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I have never set-up or used urpmi, but I have used apt quite a bit, and I really love it. I haven't really used apt with synaptic, I prefer the normal old cmd line way. I set-up and used apt mostly on my RH 9 machine. That machine now has FC 1 on it. I want to put a new box together and put one of the new distros on it - mdk 10 official, or suse 9.1, or whatever. Since I am familiar with apt, I am leaning towards a distro that can use apt. I haven't really read up on urpmi, but according to a recent Linux magazine (Linux Magazine a few months ago): that's what the article said (an article all about apt). The author was familiar with both apt & urpmi, but was of the opinion that apt was considerably better. He did not go into the reasons why. I was interested in some comments by people here who have used both. thanks in advance

I'm considering taking a java course for one of my electives. What former programming experience I have is with COBOL, and a few other non-OO languages. I bought a couple of java books, but I have to admit that it looks a hell of a lot different than what I am used to. I took a VB course (introductory) last year (required for my IT degree). Although VB may be considered OOP, I breezed through the course with an easy A. I thought it was pretty mickey mouse.... I don't want to take any of the advanced VB courses. Do you think I will have trouble with learning java from scratch, without knowing OOP at all.. ? For my other elective choices, I think I will choose among some various web design/development courses.

yeah, at the same time I put firefox on my win2k machine, I also put thunderbird email - which I also like WAY better than OE. Plus it imported all my OE mail & everything - so it was very easy & convenient to change over. The only thing MS left on my machine is the win2k - besides that its firebox, thunderbird, open office, nero, and some freeware for dvd burning. When I get my new linux box built (I ran out of money) I can start learning CD burning, DVD burning (if possible), and then can dump Nero also (although I do like Nero very much).

are you saying that you can't backup a dvd movie under linux?? or just k3b? It's something I occasionally do under windoze, and I'd like to be able to do under linux. I haven't really researched it yet, but I was under the impression that it could be done.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I knew there were other things about mozilla firefox that I liked better than IE, I just couldn't remember every one.

Since I dumped IE on my win2k probably around 5 or 6 months ago, I've noticed a few things. I had previously used IE since version 3 or 4 or whatever. One of the main differences I notice is that I don't collect as much spyware with Mozilla as I used to with IE. Even though when I used to use IE, I always had it set on "Do not accept 3rd party cookies" - after a couple weeks browsing, and then running the latest AdAware, I always had some spyware. After using Mozilla for a while now, even though I go to all the same places that I used to - every time I run AdAware it reports "No spyware found" I also like the tabbed browsing in Mozilla. Of course, MS will probably institute that sometime too, and act like they invented it. I just like mozilla better in all ways.

I think I decided on the amd xp2800+ , which has the barton core. Cheap, and enough guts for what I do at home. Sorry, Gowator, I know you are big on the amd 64... I was asking about mobos & chipsets cause I am wanting something that works great "out of the box" - don't want to mess with compiling kernels, messing with drivers, blah blah. I'm too old & lazy for that stuff anymore...

thanks for all the pointers regarding chipsets. Guess I should''ve mentioned in the original post that this question is pertaining to the 2.6 kernel. I am putting a new box together for one of the new distros (no windoze dual boot). Haven't decided between mdk 10, suse 9.1, or ???

thanks, guess I'll stick with VIA. I'll ask about an MSI board with the 600 chipset, as Ix suggested. Since this place gives the 1-year warranty on any hardware they sell, they basically just stick with a couple of brands of each item. The brands that have given them less problems over the years. They had quite a few Abit boards returned by their customers (I myself had 2 bad abit boards in the last couple of years - they replaced each one for free). That's why they recently dropped abit. They mostly sell MSI now, but they will also sell Asus.

thanks bvc. I specifically asked them if they sold abit, but they don't anymore. I prefer to buy all my components from this place, cause later if I have problems, they are helpful - especially if I bought everything from them. Plus any hardware bought from them gets a one-year free replacement if any problems. Therefore, since your abit board has the 400 chipset, I think I'll tell them to get me the MSI with the kt400A chipset. I don't know what the diff is between the KT400 and the KT400A though. edit: I googled it, and found out the diff is that the KT400A added support for DDR400.

I am making a shopping llist of components to give my favorite hardware vendor. So far, they are getting me an AMD xp2800+ barton processor. They mostly sell MSI boards, but also ASUS. They gave me a couple of MSI choices - one has the VIA KT400A chipset, DDR400, audio, LAN, 8x AGP and USB 2.0. The other MSI is an nForce2 board with the same features - except it also has SATA The KT400A board is quite a bit cheaper (half the price of the nForce board).

let's see... we have USB mass storage devices, usb pen drives, usb thumb drives, key drives, keychain drives, usb flash drives... ad nauseum.... are all those things the same thing??? I want one of those little 3-inch gizmos that you plug into your front usb port and backup all your stuff on them... whatever the hell they are called.... :unsure: I was at CompUSA recently looking at these things (Pen Drive 2.0) and actually ON THE BOX it said Linux kernel 1.4.x - works automatically - requires no drivers. I was impressed seeing linux mentioned on a piece of hardware. Of course, it also mentioned that they work without drivers for winME, 2000 & XP, but at least the company mentioned linux in the same breath. Do they actually work without hassle under linux?

I remember way back when it seemed like there were millions of those around. Hardly ever see one anymore. In fact, I saw one a few months ago and was amazed - it was the only one I've seen on the road for probably 10 years. edit: sorry for going OT

I did a little googling on this, and I found quite a few I've never heard of. http://cbbrowne.com/info/financelinux.html from the above page, if you click the link for Other Personal Finance Software, it shows a bunch of others. I have heard of money dance, kapital & gnucash and check book balancer but not the others. I used gnucash awhile back. I d/l a trial of money dance this evening, and imported my QIF file to it (worked great) and entered a month of transactions. Not bad - not quicken - but not bad. I don't know about kapital - it seems like its been version 1 for quite a while. The same guy from the above link has an article on freshmeat.net summing up linux personal finance software, investment software, business accounting software, and other categories. http://freshmeat.net/articles/view/269/ anybody here use any personal finance software on a linux machine ?? I don't want to run Quicken under emulation - that just shows the company they don't need to bother with linux.

I use a Logitech "Cordless Elite Duo" mouse & keyboard on my win2k box, and I was wondering how cordless mice & keyboards work under the latest linux distros. I'm not really crazy about the logitech kb - it has tons of buttons I have no use for. I just like to use a keyboard to type stuff, and it seems like the few times I need a function key, the keyboard function keys don't work - the F-lock may have been pressed or something... But, besides all that, I have gotten used to laying back in my chair with my feet up on the desk and my kb in my lap. Under windoze, I had to install the logitech software, so I was wondering if cordless mice and/or keyboards "just work" under linux without any hassles? I searched the board but didn't find anything about it. PS: I may end up getting a corded kb & mouse, PS2 or usb, but I'm still curious about cordless ones.

I've been browsing some older threads here, and it seems that in some of them (7 month old thread) that the KT400 is considered obsolete compared to nForce mobos. Will the newest distros - mdk 10 OE or Suse 9.1 - still have probs with nForce boards? ie: will nForce boards still require extra work? Do I need to get sata? I mean, is it a noticable difference between sata drives & regular old ata drives? any probs with sata and the latest distros? I burn alot of CDs and DVDs, so maybe sata would benefit me. btw - the hardware shop I get all my stuff from considers Maxtor drives to be low-end. I like them though, haven't had any problems with any. They also said they consider Gigabyte mobos to be low-end, and they no longer carry abit board (they never carried soyo).

I'm also putting together a new system, and I found this thread - so I am hereby resurrecting it... Here's what I'm leaning towards: CASE: Antec Super LANBoy Aluminum (comes w/o power) PS: Antec Smart Power 350/w MOBO: maybe an Abit AT7-Max2, or a Gigabyte 7VAXP PROC: AMD of course, xp2800+ barton core I don't know if linux uses alot of RAM efficiently - I remember when I had my old win98 machine - most shops told me not to bother putting more than 256Mb or 512Mb RAM into it cuz win98 just slows down with alot of RAM. I have a win2k machine now as my primary daily machine - but its getting replaced with this new linux box I'm working on. Guess I'll buy one module of 512Mb for my new linux box. Also, I'm gonna get one of those Pen Drive USB 2.0 things - probably 128Mb. I saw some at the hardware store I was at, and I checked out their website just a little while ago.... They actually say, under their Requirements: No drivers required for winMe, win2k, winXP. No drivers required for Linux Kernel 1.4.10 or higher. I was impressed seeing linux even mentioned under a hardware company's requirements section. Oh yeah - and a dual-format DVD burner of course - gotta have a DVD - why not have a drive that does everything...? I don't know what brands to lean towards for a linux box. I currently have a Sony DRU-510A dual-format burner in my win2k box, and I like it alot - of course, all the software it comes with is wasted on a linux machine. I've read that Lite-On drives are popular with linux people... any suggestions for a dvd burner under linux..? VIDEO CARD: don't have any idea. on my win2k machine, I had an ati all-in-wonder 8500DV, but it only lasted a little over a year. I just replaced it with an ati all-in-wonder 9000 Pro. Gotta have TV. But on a linux box, maybe its better to have an nVidia card, and a separate TV card, such as hauppauge. I recently had another thread regarding TV cards, so I'll not ask about them again here.

pretty impressive. I've gotten in the habit, over the years, of just doing one thing - and one thing only - at a time on a windoze machine. when I'm ripping a DVD, I don't even browse the web, check my email, or anything. Maybe it would work ok, but why push winblows to the edge... I can't wait to start doing more of this stuff on linux !!!

I may be dumb, but I don't get why it"s illegal for linux to play DVDs... Why can windoze play them ??

I was just gonna add a thread with the same question - but I noticed this thread already here. I'm putting together a new machine for one of the new distros when they are released - probably suse 9.1, and I was wondering what mobo to get. Anyway, I was looking at the Abit At7-Max2. It has the kt400 chipset. I don't really know what specs to look at to know if linux will like it or not. When the reviews say "it comes with a CD with drivers on it..." - that isn't applicable for linux, right? I mean, with linux, everything will just work I guess... ? http://www.motherboards.org/articlesd/moth...ews/1266_2.html

yeah, I haven't really messed with video capture on my win2k & all-in-wonder either. Only thing I've done on windoze besides just watching TV sometimes, is I recorded an old Cary Grant movie on TCM and watched it later. Worked good - and pretty handy - a VCR right on your computer. But I don't care enough about extra stuff like that to really bother under linux As long as the TV watching will work, I'll be happy.

I couldn't find much info about Hauppage cards - turns out the correct spelling is Hauppauge. Anyway, their website has some FAQs and Support for installation under linux. Pretty impressive. They only discuss Red Hat & Suse, but that's ok. Some sites when you search support for "linux" its either not mentioned or its just one sentence like "we don't bother with linux" Hauppauge's site says the necessary modula(s) aren't in the kernel so you have to add them. Of course, this is discussing something like RH 6 or so. Maybe old info. Hopefully the newer kernels have whatever's needed.

I've got my cable-TV cable connected to my win2k all-in-wonder card, and the picture is very nice. All-in-wonders come with Guide-Plus TV guide software, which works very nice. I'll have to google around and see what else I can find out (its just easier to ask here first...) mtweidmann - does the WinTV card come with any tv guide software, or what does it come with? and how does it work - I mean, you start watching TV on your linux machine, and say you want to see what else is on, and then you want to change channels... how do you do it... ? PS: I hate when companies call their stuff "Win"Whatever Edit: Also, I just found this mini-howto after googleing: http://gnupower.net/howtos/wintv.php with the new kernels that have been released, how do I know if this stuff still needs to be done? Maybe its old info, and not applicable anymore. thanks

I have an ATI all-in-wonder 9000 Pro on my win2k machine that I can use to occasionally watch TV, on my 19" monitor. I don't watch much TV since its mostly crap, but if I'm watching something like the NBA playoffs - my wife banishes me from the big TV downstairs and tells me to go watch it on my computer... :( So, since I'm trying to learn to do everything with linux that I do under windoze, I'm wondering how linux is with TV cards. On other boards, I have read to avoid ati all-in-wonder TV cards with linux, since although they can work ok, its a little trouble to get going. Supposedly its better to buy an normal video card, such as nVidia, and a separate tv card, such as a Hauppage. Those comments were on a xandros forum, since I was checking into buying xandros deluxe 2.0. I have since decided, due to some advice from some members of this board to buy either the 9.1 suse, or the mandrake 10 official when they come out. Just wondering if anyone here has messed with tv cards under current linux distros, and what comments you may have. thanks in advance

Don't forget I am talking about Firefox on windoze machines, not linux - maybe that makes a diff... ? Anyway, when using Firefox for windoze, go to janus.com. You are greeted with a warning about using Netscape greater than 4 or something, and that the site won't work right. Proceed to janus.com anyway, and click on Individual Investors. So far that works ok. On the Individual Investors screen, there are 3 tabs - when you mouse over any of these tabs, they expand into many choices you can click. However, you can't click on anything because as soon as you move your mouse down the list, the list immediately dissapears.