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Re: opinions on freeware/opensource operating systems?
de Whirled Peas 04/24/2006 04:34
On Sun, 23 Apr 2006 13:47:42 -0500, No'm Este' wrote:
> I'm looking for opinions on free and/or opensource operating systems.
> What's good? What's to stay away from? Will they run Windows programs?
> etc. Thanks.
It is odd to, in one breath, ask about an open source OS and ask if it will
run Windows programs :-)
As has already been mentioned, trying a few live CD's (Knoppix, Ubuntu,
Mepis, PCLinuxOS, Etc.) would at least give you a feel for Linux and the
wide variety of choices available.
Ubuntu linux is wholly open source, including the programs that it installs
by default. Others, like SUSE or Xandros, etc. install some proprietary
software or closed source programs for various multimedia formats and such.
If you are wanting to break away from Windows and are looking for programs
to do what you might in Windows, here is a fairly comprehensive list of
'equivalents' for Linux: http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html
Good luck!