basic

[Knapp]

> No, the beta release is called 'Beta release'. LTS and 'normal'
> releases are equally stable on release. The only difference is that
> LTS releases get security and software updates for longer than normal
> releases.
>
> --
> Avi Greenbury

Reading this tread,  I am starting to feel confused! I have been doing
this Linux stuff for 10 years now. I switched to Linux after getting
enough Blue Screens Of Death to last me a life time with MS XP. Now
after learning the ins and outs of Linux I would NEVER go back!!!
(give yourself a year to get used to new ways of doing things and also
set up your computer to duel boot so you can go screaming back to the
"old easy way" when you get overwhelmed by all the new ideas and raw
power of Linux.) Also do run a live disk for a day or two to see what
is what but expect it to be very slow. Also burn yourself a copy of
Xubuntu and Kubuntu so you can give them a live test and see which of
the 3 you like best.

KUbunt is very full featured but not as polished yet.
Ubuntu is more limited but the most polished and supported Ubuntu.
Xubuntu is small and fast, a great choice for older computers or
people that like a more minimalist desktop.
There are also about 500 other Linux distros to pick from.

Read about others here:
http://distrowatch.com/

Each 6 months a new release of Ubuntu comes out, that means in 2 years
there are 4 releases. One of those 4 will have a feature called long
term support. The other 3 will only have short term support.

Read this link for details on Long Term Support.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS

When we make software we work as a group. That group sets goals and
then they write the code to reach those goals. At first the software
sucks but then as they work more and more on it, it comes together.
They have steps in this writing process that they release to the
public to help them find errors. Alpha release is the first release
where the programmers think that most of the basics should work. They
want testing but expect the testers to know how to handle big bugs.
Beta release is the release where they hope that it all works but know
that it likely does not. Often there is a feature freeze at this
point. After that comes the pre-release release. At this point they
will not let anyone change the code except to fix bugs. and if all
goes well and no new big bugs are found this becomes the release. All
these steps my be repeated if big bugs are found.

For more and likely better info about this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle

Wikipedia is also a great place to read about Linux, all the other
desktops and other software.

If you want to try out a super minimalist file browser try midnight
commander. ;-)

Shockingly fast minimalist web browser? Try dillo2. Don't expect it to
work on all sights but man is it fast!!

-- 
Douglas E Knapp

Open Source Sci-Fi mmoRPG Game project.
http://sf-journey-creations.wikispot.org/Front_Page
http://code.google.com/p/perspectiveproject/