Hey guys. I've never used linux before, but I hear it's a pretty solid product (in not so many words). So, I was thinking of converting one of my old computers into a linux box. If I were to do something like this, I'd definitely want some kind of easy-to-learn GUI... mainly what I want to do is set up my soon-to-be-linux-box to be a system that can store all my backup files over a network. If i put linux on that system, how would I setup my main windows-based computers so that I could mount my linux box as a network drive and copy files to and fro over my largely windows-based home LAN? Also... if I start to enjoy using linux, how easy would it be to set up some kind of windows/directX emulator to play all my favorite games, and would it run just as smoothly as the real directX? Lastly, what Linux GUI/distro/whatever (i.e. SuSE, RedHat, etc... you can tell I'm totally linux illiterate [which is ironic considering the amazing things I can do with windows]) would be best for me? I do a bit of programming with C++, I play a lot of games, I do a lot of file transfers over my network, and Ive NEVER USED LINUX BEFORE. (oh, and where could I find some nice tutorials for how to use linux like a pro?) Thanks guys...

SAMBA is the name of the program which lets you use a linux box the same as a windows box on a windows network (share drives).

The most common GUIs you have to choose from are gnome and KDE ... both are easy and feature full and usually you can install both at the same time from any distro (you just pick which one you want to use as your personal desktop).

there are a million distros, www.distrowatch.com ... go to the "Major Distrobutions" link in the top header bar. I have mainly used SUSE for linux (and Mandrake previously), and FreeBSD for servers ... but that doesn't make them better, they we're better 5 years ago, when the number of good distros was less than 5 ... now there are plenty of choices, and many are good.

The C++ compiler you will use is called gcc (gnu compiler collection).

I have no idea how easy Wine / WineX are to get running, never done it (my friends have - but their linux techno people, so that doesn't say much either way).

Awesome. Thanks!

Are there any highly-simplistic online resources that could explain various aspects and uses of linux to me?

Lastly, what are the main differences between distros? E.g. why would I choose Mandrake over SuSE, or RedHat over Mandrake, and so on? Does one run faster than another, or what?

Quote: Original post by BTownTKD
Lastly, what are the main differences between distros? E.g. why would I choose Mandrake over SuSE, or RedHat over Mandrake, and so on? Does one run faster than another, or what?

No, not really. Linux itself is just a kernel. A distribution (aka distro) is combines the Linux kernel with a set of packages (like shells, development tools, windowing systems, etc).

Here is a great Linux tutorial. It deals with Debian as its distro, but 99% of it will apply to others as well.

As for distributions, there is not that much diference between them that I can tell (but I am not an expert). The biggest issue in choosing one is how much of a pain is it to install[smile]. I use Ubuntu.

The biggest difference between distros is what software they have packaged. Most of the distros are alike but some add more functionality, such as server, workstation, desktop versions. Id suggest going with openSUSE, the installer is easy to use and its got a really great community. Download

I would also recommend opensuse. It's easy to install (graphics, sound, network etc. should all be setup automatically) and it has an easy GUI interface for installing software and configuring things, such as setting up a samba network so you can link with your Windows machine. You should never have to use the command-line if you don't want to. See this review for a walkthrough: http://madpenguin.org/cms/html/47/5382.html

Please don't waste your time manually installing a distro that requires you to configure and install everything yourself. You don't need to do this anymore; Linux is easy to use.

I **HIGHLY** recommend starting with Ubuntu, which is based entirely on debian (so that tutorial above will work). You will also have access to all of the debian package repositories through apt (advanced package tool)... over 16000 packages without even adding new repositories.

APT makes it incredibly easy to update and get and install new packages. Let's say you want to install kdevelop (an IDE that uses the KDE libs)... you just go to the command line and type 'apt-get install kdevelop3' and it will get everything you need. To find the package kdevelop3 you can just type 'apt-cache search kdevelop' and it would give you the relevant packages.

You don't have to deal with the cmd line though, because you can do all of that through a really nice GUI front end called synaptic.

With ubuntu, you will have to get all of the development packages, which isn't a problem with rpm. You will also need to get the samba package. Ubuntu handles a lot of config for you, installs VERY easily, and fits on a single CD (others might require you to d/l 3-4 CDs).

Regardless of the distro, to configure all of that stuff I recommend webmin, which runs a local webserver and gives a nice html form-based configuration for virtually everything you can imagine. You could administer you entire system remotely if you wanted to, and even burn CDs through webmin. You just have to install all of the modules you want (there are modules for apache, samba, cd burning, user management, package management, and everything else).

Quote: Original post by smitty1276
I **HIGHLY** recommend starting with Ubuntu, which is based entirely on debian (so that tutorial above will work). You will also have access to all of the debian package repositories through apt (advanced package tool)... over 16000 packages without even adding new repositories.

I'm not trying to start a distro war, but does Ubuntu come with easy to use configuration utilities for setting up a samba network (the OP said they wanted an easy to learn GUI)? Opensuse has yast; a set of wizard style GUIs for things like samba, bluetooth, graphics settings, tv cards, power management, printers etc. I just don't see why people need to follow a tutorial to install Linux when it's easier to install than Windows now (assuming your hardware is supported) with some distros. If new users try distros that force them to use the command-line it can scare them away before they give linux a chance. See here for some yast screenshots:
http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=145&slide=1&title=yast+screenshots

By the way, if the OP has never tried Linux before, try a Live CD. For example, you can download the opensuse live cd, burn it to a cd, reboot and in a couple of minutes (with no install), you'll have a full linux KDE desktop session running with web browsing, office software, email software etc. running in RAM that works just like the real installed version of opensuse would.

Like I said, ubuntu is fairly lightweight on install, but everything you need is incredibly easy to get. Network configuration, hardware configuration, etc, is all there. It's the single easiest distro I have ever used in terms of configuration.

Samba is NOT included on install, but like I said... 'apt-get install samba'. There are many good gui config tools, but I suggested webmin with the samba module. I think there is a gnome samba gui also, but I'm not sure.

'apt-get install webmin webmin-samba', or something to that effect. (Just use synaptic)

I've used Suse. In the long term, Ubuntu is much more user friendly in my opinion. Suse is nice also, though. I'm sure you'll be happy with whichever you use. I just think that the fact that Ubuntu is built on Debian gives it some really nice advantages for a new user. You eventually end up trying them all if you like it, so it doesn't really matter.