphic design and layout work, mainly using Coreldraw 10
>         - is there open source software to replace this and will it
>         read my cdr files or would I need to save them all as eps or
>         something else?
>       * Will the Linux OS properly recognize my usb 2.0 wireless mouse
>         and my plextor PX-708UF external drive? Will I be able to
>         "plug and play" with the PC card slot - for instance I need to
>         get a fire-wire jack to connect to the semi-professional
>         digital video camera I'll soon be using?
>       * Is there open source DVD creation software available that will
>         make full use of my px-708uf for creating and editing digital
>         footage?
>       * Plus, I'm moving to India in 2 weeks. My work will keep me
>         there indefinitely. If I make the shift and things start to go
>         wrong how hard is it to switch back to XP?
>       * I don't want to have 2 OS on my laptop, as I'll be creating
>         videos and I'll need all my hard-drive space for memory
>         swapping and writing the movies and software (although, I
>         might keep my old 20GB drive apart and separate with XP on it,
>         just in case, but I'd rather plug it in to one of my USB 2.0
>         ports as additional storage - it's not the biggest drive, but
>         it is of good quality and speed.)
>       * Which distro would be best for me?
>       * And, finally, what questions did I forget to ask?
>         
> 
> 
> Cautiously curious,
> James
> 



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