So with my newly acquired laptop, I want to get to learn linux. I am fairly familiar with various languages, but Linux and the more customizable OS's I have yet to get into.

I want to use my old netbook as just a play around tool, nothing too serious. That test notebook would be a Samsung NC10 N270 atom, 1 Gb, with the 160 gig HDD.

I partitioned the HD down the middle, and one half is completely empty. I'd like to load one of the Linux dist onto that side. My questions are this:

-Is that an ok idea?
-Which dist should I use for some just getting into Linux?
-Im going to have to install from a USB, which I have a 4gig stick to use. I've read that the NC10 BIOS will allow that, but is there any other formatting I need to do?


Any other advice would be nice. Thank you.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/



Use this util to create your install/live linux USB.



You can pick your flavor of Linux using the wizard.

If you have the spare partition already there, I'd go ahead and just install something rather than try to run it off a live disk or USB.

My suggestion would be Linux Mint 11.  http://www.linuxmint.com/release.php?id=16
The newer version (12) has some changes which are... less than satisfactory (IMO).

Although, the version 12 has some features that are designed for tablet usage which might be nice on a netbook.

It really depends on what your looking at doing.  Linux is great because there are so many distros out there to choose from and each one slightly different from the last.  Ubuntu is good for people who are used to windows and want an easy to use operating system.  Personally I prefer Fedora and backtrak.  Fedora is a pretty good distro and have used it for quite a while.  Ubuntu I'm not a fan of because gcc was not included and when trying to get software that isn't included in the repository is really a pain.  If your putting it on a netbook I would seriously look at lightweight distros that way your not using a whole lot of resources.  Damn small linux has been around for a couple of years has enough features to make it usable.

Yeah, I'd prefer a simpler more linux'y linux to play around with. The notebook I wouldn't call shitty, just appropriately powered for the size.

But I guess I should clarify, I do not want to run a Livedisk or a USB boot, I'd like to permanently install and be able to boot up either windows or whatever dist I chose.

But, my limited OS knowledge tells me you can't just download and install an OS but that is has to be loaded and installed from outside. And since I do not have an optical drive right now, the USB option was what I was thinking.

Is using that unetbootin util what I should investigate further?

I put a copy of Mint 11 on an old netbook (eeePC 1000 HD Celeron processor) I had sitting around.  Worked pretty decently overall.  Mint is a good beginner distro.

Download the iso of whatever Linux distro you want to try, then use http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ to make a bootable USB stick to install with.

THIS.

Very simple.

I'm curious about this myself.  What would you use to select which OS you boot when starting up the netbook?  Does the mint distro come with a boot manager?

Mint uses/installs grub as a bootloader.  If dual booting, you can select which OS you want.