Originally Posted by
slim_slag
I suspect when Keef means 'machine code' he means having to drop to a command line and manually edit configuration files using an unintuitive text editor.
Spot on! Especially smb.conf and fstab. I've become quite expert at the codes in those two, now. The editor itself (I use Kwrite) is OK; it's the codes that have to be entered into those files that gave me a headache. The rudimentary editor that has to be used for sudoers - is not exactly "user friendly".
The various Linuxes on my machine installed easily and with no problems - to something over 99% of the way. I may have been unlucky, but I had "challenges" of varying difficulty with all of them. Asking for help on Linux forums had variable results - some extremely helpful and solved the problem instantly, some not only unhelpful but downright rude too. I suppose that happens in every walk of life.
Mac - I think you need to take a look at Fedora Core 5 or later. It's stable, user-friendly, installed with the fewest hiccups I had with any Linux, and is the one that's running now on that machine 100 miles away.
Kubuntu didn't come close for me in terms of features, facilities, ease of installing added software, or user interface. The Kubuntu version was more recent than the Fedora, too.
I've not tried Mepis - I'll have to remove one of the older unused distros and try it.
For those who like trying lots of different software, I found Debian the most flexible - it runs Kpackage very sweetly, which means you can download and install software quickly and easily. Unfortunately, something glitched in my Debian installation while installing an update, and trashed it. So I'm a little more cautious with that one.
Would I use Linux rather than switch to Vista? You bet I would!