[wastedyears]

From what my friend, a networking major has told me, I would probably need a long list of text commands if I ever wanted to use Linux. Computers are not something I know well.

[ShadowAce]

Quite a few people use it without ever using the command line.

The rest of my family does it all the time--I'm the only one to use the command line, but they all use Linux.

[sayuncledave]

wastedyears, check out pinguy os.

http://pinguyos.com/

“Pinguy OS an out-of-the-box working operating system for everyone, not just geeks
This OS is for people that have never used Linux before or for people that just want an out-of-the-box working OS without doing all the tweaks and enhancements that everyone seems to do when installing a fresh copy of Ubuntu or other Linux based Distro’s.”

I use that on a laptop and Linux Mint on a dell, in addition to my macs. Pinguy has all the usual suspects covered nicely, and works well, out of the box.

[Poser]

Ubuntu is now ready for prime time. The only reasons I have ever used the command line is to network a printer and manually change the mahjongg score history.

If you have a home network with shared printers, Linux can make you a little crazy, but as a stand alone machine, it is now very good, and free!

[Johnny B.]

From what my friend, a networking major has told me, I would probably need a long list of text commands

That hasn't been true for a decade or more.

If you want to check for yourself, note that most modern Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, etc.) have what's called a "Live CD" version, that runs directly from the CD, without touching your hard drive at all.

You can either download an image and burn it to a CD (assuming you have Windows-based software that will let you burn an "ISO" image to a CD-R, or go to the nearest decent bookstore and find a "Learn about Linux" magazines with an included DVD.

Then, put the disc into your computer, restart, and give it a try. You might like it.

[jfls45]

I’m not sure why your friend said this but I don’t think it is the case. To those who haven’t tried Linux, you can download one of the distros, burn it to dvd and boot your computer from the dvd. It lets you use the software without reformatting and installing it on your harddrive. Try Linux Mint, Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Mepis, etc... they are called distros. I download them as .ISO files and burn to dvd. I hooked my laptop up to the flatscreen tv, booted into Linux, it automatically loaded the right drivers to display the laptop on the tv screen. I then booted into Windows, it took me a few minutes to get the right settings to make the laptop display on the tv.

Jfls45

Linux has