Hi, Yes, the rpm is like some superzip. It contains a manifest showing the contents and the requirements. The rpm database has complete control of what is installed so uninstall and upgrades are under control. You wont have to chase the internet for zip files to download either, urpmi takes care of that. I have always had good experiences with thinkpads. I have had numerous hp omnibooks and they have all broken down in some way. My first Dell latitude died a horrible death after only a year. Thinkpads have always worked. I even dropped one on the pavement when running for the train, I picked it up and dusted it off and that was that (its the one running the pskmail server here). A 600E, P2-366, is approximately $200 and a T22 (P3-900) is $350 here. Regarding linux and kids you may want to add the contrib repository. Most games are in there as well as educational stuff. I have also been around since the Vic20 days and zx81 before that. A neighbor was talking about the ongoing switch to 64 bit systems and he looked funny at me when I said I had witnessed the 8 to 16, 16 to 32 and now the 32 to 64 switch. I started with a zx81 clone from hong kong, it had 2k ram and I wrote a "worm" game on that. I had to choose between sound or score counting as memory was simply not enough. It took me a while to get to know my way around linux. I was quite frustrated at times as I didn't know how to do something. But, I kept on banging my head to the wall and eventually I kind of broke through. So, when you are about to give up just send me an email... Regarding fldigi the author has been very helpful in tracking down and fixing that memory leak. I have fldigi running on the server here and it is completely stable now. fldigi has, among other things, PSK125 and QPSK125. PSK125 should be running at 126.5 bauds, compared to psk63 at 63.25. I guess QPSK125 uses convolutional code error correction and comparing these will be interesting. I should have a new client distro out soon and I can include fldigi on that. But, I want to include Rein on these decisions as well. Regarding fldigi I find that its a very nice experience, I can really recommend it. Dave, w1hkj, has done an absolutely excellent job! 73 de Per, sm0rwo