Linux.....help!
- Thread starter Raven
- Start date
Raven
Annoying SOB
Will doLuis G said:Yeah, get Mandrake. And make sure the internet works
I'm getting the 10.1 distro as we speak....is there anything else I need to know? I'm figuring I'll need to create a partition somewhere (I'm going to dual boot with XP/Linux incase I balls it up) but what can I do with Linux once I've downloaded and figured out how to install the bugger?
Raven said:Will do
I'm getting the 10.1 distro as we speak....is there anything else I need to know? I'm figuring I'll need to create a partition somewhere (I'm going to dual boot with XP/Linux incase I balls it up) but what can I do with Linux once I've downloaded and figured out how to install the bugger?
Installing it is painless unless you run into serious hardware problems.
You do free (non partitioned) disk space to install as its filesystem is quite different (and better) than windows'. 10GB will do plus an extra 512MB swap is more than enough, you can leave the task to the installer of selecting the optimum partition size for the installation (it usually needs 4 partitions: /home, /, /usr and the swap).
Once it is installed you can in theory do everything that a computer can do.
A.B.Normal
New Member
What can't you do
Graphics = GIMP
OFFICE = Staroffice (?) not sure if this is still offered but I'm sure there is some other office app compatible with MS OFFICE.
Games = Was lacking up to Ver.9 Mandrake not sure if its any better ,but Tuxracer is good to kill some time.
Etc...
I'd definately make sure your Videocard is on their compatabilty list.
http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/hardware.php3
Graphics = GIMP
OFFICE = Staroffice (?) not sure if this is still offered but I'm sure there is some other office app compatible with MS OFFICE.
Games = Was lacking up to Ver.9 Mandrake not sure if its any better ,but Tuxracer is good to kill some time.
Etc...
I'd definately make sure your Videocard is on their compatabilty list.
http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/hardware.php3
chcr
Too cute for words
Raven said:Will do
I'm getting the 10.1 distro as we speak....is there anything else I need to know? I'm figuring I'll need to create a partition somewhere (I'm going to dual boot with XP/Linux incase I balls it up) but what can I do with Linux once I've downloaded and figured out how to install the bugger?
When I get home I'll dig up the instructions for using the Windows bootloader instead of the Linux one (can be a problem). You can do everything with Linux that you can do with Windows. I even run M$ Office under Linux. I like KDE over Gnome, but don't use Konqueror as your default browser. I use Mozilla, but Firefox is good too. More later, I'm going home.
chcr
Too cute for words
Here's a link to a better way to set up dual booting than what I'm used to. You can also use LILO, which Mandrake will load by default. It's a graphical interface that will load Linux if you do nothing. I want to boot to windows normally so I use the NT loader way.
Here's a link to the way I do it which is a bit more "hands on."
OpenOffice does pretty much anything M$ Office does, but there's a learning curve. If you're as used to M$ Office as I am, enough things work differently to make you think about what you're doing.
Here's a link to the way I do it which is a bit more "hands on."
OpenOffice does pretty much anything M$ Office does, but there's a learning curve. If you're as used to M$ Office as I am, enough things work differently to make you think about what you're doing.
The only thing to be leary of is a modem. I'm assuming you have broadband and connect through an ethernet cable? If not you may have a bitch of a time getting your modem to work. Other than that it's what everyone else has said, it's a nice alternative. I've got an old Gateway laptop, 400mhz thing that runs Redhat 9. The wife even uses it from time to time.
tommyj27
Not really Banned
[bigotted statement]pay no heed to these peons, if you want to learn linux you'll need slackware, or maybe debian, if you're lazy. anything else and you're just using linux.[/statement]
seriously, the only things i haven't been able to do with linux have been either incredibly propietary, convoluted, or inane. i still use windows to play some games, just because they run better in a totally native environment. the linux kernel has most every device driver you could need. and you're in a good place if you have questions, there is a pretty decent knowlege base here, although some of us (raises hand) may need to be awoken with a PM. you may also want to look at www.linuxquestions.org, i often end up there when i have a problem i can't figure out myself. another avenue might be a local LUG (linux user group), they usually have mailing lists you can subscribe to. Good Luck.
seriously, the only things i haven't been able to do with linux have been either incredibly propietary, convoluted, or inane. i still use windows to play some games, just because they run better in a totally native environment. the linux kernel has most every device driver you could need. and you're in a good place if you have questions, there is a pretty decent knowlege base here, although some of us (raises hand) may need to be awoken with a PM. you may also want to look at www.linuxquestions.org, i often end up there when i have a problem i can't figure out myself. another avenue might be a local LUG (linux user group), they usually have mailing lists you can subscribe to. Good Luck.