by socheat on Thu Apr 03, 2003 5:03 pm
All the Linux distributions pretty much support the same hardware, it's just a matter of which kernel comes as the default, since hardware support is a function of the kernel. You can take any Linux distro and install the latest kernel (and possibly a few patches). Also, any software that runs on one distribution will run on another, though you might have to do a little work. For the Audigy, it's the same driver as for the other SB cards, emu10k1, though depending on which kernel you have, you might need to download the latest version of the driver and compile it.
What distinguishes distributions is only the software that comes pre-packaged, and how the filesystem is initially organized, which is a perfect example of the Unix philosophy. I could take my Debian install and move things around, install the right programs, and it would "look" like the default Mandrake install (I didn't say RedHat because they have some stuff I can't get without paying for...).
As for burning programs, there really is only one: cdrecord. But there are tons of frontends. I personally like Eclipt Roaster (in Debian, you would do 'apt-get install eroaster'. Not sure what the rpm is named). If you have all the other supporting programs installed, Eroaster handles bin/cues, isos, converting Mp3 to audio on the fly, overburning, and so on.
As for copying a copy protected CD, I don't think I have any, so I'm not sure...
Socheat