Hi,
        First off, do you have a specific distribution that you had in mind?  Due
to Linux's use of open source (anyone can get and modify the source code as
they see fit) there are many different "flavors" of Linux.  Red Hat is the
largest in the US and as I just installed it last night, my answers are
going to be based on it.

1)Yes, actually some people say it is harder.  If you have web access Red
Hat has an HCL at http://www.redhat.com/corp/support/hardware/index.html

2)  It currently doesn't.  There is an OpenGL clone, but most current ones
are not open source, and therefore cannot be used.

3)  This I do not know.

4)  With Red Hat it is.  Red Hat gives you the option of upgrading to a new
version if it detects one on the machine when you go to install.  I don't
believe that it will change files you have modified, but if your worried
about ease of upgrading, this will probably not be a problem.

5)  Actually, ID Software supports Linux.

If you are just starting, there are several good websites out there, such as
http://www.linux.org http://www.linuxcare.com .  Also, you can find
companies that sell cheap copies of the major distributions (part of the GPL
incense that Linux uses requires that source code be accessible to the
public).  These cheap copies do not come with installation help, but you can
often buy them for less than $5.00(US) each.  You can also buy compilation
sets that include several flavors so that you can try them all and decide
which you prefer.  Just be careful, some of these don't have the current
version of the distribution (for example many still have the Red Hat 5.2
instead of 6.0 that just came out a couple of weeks ago).  A couple of these
companies are http://www.linuxmall.com and http://www.linuxcentral.com .

HTH,

Donald Gaither
-----Original Message-----
From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Jun Qian
Sent: Friday, May 21, 1999 10:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PCBUILD] Linux and hardware


Hello all,
Can someone answer my Linux questions?
1) Is Linux hard to hardware like NT does? Can most NT hardware work for
Linux? Any HCL for Linux I can find? If so, could someone give me the
address?
2) What 3D API does Linux support (eg. OpenGL)?
3) Is there any difference between Linux file system and Unix file
system?
4) When update Linux system, is it easy to do so? Are there any special
Linux files act like registry files for win9x?
5) This question maybe off topic, but any games (I mean 3D games such
like Q3) designed for Linux? <I know Linux is not designed for games,
but if Linux wants to replace M$ in householder market, it must be able
to play games.>

TIA

Jun Qian

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