New Member

[Gaijin]

On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 05:13:45PM -0500, JP Jamous wrote:
> Where can I obtain instructions on how to download a copy of Linux and
> install it along with Speak Up? I would appreciate any replies. Thank you.

	Basically, there two different "flavors" of Linux, depending on 
the software package management system.  One is Redhat's RPM (Redhat's 
Package Manager), and another is dpkg (Debian's Package Manager).  These 
package managers control how software is downloaded and/or installed on 
the system, either from CD, the net, or combinations of both.

	RPM pretty-much is all on it's own and can be found in the 
Fedora and commercial versions of Redhat Linux.  dpkg is far more 
wide-spread, and can be found in Debian, Ubuntu, off-shoots like Arch 
linux, and GRML.  In my personal opinion, I believe dpkg-based 
distributions to be the way things are going, and has the most popular 
support.

	Other contenders are Slackware and Gentoo, each with their own 
package managers.  I don't know if they have any support outside of 
their own distributions.

	Redhat/Fedora appear to need a special disk to install 
withaccessibility support (correct me if I'm wrong) and from what I've 
seen, is supported by one person here.  More widely supported flavors 
are Ubuntu and GRML and the newly constructed Arch linux, which are all 
dpkg-based.  I myself, use Debian, believing it to be the most stable 
and widely supported distribution.  While Debian doesn't ride the 
cutting edge with the others, it's usually rock steady, and eventually 
gets around to adding in the latest features once they've been hashed 
out by everyone else, after they've decided which direction we all 
should go.

	Downloading and installing linux is pretty much a snap.  Just 
google whichever distribution you prefer for their installation images, 
burn it to disk, and fire up your computer with the CD in the drive.  
The websites and the disks themselves will have more specific 
instructions on the installation process, as it can vary from one 
distribution to the next.

	As a linux novice, I would probably go with Ubuntu, it being the 
most widely supported on the net, from what I've seen, and then 
specialize with one of the other distros like Arch linux or GRML.  If 
you are blind, I would go with Arch Linux or GRML right from the start.  
Slackware's website has a beautiful manual called the "Slackbook" and I 
would read that to learn about the most commonly used linux commands.  
>From there, I would check out some of the stuff to be found at the 
"Linux Documentation Project" website, IRC chat groups on the 
irc.freenode.net server, and this and the Orca mailing lists.

	There's a lot to learn and assemble in your mind before it all 
becomes clear, and linux becomes worth using, but if you stick with the 
basics long enough, you'll soon find linux outperforming any other 
operating system out there, because *you* are the one in control of the 
machine.  HTH,

				Michael