Linux What to use for my first encounter

Hi, im looking into linux to fill free time, and something extra to learn really.
Im sooo sure i already posted this and got a reply saying that red hat an mandrake are the best for n00bs like me?

Well, seen as nearly everywhere else ive looked says that RH is the best for beginners, im gonna get it.
Im a bit confused though, i found the link, is it the i386 ones im after?
Also, are there any other files that i need to get started., bearing in mind that i need to dual boot with xp pro, and i have no idea how...

Sorry, i dont mean to ask so much of you guys, i think im one of those annoying n00b's, my worst nightmare. lol

Thanks alot,
Alex

 

Yep you want the i386 isos, just burn them to cd and whack em in your drive. You dont need any other programs to start with anyway, youll prob want to download some later on (eg GkrellM ) but the isos have all you need to get started.

 

Thanks, but what about the dual boot? im not sure how to do that.. is there someting in windows that will do it?

Thanks

Alex

 

If you have already installed windows, just install RH onto another partition (with separate swap partition) and reboot. After post you should get a RH menu asking if you want to boot into Windows or RH - its as easy as that

 

I'm not sure if you already downloaded it and burned the images or not yet, but I would suggest you stay away from Red Hat now. They pulled out of the consumer dektop market which is being replaced by Fedora. Fedora Core 1 is out although I have not tried it yet. This will actually be supported, Red Hat will not be supported in the not so distant future.

http://www.linuxiso.org/ - Click on Fedora Project

 

Seperate swap partition? sorry mate, ur gonna have spell it out to me. i think i have partition magic on a cover cd somwhere, would that do it?

Thanks

Alex

 

You're correct Alekin - you did already post this thread but it was lost in a server crash

I think my reply was something along the lines of Mandrake is good for beginners, but mandrake is not what linux is all about. Ie, it does a lot of stuff for you, is bloated and generally... crap. IMO.

 

A swap partition is a partition that acts as an overspill for your memory, like virtual memory in windows. If you run out of memory, it will use some hdd space which acts as memory. You can create all the partitions during RH setup so no need for bootmagic etc.

Id have to agree with AstrumPreliator here about probably not using RH but if youve already burned the images then go for it. The best thing to do is try out a load of different distros and pick the one you like best

 

Good, im not going crazy.
I havent already burned the iso's, i was gonna dload at a lan center up the road. Im guessing their 1 meg will get it a bit faster than my 56k. So, at the moment fedora is the reccomended replacement?
Are there any sites out thereto get me started as ive never done anything like this before?

thanks

Alex

 

Yep loads of sites There is usually a bit of documentation on the distros official site but other than that search google and read as much as you can

 

This is the link im after?
Fedora

thanks

Alex

 

Yup, thats the one.

I'll look for some beginner documentation later tonight.

 

Thanks very much mate, hugely appreciated.

Alex

 

Great, downloaded fedora today and burned. But... How to install? Im sure somebody said it just autoruns under windows..
There is a list of whats on each iso here , which is where i dloaded from if that helps

Thanks

Alex

 

The first disc should be bootable just reboot and whack it in

 

Tried, dosent work... chose to boot from cd on startup. Whats up?

Thanks

Alex

 

Sorry but not having used the distro i cant tell you specifically. Try burning the first disc again at a slower speed (just in case it wasnt done properly) if not, you could try downloading the images from a different location (but theyre probably not different so this may be a waste of time.)

 

Ok, ill give the first disk a go again. Could it be the way i burned it? The drive they have is a sony and the software dont read iso's that i found, so i used winrar, extracted the files to a folder and burned all the files that were in the folder.
ill try to find some software that will read iso's that work with the drive, i have the 52x version of it ann the only software that works with it are sony's own and the standard built in xp thing.
Hopefully have an update later.

Thanks

Alex

 

d'oh! you need to burn the .iso as an image (not data). Don't get extracting files and stuff like that!

A very common mistake!

 

Ahh. *slaps self with wet fish. I had doubts when i did it. What software would do it then? The sofware theat comes withthe drive is poop, would the built in xp stuff work?

Thanks

Alex