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Linux suggestions Thanks
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Posted by: GeForce_4_
Hi guys, all,
So I am pretty confortable with learning how to use new interfaces, just as long as they are worthwhile...
I have had growing interest for Linux in the past years and after trying a very primitive version of Linux Mandrake I kind of got discouraged with how <unuser friendly> it was
This week I downloaded Ubuntu 7.10, OpenSuSE, and Kubuntu
I have tried the Ubuntu LIVE CD and found the interface to be very <confortable> just find that some options are lacking to what I am used to,
What I would like is someone to explain me in brief, the advantages of a DUAL BOOT, I mean like, give me an example of how I could separate my usage of Linux, and Windows if you get what I mean, because in my head it would become kind of confusing to have certain applications on one, and certain applications on the other, have different files and stuff I know i can make my Limewire folders common, my winamp music and skins can be used by both operating systems, and other multimedia downloads....thanks guys
So just give me your suggestions on WHICH linux to use I have seen Knoppix to be nice on a few screenshots, I just get a little caught up wondering with all these different versions of Linux, do all programs work with alll versions (Ubuntu,Mandrake, Knoppix ETC ETC.) Which one is the best to start off and get used to a new OS and can I still play my games on Linux?
Posted by: Alchemist
Lol same here... all I know is that mandriva(mandrake) is the best way learning linux...
I am still deciding which linux I will use and if I decide to keep it, I want to know dual boot too..
Posted by: kestrel1
If you want to dual boot Windows & Linux, you want to install Windows First then install Linux on another drive or partition. Most installations of Linux can set-up a dual boot with Windows. The boot manager is normally Grub or Lilo.
Mandriva is a fairly good distro, but I have heard many people are using Ubuntu. Suse & RedHat are also very popular. If you want to swap files between the two OS's you need to set-up a third partition or drive. You can format it as Fat32 or NTFS as Linux can read from both.
I currently have a dual boot at work with Mandriva & WinXP pro & it works very well.
Posted by: DemonBob
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Originally Posted by GeForce_4_
Hi guys, all,
What I would like is someone to explain me in brief, the advantages of a DUAL BOOT, I mean like, give me an example of how I could separate my usage of Linux, and Windows if you get what I mean, because in my head it would become kind of confusing to have certain applications on one, and certain applications on the other, have different files and stuff I know i can make my Limewire folders common, my winamp music and skins can be used by both operating systems, and other multimedia downloads....thanks guys
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The Advantage of Dual booting really boils down to the user. Up until recently dual booting really had no advantages. Because lack of NTFS writing support, but now that NTFS reading and writing seems to be stable an reliable on Linux it has gotten better. Example - I bought an Acer 5315 from Wal-Marts a months back (The $348 one day special). I currently have Vista Home Basic and Ubuntu 7.10 Dual Booting. The laptop itself came in a configuration that was rather easy to set this up. It by default was setup with 2 partitions on the disk, so i was able to from within Windows to delete the partition information, then boot with the Ubuntu CD and install on the empty partition. I primarily use Ubuntu and rarely boot into windows anymore, but it allows me access to all my windows files from music to video's. Once stable wireless drivers for my chipset come available (AR5007EG too new support not implemented yet), i'm going to get rid of Vista because i find more use for Ubuntu then i do Vista Home Basic, and do not want to shell of for Vista Ultimate, a lot of free software already packaged and read to go. Want a good web design application, use Bluefish, want a good coding IDE that supports just about every programming in the book, use Eclipse. Want office thats compatible with .doc format, openoffice. Saves me from having to by a lot of licenses, and keeping up with software disk because everything is downloaded off the internet.
NOTE: Ubuntu 7.10 Supports compiz by default on support hardware which blows Vista's Areo Glass interface, which you can only get with Home Premium and up, out of the water.
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Originally Posted by GeForce_4_
So just give me your suggestions on WHICH linux to use I have seen Knoppix to be nice on a few screenshots, I just get a little caught up wondering with all these different versions of Linux, do all programs work with alll versions (Ubuntu,Mandrake, Knoppix ETC ETC.) Which one is the best to start off and get used to a new OS and can I still play my games on Linux?
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I think Ubuntu or Kubuntu is the best Linux Distro to start off with now days, Ubuntu 7.10 has added features to fix a lot of the issues for new linux users. I.E Better graphic and monitor configurations, support for dual monitor graphical configuration (normally have to edit a config file to get dual monitors to work), and bulletproof X which basically is a fall safe backdoor configuration incase your have a Video card that is not fully supported or configure correct. A good restricted driver manager that helps make sure you have the right drivers for your hardware, that are not open source (if supported). These two things is the reason i believe Dell started selling Ubuntu on some select systems. Although the distro's start out with a minimal list of applications it's as easy as going to add/remove programs to add something you want. Also ubuntuforums.org, has one of the largest and most helpful support forums for any linux.
Once your done playing around with Ubuntu and getting use to Linux, then you should try some of the other more colorful distro's to see if they fit your needs better.
As far as the main differences of Linux Disto's.
Graphical User Interface: Two of the main streamline grahpical user interfaces are Gnome and KDE. Both have their advantces. I.E. KDE supports Alpha blending, and is also easier to use for new Linux users since it resembles Windows XP single start menu setup. This will come down to use preference as to which one you like. Some distro's prefer one or the other by default. I prefer gnome myself. Keep in mind that any linux distro can use any GUI, as long as it has a package for it or the nessacery libary's to compile it. I.E. You can install KDE on Ubuntu 7.10 which uses Gnome, and Gnome on Kubuntu which defaults to KDE. And Run both. (When you go to login you can select which enviroment you want to login with after both are installed)
If your installing on older hardware their are GUI's which are very slimed down to run just as fast on older hardware as newer hardware. XFACE, Fluxbox, Blackbox are to name a few. All run very well, and their is even and XFACE version of Ubuntu, Xubuntu.
Packaging system: Two of the main packaging systems on different version of Linux are RPM's and Deb. RPM's being used on Redhat and various Distro's, i believe, don't quote me on this, openSuse uses RPM, where as Ubuntu uses Deb. Both have their own commands to use the system, or thier own GUI to access the distro's package archives.
They are other differences, i.e Kernel version, but most of those type of differences are not important to the generic desktop user, but should be explored if you want a customize your system even further for speed.
My current system configurations:
Personal Desktop: Dual Boot Windows XP Pro and FreeBSD
HTPC (Media Center) - LinuxMCE based off of Kubuntu (cause of Alpha blending support)
Bussiness Laptop: Windows Vista Bussiness, running *VMWare which runs anything i want
Personal Laptop: Vista Home Basic and Ubuntu (Soon to be Ubuntu, pending Wireless drivers, running Linux *VMware with XP Pro or Vista Business)
*VMWare allows you to run one OS inside of another using thier software which creates a virtual enviroment, bios, hardware, disk. That you can install anything on...even OSX.
Posted by: Alchemist
Thxs for the info DemoBob, i will give Ubuntu a try didnt like Mandriva much..
btw would you know anything about programing in Linux? I was studing C++ in windows but i heard in linux is better learning... any ideas?
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