Linux

I want to get people's opinion on Linux - from a Windows user perspective. I want to do is to establish if the "Linux is too difficult" mantra is actually true in people's experience. My personal experience was that it was about the same amount of hassles than installing Win98 & apps. Of course, Linux does not fall over like Win98, and I can do all my work that I used to do under Windows, so I am a happy chappie ;-)

Thanks!

If you have been using Windows and have also installed Linux, please be so kind as to fill in the questionnaire below and post it on the board. I will collate all the responses and (hopefully) publish these in an article. Thanks

Questionnaire: Installing and using Linux from a Windows perspective.

This questionnaire is intended to gather opinions on how easy or difficult it was for users to install Linux and application software, and how functional they found the Linux desktop compared to the Windows desktop environment. Your participation is appreciated.

Firstly, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "very weak" and 5 meaning "very strong", rate your technical PC skills?

Next, in the table below, indicate your choice with an X.

TABLE 1: General

Distribution and version of Linux:

Debian

Slackware

Red Hat

Mandrake

SuSeE

Other: please specify

Linux GUI used:

Gnome

KDE

Other: please specify

TABLE 2: Applications used - please amend Windows applications as appropriate, and indicate the Linux equivalent you use:

Word processing: MS Word

Spreadsheet: Excel

Presentation software: Powerpoint

Database: Access

Email: Outlook

Calendar: Outlook

File manager: Windows Explorer

Internet browsing: Internet Explorer

Internet firewall: ZoneAlarm

Graphics editing: PaintShop Pro

Graphics slide shows: ACDSee

File Compression: Winzip,

PDF reader: Acrobat Reader

CD writer: Nero

Other - please specify

In the table below, indicate your choice, using:

1 = Much more difficult

2