linux

this is kind of aimed at voldemort since he's been throwing out some good info in redcap's new computer thread, but anyone else caring to contribute is welcome:

what's a good way to ease into linux? i'm getting fed up with having to reformat my xp machine every few months, then spending days tweaking it all to my liking so it actually runs at a decent speed. then once it's tweaked, still having to run registry cleaners all the time, defragmenting after every uninstall or major file structure change... it's all just too much for me. plus i like to try new things, and lots of the best software i've found recently has been open source..

anyway i've got some programs that only work in a windows environment which has been keeping me from making the change, but i suppose dual-boot is an option? anyway most of those programs were specialty things i needed for my PhD research but now that's done so i can set them aside. and i've started using gimp and openoffice in anticipation of a transition soon.

i'd appreciate your 10 cents on the matter! i know there are forums and beginner guides for this, but we're all friendly here, right?

thanks!

ubuntu is the way i'd recommend someone go who's never installed linux before. it runs from a cd and ram. you dont even need to partition a drive for a linux drive. after that, i'm a bit out of the scene, but i still hear 'redhat' thrown around a lot.

interesting. hadnt heard of slax before. looks new. the web pages arent even done yet but, i do like the configurable/modular part.

so, how do you get around not having a partition on slax? slax is a live type, also? so, you boot it up from cd/dvd and then insert your thumb (or already have the thumb inserted) and it sees that and loads all the stuff there or it just makes all that available? sounds pretty slick, almost like vmware.

hehe, aint lernin fun

darnit i can't get my wireless card to work. lots to learn! everything else is good though. gotta find a better picture viewer, and find a module of gimpshop someplace...

this is cool!

the carpet delivery guy is 40 minutes late. why am i not surprised??

yeah i know about having to set up hardware, i'll have to look into it a little deeper. didn't get much time to play around yesterday, but hopefully this weekend i can look at it more.

i'm pretty impressed with Wine, i got some basic windows software to run just like i was in windows. cool!

i suppose the only way i'll really make it is to learn the command line stuff. i'll have to go find a 'linux for dummies' ebook today...

Just to let you know --Linux is Linux About the only real difference with distros is what packages are included in the base
--all of them can install the same packages

2nd difference
package managment
deb
rpm
tar
source
deb and rpm being the easiest

any additional config tools the distro provider might produce
theese really arnt that many but can make life much easier


the quality of packages made for your distro
not all packages are packaged equally
that said source is the most reliable but a pain in the rear
beyond that for newbies I recomend stable builds of the good old tried and true distos like redhat and suse debian(not ubuntu) but for ease of use and installation mandrake and ubuntu suse and fedora (public version of redhat)

as far as thumbdrive goes --all of them have this capacity --it might not be as straight forward with some

for instance there is no click here to make a thumb drive version of ubuntu but there are a ton of articles telling you how and distro derivatives of ubuntu that are thumb drive ready

you want to know the truth

untill your feet are wet

install a minimal install and if you have 2 cores on your box download vmware player (free version of vmware) and a precompiled image of linux --quick and painless way to get your feet wet and safer ---this way if it crashes you just copy the image file back and your up and running in seconds --this is why so many companies are going virtual at the enterprise level

I use a wide variety of linux distos --to keep familliar with the various distro quirks but for beginners that want a full install I generally give them ubuntu with the kde desktop
(kubuntu) though I found installing ubuntu and then adding kde to it tends to be more stable

for thumbdrive users I tend to install mandrake linux

one last thing to consider is
andlinux

it is a derivative of colinux that insalls linux on a loopback file system and runs it as a NT process --this way you can explore linux with out any drastic action and since it runs as a NT process it hardly uses any resources

good luck and have fun

any questions PM me

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CFandM wrote: Nope FF will not run in wine

actually with the latest svn build I get it to run except for 3 components in the editor when ever I try to drag them I can expect it to crash --and hard

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CFandM wrote: The other thing you can do is download the Free version of VirtualPC and test your Linux skills with this... http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/de...laylang=en

yeah virt pc is free
vm ware player is free
virtual box is also free
the reason I steared him towards vmware free player you can download premade images of linux wich the others dont have

if you really want to squeeze the most performance out of your box
inotek virtual box --every system Ive tested it on repeatedly beats all the competition including commercial (non free) ones

warning though with player --not all the hardware specs cant be changed from the qui --conf files yes and from a command line but not with the gui --the free version is limited

If I ever get it working properly (that is everything) Ill precompile a deb and rpm of my wine install and upload it to the ff team

i expect a wine version very soon now that google is bankrolling code weavers
wine development has really taken off

well i spent some time playing with the slackware distro i downloaded. i don't know, i think i'm just not enough of a power user to make the switch. i'm pretty proficient with windows, and though it has its bumps, it doesn't let me down that often.

so thanks for the input, but i have found what i was looking for by just modding windows. i think i'll go with this instead:

http://emergedesktop.org/

it's a lovely shell replacement for explorer. i've had it installed for a few days and have it configured pretty nicely. along with this program launcher:

http://www.launchy.net/index.html

it is pretty pleasing, and runs much better than explorer ever did on my old laptop. quicker and easier to get what i need out of my machine. plus, both resources are open source which i like!

below is a snapshot of my current desktop configuration - right clicking on the desktop gives you a start menu. the desktop stays exposed at the bottom so it's always accessible. the thing in the middle is Launchy - a hotkey brings it up, then just start typing the program/folder/file you want and it comes up with a list of possibilities. very customizable, and much faster than the start menu. bottom right is the system tray, set to 20% transparency but changes to 100% on mouseover. clicking on the clock turns it into a text box that works like the windows 'run' command. bottom left is the taskbar. also running a graphical alt-tab replacement called TopDesk. the calendar top-right is a program called Rainlender, and the weather gadget is powered by DesktopX. a patched uxtheme.dll lets me run unofficial windows themes, that's how i got the look. custom icon set too. oh and also running as part of the shell replacement is an amazing hotkey program that really makes things move quickly by reducing mouse usage even more

all that, and it's still quicker than the original explorer shell!

so yes i'm sure linux can do all this and more, but i threw this together in a couple of evenings, and i'm happy with it. linux would take me weeks to figure out. and this way, i have no software issues...

Quote

Kraellin wrote: CF, one note to folks here, virtualpc will not run on windows xp home version. at least it's not supported by M$: Quote Virtual PC 2007 runs on: Windows Vistaâ„¢ Business; Windows Vistaâ„¢ Enterprise; Windows Vistaâ„¢ Ultimate; Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition; Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition; Windows XP Professional; Windows XP Professional x64 Edition; or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Hey wheres the free OSX version...