User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 7:32:25 PM EDT
[#1]
Unless you're running a server, I'd stay away from Linux. That's my opinion.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 7:34:13 PM EDT
[#2]
I just finished a book on Linux today and dropped $80 on the Red Hat Deluxe version 7.1 of the OS.
From what I've been told it doesn't like to dual boot without a program to handle the boot sector - something that NT handles pretty well. If your machine is less than a couple of years old the hardware ought to be supported but be advised that Linux isn't supported like Windows. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 7:36:44 PM EDT
[#3]
It will dual boot. I run a laptop with linux and windows 98. It acts as a mini web server when I need to test things.
Do you want to set up linux? That depends on what you want to do with it. I use it for a server. If all you do is browse the web, send email, and use a word processor, you should be okay. It can be something good to get used to, but I don't see a great need for the average person to have a linux desktop - all the apps are on the windows side. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 7:37:02 PM EDT
[#4]
Go to Barnes and Noble and get a book called 7.1 secrets or something like that(I forget the exact name) For about $45.00 or so you get a VERY complete guide to the latest Red Hat OS but you also get the OS itself, for which I just paid $39.00 a week before the Book came out. It will answer ALL your questions. This particular book has the basics AND goes into the intermediate level of things which you could probably handle with no problem. WARNING! This aint Windows! It requires some study and having some basic knowledge in the first place.But I think you will like it just fine! You can also set it up to work just as a windows box until you start it with your Linux boot disk. Its like having two computers.Check it out!
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 8:04:32 PM EDT
[#5]
instead of repartitioning I'd just get a second hard drive just for linux. This worked well when I had linux on my normal computer because the way my IDE connections were, one change in the bios would let me pic what to boot (win98 or linux) I've since installed linux on my old computer since it needs less power than windows. I just mess around with it occasionally. It is much more stable, but there aren't many games out for it, and installing stuff can be a pain (usually no setup.exe type file)
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 8:09:03 PM EDT
[#6]
You shouldn't need us to talk you into Linux. If the frequent Windows crashes and virus scares haven't talked you into it yet, then it might be hopeless.z
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 8:17:25 PM EDT
[#7]
You want a reason......
Windows XP and its forced registration. All the recent Outlook virii won't do anything to your computer. You never have to bootleg or pirate software again. I can tell you why many people run Linux. It is not as user friendly as 95/98/ME and you will have to learn to compile software and do tweeks in makefiles to really get your computer running the way you want. It can be a pain, but you will not ever have to be a criminal again. You will be completely legal and free of the chains of Micro$oft. If Micro$oft was to put away their pick axe/steam roller business tactics and become a friendly company, Linux would cease to exist. Micro$oft has screwed over enough software companies that highly paid engineers will toil for free day and night to produce an alternative. The strength in Linux is as a server. It is also very flexible and portable. If you are really interested in tinkering around with your computer then Linux is probably the best. If all you are interested in is surfing the net and reading your email, then you will probably get bored with Linux quickly. If you are currently using NT, then you can boot into NT from the Linux boot loader, boot into Linux from the NT boot loader, or boot into NT from the NT boot loader and boot to linux from a floppy. The choice is yours. It is probably easier to use the Linux boot loader, but a little more interesting to boot from the NT bootloader. Booting from a floppy is possible, but a PITA. l8r |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 10:15:00 PM EDT
[#8]
I just bought SuSE Linux 7.2. It comes with few books and shows you step by step how to set up linux. I only paid $20 for it at my local electronics store.
You could also use a program like partition magic 7.0 to partition a portion of your drive with a linux partition, to make the installation easier. It also allows you to dual boot at startup, by choosing which partition to boot. I used slackware before, without any knowledege of linux, except a few footnotes to help me install it. Slackware came with nothing but a disk. and cost me 2 bucks. I managed to get it set up, but never could go anywhere with it. The hard drive it was on ended up going south and that was the end of linux. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 10:21:08 PM EDT
[#9]
here's some related reading [url]www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,23008,3346823,00.html[/url] mmk
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 10:31:57 PM EDT
[#10]
My wife has been running Linux exclusively for over two years now. I used to run a Linux server for mail & DNS. Rock-solid OS. I had about 300 days of up-time before I accidentaly rebooted it.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 10:59:37 PM EDT
[#11]
What is your purpose for installing Linux?
If you just want to learn it, sure, that's a worthy goal in and of itself. But if you have some specific reason, you'll need to explain it to us before anyone can give you a rational answer on whether or not it's a good idea. From my perspective, the advantage is that when I want to do something on Linux, I can dig around and (hopefully) find a freeware program to do it. The text editing programs have far more features than anything I've found on MS-Windows. Programming tools are free and work well, although the interfaces are primarily command-line-based (something that MS-Windows users are unfamiliar with). Dealing with textfiles is easy; the UNIX commands all chain together so that I can search for keywords, sort them, count them, and so on. By contrast, on Windows, if I want to search a text file for some word, I pretty much can't -- oh, load it into MS-Word and do it through the menus? Yecchhh. Where's "grep" hiding? But in order to use Linux, you'll have to learn it. And that can be difficult. I still haven't managed to get the da*n notworking networking working. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 11:03:03 PM EDT
[#12]
By the way, there's really no reason to pay for it, unless you just want to throw money at Red Hat or whoever. Pretty much all of the companies have free versions on their websites that you can download; other companies -- entirely legally -- duplicate the official CDs and resell them for two or three bucks each.
Arguably the best distribution out there is Mandrake. My ex-employer ended up using that, because the versions of the tools that were installed with the distribution actually worked. All of the other distributions we tried had significant problems due to incompatible versions of compiler/linker/debugger/whatever. I don't know how the current release of Mandrake works out. I would expect that they took the time to get it right again, though, even after the new kernel release. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/10/2001 11:20:00 PM EDT
[#13]
I have a triple boot on my old 300 mhz PII box. It has 128 mb RAM, 2 4 gig SCSI fast/wide drives, and a 17" monitor I bought in 1994 for $850. 17" monitors weren't as common in those days. :)
Anyway, I use System Commander to handle the multi-boot. On one partition it's running Windows 2000 Adv. Server (SR2) with SQL Server 2000 (SR1) as a database development and test platform. On another, it has Red Hat Linux 6.1 (that I got for free) along with Samba (so I can map drives to Windows machines) and both the KDE and GNU desktops. Finally, the machine has a command-line only install of Windows 98. I've been doing UNIX since the early 90's so Linux was not too much of a PITA. But unless you really need it there is no reason to go through all the BS associated with installation and configuration. Of course, if you want to be a UNIX admin guy some day, then it's worth it so you can learn it. |
|
|
|
Posted: 9/11/2001 4:39:09 AM EDT
[#14]
The new kernel and the 7.1 Red Hat is the equivalent of windows, if you add about $1000 worth of software to windows! Really it does stuff windows never even thought about.....for free!
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/11/2001 4:42:23 AM EDT
[#15]
Go for it. It is a good OS to learn. Many flavors to choose from though.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 9/11/2001 5:08:48 AM EDT
[#16]
Alright Grizzly660, I have some of the best advice to you if you're not sure about a dual-boot Linux system.
[B]IT IS EASY![/B] Don't be fooled by other people, just because they cannot figure out how to install Linux, doesn't mean you can't. TRUST ME. I have been running a dual boot system for the last two years. I have run three different types of Linux, and I know EXACTLY which one you need. [B]YOU NEED: Linux MANDRAKE version 7.X[/B] The reason you need this: It's the BEST Linux for those who are new to Linux. It AUTO-DETECTS many things upon setup, and is VERY configurable!!! It comes with MANY MANY MANY tutorials and "Man Pages" (Manuals). My older version Mandrake 7.0 was setup customly (and it's not hard to do) just like a HAL9000 computer. It spoke to me all the time, looked like a Hal9000, etc... All my friends were jealous. It is SO EASY to get Mandrake 7.X to work on ANY system. The only bitch is setting up the hard drive partitions before installation. One of the BEST things about linux, is that it saved my ASS many times. I kept important databases on my Windows 98 side, and when I get a virus on Win98, then what do you do? The ENTIRE boot sector of your HD is deleted: So, You can boot in Linux, copy your important windows files over to the Linux side of your computer, then in a Linux Terminal, you can manually re-type all of your boot sector of your WIN98 partitions (assuming you had printed copies available). Kewl eh? Also, you can freely run websites off your Linux Partition, you can run FTPsites, file sharing, or if you want to REALLY undertake a REALLY DIFFICULT project, you can configure your Linux into a FIREWALL. The best part about Linux is that it's FREE! No $200 cost like WIndows, its FREE, and with all the forums regarding EVERY DIFFERENT version of Linux Mandrake, you are sure to find needed help. They even have Newbie forums (patrolled by the pro's & amatuers), where you can openly ask for help with ANYTHING. I've tried Red-Hat, Red-Hat Deluxe, and other Linux platforms, but their problems: NO AUTODETECT, and SETUP is a PAIN IN THE ASS!!! I hope this helps, Oh, did I also mention that Linux Mandrake is GREAT for HACKING??? IT IS! But I've NEVER HACKED ANYTHING IN MY LIFE. Right? [spank] -inuhbad |
|
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
