Knoppix is an excellent distribution but it should be pointed out that the newer versions of it are optimized specifically to run on newer hardware. It doesn’t require anything extraordinary, but older computers that you’re thinking of fixing up with Linux should be given Fedora, Slackware, or even better DSL.

I tried Knoppix 3.8.2 this morning on a system with a 500MHZ CPU and 128MB mem. The video card was not ancient but it wasn’t anything fancy either. It took Knoppix over an hour to finally tell me that it couldn’t find an X-server that would work. It was comical to watch it click and whir for twenty minutes at a time attempting to get some configuration to function. I’ve used several other LiveCDs on the same machine (I’ve even watched anime on it thanks to Dynebolic), so I know the hardware can support Linux.

Knoppix is an amazing OS, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not your first choice for old hardware.

If you shop around for a new stereo or new computer speakers you’ll be surprised at the similarity between them. The main difference is that computer speakers (while often pushing just as much sound quality out of themselves) are usually much smaller for the same price.

What this means is that a small computer is now an affordable alternative to a conventional stereo system. Computers can run any file format you give it and hard drives can store your whole music collection.

So what’s the ideal music system?
There’s a great article on O’Reilly about setting up a music station with Knoppix. It goes through installing Knoppix on an old PC (the kind you thought you didn’t need anymore) and turning something old and slow into a fantastic sound system.

If you’re really interested in doing this, I recommend setting up a secure wireless LAN in your home to allow you to put the sound system anywhere and control it from anywhere else. It’s pretty nice to carry a notebook into your kitchen that will allow you to change the songs that are playing in another room.

While this site talks much of the difficulties of Linux, there is a new trend that has drastically reduced the pains of trying Linux for the first time. Live CD’s are disks that you put into your drive when the computer is off. When you start your computer you’ll find that you’re looking at and interacting with Linux. When you take the disk out and restart your computer you’re looking at Windows (or whatever) again.

Some common Live CD’s are Knoppix, Linspire (formerly Lindows), Gentoo, and several others. Some of the distributions, like Mepis Linux offer the ability to install straight to your hard drive from the Live CD. This is useful if you want to try it out at first, but then want to make the switch.

For those who are thinking of starting work with Linux, go for it. Yes, it’s hard, but you don’t have to master it to get started. Even if you don’t know the command line or what a shell is or even what this KDE and Gnome business is all about you can start using Powerpoint for Linux and writing emails on Linux immediately. So get yourself a Live CD and take a risk free tour of Linux.