Linux n00b

The Prize Is Lobster

aside from a very limited exposure to Redhat five years ago, I have little/no experience with Linux but it is something I definetly want to learn and use, starting out with basic home PC useage. My intention is to install a dual boot of XP and some user friendly distribution of Linux.


I have no problems (preference actually ) starting with a simpler more GUI based version, and over time I'll crawl my way towards the more complex distros.

Mainly what I am looking for is suggestions on a good starter version of Linux. With so many different distros floating around, it really seems to be a matter of preference...but if theres enough preference of one type from enough people, I'll go that route.

sthomas

Ubuntu seems to be the most popular, I have installed it before and I do like it. If you want to stick with a Redhat based distro then check out CentOS at www.centos.org. That one is my favorite. Have fun!

The Prize Is Lobster

hows Freespire? from what Ive read it sounds like a pretty easy start.

renilcerym

My wife and I have been running linux as a home pc for over a year now and have not needed windows once. I was a big fan of fedora core from red hat until a couple of months ago when I switched over to Ubuntu. Ubuntu is the most user-friendly distro that I have used. You hardly ever have to use the terminal because it pretty much has everything GUI-based now. That is good and bad though because I think terminal commands need to be learned. I have used Red Hat, Fedora, and Ubuntu and all of those seemed easy for a Windows user to learn.

ally_uk

I'd say go with Ubuntu or Debian

JDMurray

I'm using both Ubuntu Desktop and Server. Ubuntu Desktop works well on my old Dell P3 laptop, and indeed on all of my old Pentium 3 machines. Ubuntu Server is basically a Debian Linux Server and has no GUI, so it'll forced you to learn the shell command line interface.

The only hardware changes I've made because of Ubuntu is to use only nVidia graphics adapters. nVidia seems to have the best support for Linux and the drivers are real easy to install.

Mishra

Debian all the way.



Poor Debian is getting so much love now that more software exploits will come out.

Pash

CENTOS is nice. Very simular to REDHAT which is used very commonly in production environments.

KGhaleon

I've installed Redhat, Mandrake and Ubuntu and played around with them for a couple of years(also studied the Linux+ for a while)...and I still know nothing of Linux.

Not to go offtopic, but I'll ask here instead of making a new topic: I have a machine that dual-boots, it starts with the GRUB bootloader and then proceeds to go to the standard boot.ini if I want to boot with XP or server 2003. It seems that when I installed 2003 recently, it removed GRUB. So now I have no way to get back into Linux. Anyone know a quick solution aside from deleting the partition and reinstalling?

lestad

If your computer can handle it, try using vmware and install diffrent flavors of linux till you find one that operates the way you do. By using vmware 1) you can operate both windows and linux simultaneously. This way you can share and access files via samba and you don't have to shutdown linux when you want to work with windows or vice versa. 2) you can experiment with networking principles by haveing multiple linux or windows boxes talk. 3) The most important thing is that with your linux files in a virtual enviorment you can only hurt the virtual installation without affecting your windows box (plus if you save a copy you can always go back to a certain state no matter what damage you do to your virtual linux enviorment)

I would recommend Virtual Server but it is not as linux friendly as Vmware (although I was told that virtual pc 2007 was..I cannot confirm this though)

drthtater

I like ubuntu, plus if you go to their site, you can order install and live cds - FREE!

I got 10 just to give them out

seuss_ssues

KGhaleon,

You should be able to boot from a linux boot disk or cd and fix grub.

http://www.linuxcompatible.org/CAN_not_BOOT_FEDORA-lost_grub_t34076.html

That is a message board post with a similar problem.

Let us know how it goes.

ally_uk

If you want to just get a basic feel for Linux and you have a spare USB flash disk avail

Then download DSL ( Damm Small Linux ) which is about 50mb

JDMurray

lestad wrote:

If your computer can handle it, try using vmware and install diffrent flavors of linux till you find one that operates the way you do.

No need for VMWare; just boot your computer directly off the Linux CD/DVD itself. Most popular Linux distribution are bootable directly from their installation disc and do not use the hard drive at all. Just make sure that your computer has a generous amount of RAM to store the entire OS and file system in memory.

KGhaleon

Thanks seuss_ssues, I'll give that a try when I return home.

LiveCDs are great. They make life a little easier and I recommend the Ubuntu LiveCDs. They also have a LiveCD for low-end machines that have crappy hardware.

The Prize Is Lobster

thanks for the suggestions!


I downloaded VMWare and Im testing out Kubuntu