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10-18-2007, 01:40 PM #1
Giving Linux a shot (Ubuntu I think.)
Like the title said, I'll give it a shot as soon as I have some spare time (Maybe sunday or something).
Any tips before I get started? I've never worked with anything other than MsDos and Windows apps and OS'
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10-18-2007, 02:02 PM #2
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Thanked: 11Ubuntu is definitely a good place to start especially the Live CD since you don't have to muck up your existing install of windows ... btw the latest version 7.10 was released today.
Linux can be used very much like Windows if you so wish however the real power lies in the command line which is similar to working in DOS.
Where to start ....
My suggestion is to plan out your installation and its requirements before you start.
Are you planning on dual booting? and if you are, are you going to be repartitioning your hard drive (in which case you'll need some tool to do this - I'm not sure if you can do this with the ubuntu installer without destroying all existing data on your disk) or have you got a separate drive for your linux install.
A suggested basic Hard drive layout for linux would be a partition for swap (1.5 times the system RAM) a partition for / (at least 5GB) and a partition for /home that way if you choose to reinstall the OS you don't have to wipe your data.
For something a little more advanced add a partition for /boot (50MB or so) /var (1-2GB) /usr (5+ GB - you can reduce the / partition if you have a /usr partition) and /tmp (1-2GB) If possible make the swap a Primary partition and put it at the beginning of the disk. If you use a /boot partition then try to make that a primary too.
Nowadays format the partitions to ext3 (apart from the swap since that is a special format)
Ubuntu's default desktop is GNOME though KDE is probably slightly more windows like in its appearance so you may feel happier using that - in which case download the kubuntu iso (just ubuntu with KDE installed by default)
Once you've got it up and running (or run into problems) you'll probably have some more specific questions and I may be able to offer some more concrete advice.
Barney
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10-18-2007, 02:17 PM #3
Keep us updated I've been thinking about doping this for years but have been too chicken. So I'd love to hear in a detailed way how it goes.
This is all pretty much greek to me. I understand what you are saying to do but have no idea how to even start to go about it or where to learn. Any hope for me?
(I just gave up on Drupleas my website platform because I couldn't figure it out)
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10-18-2007, 02:21 PM #4
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Thanked: 22I run Ubuntu, its good. The only kinks I haven't ironed out aren't major, except the fact there is now driver available for my printer. Otherwise I would lose Winblows completely.
My .02c
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10-18-2007, 02:33 PM #5
Nah, Greek looks more like:
Documentation is always a good place to start. If, for example, you're considering trying Ubuntu Linux check out the documentation section on their web site. And, there are many other distributions out there. Try:
http://www.DistroWatch.com
That site gives information on most of the available distributions. Many distributions are available as a "Live CD" which you can try without even installing anything.
There's always hope, especially if you're considering giving Linux a try.
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10-18-2007, 02:36 PM #6
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Thanked: 11
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10-18-2007, 02:33 PM #7
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Thanked: 11BTW it is GEEK not GREEK
Of course there is hope ... my first install of Linux was slackware installed from 3.5" floppy disks - remember those - it was 14 years ago now - before windows 95 and all the fancy partitioning tools. It was a real batism of fire, nowadays you can mostly just stick the disk in an hit go.
(I just gave up on Drupleas my website platform because I couldn't figure it out)
I'm kinda old school - I use a Cobalt Raq as a webserver and my web pages are hand coded using a text editor. I also maim people who try to get me to use these "new" fangled terms of Ki/Me/Gi/bibyte that were introduced coz people couldn't get their heads around binary mathsLast edited by barneycg; 10-18-2007 at 02:37 PM.
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10-18-2007, 02:43 PM #8
hmm.....I only have 1 HD......Unless I can partition without erasing everything I might not make the switch afterall.....I don't even have anything I can do backups on...
I'll give the Live thing a shot first....see how I like it.
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10-18-2007, 02:45 PM #9
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10-18-2007, 02:56 PM #10
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Thanked: 11Another Linux Live CD for you that is designed for resizing partitions in a non destructive way similar to Norton Partition Magic :
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
HTH
Barney