Linux generally creates an impression that if you were a geek you would have tried it and if you were not a geek well… .

A lot has changed since the start of Linux. Its not just about about being the ultimate server. Linux has stomped into desktop territory and PCLinuxOS seems to have conquered it quite well.

I don’t aim to write a rave review. I’m sure there are enough of those around the internet.

How I got here:

Well very simple I was tired of constantly trying to make windows work. Especially when you use your computer on a regular basis Windows tends to crash too often. A server is up 24 hours a day. The way most IT professionals use their computers for 12 -14 hours with different development environments tends to bring the BSOD ( blue screen of death ) up on a regular basis.

I first thought I would try with Ubuntu. Ubuntu was easy to install, and the migration tool was definitely cool but… once you were in Ubuntu to configure your hardware was quite difficult unless your really knew the command line inside out.

I had dabbled with Mandriva 2007 for a while and really found the hardrake ( hardware configuration tool for Mandriva) one of the easiest to use. So when I read about PCLOS on www.distrowatch.com I was curious. PCLOS uses hardrake too!

I have installed PCLOS on the major partition of my Toshiba A100.

The Toshiba A100 is an intel core 2 Duo with WLAN/ Bluetooth. I have been running PCLOS on this particular system over the last 4 months. PCLOS is definitely a fantastic system. Hopefully over the next few months I ll have more in depth articles on how to set up different segments of PCLOS and some other linux based software I m running on my desktop.

Every device on my Toshiba A100 is compatible with this distro. My only hope is that soon other hardware manufacturers other than Dell and HP will start supporting OEM versions of such a great product. Having a linux desktop is good but configuring it is NOT easy !:)

PCLOS — download now http://www.pclinuxos.com/.

For those who want to look at hardware compatibility issues before setting it up http://www.pclinuxoshwdb.com/

Have fun!!

Tags: PCLinuxOS, linux, technology