i have decided to give linux a try, as i do not want to purchase a copy of windows. so here is the deal, i am a gamer but i am also a college student so, i MUST be able to use Word, Exel, and Powerpoint (WINE??) plus play my games (hl2, bf2, ultima online) (cedega??). I also do some website design/development (GIMP/GIMPShop??) I am totally new to linux, and i also plan to store a huge dvd library on multiple hard drives. which linux is reccommened, and can you share any tips? my current system is an athlon xp-m 2500, asus A7N8X-E, 1gb ddr 400 ulta ram, 120gb WD hdd, 300gb seagate hdd (dvd's), and a g-force fx 5500 OC graphics card. thanks
word excel and powerpoint - you can just use openoffice which does just about all the same things and can save as office formats cedega works just fine (most of the time) for hl2 and probably fine for ultima but i dont know if they have added the bf2 support yet no problems with multiple hard drives on any distro, only thing is you might want to make them a writeable format (fat32 or a *nix format such as ext3) the gimp is pretty powerfull but its still not photoshop but photoshop and the office programs work with crossover office which is another modified version of wine like cedega as for a distro i would reccommend gentoo just so you learn how it works but it gets to be a pain in the ass so you might want to try something like ubuntu or suse
Gentoo for someone trying Linux is mad! Go for Ubuntu or the like. For multiple hard drives the filesystem doesnt split off like in windows you wont have C:, D: e.t.c just / and /blah could be on a totaly different drive and /blah/blah on another.
oh bah gentoo for a first time isnt mad its pretty easy if you read the handbook and browse the forums
Maybe try Gentoo if you are brave and have a spare day or two (!). I'd really advise Ubuntu (or Debian proper if you don't need the ease of Ubuntu), or Mandrake/Mandriva. All your hardware should be OK, but make sure you get the nvidia drivers if you want to game (rather than the default builtin ones).
i will be giving Ubuntu a try (might try gentoo after a few weeks of playing with ubuntu). Downloading the live cd and install cd iso files as we speak... i also saved some the guides from http://www.tldp.org/guides.html.... are there any other simple guides availible? thanks
Check out openoffice.org for your ms office needs, GIMP for graphcis and WINE/cedega for any windows programs you still need to run.
thanks, however im having some trouble running the live cd now. i set my first boot to cd, 2nd boot is still hdd 0, yet it is still booting into windows. gunna burn a new cd and see if that helps. thanks
Pballer98c, be sure and check the md5sum on your downloaded ISOs. More info here (for all sorts of Ubuntu info, not just burning the ISO): http://www.ubuntuguide.org/ Also the main (offical) Ubuntu site: http://www.ubuntulinux.org/
I don't think you stupid or nothing. But are you burning the .iso onto the disk. or are you just making a data disk with the .iso in it? becouse doing the last one will get you know where
na, i just had a few bad cd's. tried out the live cd and was amazed. So, I just installed it (about 10min ago) and now im making my first post from a linux machine . So far, it seems great, just need to download all the programs for my games . thanks for all the help
HAHA don't thank use yet that was really the easy part.. its getting it all working and you happy with it that'll be hard.. HEH but it's not all that bad for a free OS though is it not?
no, very smooth, comes with lots of free software, eye appealling. but you are right, i have already run into my first problem. It will not see my 2nd seagate 300gb hard drive. i was going to install it using discwizard but thats a windows only program. how should i go about installing it? also cant figure out how to install cedega or wine :-X o well... more reading in the future it seems thanks
If you're on IRC, the #ubuntu channel on freenode can be very helpful. Likewise the Ubuntu Forums off the official website. Mounting HDDs isn't difficult, but I don't know how to do it myself... Wine is in Ubuntu's repositories, so you can install it via Synaptic. I've seen it there, I know ppl have gotten Wine working in Ubuntu, but again, I haven't done it myself...
See, Gentoo might be slightly tricky to install (Well, it's not really if you read the very good install manuals...) but installing things on Gentoo is just stupidly silly... Code: #emerge appname Normally does the trick Sam
