installing linux

T

troubl3dmind

New Member
I'm kinda new to this forum, like 5 minutes ago new.

Anyways, i'm 17 and i am currently attending highschool. For half the day I go to a place called the skill center for computer networking; so i'm not completely computer stupid.

One problem that i am having is i'm trying to partition my hard drive (about 30 gigs) and install linux on maybe a 10 gig partition. How do i do this? I've tried to install free partitioners but i can't seem to get any of them to work. I was wondering what program i could use to partition my hard drive. It doesn't have to be a no brainer program necessarily because like i said, i know enough about computers to get from A to B. Another thing i'd like to do after partitioning is install linux on the partition. What version should i use? I was thinking gentoo? I'm probably just going to use it for instant messenger and downloading music since i hear it takes less cpu to run linux than windows. After i know what version of linux i want i'd like to know a site where i can download it since it's open source. I don't think installing it will be a problem unless there's something tricky i should know about?

I would appreciate any and all help i can get... thanks! :D
 
almost every single linux distro out there will have that in the OS installer. Just download your flavor and burn it to a bootable cd/dvd and boot off of it. During the install processor you will install a boot loader and repartition the Hard drive to your liking.
 
Linux has a built in partitioner. Just remember that linux uses EX3 partition, and you need about a 512mb Swap partition also.
I would recommend using Ubuntu. It is free, and is geared for newbies at linux but can be used by experts also. You can download Ubunutu here: http://www.ubuntu.com/download
Although when you first install linux, it looks pretty lame, you have to customize it to get that "eye-candy" appeal.
 
I recomend SUSE 10.1, its what I use. I have used SUSE since about version 6x. I am more of a KDE fan, and the YAST managers allow for good hardware configuration.

I ran unbuntu for a while, but I ultimately switched back over to SUSE. I have also ran mandrake, slackware, debian, open, fedora core, etc.

You may need to download and try several until you find the flavor you like.
 
One of the easiest tools for partitioning a drive is the Linux partitioning tool known as GPart 0.1h. It is the Windows version of the Gnome Partition Editor available for download at http://tucows.com/preview/8292

If you are planning to dual boot Windows along with a Linux distribution you have to create the first primary on the drive for Windows itself. Grub or Lilo the two dufferent boot loaders for Linux depending on which one used will generally be installed into the "MBR" or master boot record. The newer distros now included installers as well as partitioning tools. GPart can be used to create or delete partitions for both Windows and Linux alike. It has a far better user friendly method for the beginner then the linux version of fdisk or cfdisk.

Most newer distros come with a more simplified installer. But you will still have to review the tutorial for the version of Linux you decide on. Bash commands are one thing to get familiar with since both Grub and Lilo prompts will appear where you have to enter commands there to load the distro itself.

For using Lilo as the boot loader refer to http://www.linux.com/howtos/From-PowerUp-To-Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.shtml

The Grub tutorial can be found at http://www.openbg.net/sto/os/xml/grub.html
 
For a list of the i386 compatable distros you can use the selector found at http://www.linux.org/dist/list.html A favorite term often heard about Linux is what is the "flavor of the month" due to it being an Open Source operating system someone is always submitting a new version of one version or another. The more distros developed the more features like desktops and support even for programs geared for Windows you will find.
 
PCLinuxOS! (pclinuxos.org)
It's great for the people who are new to Linux, and the installer has a built in partitioner.

And trust me when I say this- there ARE better distros than Ubuntu. PCLinuxOS is one of them.
Flame me for this all you want, but I cal still say that I've used Ubuntu- I even installed it. But nevertheless, it's *just* good for new Linux users. There's always something better out there, and for you, the best would be PCLinuxOS. And anyway, PCLinuxOS is Live CD based and can be installed and the installer has a built in partitioner, and it's got a full GUI. Ubuntu still uses the command line.
 
timothyb89 said:
PCLinuxOS! (pclinuxos.org)
It's great for the people who are new to Linux, and the installer has a built in partitioner.

And trust me when I say this- there ARE better distros than Ubuntu. PCLinuxOS is one of them.
Flame me for this all you want, but I cal still say that I've used Ubuntu- I even installed it. But nevertheless, it's *just* good for new Linux users. There's always something better out there, and for you, the best would be PCLinuxOS. And anyway, PCLinuxOS is Live CD based and can be installed and the installer has a built in partitioner, and it's got a full GUI. Ubuntu still uses the command line.
Click to expand...

True, I also use Blag 5000. It is a great distro out of the box.
 
I'm downloading blag now...
Yet another distro to add to my "Installed in VMware" list...
I may just have a new favorite...
I won't know until I try it...
 
oh no.. no... none of that! A Windows-Linux style hybrid? ReactOS? http://www.reactos.org/xhtml/en/index.html

Suse/Novell, DarnSmallLinux, Linspire, Puppy, Zenwalk(the more recent Slackware), Mephis, Gentoo, Linare, Feather, DNALinux? that's a new one!, Yoper, Amigo, Rock, Buffalo, "You name it" is just about at every turn for distros. Most of the ones listed are the smaller sized.
 
another quick question

when i burn linux to a disc.... do i just open my disc window and drag the folder into it and hit burn files to disc? What is all this stuff i read about an ISO image??? is the extension for the iso .iso? Should i use nero, because that's what we use at skill center to burn operating systems.
 
When you download a distro of linux, it should come in a file name with the extension .iso. You have to burn the .iso (also known as a cd image) as bootable.
 
alright

i burned the ubanto.iso to a cd using a free iso burner. Now what do i do? i restarted the computer with the disc in and nothing happened. I know it's configured to run the cd drive before the hard drive because i've used a live boot knoppix cd recently. Did i burn it wrong? There were no errors when i burned it and it ejected it when it was finished. I used the burn4free burner. Do i have to update my bios to run this version of linux? and if i do, how do i do it. I tried before and couldn't do it because i couldn't find exactly what version i had to download. I'm running windows xp home edition version 2002 with service pack 1. When i check the bios config it says core version 4.06 and bios revision 3.21 07/16/03. Thanks :)

also kinda non related, how do i get to my post without searching for it? Is there a page where i can view all of the threads i started???
 
did you use the option burn image? The linux distro is already a bootable image file, but you must burn the iso using the "burn image" option, otherwise you are just copying the ISO in the ISO format.
 
alrighty

now i installed linux (actually i'm on it right now) but i can't figure out how to partition the hard drive so i don't have to boot it from the cd every time cuz it takes forever. (i installed ubuntu) Is there a way that i can partition it from the operating system itself, or do i have to do it before it runs off the cd?
 
troubl3dmind said:
now i installed linux (actually i'm on it right now) but i can't figure out how to partition the hard drive so i don't have to boot it from the cd every time cuz it takes forever. (i installed ubuntu) Is there a way that i can partition it from the operating system itself, or do i have to do it before it runs off the cd?
Click to expand...

That's what GPart is for creating the partitions both root and swap for the distro you intend to run. The bulk of the packages are installed to the root partition after the installer formats it for use. You assign that as the xfs type when selecting the type of primary partition you want GPart to create.

Many distros will have the option to prepare the drive seen on a menu when first starting the installer. You should see the option to use the Linux version of fdisk or the commonly used cfdisk. After all packages are installed you then can install the boot loader. Lilo is seen on a good number while Grub is generally the updated one to go with.
 
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