My first post

The XP discontinuation debacle has caused me decide to make the leap to Linux... albeit slowly. On the up side of this transition, the system I'll start with is an older AMD machine I use for secondary chores and is free to play with. The down side is that I've been around computers long enough to often sound like I know what I'm talking about � and I don't!

My first task is to identify a distribution that will � hopefully � meet my needs. I currently use OpenOffice and Firefox so I assume there will be no issue there. I also spend time making web pages using WAMP � which means I spend a lot of time with PHP, phpMyAdmin and mySQL. I run my pages under localhost, rarely uploading to a server, as a way of doing things like modeling equipment functionality. My first question is: do any distributions come bundled with things like Apache, phpMyAdmin, muSQL or, wishfully, GIMP? One sweeping installation, if such a thing exists, would make life a lot easier for a dummy like me.

My second question: There is a project I've been kicking around for some time that would require a wireless server for web pages but would be disconnected from the internet. Are some distributions better for this kind of �net free� application than others? Remember I really don't know what I'm talking about so there may be a lot of �dumbness� in that last question. But if it is a realistic goal, even if it is a distribution different from that which would be best for a desktop, I'd like look into it.

Continue reading...