Help me get started with Linux

[adamdiehl]

I've got a spare desktop computer that I'm not using right now. I've got another 2 weeks before i have to go back to school, and I'd like to try Linux, since I've heard so many great things about it. But I don't know the FIRST THING about Linux. All I know is that its free and that it doesn't do as many stupid things as Windows. So right now... I'm in Windows XP Professional- staring at the desktop, with a high speed connection and a couple internet browsers at hand. What's next?

[Tony Kanago]

Right-o! Go to http://www.kubuntu.org/ for a distrobution. Download the ISO at http://us.releases.ubuntu.com/releas...stall-i386.iso . Burn it to a CD with a burning application like Nero. This is a good beginner's distrobution. All the defaults in the installer should work fine, so just pop the disk in the drive, reboot, (as long as your BIOS knows how to boot from CD in the settings,) and it should go. Just hit enter to start from there.

It should ask you about network setup in the installer, so you're good there!

Here are some basic things to know!

·Linux was based on Minix, which was based on UNIX.
·Applications compiled in Windows do not run on Linux without the use of another application, such as Wine, Cedega, or CrossOver Office.
·The core of the OS is the kernel. This is freely available to modify for different reasons. It was written by Linus Torvalds, based on Unix.
·The visual aspect of this distrobution is called a Window Manager. There are multiple to choose from, and this one is called KDE. It runs with the help of an application called the Xserver. This controls input from the mouse and keyboard, and the output to the monitor, speakers, etc.
·Many people use a linux terminal, console, or shell to use linux, but desktops work fine too.
·Expect to be asking a lot of questions at first!

Once the base is installed, and the network gets configured, (hopefully on install,) you should be able to get right to the desktop. Very similar interface to Windows, if you can't see! Look around in the 'start menu' for applications you recognize. Firefox or Konqueror should be the browser, and kmail or thunderbird for email.

Just get this much done, then ask what else you need.

[jotis]

There are two really, really big, very well known Graphical User Interfaces (GUI's) that run on Linux: Gnome and KDE. Gnome is a little more complex, but it is more powerful and more configurable. KDE is a little more user friendly. That is not to say that either is bad. Both are incredible.

That being said, you need to select a "flavor," so to speak. This is based partly on personal preference and partly on what you want to do with it. If you want to be the next great programmer, hacker, guru, whatever, I would recommend a BSD or Gentoo Linux or Debian GNU/Linux. These are fairly complicated to install and require a lot of customization. On the flip side, there are distributions targeted at the mass consumer, for instance Mandriva, started in 1998 with the purpose of making Linux easy for anyone to use. As far as simple to install and use Linux distro's go, I would recommend Mandriva or Ubuntu. Ubuntu is relatively new, but it is built on the stability of the Debian kernel, but with a user-friendly installer. There are 1000's of distributions of Linux, but I have tried to outline a few that are well known and well supported

If I had to pick from the above list, it would be a hard decision, but I think it would be Ubuntu. They have distro's for both KDE and Gnome. Here is the info to get it and install it. Ubuntu, www.ubuntu.com, is the Gnome, and Kubuntu is the KDE, www.kubuntu.org. Now, for the Ubuntu installation info:

Using Firefox browse on over to www.ubuntu.com. There are screenshots you can look at. To download, go to http://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/5.10/ and click on the PC (Intel x86) Install CD link.

Burn the CD with something that can burn a CD image, Nero or Adaptec Easy CD Creator. Then reboot your computer and boot to the CD. Follow the instructions and leave all the settings at default. Once it is installed, it should be pretty simple to figure out what does what. If you have any more questions, post again.

As an alternative to downloading an install CD, you could download a Live CD. This would let you run the operating system off a CD and try it out on any computer. The catch is, any changes you make will be lost when you reboot. But, it's great for trying it out.

Hope this helps.

Jeremiah

[rbcyouthdude]

I have tried linux and always get lost around installing new programs. I can get around in windows really good but I have never been able to get a program installed in Linux. Am I a tarball or what?

By the way, I would love to be a straight Linux man if I could figgure it out.

Michael

[Tony Kanago]

Well, Linux distrobutions now commonly have package managers and central software repositories. These package managers either download precompiled software for your distrobution and install them, or download the source, compile, and install them.

Under anything based on the Debian distrobution, (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Knoppix, Whoppix, etc..) the package manager is Apt. You can look at the syntax with- man apt-get from shell. For example, to install the application superkaramba, (an eye candy platform for a linux desktop,) I could go to shell and just type-

(As root!)
# apt-get install superkaramba

Or to update all the software you're running..

# apt-get update
# apt-get upgrade

Depending on your distrobution, there will be other package managers. For examples, Tim's server is Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It uses the manager `Yum` and a second utility caled `Up2Date.`

Gentoo uses Portage, which is based off of BSD's Ports, (a snapshot of where to download all the necessary files to install a program automatically, with only one command,) while BSD also has the package's system, which many other disrobutions such as Debian built on.

Red Hat started RPMs, which are basically little installer packages. These have been picked up by Mandrake/Mandriva, and partially used by Debian. Under Debian, you can install them with Apt by first converting the RPM into DEB format with the utility Alien.

Package managers can drastically save you time in installing software, BUT NEVER RELY ON THEM! More than anything, under Unix/Linux/Solaris/AIX/HP-UX/Whatever else, you have the option of getting a piece of software as source. Good developers will them in a tarball, and then Gzip, or Bzip the tar. First, open it! Use tar with whatever options to open the specific package in front of you. Then, if the makefile is done correctly, you can simply CD to the directory created by the tar, and type `./configure`! Then, it may respond that your missing something, so install whatever your missing through these+the following steps. Assuming you have it all, type `make`, then `make install`. Simply enough for a beginner, your software is installed~

[Creonus]

Try out Linux or try to learn PhotoShop?
Try out Linux or try to learn PhotoShop?

Tried both today. It's a good thing my hair is short. Otherwise, it'll be pulled off by now.

[Creonus]

In order to reduce frustrations and re-invention of wheels, here are some lessons learned from my installation of Kubuntu 5.1.

• Burning the ISO file to a CD as image is not the same as burning a data disk. For those without access to Nero, download.com offers several trial softwares. Bear in mind that the ISO file is 600+ MB.
• The system must be set to boot first from the CD drive. The particular keys to activate the BIOS/CMOS menu will vary from system to system. Ignore typical google suggestions. Instead, PRIOR to wiping Windows, watch the startup screens for instructions. If none is given, search the computer's offline help files for either "BIOS" or "CMOS".
• The BIOS/CMOS screen will prominently ask for date and time confirmation. Look for instructions for moving to other pages.
• If the installation fails, try and try again. Burn the CD at a slower speed (<8x) and re-download the ISO file from another mirror site.

[Darthmalt]

is there any version of linux that will allow me to run it in a window inside windows? I have dual monitors and would like to play with linux on without having to go through the trouble of setting up a dual boot or use one of the live cds out there. Plus then I could mess with it when I'm just chatting or surfing the net.

[Tony Kanago]

Yep! Check out VMWare Player, Bochs, or CoLinux. Just google around for those.