[NTLUG:Discuss] New Computer -- which

[Terry Henderson]

On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 09:10:26 -0600, Kipton Moravec <kip at kdream.com> wrote:
> I do not know much about the differences between the different
> distributions of Linux.
> 
> I want to add a Linux as a workstation in a network with 5 Windows 98 and 1
> Windows XP computer.  There is no server.
> 
> I liked Redhat 9 because at the end of installation it was "automagically"
> on a windows network and I could see the shared folders on the Windows
> machines.  And transfer files back and forth with a GUI.
> 
> In addition the XP computer and one of the Windows 98 computers have the
> printer I intend to connect to for printing.
> 
> I do not want to start a distribution war, but should I go with Redhat 9
> knowing that it is the end of the line, or should I go to a different
> distribution.  My main interest is to keep the system up to date easily,
> and not have to get down in the guts of the OS to make something work.
> 
> Redhat 9 is the only distribution I have played with at all, and I am not
> very familiar with it.
> 
> Kip

You're right in wanting to stick with what you are familiar with. 
Redhat 9 would be okay, but, my suggestion would be Fedora Core 1 or
2. (Fedora Core 1 & 2 & 3 are continuation of Redhat for destkop
users, the rest is for interprise use.) Fedora core 1 uses 2.4 kernel
still and if you do the updates,  it will be very stable.  If you have
broad band internet, the updates will be easily obtainable.
If you think you need kernel version 2.6, go for Core 2
Fedora is very user friendly and uses the same install routines you
saw in Redhat 9.
See:
http://fedora.redhat.com/
for more info.