Linux?

[JamesBart]

i use Windows and mac OS and have done for some time and would really like to try Linux. is there any point? i dont have time to waste and what are the benifits of using this OS?

i know you could label mac for design and creative applications but what can you do with Linux?

 

[PC eye]

Linux is closer to Apple/Mac with the Various distros starting originally with the UNIX platform. Many simply like not getting the adwares, spywares, viruses, malwares. etc. seen with Windows vulnerabilities. For a "newbie" you usually need a good coach first learning how to use Grub or Lilo since a distro depending on how updated it is loads from commands entered at command prompt initially to then load the desktop gui.

Having space on a drive or second hard drive available(ide type) is the way to start off there. You first have to create a "root" partition for every distro(open source means endless number of distributions) installed to a hard drive. Often many also require a "swap" parition for virtual memory. FireFox is a Linux browser that replaces Internet Explorer or Netscape. Linux will run on less available hardware like memory then Windows or Mac(try 4mb for some).

For the first time user the advice often and best given is to try a Live for cd/dvd distro just to get the feel of the rather different OS there. This allows you to get familiar with the manual "Bash" commands that are often needed. As time goes on more and more support is finally coming along for Linux versions of appications commonly seen on Windows or Mac systems. While some gaming support is available the older type server orientated OS is not quite up to par in that direction.

Are you familiar with dos and Windows 3.1 machines? The manual command structure in linux is different from dos! Linux can be time consuming "especially" for the new comer unfortunately while offering a more stable OS in most cases.

 

[_simon_]

Whilst the above is a very good post it could put you off as it makes it sound more complicated than it can be.

Installing most distro's is a very simply process these days. Depending on the distro you can either go through a text based install or a GUI install, some give you a choice (might be separate ISO's) It's not normally a case of guessing what to do, it's pretty much like installing a windows OS.

As far as bash commands go, things move quite quickly in the Linux world and gui alternatives are always appearing, however, the command prompt is a very powerful tool and once you are familiar with it you may find yourself choosing to use that over some gui alternatives.

I would recommend that, as a beginner you choose a distro based on the support available.

I use and would recommend Ubuntu, no doubt other people will recommend other distro's but Ubuntu was my first step into Linux and I'm still using it a year later.

Website: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Support Forum: http://www.ubuntuforums.org/

You ask what you can do with Linux, the answer is just about everything you can with mac or windows. The only real limitation is gaming although that is slowly improving. If you're not a big gamer then Linux could quite easily replace your mac and windows os's.

As a final note, I'd like to highlight part of PC Eye's post as it is a very good reason to give linux a try:

Many simply like not getting the adwares, spywares, viruses, malwares. etc. seen with Windows vulnerabilities.

I hope that you decide to give Linux a try and I wish you the best of luck!

Simon

 

[PC eye]

Ubuntu is one of the easier ones for sure. That is 10/1 over Fedora's Core 4 which was a Red Hat version of Linux geared more for servers. Zenwalk is one of the newer and easier ones to throw on a drive without need for a swap parttiion while dreadedly lacking much support. It's a smaller distro and doesn't offer as much as ubuntu, Mandrake, SUSe, and a few others. But the one thing mentioned was the "lack of time" you wanted to invest.

While several of the newer distros have seen some great improvements you would want to have a second drive or an old case to work with in order to get up on this type of OS where you can go at your own rate over a period of time. Once you gained familiarity with a few distros and the difference type of gui and command prompt used you could then decide if Linux would be a default rather then secondary OS. Many have gone that route already. I can mention that Linux sees far less driver hangups and is a better working OS once you have it running correctly! But the one thing that makes it the most popular is the actual price. FREE!

 

[timothyb89]

I don't really see what all of the hype about Ubuntu is- I think it brings a bad name to Debian.
I use Ubuntu. I even installed Kubuntu. But I know there are better distros out there.

SuSE, which is my main OS, is great for new users, and at that, it allows you to grow with it's huge software repositories. I compile most of my software myself, but soon after I do so, I find out the SuSE repository already has it! (Free, www.opensuse.org)

Another solid distro is Gentoo. I'm in the process of installing it now

But the ultimate distro for new users is PCLinuxOS. It's VERY easy to use, and it was actually the first distro I installed. It's software repositories are not just huge- they are vast. There more than 2000 apps you can download easily. It lets you expand, and it's great for learning. Ubuntu just... sits there. I even found it HGARDER to use that PCLinuxOS and SuSE.

I'll admit, it's easy. But you don't get anywhere with it, thus it doesn't expand your knowledge as much as other distros can.

And by the way- welcome to the very opinionated world of Linux distro wars. It's almost as bad as OS wars

 

[PC eye]

Well isn't that nice to have another added "opinion" to the wonderment of the Linux "geeks" as they have been nicknamed at times. That was a comment heard a few years back on those who ran Linux and not Windows! "Only geeks are found running Linux!" was the comment heard on a few different occasions. Gee I just "had to" try out a few distros to see what the fuss was all about.

 

[_simon_]

I don't really see what all of the hype about Ubuntu is- I think it brings a bad name to Debian.
I use Ubuntu. I even installed Kubuntu. But I know there are better distros out there.

In what way do you think it gives a bad name to Debian?

SuSE, which is my main OS, is great for new users, and at that, it allows you to grow with it's huge software repositories. I compile most of my software myself, but soon after I do so, I find out the SuSE repository already has it! (Free, www.opensuse.org)

I tried Suse and really wanted to get on with it. It looks so polished and professional but I just could not get on with the update manager at all and had difficulty installing nvidia drivers and codecs. Is it any easier with OpenSuse 10.2?

Another solid distro is Gentoo. I'm in the process of installing it now

Heard good things about this but not tried it yet... maybe you could do a small review after you've given it a run?

But the ultimate distro for new users is PCLinuxOS. It's VERY easy to use, and it was actually the first distro I installed. It's software repositories are not just huge- they are vast. There more than 2000 apps you can download easily. It lets you expand, and it's great for learning. Ubuntu just... sits there. I even found it HGARDER to use that PCLinuxOS and SuSE.

In synaptic I currently have 20,262 packages available to install and that's only with 2 repositories I've added myself - one for automatix and one for beryl.

From what I understand of PCLinuxOS you have to pay for it? Ok so it's not much but it might be enough to put new comers off who want to try linux because they heard it was free.

I'll admit, it's easy. But you don't get anywhere with it, thus it doesn't expand your knowledge as much as other distros can.

You mean once it's setup you don't need to do anything with it? Anyone sick of Windows's high maintenance might be glad of that lol

And by the way- welcome to the very opinionated world of Linux distro wars. It's almost as bad as OS wars

The only difference really is that no-one really falls out. No matter what distro you choose, it's all still linux!

 

[timothyb89]

I tried Suse and really wanted to get on with it. It looks so polished and professional but I just could not get on with the update manager at all and had difficulty installing nvidia drivers and codecs. Is it any easier with OpenSuse 10.2?

10.2 is a lot nicer, but all I've tried is an alpha version. I'll have to upgrade.

Heard good things about this but not tried it yet... maybe you could do a small review after you've given it a run?

Still trying to get it installed I guess I wanted Qemu too much... It gave me an error and crashed the install.

From what I understand of PCLinuxOS you have to pay for it? Ok so it's not much but it might be enough to put new comers off who want to try linux because they heard it was free.

No it's free. You can order the CD for... $1 I think. Downloading is free.

And I forgot to mention Xandros- it's not free (although the open circulation edition is) but it's one of the best and easiest to use. A lot easier than Ubuntu to say that.
I suppose I should look in to updating my Kubuntu install... the new version sounds a lot better. At least it has apt-get...

 

[PC eye]

Presently I keep several live distros onhand like Gentoo, ubuntu, Knoppix(that's another easier tto learn free distro often recommended for drive rescue), two live versions of Zenwalk(I still haven't downloaded 4.0 yet ), and Mandriva was on briefly here, Mepis, and still waiting to give FreeDos a run. ReactOS is a free but "Too Limited" go between from Windows to Linux. It has a "nice" desktop and that's the extent of that one!

 

[JamesBart]

well after all of that im still going to give it a try when i get a chance. i think that i may just gain a little more knowledge with computers first and then give it a go but i still really want to try it. thanks guys!

 

[PC eye]

It never hurts to have a working knowledge of hardwares first. For beginners Linux despite the distro or distros selected is a different animal to get familiar with there. MS dos commands and the UNIX type command structure utilized by Linux are still a little different there! The newer distros have seen some obvious improvements in seeing those go on with less hassle and being easier to run. That's the better side of an "open source" OS where actual "improvements" can be seen in the next version when they are submitted and it's still found in a free OS.

 

[JamesBart]

also could i use an ext hdd to boot up linux whole using m xp machine? this is possible isnt it? i'd still really like to have a play about with it when i get some spare time

 

[shenry]

yes it is possible although some Linux distros make it a little hard. I recommend damn small Linux. Its only 50 MBs and can even be run inside windows.Also you can run it in RAM (only needs 128MB) so its real fast and theres this thing called my DSL makes its real easy to installapps in other words...

IT ROCKS!

 

[PC eye]

yes it is possible although some Linux distros make it a little hard. I recommend damn small Linux. Its only 50 MBs and can even be run inside windows.Also you can run it in RAM (only needs 128MB) so its real fast and theres this thing called my DSL makes its real easy to installapps in other words...

IT ROCKS!

You will find that Linux distros will run on systems with far less memory available. Many of the older ones will easily run a 4mb of ram system as seen with IBM I286 and I386 models. Linux is essentially the open source version of an update UNIX OS. Just about every system running at this time has well over the minimum needed to run even the latest distros.