Kalim

Hi. How advanced of a user do I have to be to use Linux and can someone point to a place or summrize the key difference between Linux and Windows. Will I be able to use it? What key features does it have? How are programs installed? Most programs I see are for Windows/Mac. Does that mean its very limited? Are the products the same in Linux as in Windows?

What is the *main aspect I need to know or be good at to be able to use Linux effectively? Whats the most difficult part of Linux for a daily user? What are its biggest flaws and pro's?


Thanks for any replies!

TheMatt

There are many distros of linux, some for people who are new to Linux/Unix, and some that are for power tweakers who are experienced. If you are new, I would look into Linspire or Mandriva if you are willing to pay a little, or Ubuntu if you want something free and stable. Take a look at this:
Which Distribution should I choose?
You will be able to run Linux on most any machine, and there are distros and kernels optimized for any type of computer. For your processor, look for a 686 or dual core kernel, or one that mentions hyperthreading. This will be optimized to utilize the multithreaded capabilities of your CPU.

The programs on linux are all free, and so are most distros. There are so many of these open source programs out there, you will be able to find a linux version for almost all your programs. One of the most famous is OpenOffice, a great set of office programs that are fully compatible with Microsoft Office (with the exception of the database program) and have all the features and more, including things like being able to save word documents ad PDF files. And, there are tons of games you can install that are great and free just like everything else, including SuperTux, a mario game with Tux, the linux penguin.

It was about 3 months ago that I switched from Windows to Kubuntu Linux, and I have found that it came with every program that I need. You can browse through all the programs with Synaptic package manager or Adept. These will let you install programs from them without having to go searching on the internet. If the program you seek is not there, you might be able to find it on the internet, but you most likely have to install it via the command line. That brings me into my next point.

Having a working knowledge of Unix commands will help you a lot. The GUI doesn't need this, but far too often, you will need to install things or manipulate files via the command line. I would like to point out that just by installing the necessary drivers and such, you will learn a lot, and you will learn even more later. When I installed Kubuntu, I had no knowledge of Unix commands, and now, after all I have used Kubuntu, I am fairly proficient with using the command line.

One of the major things Linux has over Windows is the fact that it just seems to work so much better. What I mean is that it usually has so many less problems with it; crashing is very rare, and when It does happen, the program just saves its work and closes, it doesn't hang or freeze. Sometimes there are glitches, but these are usually fixed by logging off and back on, or sometimes with a reboot.

Linux has improved over the years, and now is very stable. IMO, the most stable free distros are (K)Ubuntu, Debian, and Gentoo. Most of the pay versions are very stable. You will generally have the option of using the latest stable version of a distro, or using the less stable testing version. I usually just wait for a version to be officially released as stable before upgrading. There are also different kernels, and some are more stable then others. The default is usually pretty stable, so stick with that unless there is a specific kernel that you want.

Linux is very easy to install, most times easier than Windows. You should have at least 10 GB if you want to install a lot of programs, and 512 MB of RAM. It is worth pointing out that Linux uses all your RAM most of the time. Whatever it doesn't need for programs, processes, or services, it uses as disk cache. Most distros come with a live CD that you will boot off of, and that allows you to preview it before installing on the hard drive. When you want to install, you click the install icon. It will walk you through a process, in which you will install on empty space. There is often an option to let it automaticly install on the largest free space, so if you are not farmiliar with partitioning, you don't have to worry. Then you will set up the swap partition, which is basicly a separate partition that does the same thing as the pagefile. For your system, you probably won't ever use the pagefile, but make it 512 MB just in case. after that, you will set up user accounts, and all that stuff.

Kalim

Wow, thanks Matt! You covered near enough everything thoroughly. I have HT in the processor BTW. OK. So theres some reassurance as you've also just started using it and you were unfamiliar before.

Firstly windows takes a looong while to load on and install. Is this the same with (k)Ubuntu?
Can I just install it on my drive partition, safely?

Going through the links it came to offering me the Mandriva or openSUSE. Does Fedora Core 6 "Zod" or Fedora Core 5 "Bordeaux", by Red Hat Linux offer better functionality than these and others? Are these two much more user intensive and technically orientated?

Lastly and majorly, security is a big issue for me... which are the good friewall/anti-virus brands provided for Linux dsitro's i.e. can you get spyware blaster, spyware guard, ad-aware se, etc for it?

I have used it before many times, but very simply and for business related reasons with other associates. Not at home though.

Thats all thanks.

Kalim

^ and I don't want to install many programs. maybe 3GB of them, at maximum after 4-5 months with it. I have Mac Pro running OS X v10.4 with 8BG RAM for them and also three version of XP Pro and a Win 2000 on a separate PC so I run that and XP Pro on this system (in info) for most programs. At one of my work places we use Vista RTM in my office as well as XP Pro and Server 2003. Most of the other systems are very powerful professional equipment based like the IBM with 16GB RAM, So I have no need to bring too much at home or wherever I'm travelling to. The only obstacle arises when I want to transfer professional software used in medical environments such as surgery and optometry and I try to find the most user friendly and stable OS to install and run them. Even though most of them are only developed for XP :( So I'm kinda sick of XP and Windows for now and would like to go elsewhere. I've used the Panther/Puma/Cheetah editions of Mac OS/X aswell but its a little old for me. Linux looks great, however I've never till this day seen it working or heard/known much about it at all. Ignorance is always frightening you see but I have no or very little time to read around and do research. Which again halts this quest. Thanks for all.

TheMatt

I think 10 GB should be fine. Kubuntu doesn't take nearly as long to install as Windows. First, I would clear 10 GB of space from device manager. If you have multiple partions, back up data from one of them, and delete it and make it 10 GB smaller. If you have a third party partitioning tool like Acronis Disk Director, then you can simply re size the partition. Once you have 10 GB of unformated space, you are all set.

When you install Linux, you will boot from the CD. If it is a live CD, you will be in a GUI desktop, and there will be an install icon. Click this. It will take you through the process. You can select to install on the largest unallocated space, so do this.

You will notice that Linux may take a little longer to boot than Windows, but once it is all loaded, it is much quicker, as Linux uses your RAM much more efficiently. Having 2 GB will help.

Security is no issue. You won't need an Antivirus, as there really aren't enough viruses for linux that there is a need. For a firewall, I use KMyFirewall. If you use KDE, then that would be a great program. GNOME and XFCE probably have their own also. I am also behind a router, so that helps too.

Mandriva would be the most simple, but if you don't want to spend money, look at OpenSUSE. Ubuntu is also fairly simple.

Kalim

Well thanks Matt.

Looking at the suggestions, I recalled I have an 80GB HDD spare which only has a 5% complete installation of XP on it, tucked away somewhere. I'll have to format it anyway, so I may as well split it into 3 or 4 and use about 20-26 GB for each installation of Linux distro's. Easiest and quickest way of experimenting I guess.

Ones I'm now looking into are Mandriva, Ubuntu, Xubuntu and Kubuntu.
I'll most definitely go for Mandriva and Xubuntu no matter what, but not sure of the other two yet. I did want Fedora Core as well any version 5 or 6 but I'm not too sure yet.

Thanks much for the info and clarity :-)

K-B

On Black Friday I picked up a 200gb hard drive. I quartered it and moved XP to a partition on that from the old 40gb. Now I'm going to split the 40 gb in quarters, and use those for my Linux testing grounds. I'm thinking like you Kalim, I'm going to install Mandriva, one of the Ubuntu family, PCLinuxOS, maybe Fedora 6 (I used fedora 5 for a long time, it was the best distro I'd ever used).

Kalim

Thanks kbalona.
Since you've used Fedora 5 for a long time, how does it compare with XP would you say in terms of: ease of usage, layout, stability, variety of tasks do-able, and RAM/CPU usage on average for a task?

Also, on a 200GB HDD, what temperature is average for you, if you've ever kept watch on it?

Thanks.

K-B

My sincere opinion of it was that it is easier to configure than many other distros. I used Ubuntu for a while and just didn't feel comfortable with it. I also tried Suse and Xandros. Fedora was the first one that I had zero problems configuring. Partly because it's a very widely used distro and there is plenty of guides & help available. I never had any stability problems. At the time I had it on a 10GB partition which I never used it all up, and 512MB RAM. Startup time was good. The layout is good, I especially like KDE. I never really looked at the RAM/CPU usage. Another reason that I initially chose Fedora is because I had found this guide that was easy to follow and allowed me to easily set everything up.

The hard drive, I did check the temps a few times but I can't remember I do know that it ran a little cooler than my WD 40GB one. I can see what the average is and I'll send you a PM when I get home
Hope that answered your questions.

Kalim

Thanks. Checked out the site, its through and clean to the point. I'll follow that and I'm downloading the Fedora 5 ISO right now.

Have decided to format another 80GB HDD, a new one, and install Fedora allotting a 15GB space, which I think is enough from all I've read an been advised.
The remaining partitions will be 2 x 15GB 1 x 10Gb and 1 x 25GB for the 3 other Linux distro's and an XP Pro SP2.

5 in 1 - not bad eh

Kalim

With much help, I've managed to clone my original drive, and deleted another partition thats now dedicated to Linux

I've decided on Ubuntu (on hold with a query), Fedora, Mandriva and Xubuntu/OpenSUSE

I have 7 partitions spare on hard drives I don't usually use, so I can stretch a little if need be.

Any verdict between OpenSUSE and Xubuntu?

BTW I managed to get a temp measurement on a 200GB I had. I have a big fan running right next to it so it read 26C most of the time. Wen doing the formatting/cloning it was upto 30C.

K-B

Well, I haven't tried Xubuntu but I have tried OpenSuse but did not use it long because I couldn't get my printer working properly. Although I believe that I would now be able to because of my increased knowledge I thought it was a pretty good distro.
I don't think you have to worry about the HD temp. If you know the model you can go to the manufacturer's website and it will say what the maximum operating temp is. It's usually a lot higher than that.

Kalim

OK. I have an issue: if I have my HDD already partitioned into four parts with the formatting I require, which option do I choose at the partition setup when installing?

Secondly, if WinXP fails to load up at some time, does that mean the Linux flavor installed will also mess up?

Will I still be able to access each drive or at least the XP one to get its data or not?

Erm, I've tried it and when I saw expert options to choose my partition as hda hda2 etc, i quit the installation.

I thought there would be a way to just choose an existing partition rather than what I saw, which involved deleting it and creating another one formatted as FAT32.

What confused me more isWhat in the world!?

I doubt I'd be risking this with a HDD with my main Win installation on. It'll have to be a spare HDD that the first full attempt will be executed on.

Thanks for any help.

K-B

which distro are you attempting to install?

Kalim

I tried Red Hat Linux 7.2 as my first attempt. Are things different with other flavors?

Kalim

Err, I meant are things different with other distro's I'm concerned with i.e. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Mandriva, OpenSUSE and Fedora?

Thanks.

K-B

When I installed Fedora, I only made 2 partitions, one swap and one for the system.
7.2 is pretty old, maybe you should try a newer one. Like v.9

Kalim

Do I have to make separate partitions that are as tiny as 1GB just for the paging?

Do I have to delete the partitions already made and then choose in the partitions setup to partition them, again?

I already have everything splitup and formatted as I wish. I thought there could be an easier more effective way.

I'm now guna try Fedora 5 on the other HDD.

Thanks.

K-B

Right. You should have a swap (pagefile) at least 1GB. As far as I know, you can use that same swapfile for all distros. They don't need each one. You shouldn't have delete the partitions already made. You should be able to select which ones you want, but if they're not formatted for the correct filesystem, the installer should be able to format it.
I spent all evening trying to install Mandriva One, with no success

Kalim

Danke

I've just tried installing Ubuntu 6.06 and chickened out when I saw the loader and didn't recognize anything familiar