Suse 8.2 pro questions

[BMM]

First off, i have a brand new Apple G4, and i love my Mac.
But i have 2 PC's, one is an older Dell Poweredge 4200 server, and the other is a slot 1 Asus 440bx powered machine. For 600 Mhz it runs pretty nice. Plus it has both SCSI and IDE controllers built in the board. I like it.

Anyway. Both PC's run Windows Server software. The Dell runs 2000 Advanced Server, the newer machine runs Server 2003.

I can tell that system wise they are bogged down. And i could do nothing about it till now.

While i was in Best Buy today i spotted SuSe Linux 8.2 pro. I read the box and was pretty shocked at what software came with it. Alot, DVD authoring, movie editing, music creation, just a whole box full of cool stuff that I may do on the Mac, but cant do with the Server software pc's.

Now i am by far the last person on this earth who understands linux. I have tried Free BSD machines. I have Mandrake 8.1, as well as 9 i believe. And i always fall short of understanding how to add software, and compile, etc.

What i need to know, understand is the simplicity factor. if i spend $80.00 for SuSe 8.2 pro, and have all that software, swipe the Server 2003 box and load it on, what can i expect?

Willi still be able to easily configure my Forums? Will i still be able to configure/use the software supplied? I cant use alot of my Windows software due to Server 2003 not being compatable with what i have, will i struggle with the SuSe software? Is it easier to learn than say Mandrake?

These are just a few questions i have. I have strayed away pretty far from Microsoft once i got the Mac and dove right into it, yet i miss the PC thing in a way. my Forums server needs a bit more stability at the same time.

Any suggestions?

 

[Titan386]

Welcome to the forums, BMM.

Understand that any Linux distro, no matter how easy to use, will still be different from Windows and will require some learning. After you get past the initial learning curve, Linux becomes much easier to use than most would think, IMO. The problem is that some get discouraged and give up.

I can't tell you if you'll find it "easy" enough or not, but of all the distros I've used, I'd say that Suse is probably the easiest one to use. The installer helps you configure all your hardware, which is pretty painless. When I installed it, it even set up my USB scanner, which no other distro had ever been able to do.

There is a centralized "control panel" called Yast. It allows you to change system settings and such without digging through the config files themselves. There is also a "add / remove programs" section that shows you all the software available, what you have installed, etc. When you install something, it attempts to auotmatically resolve dependencies, which is nice. IMO, it's a very well done distro.

My best advice to you is to stick with it, even if you can't do all the things you want to do right away. It will take some time and effort to learn, but there are many resources available to help you. One is this forums, another is places like www.tldp.org and www.justlinux.com . You can also search for Linux related things here: www.google.com/linux .

Good luck.

 

[BMM]

Thanks.

As i see it, if i can migrate to OSX within days, im sure Linux wont be to hard. I dont use the Windows machines unless they really need my attention so they see odd to me.
Im jusy worried about to much of a learning curve. But it sounds like Suse is the way to go. I want ease of use, simple. Thats why i like my Mac, to me its simple, and Film editing is just as easy due to that.

Guess I will just have to go buy the Suse Pro package tonight.

Thank you.

 

[Arkaine23]

Yeah, having the whole package will be nice. Its easy to install everything you want right from the start. learbning to use linux software and navigating the desktop is a short curve. Learning to get into reconfiguring and upgrading the system is a little harder.

 

[BMM]

Yeah, having the whole package will be nice. Its easy to install everything you want right from the start. learbning to use linux software and navigating the desktop is a short curve. Learning to get into reconfiguring and upgrading the system is a little harder.

Yeah, i dont have to much time to try to learn it, i certainly dont have to much time to learn how to reconfigure it for a server to host my forums, so i do need it to be as easy as possible.
Maybe after this film project is done i can dive into it, but untill January i need to just get by. The Windows Server 2003 is starting to cause more problems now.