Linux Anyone?

[arzme]

I want to try installing Linux. Anybody know any direction i can go to make it a reality? Really know nothing about it.

Thanks in advance.

[Vulkar]

You should probably decide which distribution you want to use first: example are Red Hat, SuSE, Slackware, Mandrake and numerous others.

[arzme]

Know about the variety (flavours) of linux thus the questions is which 'flavour'? Any neutral website that have forum or guideline about linux that i can surf?

I'm getting tired with window....

[Shii]

I would recommend downloading and burning a LiveCD. Just put the CD in your CD-ROM drive and reboot your computer, and you'll be able to try out Linux without having to configure anything or even touch your hard drive. At this point in Linux's development, actually installing a distribution is pretty tough.

Check it out:
http://www.knoppix.net/

[dark_breaka]

Well i would recommend red hat since its more easier to use then suse and all the other version since red hat was revised to look more user friend and look like an xp kinda style but its still command based and everything is done much easier.

[Keitaro]

Ha Linux sucks, don't even bother with it until Linux distros are more user friendly like apple os and MS Windows. The included games are cool though.

But if you still insist on installing a disto of Linux I suggest Redhat 9.0, they really improved on the installation procedure.

[ato]

Ashibakas tip is really worth considering...Getting your feet wet in a safe environment is recommended (Lest you be scared off by having to learn a new user interface)

Seriously, Linux is a nice OS, but a certain amount of preparation before installing it is needed. For example, you need to decide wether to keep your Windows installation in parallell with running Linux (this is actually the only hard part remaining in Linux installation, maybe apart from configuring X on really smoking new graphics cards...). Then you need to decide on what distribution to use...Since you are a first time installer, I'd recommend RedHat or Mandrake, but do get second opinions! If you feel like checking out some of the competition, have a look at SuSE, Debian, Gentoo, Slackware...Or even RedFlag if you happen to be Chinese

When you feel that you really want to install your chosen distro, download the discs needed (ISO images are often available). Print all the install information you think you will need since surfing will be a bit hard during install, hehe. Also, it is good to have a complete record of all the hardware present in your computer...Especially if you have new or "exotic" hardware attached. If you want to keep your Windows (basically needed only for gaming) you should also partition your hard drive so that you have one partition for your MS os and a lot of empty space for your Linux to live on. Insert cd1. Take a deep breath and reboot

Good luck!

[RavenChild]

i'm running red hat 9 on one of my systems and i love it. linux distros are free and i think redhat is even on the BT maker's site. i had to give a persuasive speech in one of my classes and i chose linux and windows (i took the side of linux). before you try linux on your main pc/mac, i recomend that you install it on another computer. the installation is esay but networking and stuff can be hell if you have no experience.

[Lefteris_D]

Every people on broadband and are comfortable with multiboot systems shoud have the penguin installed.

I personally have the latest RedHat and Mandrake as well as Knoppix 3.3.

Knoppix has saved my life! When one day XP could not even enter Safe Mode I was able to copy some files I had not backed up from one disk to another and then just restore a system backup. It's worth the download just for that.


Note: The windows equivalent of Knoppix is Bart's PE Builder.

[DAK]

knoppix liveCD is a good place to start in my opinion.

As for which distro you should try, alot of people try mandrake as a beginner's distro.. I am multibooting mandrake 8.2 and XP on most occasions but I haven't reinstalled mandrake since formatting my XP partition, it's just sitting there

Keitarou20 - "Ha Linux sucks, don't even bother with it until Linux distros are more user friendly like apple os and MS Windows."

I take it you have never used linux? KDE is basically the equivalent to windows running a linux kernel. It has the taskbar like windows, it has the "start menu" like windows, it functions like windows in almost every way imaginable. You cannot get any more user friendly or easy to use than that. Although, most people who use linux do not use that Xwindows interface, most people I know use either blackbox or fluxbox which is the complete opposite of that, nowhere near user friendly but extremely fast and efficient.

As for linux sucking in general *sigh* here I go...

<geekrant>

Linux has proven to be far more stable in server environments than windows in a server environment. You can lock a linux server away in a closet and not touch it for years and have it stay stable and running smooth. Linux and any other Unix based operating system (Mac OSX included) have much better and more efficient memory management functions than the windows counterpart. They are much more efficient at clearing memory and keeping the system running much more smoothly.

Also, unix tends to have better swap space management with the manditory seperate linux swap partition (normally at the front of the drive for increased speed) while windows just shoves files on the hard drive.

Next on the list would be customization I guess. If you are a C, C++ programmer you are able to customize your operating system as far as your mind can take you. Everything is free, it is all open source, you are free to edit the code of anything you want as long as you give the previous authors credit and follow the open source agreement. If you do not code, you can change images, colours and much more of the XWindows environment and almost anything involved.

The bulk of software for the unix operating system is open source. Media players, video encoders and editors, office applications (for example open office) are all free and in most cases open source. The only thing you'll pay for in the linux environment are things like WineX which emulate DirectX and must pay licensing fees (and they do also offer a free version if you wish to compile it yourself). OpenOffice is on the same level as Office2k3, officeXP yet, it does not cost hundreds of dollars to purchase, there are hundreds of free applications that can do the same thing as their windows counterparts, and often the linux counterpart is better overall or more efficient.

In the case of system compatability, windows is only able to run on a i386 CPU architecure while the unix operating system is able to run on PPC, i386 etc. This allows for mutliplatform compatability with PCs, servers etc. There are even people who have run linux distros on things like palm pilots.

Different linux distros are designed for different purposes to pull the most power and performance out of the system it is running on. While windows you have your server line (NT, Server 2003) and your home line (XP, ME *gag* etc.) Linux has hundreds of distros for different uses. Mandrake for the basic user, mandrake cooker for the programmer and the one who wants to toy with their OS. BSD, Redhat etc for server environments. Gentoo.. designed for specific processors, AMD XP distros, Intel P4 distros and so on. All designed to get the most out of your system, to do the best job possible.

</geekrant>

I wouldnt' consider linux useless, I would like to use it when I take my cosc major for my java programming, I like having my command line compiler actually working properly.. And for server applications but for home use, even though I am pro-linux, it is relatively useless, more of a learning experience.

[Keitaro]

Linux is good for programming and running server apps but terrible for the standard home user, stick with Windows or MAC OS if you want to actually do stuff, cause u cant do much with Linux. Did I mention yet that its kind of a hassale to install some apps and programs for Linux. I 'll take Windows over Linux any day, until Linux gets their act together to make it easier for ppl to actually use it, otherwise the Linux OS will never be as favorable as MAC OS & Windows.

Also becareful when you install any distro of Linux pay close attention when partitioning your hard drive if you have any other previous windows OS installations. I also think the knoppix liveCD is a great idea to start.

[Shii]

Keitarou, it is improving. I think GNOME is currently a better UI than Windows. The installation process still sucks, but that's mainly because hardware companies hardly ever release drivers for Linux.

[Keitaro]

Originally Posted by ashibaka

Keitarou, it is improving. I think GNOME is currently a better UI than Windows. The installation process still sucks, but that's mainly because hardware companies hardly ever release drivers for Linux.

It doesn't matter how much they improve it unless its enough to topple the current OS king which is Microsoft Windows. So unless Microsoft somehow goes out of business which I think will never happen or Linux magically creates a whole new user friendly UI that is greater then Windows & MAC OS, Linux will continue to be ignored by home PC users. Don't get me wrong I like the idea of a open source OS but I just can't see Linux going anywhere in the future except as an cheap alternative for a OS that you can get for free over the net.

[Galaxy]

Well, I installed Linux on my box, Mandrake since I never installed linux before, I found that the instalation was easy and I already had a particion that was to be used for linux so for the install prosses was relatively easy. Since my HD that had linux on crashed, I re-installed it, but I need to re-do the boot sector, but I dont you if oyu have that in RedHat, but the setup for the dual boot is easy in Mandrake...I sould try RedHat since I also heard good comments on it

[Shii]

Originally Posted by Keitarou20

Linux magically creates a whole new user friendly UI that is greater then Windows & MAC OS

I just said that I thought GNOME was better than Windows. Have you tried it?

[Keitaro]

Originally Posted by ashibaka

I just said that I thought GNOME was better than Windows. Have you tried it?

I kinda got out of hand in my last post there, Gomen

Yes i've have tried GNOME but I personally like KDE. I still think GNOME cannot match up to Windows UI though.

[OFFSPRiNGCo16]

I know a lot of people who use both KDE and Gnome. I mean, I have used Linux a bit, with Knoppix and love it. I find the interface pretty good, and seriously, if you believe that you will have a hard time adjusting to the GUI then I would suggest Lycoris. Lycoris is a linux distro that makes the GUI look as similar to windows as it can etc.. Personally, for a beginner I would reccomend Mandrake and not red hat on the count that I heard Red Hat is dead because they arent making it for the home user anymore. Also, you should definatly try knoppix first for a few days to get used to linux and just to see if you even like it, and if you do, then try installing a version. I also think that before you install anything please read all documentation about installing and the distro. Trust me, its better safe than sorry. Installing Linux isnt always a walk in the part. Also you might want to make sure you have compatible hardware, although, you probably should but its always good to double check.

[Galaxy]

I printed the quick instalation guide when I installed it (for the parts that I did not understand) and it went wiht out a problem, until I restarted and hit the boot screen wich was set to gfx something and not text

[Forse]

Hmm...I can go on forever on this subject Anyway here are my tips:

If your new to linux (totally new) I suggest Mandrake, coz it's easier to install then WindowsXP and comes with a lot of good software and easy to configure (it has control panel like Windows does). Mandrake is rpm based, which makes my blood boil, but again you don't need to worry about that just yet. You can also install software in Mandrake from SoftwareManagment panel (via FTP or from CD's). The bad side of Mandrake is that you practicly will just get another Windows...all those wizards and everything will be done by default and so on, you get the picture.

If you have some spare time on your hands and some kind of internet connecting, I suggest getting Debian. It has pretty good installer (you still should read docs) and it has big database of precompiled software. Installing software on debian is as easy as typing apt-get install software_name and it will get precompiled .deb file from mirror FTP and install it. Also in debian your more in command and I must say that I don't like Debian, but it's still great OS for Linux beginners.

Also try getting wine or VMware so you can run Windows programs. I recommend last one since you'll have virtual Windows under Linux and you'll be able to run ANY windows program (not games since VMware lacks openGL and DirectX support). In wine getting Windows app to work is more tricky...a lot more. For games I suggest WineX which is wine code based, but modified to run games specially. There is 2 versions from WineX: free and not free. Free version lacks installShield support so latest games tend to fail (TransGaming have to charge them clients coz InstallShield charges them and they spend a lot of time modifying WineX to run latest games). Max Payne 2, HomeWorld2 and WarCraft3 are good examples of games that work on WineX with no problem. More info on WineX can be found here.

Another question you must ask yourself is hardware. Do you have any weird hardware? Almost anything works these days on Linux, from Digital Camera to mobile firewire hdd. Still there is some unsupported hardware like some newest giggabit NIC's and some latest sound cars and so. If you have none of those and your hardware is pretty normal then I am sure you'll not run into any problems.

About Dualboot. Almost any Linux/BSD OS can dual boot with Windows (I know ppl that have FreeBSD/Windows/Linux/NetBSD on one computer). RedHat and Mandrake support resizing on fly during installation (Debian doesn't) using "parted". I still don't recommend using that methond (just read RH forums to scare u off). I suggest getting LATEST partition magic and resizing windows partition to make room for linux swap and root partition. I suggest reading this before u start installing, Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide.

Originally Posted by Keitarou20

Linux is good for programming and running server apps but terrible for the standard home user, stick with Windows or MAC OS if you want to actually do stuff, cause u cant do much with Linux. Did I mention yet that its kind of a hassale to install some apps and programs for Linux.

heh...I guess you never tried any good distro. Is it hard to type apt-get install app (emerge kde in gentoo)? That will install app for you...with only one command line and it can be removed with apt-get remove app (if memory serves me right...I don't like debian). Can you remove software permenantly in Windows with one command without leaving any unneeded registry entries and files that are not needed anymore?

If you don't want to resize your partitions then just get VMware for Windows and install linux in VMware. That way if anything goes wrong you can start over and you won't loose anything.

RedHat will no longer release free versions of their product (source of my info) so I don't recommend using it since you won't get any updates soon. Also redhat and (if I remember right) Mandrake support FAT32 so you can install linux on Win partition without need of resizing. FAT32 is much slower then any journaling FS in linux.

I use linux and other *NIX clones coz I liek to be in control. On my server I compile all software myself with options I need and I also tweak some of the CFLAGS. I am minimalist myself and Blackbox is more then I need for GUI. I think Mandrake is most Windows like distro and it's REALLY easy to use in daily use. Also there is more docs on Linux then there EVER will be on Windows, just take a look at http://www.tldp.org/

@DAK Linux VM system is not yet as good as FreeBSD one. Also linux doesn't handle SMP too well when there is more then 4 CPU

P.S. Remember Linux is not only good *NIX clone. After you know your ways with linux I suggest taking a look at BSD family (I must admit that I am FreeBSD lover). In some ways BSD is superior to linux, but not on workstation I am afraid.

[Wucherkater]

I am using Debian as my Main and only OS on my computer and I like it ....

I don't think that GNU/Linux has to be like Windows or Mac. An OS should be a thing for itself and don't be like an other OS only to become popular. And that is why it is fun to use it ... it is not like a Windows System and you can choose what you like. And personally I wish that GNU/Linux will never become Windows like, ok there are destktop envirinments which are easy to use and beginner friendly but I prefer a GUI which is simple and functional like fluxbox, blackbox or hackedbox.
And a further reason why I use Debian is I don't have much money ^_^ and I like opensource.

There are two GNU/Linux distributions I like very much:

1. debian
Nice packet system and powerful

2. gentoo
A very nice dist when you want to learn much about Linux, but I hate the installation on my computer


And a last word: Everybody should use the OS which he like ... there is no this or this is the best OS, their is only this is the best OS for my work