Installation:
EasyLinux 2.000 does actually come with a good installation manual - this will make the installation easier if you are only a novice.
EasyLinux 2.000 booted off the CD, detected the SCSI card (an Adaptec AIC:7896) and started the graphical installation.
It then prompted me to configure the mouse and language etc.
There were three installation options: Novice, Experienced and Professional. I chose Novice. For the Novice Installation there are another three setup options: Internet PC, Standalone PC or Laptop PC (It does say that if you wish to set up a network card that you should use the Experienced installation. I chose Internet PC.
The formatting was reasonably simple using eFdisk (if it looks complicated, don't worry - it's in the manual).
During the initial installation EasyLinux does not install any additional packages. You are guided through this later.
The LILO configuration is also very simple using eLILO.
Configuration:
EasyLinux is very simple to configure. When you first use EasyLinux you must log on as root with no password. You are then prompted to set the password. Then there is a setup window with about 6 Steps to help you set up the system (for each step there is a hyperlink to the program that is needed for configuring that area). There are steps to configure users, hardware, additional software and everything else that could possibly be configured.
The network card (an Intel EtherExpress Pro 100) was automatically detected and configured. There is a tool for setting up Sound Cards but the system didn't have one so I was not able to test it.
When each of your users log on for the first time they are prompted to configure/install StarOffice 5.1.
Software Content:
EasyLinux has a good selection of software. In the software install menu there are various sections of software that can be installed, a few of these are: Scientific Software, School Software, Multimedia Software and Office Software. EasyLinux uses KDE as the main window manager. The included software includes StarOffice 5.1 and Apache.
My Thoughts:
I am VERY impressed with EasyLinux. I have never used a distribution that was this easy to install and configure. For a Linux Novice this is definitely the ideal distribution! I think that even someone with little or no experience of computers would probably still be able to install and configure the system (with the help of the manual).
EasyLinux really is easy, no matter what your skill level. eIT have got it right!
