[plug] setting up

[James Elliott]

Hi all

Now my Uni exams are over for this semester, I and others will be moving on
to other topics and not doing Linux/Unix again, but that is not the end of
Linux for me - I would like to make it my main operating system and not have
to switch backwards and forwards between Linux and Windows for different
tasks.  The course was a good introduction to Linux and good way of getting
started but I am very much a newbie and would like to hear differing members
opinions on the merits of the various distributions.  Reading the large
volume of PLUG e-mails that pass through my machine I see Red Hat, Mandrake,
and Debian mentioned, just to name a few.

For work and play, this is what I need:

e-mail (most important)
Internet access (I download a lot of drivers & product info for customers'
Windows computers;  lookup wholesale price lists; Internet Banking; etc.)
Word-processing
Spreadsheet
Minimal graphics (for designing pamphlets, letterheads, etc)

I have an Epson 600 colour printer and a UMAX Astra 2100 USB scanner which I
need to be functional (so I might need minimal photo editing software as
well as I doubt that UMAX has Linux versions of its software).

I will be buying/building a new computer soon and will network that to my
current AMD 233 MHz 256 MB SDRAM computer.  I have a D-Link Internet
gateway.

I have the CD's for Red Hat 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 and am currently running 7.1,
but before I spend time upgrading Red Hat I would like to know what you are
using and what you suggest would be best for a new user.

Many thanks

James Elliott
Ravensthorpe Computers
ABN 34 305 232 710
Tel:   08 9838 1043
Fax:  08 9838 1049
Cell:  0428 39 6052
E-mail:  James.Elliott at wn.com.au
Australia Post:
PO Box 228, Ravensthorpe WA 6346