[n00b] To Linux/Unix World

[Winston]

Hi guys... i've been using PC's for a while... but believe it or not i have yet to try Unix/Linux, so can people give me a basic description of the difference between the two, and which one i should try first... and since there's so many variations of Linux which one should i really try first as a beginner? :s... because i don't want to stuff anything up once i finished installing it... can i dual boot it with my XP?... and install it on the same partition? Because i heard about the Boot Menu tool, namely "lilo" is a pain in the ass is it? :s...

Thanks guys :)

[Fred Derf Veteran]

  Winston said:

Hi guys... i've been using PC's for a while... but believe it or not i have yet to try Unix/Linux, so can people give me a basic description of the difference between the two, and which one i should try first... and since there's so many variations of Linux which one should i really try first as a beginner? :s... because i don't want to stuff anything up once i finished installing it... can i dual boot it with my XP?... and install it on the same partition? Because i heard about the Boot Menu tool, namely "lilo" is a pain in the ass is it? :s...

Thanks guys :)

Preview the Knoppix CD without installing.

If you can spare a 2nd HD then install Knoppix on that drive.

Use the BIOS to disable the Windows HD which will allow you to boot and install Linux without installing a boot manager on your Windows HD.

Personally I just pull the power cable off the drive itself.

[SadisticNerd]

Windows XP and Linux Boot Loaders are not friendly to each other. I have used RedHat Linux and loved it. I use PQ Boot from PowerQuest.com to dual boot my machine. I have heard Mandrake Linux is very good also but have never used it.

Knoppix CD is a GREAT way to try Linux and see how you like it asfred666 suggested. Knoppix is also a great troubleshooting disc IMO.

Louis Adam Markham

[the evn show]

So many questions, but that's a good thing.

first off, many people are not familar with linux: you're more likely to have used a macintosh with 2% market share (but 10-12% install base) than a linux machine (with <5% install base) in the past so don't feel bad. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if you learn now then if/when *nix takes over the computing world (again) you'll be an old-school expert.

There are some differences between UNIX, BSD and Linux (like cost and licenses) but for a beginner and even some intermediate users they're identical. The look and feel is identical across the bored for 95% of the things you'd want to do, and the rest are fairly subtle from an end users point of view. Don't worry too much about the difference between the three - just know they're all UNIX-like.

You can dual boot XP and Linux, and while configuring Lilo or grub bootloaders can be a little intimidating it's not terribly difficult if you follow the directions in any distributions install guide and you're familiar with computers in general.

Installing linux onto an MS-DOS partition is possible though it's been a very long time since I've tried (5+ years). IIRC Slackware was doing this with UMSDOS installs back in the 3.x days, I can't imagine that it doesn't allow this but I recommend against it. You're much better off with the Knoppix setup described above.

As for which variant: it's all up to the kind of person you are.

I like to learn by crawling in at a low level and building my way up so Slackware, Gentoo, or LFS would be a good first choice (I started on slackware, moved on to Gentoo)

If you're more of the hand-holding type then check out Mandrake, Fedore, or Debian - those come highly recommended around these parts.

You might also want to consider BSD. I find it makes a lot more 'sense' than linux because it's very structured. Getting a basic command line interface + networking working is very simple, but it takes some effort to get a graphical environment, sound and video working nicely. Once you've got that working it's pretty simple to work with. I'm a fan of OpenBSD, but FreeBSD is an excellent choice if you're more concerned about features than security.

[Winston]

Ahuh thanks guys... so where do i obtain this Knoppix ISO?... Is it free?

So what's my best bet? can i still install it in the same parition as my Windows?

[x2z]

  Winston said:

Ahuh thanks guys... so where do i obtain this Knoppix ISO?... Is it free?

So what's my best bet? can i still install it in the same parition as my Windows?

http://knopper.net - Yes it's free.

Knoppix is a "Live-CD" based distribution of Linux. It can run completely from a CD without anything on your hard drive being touched. Just stick it in and reboot.

You can also do a "HD Install" of Knoppix.

No you will not be able to install on the same partition. You will have to have a root partition for Linux and a swap (swap is not essential but reccomended). You can still do a dual boot with Windows easily after your distro is installed if it uses LILO as long as you made the right partition scheme. Checkout the LILO documentation to learn to add a Window partition to the boot menu.

[kongit]

I have found that there are a wide variety of knoppix/knoppix like live cds that have many different functions. I have one that is for math and science. It is perfect to help me with school. very nice. (Y)

[LordHatrus]

I've used linux for a while.... and only recently have I tried the Knoppix live distrobution CDs.... they're very good tho..

my first linux I think Vector Linux.... I liked it very much...

<I think I will go download it now... need a live cd anyway :) >

[revvo]

Just remember this. Unix is commercial with full support and Linux (most distros) is free. Each distribution has something special wether it's Apt-Get (debian) or portage (gentoo) or rpm's (suse/mandrake/redhat). These differences normally make life easier and they explain them on the websites.

Knoppix (Debian based w/ KDE environment) is a great live cd to test the hardware in your pc. There are also many others like Gnoppix (Debian based w/ Gnome environment), Slax-LiveCD (slackware based w/ kde environment) and probably a few more that I'm not aware of.

When you think you are ready to partition your current HardDrive (or using a new one for linux), just remember that the # of partitions is up to you although minimum is 2.

2: - base system - swap.

3: - base system - /home - swap

4: - base system - /home - /usr - swap

5: -base system - /home - /usr - /tmp - swap

(probably even more flexible than this heh)

I suggest at least 3. Most of the configurations will be held in your home folder (/home/username) and IN CASE something happends to the system, at least you have your setup which you can use if you re-install or change distro.

Well that's bout it I think :cool:

[CaKeY]

For live cd's I like PClinuxOS 2k4. I dont see how trying linux could be any easier.