Linux which linux is right for me?

I am thinking about using linux instead of windows xp, or having a dual boot system or somehting like that.I am getting tired of windows and I am thinking of trying somehting different. So I have come to you guys to help me out. I play a lot of games, c.o.d.o.u, hl2, and brothers in arms mostly. Would I still be able to play these games if I used linux instead of windows? My specs, are in my sig. Sorry for the n00b questions, but i am a n00b when it comes to linux. Thans for the help and recomendations are appreciated.

 

Fedora is the distro that I use, it's pretty good. Not too hard to use, but it doesn't baby you around like some other distro's.

The games you play, it depends if there's a linux port for them. If there is, then you can just change the permissions so the owner can read, write, and excecute. Then double click it, and hit open in terminal. It'll install.

If you need any help with Fedora, just hop on over to slashnet and #fedora, or freenode and #fedora.

 

You can pretty well forget about gaming on a linux box. Just not what it was designed for. There are linux ports of certain games and someone will probably mention WINE.
I'd go for a dual boot or try one of the distros like Koppix that run directly from CD/DVD.
You can play about and learn without having to mess up your system.
There are plenty of sites about learning linux and I'm sure a sticky or two here.
Fedora seems to be a good one as well as Ubantu.
But wait for the real gurus to show up, I too am a linux n00b.

 

Getting games for Linux is one thing, getting them to play well is another.

nVidia is the only company to release drivers for their graphics cards, so if you have an ATI then your kinda stuck, as the card won't be able to be really used by the game.

Cedega is a linux based gaming distro, that aims to let you play games. Unfortunatly you have to pay for it.

 

ubuntu ubuntu its freen and if you want you can get a cd sent to you FREE
and its really good faster than Fedora and very plug and play

http://www.ubuntulinux.org/

you also get a bood cd that run directly from CD not the hard drive so you can have a play and see if you like it

 

how hard would it be for me to instal a dual boot system? I will search around for more information about linux on these forums. I will try the redhat, ubuntu, and knoppix this weekend, on a cd boot or using my laptop. thanks for the help and more recomendations are welcome

F.B.

 

Dual boot is a piece of cake. A lot of linux installations will recognize that you have another OS on the system and make allowances automatically. As far as what distro to use, that is a very personal question. The only way to really find out is trying lots of different ones, and seeing which you like the best. For starting out, definitely give Fedora a try, and Ubuntu. Once you get a little more advanced with it, I highly recommend Slackware. Lots of people around here swear by Gentoo, as well, though I'm not particularly a fan of it (God, I love emerge though.) Also, as suggested, you might want to try out a "LiveCD" distro like Knoppix, Slax, or several others. These are whole distros that boot and run from a cd, no need to install or anything.

 

when it says i can get a free cd from ubuntu, is that really true? After school today, i will start to download different ones, and try them out.

Oh and i should get the 64bit versions, since i have an amd 3200 right?

thanks

 

Yes, Ubuntu really do send you the cds. They don't charge shipping either, but I hear it may take a few months to get it. Wish I could be more help on the A64 question but I have ZERO experience with 64-bit kit thus far.

 

yes, Ubuntu does send the free cd's, totally and absolutely free.

I don't like ubuntu much for some reason or another though. It just doesn't work well for me. It took me hours and hours of messing around with settings to get it to work on the internet, whereas Fedora was extremely plug-and-play. Took less than 20 minutes to install.

I highly recommend you check out some of the live cd distro's. something like knoppix, ubuntu live, or my personal favorite, fedora live. you can find that one at fedoracd.adakist.com.

 

I like Ubuntu because it works for me and my laptop. I did have to tweak a little, but that's because I'm using a widescreen laptop with an ATI card. (STAY AWAY FROM ATI!!!)

I wouldn't use a 64-bit distro just yet, because there are still a few things that aren't offered, such as 64-bit flash players for linux, which means you have to set up a "chroot" to run a 32-bit version of firefox with 32-bit plugins, which just gets annoying.

dual booting:
The new version of Ubuntu will allow you to install linux alongside Windows XP just fine, it will even resize your partitions for you, just be sure to tell it to resize the window partition, and not completely wipe it out. (I can't remember the default)

I'd reccommend just sticking with dual booting so you can play games and use Adobe products in Windows, but use Linux for everything else. Ubuntu, much like gentoo and debian, makes it super easy to install software via an add-remove programs window, which I like. RPMs always gave me issues, which is why I don't use fedora anymore, but I also didn't know anything about linux the last time I tried fedora, so I'm sure I messed a lot of things up.

I've heard it said the best distro for you is whatever you are using. They've all got strengths and weaknesses, but if you want to play directX based games, you might as well dual boot windows for gaming. ID software uses OpenGL for games, so they often release linux binaries that allow you to play their games just fine under linux. (a coworker swears he gets better FPS and better graphics overall when playing Doom 3 in linux rather than Windows)

But just browse around, check out www.distrowatch.com and play with live CDs such as fedora live or the Ubuntu Live CD.

EDIT:
Since I've become a linux fanatic, I ordered 100 Ubuntu CDs last year and got them about 3 months after I ordered them. (I ordered them late so I had to wait for them to come in the mail.) I've heard people say they got their CDs in a matter of weeks, but here in the US it usually takes a while because they ship from overseas. For details: http://shipit.ubuntu.com

 

Thanks for the help with the ubuntu and I will just order them and wait and see how long it takes. I will play around with some live versions this weekend.

so far i will use fedora live, knoppix, ubuntu, and soemothers i find.
thanks for the help and more opinions are always helpful.

 

You can get ATI cards running satisfactorily in Linux, but it would be nice if they follow Nvidia's lead and released properly open-source ATI drivers.

My older ATI card (9600XT 256Mb) runs fine in Ubuntu 5.10, and in 5.04 before that. I run Enemy Territory and some other 3d games...

 

I would recomend a live distro before you actuly install a distro.

 

i will be using the live distros, or installing it on a spare computer.

thanks for the help

 

If you plan on ordering the Cd's they will take at least a month to get to you, so in the mean time you might as well download it.

As OneSeventeen has already said 64 bit just isnt worth it, the lack of a 64 bit flash player is really annoying causing the browser to close if the page has any flash content which gets really fustrating.

If you do decide to go with ubuntu make sure to visit
http://ubuntuguide.org/
It will prove invaluable to you when learning how to install new programs etc.

 

I didnt like the feel of ubuntu when i ran it live. However I was playing arround with RH9 for a while. It was pretty easy to get the feel for. and after a trip to half price books and about < $20 I was able to run the command console proficiently too

 

just about to have a look at ubuntu and gentoo to see which i prefer.... which order should i install my os's in, windows or linux first?? does it make any difference? (just thinking about boot menus etc)

 

put your win on first. nix will help you configure a boot loader afterward. just leave it some space on your HDD to make the nix instalation easier

 

cool cheers!

from a technical standpoint, is there any reason why i should chose gentoo over ubuntu or vice versa or am i just best of going for the one that i like the feel of best??