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I want Linux!

post #1 of 9
2/9/06 at 8:34pm
Thread Starter 
I'm gonna go get me a new computer so I can have Linux, and have my fiance still be able to get on a "regular" computer.

I've never had Linux, but it intrigues me...

When I finish building my computer, if I like Linux, it'll be on there. So many things to play with!
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post #2 of 9
2/11/06 at 4:06pm
I have heard that Linux is more complicated than Windows - you have to tell it what to do, and apparently there are some programmes out there that you can use to practice it before you actually have it. That might help you
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post #3 of 9
2/11/06 at 5:18pm
actually, there are many different distributions of Linux, some of them very easy to use, others more difficult.

Unless you're a computer genius, it's probably a good idea to start with an easy distribution. From the ones I tried, both Mandrake and Suse are pretty straightforward (I had some problems with Mandrake, but I think it was because of something wrong with my computer). And they were so easy to install (they recognized pretty much all my hardware automatically... better than Windows!)

Linux does take some getting used to. Even with the easy distributions. It's not that they're really harder to use than Windows, it's just that they're different... and if you're used to one way of doing things with Windows, you might be a bit lost at first with Linux.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

I wish I still used Linux but unfortunately, I couldn't find the kind of DVD burning software I needed for Linux, so I had to go back to Windows
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post #4 of 9
2/11/06 at 5:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by marie-p
actually, there are many different distributions of Linux, some of them very easy to use, others more difficult.

Unless you're a computer genius, it's probably a good idea to start with an easy distribution. From the ones I tried, both Mandrake and Suse are pretty straightforward (I had some problems with Mandrake, but I think it was because of something wrong with my computer). And they were so easy to install (they recognized pretty much all my hardware automatically... better than Windows!)

Linux does take some getting used to. Even with the easy distributions. It's not that they're really harder to use than Windows, it's just that they're different... and if you're used to one way of doing things with Windows, you might be a bit lost at first with Linux.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

I wish I still used Linux but unfortunately, I couldn't find the kind of DVD burning software I needed for Linux, so I had to go back to Windows
Thanks for the info! I'll probably start out with the easier version and go up as I get bored LoL. You can't do that with Windows, it sucks.
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post #5 of 9
2/13/06 at 5:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by marie-p
From the ones I tried, both Mandrake and Suse are pretty straightforward (I had some problems with Mandrake, but I think it was because of something wrong with my computer). And they were so easy to install (they recognized pretty much all my hardware automatically... better than Windows!)
I've heard that about Mandrake as well. Actually Linux just released a new version of Mandrake (I forget what its called), but like the earlier versions it has been deemed to have too many bugs. Suse is better all around for the beginning linux person.

It is pretty sweet. The only thing I find about Linux that is a little misleading is the virus stance most tekkies take on linux. The OS can STILL receive viruses and in some instances HOST the virus. The user is just less aware of it because a virus doesn't infect their system as it would Windows.
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post #6 of 9
2/13/06 at 4:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lunasmom
I've heard that about Mandrake as well. Actually Linux just released a new version of Mandrake (I forget what its called), but like the earlier versions it has been deemed to have too many bugs. Suse is better all around for the beginning linux person.

It is pretty sweet. The only thing I find about Linux that is a little misleading is the virus stance most tekkies take on linux. The OS can STILL receive viruses and in some instances HOST the virus. The user is just less aware of it because a virus doesn't infect their system as it would Windows.

Is there anti-virus software that I can buy then??
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post #7 of 9
2/17/06 at 9:34am
I was under the impession that Mandrake wasn't around anymore, but that newest distribution got renamed, and was bought by some french company.

Another good distribution to start with is Red Hat. IMO it's the simplest one. Also, with linux, you can really use any old machine. The great thing about it, is how well it uses it's resourses. An old laptop is what im using for my linux box. It's only 600Mhz with 256mb of ram and runs like a champ.

Also, you might want to look into gentoo or free bsd. free bsd is great to teach you how to set u everything, and I run gentoo on my box.

-Jade
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post #8 of 9
2/20/06 at 6:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AshleyJade
I was under the impession that Mandrake wasn't around anymore, but that newest distribution got renamed, and was bought by some french company.

Another good distribution to start with is Red Hat. IMO it's the simplest one. Also, with linux, you can really use any old machine. The great thing about it, is how well it uses it's resourses. An old laptop is what im using for my linux box. It's only 600Mhz with 256mb of ram and runs like a champ.

Also, you might want to look into gentoo or free bsd. free bsd is great to teach you how to set u everything, and I run gentoo on my box.

-Jade
Not sure about Mandrake... you might be right.

Red Hat doesn't really exist though. The company now makes a distribution named Fedora instead.
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post #9 of 9
2/20/06 at 6:12am
If you want to go redhat, I would not bother with any redhat versions other than RHEL, and if you do not want to pay for that try centOS, which is an OS based on RHEL. It's pretty much the same os from a beginners point of view.

However if you are going for a desktop, possibly give gentoo a try.

If you want to install centOS I made a guide not that long ago,
http://www.hostgeekz.com/guides/Othe...centOS_4.2.htm

Just change it around, to desktop, you can follow my guide just when it asks you what packages to install you will require disk 2 and possibly 3. Just select the X desktop related files and you should have pretty much everything needed for a desktop with that. The menu options if you select desktop will have the standard features you need.

-Scott
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