*screams* Linux

  • Thread starter social_outcast
  • Start date
S

social_outcast

Guest
Hey there, I have a small dilema
Basicaly I want to install a linux (or unix) operating system onto my laptop to kinda get a feel for it for next years course work
Problem is...

...THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A HELPFUL TUTORIAL ON HOW TO DO THIS IN THE ENTIRE INTERNATIONALISATEDINTERNETWORKAMAPHON (web)

They make simple assumptions (that I use MS-DOS, run windows 3.1 and have made more partitions than I have stupid sounds in my school career), then crush my head with a blunt, clueless object

basically here is my situations and questions

-I run XP at the moment and dont intend to remove it
-I know NOTHING about partitioning a drive
-I know not where to get a simple (ie. with gui) version on linux/unix/solaris etc
-I want to use a new OS for like an hour at a time then lazily switch back to XP

my question is. Is the fourth point there at all possible with my lack of ability/swan-like grace?

*head explodes, crys, and gos to sleep*

Social_outcast
 

thatbloke

Junior Administrator
Right then. I just got back from work and i'm drunk too so this post may get flaes in the morning... but still here's my 1 and a half cents on the issue...

A Linux distribution exists that you can play with without fear of doing anything bad to your system... its called Knoppix, and is bootable from a CD. This requires no installation on your system whatsoever, yet is a full linux environment and will act as normal.

However if you want to dual boot... then read up:
If you currently have no free partitions on your system then you will need a program like Partition Magic to make yourself a partition on your drive which you can then use for installing and running Linux on. I personally would recommend either Gentoo Linux or Debian Linux because of their package management systems... with either of these distros, it is simply a case of typing one command and then you have the program installed (when its finished installing of course). Debian is aimed more at the hardcore Linux user however so i tmay not be the right choice for you.

Dont take this as gospel and remember i'm drunk at this moment in time so what i say here i may not have any knowledge of in the morning...
 

Haven

Administrator
Staff member
Following on from what ThatBloke said. Start out by running linux from a CD (no installation required).

Grab a copy of the latest knoppix iso files.

Hopefully you have nero or alternatively CD burning software that supports ISO images.

Download, Burn and Boot. Have a wander around it for a bit and if you find you like it then come back to this thread and I'll suggest a distribution for you.
 
E

elDiablo

Guest
Carrying on from both of those... :D

Debian, as thatbloke said, is more for the hardcore users... when its installed. I started with Gentoo, and installing it takes FOREVER. It has a nice thick html manual for you to read when installing (so print it off, or have another computer to hand) that tells you everything you need to do. Then it will happily sit there downloading what it needs as it installs. Then, for me, it wont work. JOY! However, when it DOES work, its made just the way you want it.

Debian is a pretty standard install. Everyone gets to choose whats on their system, but its standard. It does most of the hard work for you. So it quicker to install (Gentoo took me 3+ hours, debian took 20 minutes from a premade CD and an hour from the net).

HOWEVER. After using knoppix (which is a good idea), if you still feel like a windows user who is looking into the world of Linux, try Fedora. Its made by a group who are funded by Red Hat (the people behind Linux), and it is made to be a "home" version of Red Hat (which is essentially a business/server distro now). Its easy to use, has a nice GUI installer and everything, and feels like a very nice step between Windows and Linux. It gives you all the power of Linux, but hides it if youo get scared by it.

From that, you can move on to other distros, but try a few of them - different people like different things.

The Linux Online pages have a pretty useful guide for a lot of stuff on Linux, such as the install guide.

Edit:

A small extract from the install guide:

Linux Online guide said:
2.1.2 Common concerns.

This section makes the assumptions that the average newcomer to Linux:
  • has a computer with MS-DOS and Windows or OS/2;
  • has a basic understanding of MS-DOS but not UNIX;
  • knows or can find out what kind of hardware the computer has installed;
  • has a desire to "try out" Linux for whatever reason, though probably not switch to it exclusively (yet); and
  • has neither a spare machine nor second disk drive available, but several hundred megabytes on an existing drive free for use.

Sound like you? :)
 

Pestcontrol

In Cryo Sleep
Hmm, while knoppix and slax etc are excellent to try linux, you can only come so far with them.
The downside is they're stuck on a read-only CD. You can't configure them, install new things, or learn by breaking things and fixing them again. If you really want to _learn_ what using linux is, i recommend you install it on a harddrive or USB key and start using it.

Save yourself a headache and stay away from Gentoo, it's manual will tell you what to do but not why you do it, if you're not experienced and something goes wrong you are lost without help. It also takes damn near forever to install and you probably won't get it just right first time even if it does work. I lost my *nix virginity with Red Hat (gee, does that make me geek?), which is now Fedora i think, it had a nice, noob friendly installer, but there are many similar user friendly package based distros out there.

If you don't know anything about partitioning however.. tricky. Partition Magic is a program that can resise the Windows wartition on your laptop's harddrive, thus freeing up some space that you can use to create a Linux partition in, which you then install (any) linux on. Windows will see your C drive become smaller. This is a dangerous operation however and it may corrupt your windows and render it unreadable. It happened to me once, and i can not recommend it to anyone new to the wonderful world of partitions.

There are Linux installations designed to work off USB keys, if your laptop can boot from USB, i think it's a nice compromise between having something you can mess around on, and not risk losing any information on your laptop. You'll need a big (256+ MB) USB key, though.
 
S

social_outcast

Guest
YESSSS! SUCCESS

Thanks guys, that actually really helped.
I got knoppix (ta Haven) running no problem (strangley enough while driving down the road to work - dont ask) and am currently exploring it every spare mintue I get.
Feels incredibly good to not be using windows actually, think Ill invest a good deal of infort into this,itll be a little while before I can decide on what I prefer in it though, but Ill certainly be back when Im up for a distrobution.
Fedora sounds like a good next step, thanks diablo, and I think I saw that page on the net somewhere before aswell :P
and yeah, I think it would be a good idea for me to break a few programs on a usb pen (thats how I learned multimanager with aiScriptedSequences in WorldCraft editing), thanks pestcontrol

-S_outcast
 
E

elDiablo

Guest
Yay!

Personally, I can use Linux, but I prefer windows =/ I'm a gamer, and its just plain easier on XP! Still, glad you like it. Also, I found it a lot easier having a cheap (or in my and thatbloke's case, free) laptop to play with Linux. It means that when you **** something up, you don't have to worry about everything on your windows partition. Yes, first time I installed Linux, windows got "removed"...

Anywho... Glad we could help!
 

DeZmond

Junior Administrator
Better late than never, and I realise you've already found a copy of knoppix, but anyway... :D

If you find yourself a copy of Colinux and the add-on you can use that Knoppix ISO of yours to run Linux from within Windows, which I find is pretty hassle-free. You can use other distro's of Linux as well, including Gentoo (Haven will love you if you use that :p) and Debian.

Instructions on getting Knoppix working with Colinux
Colinux wiki
Ext2 driver for NT/2K/XP (not neccessary for Colinux, just thought it would be useful to include this for interest's sake :D)

And if you need some help getting to grips with linux there's a linux course I recommended a few months ago, check the chat box forum for "Learn Programming and Linux!"
 
E

elDiablo

Guest
There is also something called MinGW, which is a "minimal system", in the *nix style. It is merely an executable that you can run in windows, but has the style of the *nix command line. It has the standard tools, and (I think) lets you install more. Its command line only, but helps in teaching you a LOT about linux (seeing as how you will be using the command line a lot).

Just thought I'd add that for ya.
 

DeZmond

Junior Administrator
Actually, I just had a thought. If you're having trouble getting used to the user interface, and you need a helping hand, and nothing, oh nothing is going right... ahem... I'd recommend trying Xpde, which replicates the XP GUI reasonably closely (while not using any copyrighted images) and so it can ease you into linux, if you need it.
 

Haven

Administrator
Staff member
If he hasn't already exploded from the plethora of advice maybe we should leave him to just figure his way around one of them first :) There are approximately 2 billion versions of linux ... okay well maybe just a lot then, either way there's more than enough choice to beffudle experienced linux users so lets let him choose which distro to use once he figures out what he likes and doesn't like in knoppix.

*finishes his good deed for the day and wanders off for a celebratory coffee*

p.s. tech.thehavennet.org.uk <-- good site for all things linux.
 
S

social_outcast

Guest
Thanks for all the advice guys, Im slowly processing it - lol - yes Im coming to enjoy and understand the system now, still not got my head round the console yet, but hey, if I can figure out how to script an apocalyptic series of events in vavlehammer (well worldcraft at least), I bet I can figure out the terminal.

also, found a site thats kinda useful (in my unprofessional opinion) for distrobutions and the like
anyone ever been to http://www.icewalkers.com ?
kinda usefull

thanks again guys, Ill check i when I understand more

-S_outcast
 

Haven

Administrator
Staff member
distrowatch is the main site for linux (and BSD) based distribution information. I've never used icewalkers but if it does what you need it to do then keep using it :)
 
Top