I've bought a Lindows PC, on which I plan to install Debian 3.0r1. A
few points:
The system checks almost immediately for DHCP and times out (I don't
have that running on my network). The keyboard is about the cheapest
keyboard I've ever seen. I'll replace it with one I already have.
This is a "mini-ITX" form factor computer. My first encounter with this.
According to the google research I've done, this is an all-in-one deal,
with the CPU soldered in (I haven't looked; this is from a website).
Apparently, these machines have very small power supplies (up to 100W or
so), and come with one (1) PCI slot, which is filled by a modem.
_Everything_ else, including the NIC, is on the motherboard. So
theoretically, if one thing goes, it's a boat anchor.
The software supplied with the machine is minimal to say the least. No
office suite, no nothing. It seems that when the machine realizes it's
connected to the internet, it talks to Lindows and starts telling you
about all the wonderful software available with its "Click-N-Run" deal.
A veritable smorgasbord of juicy software, for which I'm sure you pay.
You do in fact run as root on this machine. There are no other users
configured out of the box. Also note there is no "man" command
available. What?! Yes, there is no "man" command. However, it is based
on Debian, so much of what you know about Debian can be transferred.
It's KDE disguised on the desktop.
I'll say this-- it's slick. The graphics and setup is clean and nicely
done. You plug it in and go. It's all been nicely thought out by the
marketing suits. Kinda like Linux meets Microsoft. Scary, huh?
As I said, I bought this with the intention of installing Debian 3.0r1
on it. Over the years, I've built a script to query a variety of things
on a Linux box, to pull almost every bit of configuration information
off. I've also saved the entire /etc directory to another machine. But
if anyone else has done what I'm planning, I'd be interested in any tips
or pitfalls.
Paul
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