[svengal1]

Okay,
I am a newbie when it comes to Linux. How do I begin with Linux? Where do I download the Operating System? What version do I use to start?
I heard that this is a viable option to Windows. Is that a true statement?

Obviously I am a newbie and any information, or links would be appreciated.

Thank you

[0531143]

Try out http://www.linuxiso.org it has many different iso's from all different versions of linux. I started with linux a year or two ago and started with Redhat. It seems to me to be pretty straight forward. Some things i had no clue about, but by reading the manual for RH i got the idea and was up and running strong. I ran a dual boot for a little while then went 100% RH once you get the hang of the normal things you begin to notice how much better the programs are. There is certain times I had to reboot and that was with the upgrades the the Kernel or basically the heart of the OS. RH has a really good auto updating system if you dont want to do the stuff yourself, its free but you must fill out a survey occassionally to keep it free for you and at times of high load on the servers you cant update unless you pay for the service. I dont find it any inconvinience to wait the extra time for not paying a cent. All in all id say go for it and consult other people on the system of choice, i know many people say mandrake is a good system for a beginner but RH9 is an easy install and has everything i could want all packaged into it, that is of course a nice new computer to run all these new games, one like yours infact, ive gotta wait a bit for that though.. rough times for cash righ now... good luck with your convert over to the good side.

[svengal1]

Thank you so much for your reply. I think I need to go out and purchase a new hard drive to dual boot because I want to backup my current one in case something happens. I am sick of losing everything and reinstalling. What a pain.

[srhoades]

I agree, I learned on RedHat as well. Better learn quick though. Redhat will no longer be providing updates through its up2date program effective april. This doesn't mean RedHat is dead, contrary to popular belief. It just means that the open source community will now be responsible through fedora.redhat.com to keep it going.

[svengal1]

Where can I download redhat and the patches or updates?

[srhoades]

http://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/9/en/iso/i386/ will give you the isos. Once installed, run up2date as root to get all the package and security updates. I also suggest you get a program called apt-get. This allows you to specify a program name that you want and it automatically retrieves and downloads all the packages needed, so you don't have to worry about RPM dependencies. It may sound like greek to you know but trust me.

[plejon]

I started out with Debian and spent days getting my system up and running.

A friend adviced me to try out Mandrake. They have a free 3-cd version if you have the patience to download the ISO images. Mandrake's installer was much better, had me up and running in less than an hour- that's not counting the download of the images ;-)

If you just want to have a quick look at linux, download the knoppix image cd. This linux runs completely from CD, so you can try out linux safely without messing with your harddisk. Just put in the cd, boot from cd drive and you're in a whole new world

[Gibble]

Mandrake is the easiest flavour I've ever installed.

It's great for beginners.

[joshua]

Joh, man just check linux on laptops; a very nice site with a lot of info and tech tips. When installing, take Linux as the second OS (even if you scale for this to be your main OS .... ! )

When XP already installed; don't add LILO, XP doesn't like it ;-)

Add grub and let the boot-scenario begin. if you'd like to do it the PRO way; first install Virtual Machine and let this 'magic' program be your true centerfold.... !


But when installing leave LILO out ! (It's dated and as I said before it can damage core-files of your XP )

If not familiar with Unix systems (and their essential un-dos-alike reasoning ) please read first all abot experiences...

Also watch out if you'd like to use a USB modem (DSL or....)
not alll OS - linux like that !