Linux is quite a complex system, and can take a bit of time to get used to. That said, the windowing environments like KDE and Gnome are very user friendly, and most recent distributions are very simple to install. You can pretty much achieve any task via the GUI.

The absolute best way to get Linux on your system the first time is to find yourself a guru to install it with you and walk you through the basic operations, like accessing CDROMs and floppy disks. (I generally find this to be the bit that most new users get stuck on - having to mount a file system doesn''t seem sensible when you''ve been using windows for a long time..)

As for windows linux, I''ve never tried it, but it''s probably a good way to get the hang of things without having to repartition you hard drive.

There are also many good places to get beginners information about linux on the net. The best place to start is at http://www.linux.com and http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/

Hope that helps a bit.
Cheers,

---
SAWDUST
http://members.xoom.com/sawdust_ths

Hey Kate,

I've tried PhatLinux, and was only dissapointed that PhatLinux was unable to recover after I had to turn off the power for some reason (can't remember now ). It wasn't a big deal to get it going again, but I lost all my configuration files. I finally broke down, got a program called fips and broke up my hard drive to make space for Linux. Then I borrowed a RedHat CD and installed Linux onto the new partition. A strange thing is that Linux can recover from switching the power off. As far as being fast, I'm not sure. One of the few differences is that these distributions are made to operate on a dos/fat32 partition instead of Linux natives ext2-type partitions. The way I see these Window Linux distributions as are just demos to help you decide if you want the real thing. Being 'demos' they have a couple limitations. One is that you only get like 200 MB of ext2 partition space so you can't install too many applications. Plus it's like a 600 MB download. An advantage, however, is that you'll be able to start up XWindows fresh from downloading the distribution (for most users with supported hardware). Personally I had to do about 2 weeks of fiddling before I got XWindows to work (but now that my laptop's components are finally supported setting the different components--with Redhat now--was a breeze). So, if you're unsure about Linux as an option, try www.phatlinux.org (I recommend this only because I myself have used it). And you needn't worry about it messing up Windows. It won't (at least it's not supposed to). You can investigate this further at their website (link is above).

JoeG

Edited by - joeG on 4/28/00 8:51:07 AM

Get the latest version you can, the newest versions are much easier to use than their older counterparts.

600 MB is a pretty big download, check out:
Dragon Linux, which can also co-exist on the DOS partition, and includes XWindows. Only 44 MB.

And check out LinuxLinks Mini Distributions if you''re really worried about the size of the download. Some distributions fit on a floppy disk! Be forewarned, XWindows and ease of installation may be sacrificed for the small size.

And note that the name of the filesystem used for co-existing with FAT partitions is UMSDOS.

Installation''s easy enough, but it will take you a while to figure out the X-Windows system (Especially if you''re used to Win95, etc). To master your system expect a learning curve of a month or two.

Of course, there are several XWindow window managers to choose from also. KDE is probably the closest to Windows 9x, I myself learned the basics of using it within the first day.

With an environment like KDE or Gnome, you could get by with daily tasks(email,word processing, etc...) with just knowing the basics(mounting, copying, deleting, etc..). There are a lot of programs for linux out there that are similar to windows programs. Most of these programs are open source/free too, which, in my opinion, makes linux in a sense easier to use.

If you want to go deeper into linux, you can''t escape commands then. Unlike windows, which has a means to do about anything with the mouse, linux still relies a bit on the shell. One example are installing or updating programs. Though I''m sure graphical installers exist, not many are used. You still need to do installation through the shell, typing in commands such as make, rpm, or whatever other install script exist.

I''m not trying to scare anyone from linux, I think it is a great OS. You just need to be prepared for the differences from windows.

As for testing linux before, another choice is vmware, if you run NT or win2000(www.vmware.com). You can try it out for 30 days for free, I think. It works pretty well and allows you to run any flavor of linux you want. The best part(or worst since it requires 96MB of RAM) is that you can run linux simultaneously with windows, meaning not having to restart the computer each time to switch OSs.

Reverof

quote: Original post by Reverof

Unlike windows, which has a means to do about linux still relies a bit on the shell. One example are installing or updating programs. Though I''m sure graphical installers exist, not many are used. You still need to do installation through the shell, typing in commands such as make, rpm, or whatever other install script exist.

Yast and Yast2 are good installers. Yast is menu-based (using ANSI text (not to be confused with C++)), and Yast2 is graphical. Both can install rpm''s easily. Both are part of the SuSE. Other major Linux distrubutions should include something similar.

Hi everybody out there!

If anyone's considering which Linux to choose: SuSE Linux Version 6.4 has a great installer, the advanced version of YaST 2 (with GUI)...the main difference is that your hardware is detected automatically and XWindow system is automatically configured too. The user has to make a decision very rarely...it's good especially for "new" users

Another suggestion: If you want to program some games in Linux, download DJGPP and the ALLEGRO library by Shawn Hargreaves!
Some features:
* Palette support for 8bpp, 16bpp, 24bpp and 32bpp
* Resolution up to 1600x1200 (depends on Graphic card)
* Bitmap algorithms (translucency effects, scaling, texture mapping etc.)
File formats supported: BMP, PCX, LBM, ...
* Sound effects and music are VERY easy to implement
* Keyboard, Mouse and Joystick routines
* Open source (you can even modify it, if you want...)
* Supports 3D-Graphics-Accelerators
* Includes some 3D math routines for those who'd like to create a 3D game
* Huge parts are written in Assembler, so you can expect that the program will run quite fast...

But it will only work with DJGPP (that's a GNU C++ compiler and you can download it FOR FREE [the download takes approximately 20 MB, Allegro needs about 1,5 MB]...)

ALLEGRO also includes 40 samples (very well documented) and a HTML manual...


Edited by - Indeterminatus on May 16, 2000 7:56:01 AM