Due to the recent failure of my mom's computer, and my role in dealing with it while home for the Thanksgiving holiday, my newest obsession has been cheap computers and Linux. While researching possible replacement computers for her (despite her pleas to not buy anything... I can't help it) I learned about the $200 computer they're selling at Walmart, the Eee PC, and the OLPC (XO). (I had, of course, heard of the OLPC, but this week was the first time I really looked into it to see what it's all about.) These computers all run on Linux-based operating systems. I've never worked in Linux before (though I did do a small amount of work in Unix back in college, but I don't remember much). Fortunately it seems like Linux is pretty accessible for the non-computer-savvy masses these days and I'm really tempted to dip my toes in the open source waters.
Now that my initial urge to buy a new machine has waned somewhat (though I'm still seriously considering the Eee PC sooner or later - it's only 2 lbs so it would be awesome for working in coffee shops and on the plane) I think I'll try installing a Linux OS on one of the older laptops that have been decommissioned and are collecting dust at my parents' house. Maybe one of them will like the fresh install and smoother OS and will be useful to them (or me :P).
My friend over at the Hope for Pandora blog has the Eee PC so I'm waiting to hear about his impressions after several weeks of use. In the meantime, I should probably spend some time cleaning up and backing up my laptop, given the fate of my mom's late desktop...
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I assume you have checked out the "live" versions of some of these Linux distributions. You just pop a cd in and they run off the cd. They are great for getting a feel for a specific distribution without investing time installing it.
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