[plug] setting up

[Craig Ringer]

I'll just mention some program names etc, best way to find out what you 
need/want is to try them.

> For work and play, this is what I need:
> 
> e-mail (most important)
Easy. You've got a bazillion clients to try out depending on your 
needs/preferences:

lightweight & powerful ncurses based (no X required):
	mutt (excellent IMAP support)
	pine
Big, heavy and powerful (and a little quirky):
	Mozilla Mail (good IMAP support)
	Evolution
Middle-ground X mail clients:
	kmail (last I tried, don't use with IMAP)
Broken/crap/obsolete/specialized:
	mail
	mailx
	Netscape 4.x Mail

Others anybody?
It really depends on what you're looking for in a mail client, which you 
choose.

> Internet access (I download a lot of drivers & product info for customers'
Mozilla for browser, KPPP is a good dialer if you'll need one.

> Windows computers;  lookup wholesale price lists; Internet Banking; etc.)
Eh? I'm not too sure what you're asking here...

> Word-processing
OpenOffice.org, AbiWord

> Spreadsheet
OpenOffice.org, Gnumeric

> Minimal graphics (for designing pamphlets, letterheads, etc)
GIMP

> 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).
The ASTRA is a no-go AFAIK. Still, take a look at the SANE site, 
something might have changed.

http://www.mostang.com/sane/

GIMP is your best bet for imaging stuff, it can be limited in some areas 
(no CMYK - ARRGGH) but very powerful in others (alpha channel work, etc).

The Epson works, google for gimp-print. Most distros have tools to set 
it up with varying degress of ease, but it's (in my experience) not as 
good as the native windows drivers and print setup.

> 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.
<fireproof>
Debian! Debian! Debian!
</fireproof>

OK, really: Mandrake or Red Hat is probably a good start for a new user. 
  Haven't used either since RH7.0 and Mandrake 8.0 came out though. 
Debian is great but doesn't streamline some things quite as much. I find 
it much less painful to use but you need to learn more to get around. 
Can't offer an opinion on any others.

-- 
Craig Ringer
GPG Key Fingerprint: AF1C ABFE 7E64 E9C8 FC27  C16E D3CE CDC0 0E93 380D
	-- if it ain't broke, add features 'till it is. (or:)
	while (! broken) { feature ++ ; }