Linux More Linux Questions

I've done a search, but didn't find anything for someone as dumb as myself...
I'm running an AMD Athlon 900, and I want to run linux on it. I use DSL via NIC card, and have an old GeForce 2 graphics card. Other than that I don't have anything else really important. (modem/sound card combo, but I don't know if I'll ever find the drivers for it again...)

I want to be able to use my computer as a web server/email server/FTP server so I can learn more about networking and web programming. I am a graphics fan, so I'd like to be able to customize a nice GUI that doesn't take up much memory.

While we are talking about GUIs and memory usage, I'm also wanting to install WinXP over linux for dual boot system... so any particular tips are appreciated!

 

I'm retarted..

I just now saw the Linux forum, so if moderators would like to move this, thanks!

I'm confused about platforms because I'm running an AMD Athlon, (slot processor if that makes a difference) and I don't know what that is... since before this I've always used an x86 processor...


so I have read the threads in the other ones, and still have the same questions.

 

moved to Linux and Open Source forum.

 

Re: I'm retarted..

Athlon is x86

 

For architectures :

x86 is the PC standard, both Intel and AMD CPUs are all x86.

PPC is the Mac, well, all Apple computers. I don't know of any other system (main stream anywas) that uses this.

The others are all funny architectures, mostly used for experimentation, and other computer systems that don't want to pay Intel for the x86 architecture.

About GUIs, well, you can make it look nice, and in the sticky, there are links to some themes and such About memory usage, Linux is funny, see, if you have less than 512 MB of RAM, you should use a swap partition, and if you have 512+, it's optional. If you have a swap partition, what Linux will do, is assign as much RAM as it has to the processes, so a program that normally uses only 1MB say, will be given all teh free RAM available, so if you have 200 left, then, it gets 200, then when you runa new thing, it uses the swap, then shifts RAM usage around to balance it out.

Without a swap, it just keeps a little RAM free for running new stuff and handling RAM balance, so yuor always going to be low on RAM, bu you aren't exactly . I hope that's not to confusing

For dual booting, well, what you want to do, is install XP first, then install Linux, and when it asks abouta boot loader, select GRUB. If it doesn't have GRUB, remove the CDs and throw them out the window, and get a real distro Seriously though

Anyways, use GRUB, and then when you boot up, you'll get a sexy little menu, and you'll see Linux and Windows listed (this list can be customized, even teh piccy in the background can be changed).

With your computer, you cna select pretty much any distro that takes your fancy, as you'll be able to run it.

 

Yep, as Kargin says... XP first then your chosen Linux.

Both Mandrake 9.x and SUSE 8.x install their own neat dual-boot menus that take all the hassle out of starting up the PC in the chosen system.

Of the two GUIs commonly offered (KDE and Gnome) my opinion is that Gnome *feels* more logical for a Windows user.

 

I've heard Mandrake has had some problems, does RedHat have the dual boot capabilities, and is Gnome a GUI that you can get for any version of linux?

As I mentioned before, I'm stupid when it comes to linux stuff, but I'll look through the sticky and download a distro tonight, and possibly start formatting/installing later.

Just out of curiosity, do I need to partition my drive? and doesn't the XP pro install say to install linux first, and XP second?

(I'm going to trust you on this, because for some reason I trust people posting on a linux thread more than microsoft when it comes to installing linux...)

 

INSTALL XP FIRST THEN LINUX.

If you do it the other way around, Windows bootloader will overwrite GRUB in teh MBR and **** everything right up.

I think most people know my opinion of Mandrake, and I dare you to mention it to Ubermich and still be able to walk away.

All Linux distros can dual boot, in fact, EVERY OS can, it's al a matter of the boot loader. Gnome and KDE are the standard GUIs for Linux (there are TONS more, even more than Windows probably) I prefer KDE myself, but it's really a matter of opinion, install them both and see which you like. Most major distros come with both, unless you download Redhat 8+, as they use Blue**** and good luck getting Redhat 9, the fastest I could find was 5k/sec, I'll be damned if I'm going to wait for 60 hours.

Oh and don't worry about feeling dumb when you first try Linux, everyone does. When I started I almost wet my pants.

You will need to partition your drive, about 3-5 gigs is usually good for Windows (I use 5 gigs cuz I find otherwise it gets low and botches about page files, and needing free space for NO ****ING REASON) and for Linux, well, depends on your distro, but being first time, your most likely oing to install prety much everything, so I'd put aside about 5gigs for Linux, as that'll give plenty for even Redhat's fat ass, as well as a swap, and any other things you might download and install afterwards.

If you've got any questions, problems, etc, feel free to eMail me, or ICQ me, although lately I've been having lots of computer troubles, so I'm not always available

CHeers mate.

EDIT: Hey, I didn't knwo that word was censored . . . I was apparently female genitals aren't a good thing . . . .

 

Well I'm a Linux-newbie too, but I'm getting more proficient as I go along.

If you want to get a feel for how Linux works *without* setting aside a separate partition until you're sure, perhaps load up Knoppix Linux distro. It will boot from the CD (assuming you can set your BIOS to boot from a CD) and run a KDE desktop in a matter of moments on most modern machines. It won't touch your Windows hard-disk at all and I found it a great way to get a feel for Linux before doing a proper install. Natuarlly when you log off all your settings are lost to the ether but it' still worth your time.

The underlying system is actually a distro called Debian which has a reputation for being solid and reliable if a bit awkward to work with. Knoppix though makes all that invisible and is a great way to check your machine is compatible.

 

But the GUI is practically nothing . . . . . Linux is about that underlying system, the blood, guts and grind of it all.

Even while in the GUI, most of your work is done in a text console, if not actual text mode, since the GUI can bugger up most things.

 

So true! However - though I'm a child of the MS-DOS era and not afraid of the command-line (ha.. ha.. take that you swine!) - I did appreciate the Windows-like GUIs just to get me going. Some of those command-lines to parse a particular setting in Linux are pretty daunting to start with! A niceGUI config utility is like a gentle anaesthetic!

 

I'm a DOS child myself, so I love the command prompt. I do more with my keyboard than my mouse, by far.

I am, of course, going to be lost for a while learning the commands and getting a "feel" for it...

Well, I'm off to make sure I know what hardware I'm using...

last words of wisdom for installing? (I think I'm settling on debian)

 

Well, depending on what type of machine you have bear in mind USB and PCMCIA can cause installation problems. There's a handy command-line extension for Debian et al : "-nousb" etc.

As the text scrolls up the screen you should keep a beady eye on it and if it stalls, note down the process on or before. This gives a clue as to where the install is going wrong if it won't start etc.

Knoppix (which I mention above) is actually based on Debian, and if you use the HD install Knoppix actually becomes Debian. With this distro the USB driver fails on my Thinkpad. My desktop os fine.

Good luck!

 

Well, I just started downloading the CD image for Debian, and I kind of want to have 2 images, but I think I'll wait until I have my drive formatted and partitioned first. What file format is reccomended? I'm planning on 10 gig for linux, and 30 for winXP (mainly because my graphics programs are on XP). Does this sound good?

So I've got time before I start installing... According to my download, I've got 5 hours and 27 minutes... so I'm thinking tomorrow afternoon I'll start my work.

Thanks for the tips so far... Sad to hear though, I've got my printer hooked up VIA USB and it has been working great on XP, so I may just not print on linux... who knows?

I've got a USB mouse, but it never worked for me, so I use a PS2 adapter...

Anyway, it's downloading now, so we'll see what happens in the next few days!!!

 

This post coming at from Redhat 9


I find PS2 mice work nicer, USB cna be funny sometimes. I'm not sure about the priner, you'll have to get in and see I guess

 

Since I'll be dual-booting I don't see how it will be a problem, I can just restart over to XP or something if neccessary until I can get things sorted.

Plus there is a guy at work that used to work contract jobs with shiny entertainment and sony entertainment to get hardware drivers to work properly with their games, so he seems like the type of guy that could help out

2 hours and 50 minutes remaining!

28 kb/sec... not bad for my connection! (I'm low-level DSL until I get a new job )

EDIT:: 1 hour 50 minutes remaining!!
I'll just pop in another Star Wars episode and start formatting when it's done!!!

 

Re:What file format etc

Well I used Partition Magic 7 to set up my hard-disk before I installed. It let me specify a Linux EXT2 format.

This is the one I went for, for simplicity. It has been superceded by EXT3 and others.

However--- what I did was let Debian(Knoppix)/Mandrake re-format to EXT3. It doesn't take long compared to a Windows format and works fine. I don't know the technical differences but it just works!

I gave 10Gig to the main Linux install and 512MB to the swap.

Best 'O' luck!

 

Okay, if you read the main Software & OS page, you've noticed my dual boot system was a failure due to XP not installing. (I've tried EVERYTHING)

Linux did install, but I ended up writing zeroes over the drive, so I'll reinstall later when I get XP running. I've saved 10 gig for the OS and another gig for the swap.

Does anyone have any advice for a nooB who wants to learn linux? preferrably starting off with a desktop? I know GNOME is good, but how do I use it? I don't even know how to set up/browse the internet... I get a command prompt, I put in my username and password, and then I get my own personal prompt. But other than that I don't know how to use it.... I want to set up apache on it and use it as a webserver and hopefully an email server as well. But that will come later.

Any advice? Please?

My wife okayed spending some money on a domain name, so I want to get this thing up and running soon!!

 

Yeah, don't use GNOME. It's made of pure evil. Use KDE.

Also see teh other thread for more info

 

Okay, browsing around, I decided I want to use Debian Linux with KDE (mainly because I already have the first 2 Debian CDs, and RedHat 9 costs $$)

How can I find out for sure if I have KDE on one of those CDs?

And how do I envoke it again?
Sorry I'm so dumb about this, but the instructions I've found online are great for installing linux, I got it installed first try, but once I've got this blinking cursor and my username I get lost...

Any tips for what to do first when I get this prompt would be helpful, especially help that will result in getting on the internet to learn more about linux and post on bit-tech!