Help A Linux Nub Get Off The Ground
<div class="IPBDescription">no clue where to begin</div> For no reason other than I like a bit of variety, I'm thinking I want to pop linux onto my old computer. However, after a bit of browsing around and low-level research I'm finding it all very confusing, with all the different distributions &c.
All I use that computer for these days is internet stuff (browsing and chat), graphics programs (chiefly photoshop and milkshape), and the occasional movie and bit of music. Could anyone offer me hints and pointers for finding a suitable distribution, bearing in mind that I don't have broadband (so colossal downloads are out of the question, though I'd be willing to go up to about half a gig if need be), and am on a small budget so I'd not be looking towards expensive off-the-shelf versions.
All I use that computer for these days is internet stuff (browsing and chat), graphics programs (chiefly photoshop and milkshape), and the occasional movie and bit of music. Could anyone offer me hints and pointers for finding a suitable distribution, bearing in mind that I don't have broadband (so colossal downloads are out of the question, though I'd be willing to go up to about half a gig if need be), and am on a small budget so I'd not be looking towards expensive off-the-shelf versions.
Comments
easy installs? mandrake
Don't ask where to find it though, I don't know.
When on the downloads page, you'll be asked if you want to join some club, just click the button saying you'll join later.
If you decide you want to try installing a more "permanent" form of linux, unfortunately the downloads will be colossal. Many popular distributions like Mandrake, Red Hat, and Fedora are multiple CDs long. The good news is that there's enough linux freaks out there to make the BitTorrents relatively fast, and free is free.
The bottom line is this: think about your current skill with Windows, and how much time and effort you put into teaching yourself what you know. It'll probably take about as much time and effort to learn Linux.
As for what you intend to do with it:
Browsing: no problem. Any good distribution comes with a web browser, and many even come with really good fast ones like Mozilla.
Chat: ever heard of <a href='http://www.trillian.cc' target='_blank'>Trillian</a>? <a href='http://gaim.sourceforge.net/about.php' target='_blank'>Gaim</a> is similar. You'll be happy with it.
Photoshop-style editing: <a href='http://www.gimp.org/' target='_blank'>The Gimp</a> has gotten so powerful (and has traded so many ideas and features with Photoshop) that a friend of mine taking a college-level Graphics Design course was taught how to use The Gimp instead of PhotoshopCS.
MilkShape: I don't know.
Movies and music: Fedora appears to come with DVD viewing, CD burning, and mp3-playing support built in. Oh, and does <a href='http://www.xmms.org/about.php' target='_blank'>this</a> look familiar? It's not Winamp, it's actually XMMS -- and many good Linux distributions come with it.
Some distros have more out-of-the-box functionality than others. For instance, when I ran Knoppix on a laptop for work, it recognized the wireless network card and could use it fine without even asking me for one bit of info. However, since it runs off the CD it's really better used as a rescue disk or way of showing off the looks and basics of Linux. I just felt it was too slow to keep using.
Fedora, a newer form of Red Hat, was an easy install, but had problems with the video card and network card. More specifically, it was convinced I had less than 1 meg of ram of video card memory and didn't see the network card at all. With the help of Google and a bunch of forums full of linux gurus, I fixed both problems completely -- but it took me multiple hours.
All you do is download the ISO and burn it on a cd.
When it boots up it won't change anything on your hard drive, but it comes with a lot of the more usefull linux programs and will give you a good idea of what its like. Everything should be autodetected and configured for you, but some people have trouble getting their network set up.
HTH
[Edit] Dahm it Steele, you beat me to the punch! <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
That's like buying a new body for your car, then moving all the parts into the new body...
Not really. Your car looks all shiney and new, when really the engine (CPU, RAM, Video Card) is the exact same so it won't really run much better (Maybe the linux body is more aerodynamic. Either way any performance gain will be negligable.). All your old accessories, your custom stereo, your subs, your NoS system (Your games, your music, your editing programs) all that's still in place, all you really did was spend a lot of time and work rebuilding your car from scratch so you can avoid the 'critical design flaw' in your old frame, which isn't really that critical (unless you read some of the linux forums, then everyone will have you believe that if you press this button on your start bar, Windows will overcharge your system automatically and melt it, or some outrageous exageration or imporbability like that)
Either way, that's the chief reason I won't use Linux. Lots of work and no gain. Even Windows2k3 most system admins will tell you is better then RedHat.
i hear wine can emulate directx 8.0 nicely
and is linux for dummies any good, or should i come to you guys for help?
i'll be using phlak until i get my new hdd (partitions can get messy)
I'm no linux boffin but I've had a fiddle with Redhat and Knoppix. Knoppix beats every other distro hands-down for sheer coolness. Being able to whack in a CD, reboot, then unscrew windows, allocate partitions or defrag just screams "leet". You can also install a different distro of linux to your hard-drive directly from knoppix.
I've heard that debian is a fairly newbie-friendly distro. If you're not into huge downloads, check out linux mags from the newsagent. Quite often these have something stuck to the cover with gorilla snot.
--Scythe--
--Scythe-- <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
crazy fool, everything ive ever read ahs said that debian is the most newbie-hating, complex and convoluted one.
i got slackware running on my system once, but couldnt for the life of me learn how to install a driver, and therefore couldnt get it online. its just too counterintuitive right now to use anything but a live-CD.
Normally I'd recommend RedHat for Linux-newbies as the install is easy (use lilo, not grub when it asks which bootloader you want), it gives you a GUI (pointy-clicky) from the get-go on most hardware, and has all of Mandrake's newbie-friendliness without all of the stability-injuring patches.
For more advanced users, Slackware is my pick... Debian may be great for servers, but it's a pain to try to use apt-get on anything even moderately new, with Deb's preference toward 'proven' software.
And of course, for those in their element.. there is nothing better than LFS. Linux From Scratch, where you build your own operating system, essentially.
And your parallel is flawed, SuperTeflon. It's much more along the lines of putting high-grade fuel into your car, after running it on crap for years. You end up with more power, less chance of a breakdown (far more secure), better speed overall, and you aren't polluting as much (after all, MyDoom, SoBig, Blaster, ILoveYou, and so on do not work on Linux).
Just changing the body is easy... just switch your window manager style. Nothing to buy, and it can look HOWEVER you want, without buying or running extra crap. Heck, write your own style if you want.
The FTP installation works brilliantly, but needs a fast connection. For me, it took several hours over 512kb/s ADSL, but I did choose all sorts of options...
You can't download CD ISOs, but there'd be multiple gigabytes of stuff if you could. Probably the easiest, and most painless, way of getting it is to buy it in a box. It's sixty quid or so, but comes with some brilliant printed manuals, telephone or email support, and zillions of CDs (and a DVD) with silly amounts of software on.
It's probably the most powerful beginner-friendly distribution about, and you can do as much or as little work under the hood as you like. My dad reckons he's a Linux expert, but he's never been anywhere near the command line. YaST (the all-powerful SuSE setup tool) does everything. Detects all the hardware, installs the drivers, and will download stuff like the hyper-speedy nVidia proprietary drivers if they're required, all through a slick, efficient graphical front-end.
I <i>think</i> there's a live CD ISO somewhere to download, in the style of Knoppix et al, which would require zero installation, etc. Try before you buy, and all that. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Yah - SuSE is what I'd been looking actually, and there's a SuSE WINE that'll let me run Photoshop 7 (If I can't run that, I don't want the OS basically). £60 for both SuSE and its WINE package though, which is slightly more than I'd care to part with. Ho hum.
I use Gentoo myself, it's harder to install and takes a very long time (since it compiles everything itself) but once you get it working it's nice and fast - faster than windows ever was. I learnt more from one Gentoo install than years of messing about in RedHat. There are a couple of other distros like Gentoo that rely on an automated install system (one is called Sorcerer i believe, or something along those lines). These distributions usually have more up-to-date software than any of the cd ones, and you only download what you want to install (but kiss the comptuer goodbye for a few days).
Gentoo do however have a precompiled CD similar to RedHat (harder to install, but it's up to date and you can get support for it on their forums, which own). It's only 1 or 2 cd's I think, RedHat is 3-5 cd's. Best bet is to make friends with those on broadband <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> That's how i did it...
Scythe has probably got the best idea though, many PC magazines have CD's and most of them will every so often include a full linux distro as part of a linux special feature...
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FYI: KDE (The K Desktop Environment) is not a "Window Manager", though part of it is. It is, as its name implies, a Desktop Environment. If you don't get it, bear with me, see TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW at the end of this post.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Also KDE has alot more games than GNOME and btw most linux geeks agree that RedHat is the best Distro for newbies<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Since KDE and Gnome can easily run eachother's apps, it shouldn't matter what Desktop Environment you use, the games will still work. And I have no idea where you got the impression that linux geeks agree on ANYTHING (other than that linux rules), let alone which distro is the best for nublets. Especially since Red Hat has abandoned the desktop leaving <a href='http://fedora.redhat.com/' target='_blank'>Fedora</a> to fill its shoes there.
Annother Distribution I would recommend is <a href='http://www.gobolinux.org/' target='_blank'>Gobo</a> linux. It is distributed on a live cd (see terms section) like knoppix, and is free to download. It is quite a bit different than all the other distributions by virtue of reorganizing the file hierarchy. You see, typically unix systems (and things based of them, like linux) spread programs all over the directory structure, (for instance, executables go in either /bin or /usr/bin, while configuration files typically go in /etc). Some people (like me) think this is a horrible mess and have trouble mentally coping with the layout. Gobo keeps programs contained in their own hierarchy, (for instance all KDE files would go in /Programs/KDE/<i>version</i>/, KDE's executable files would be in /Programs/KDE/<i>version</i>/bin) and uses symlinks (see terms below) to map the legacy filehierarhy on top of theirs.
I would recommend, however, that you try a more standard distribution untill you get the hang of things.
Ok, and now on to the list...
TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW:<ul><li>Kernel - The core of the Operating System. A single file usually located at /boot/vmlinuz or /vmlinuz.</li><li>Package - A file containing all the files of a program, along with information which the install system (distribution dependant) uses to place the program's files and preform initial setup.</li><li>Distribution - A prepackaged set of packages and the kernel. i.e. Mandrake. There are few differences between most distributions, with the installer, default packages, and target end-user being the biggest.</li><li>Halt - A word meaning "to shutdown the computer", basically.</li><li>Process - A running program.</li><li>Kill - A program used to stop processes from running, even if they don't wan't to.</li><li>Binary - Annother term for an executable file, as long as it is not a script.</li><li>Shell - The text based interface between you and the OS. Think DOS, but much more usable. Examples include sh, bash, zsh, tcsh.</li><li>Symlink - Like a shortcut in Win32, only it is understood at the filesystem leve, and thus will work like it is a normal file or directory.</li><li>Mount - A word describing the attaching of one filesystem to annother. While win32 uses drive letters, linux mounts. For instance, you could mount a cdrom to your /cdrom directory, and access all its files through that directory.</li><li>X, X11, X11R6, X-Windows, X-Windowing-System - All refer to the same thing, which is properly known as the X-Windowing-System (from here on refered to as X). X is a protocol for displaying graphic windows over a network (or not, usually it is set up only to work on your system). It is used to display windows on an X server.</li><li>X Server - A program that interprets X protocol and displays graphics accordingly.</li><li>XFree86 - The typical Linux X server.</li><li>Window Manager - A window manager is the first (or 'root') window, its purpose is to manage other windows (let you move them, resize them, close them, ect) and display backgrounds. There are significant differences between the various Window Managers.</li><li>Tool Kit - A set of libraries that are used to draw controls on windows, and interact with the user. Qt (used by KDE) and GTK (used by GNOME) are examples.</li><li>Desktop Environment - A set of utilities designed to simplify user tasks. Often (as is the case with KDE) they include a Window Manager, Program Menus, Program Panels, Control Panels, and other such things.</li><li> Live CD - A distribution designed to be run from a CD, without interfering with whatever is installed on the system (unless you want it to).</li></ul>