Test driving Linux
From Schoolforge-UK
The O'Reilly book Test Driving Linux - From Windows to Linux in 60 seconds comes with a Mandriva Move LiveCD which uses the KDE desktop. A sample chapter is available online. It provides an introduction to the Linux desktop world for users familiar with Windows. Most applications of interest to home, business and educational users are covered including web, mail, multimedia, office, finance, games as are fundamentals such as managing files and customising the desktop. The Live CD is used throughout thus providing a thorough tutorial on using Linux with KDE.
The chapter on choosing a Linux Distro is particularly informative.
Although it is aimed at people with Windows experience the author goes into great details so as to include readers with little PC experience. I personally found that some explanations were too long winded, prefering to try the software itself and to dip into the book on topics of interest. However the detailed approach offers much interesting background and means that useful 'hints and tips' that would otherwise be missed are covered.
Mandriver Move LiveCD notes
The CD is branded as Mandrake but they have recently renamed to Mandriva.
Move has particularly good USB data key support. User configurations and home folder are stored on it in a very transparent way. Make sure the key is plugged in before booting.
If the PC hangs during booting and the solutions suggested in the book do not help you can try 'linux noauto' in the initial F1 screen. You can then use the KDE Control Centre to set up you hardware manually.
You are prompted for a password at startup and will need it for unlocking the screen saver.
The move CD is about a year old so will not have the latest versions of fast developing programs. This is quite a long time in the FLOSS community but you will still get a good idea of the available software and the book still succedes with the aim of giving a good introduction to Linux and KDE.
Some of the links on the initial splash screen are broken due to the Mandriver rebranding.
SteveLee 07:00, 22 May 2005 (BST)
