Learn Linux

[dektek11]

I'm running XP pro right now but am building a new machine and am wanting to check out Linux as an option. What's the best way to play with it to learn. Can I get it on this machine to learn with or install as a 2nd OS? I have an empty drive on this machine.

thx

[kram 2.0]

Welcome to PC Mech forums

What you can do is purchase Windows XP if you need to, since you're probably best used to that, then create another partition of the HDD to Linux.

Hope that helps,
kram

[Yuanji]

yeah dual boot with linux to try a bit of it but you still can fall back on WinXP

[Markoman01027]

Originally Posted by kram8806 Welcome to PC Mech forums What you can do is purchase Windows XP if you need to, since you're probably best used to that, then create another partition of the HDD to Linux. Hope that helps, kram

You can even let Linux do the partitioning for you. Instead of making a partition for Linux, swap file, etc yourself, you can allow Linux to use the unallocated space left on your HD for that. I think that is a better way than doing everything yourself. Especially if your a beginner with Linux.

[dektek11]

Dual booting is the same for partitions or hard drives, correct? What I mean is I can just use my empty drive instead of partitioning my xp drive?

[kram 2.0]

Yes, you can use two HDD with an OS in each, or one partitioned for two OSs.

Hope that helps,
kram

[dektek11]

Cool, thx. I almost forgot- what distribution would you recommend? I read in another post that vector or college is good for beginners. True? or is there a better suggestion?

[ZeratulsAvenger]

If you look around in any of the other Linux threads, most of the time recomendations go towards Suse, Fedora/Red Hat, Mandrake, Slackware, and Gentoo. First 3 are a little easier to install and use, last 2 are good choices although can be more difficult.

[dektek11]

Ok. Now I have another problem. I originally formatted the 120GB drive to NTFS with my disk management. I want to partition it before I install Linux, but Partition Magic is telling me that it 'has one or more partitions that cannot be moved' and to 'use the Operations menu rather than a wizard'. It also shows the color of the disk as Dynamic "other" and not NTFS (in Partition Magic).

I reposted this in hard drives. Thx for all the responses.

[Rugpriest]

How about trying a live cd version first? That way you dont have to do any partitioning, just boot from the cd and it runs in memory without touching your hard drive. Ive tried suse linux live version, but I prefer knoppix which is based on Debian linux - www. knoppix.org. They're a great way to lear linux, also you can find out if your hardware is compatible, best of all - they're free!

[Markoman01027]

I have recently installed Slackware 10 and that went pretty well..Not as much user friendly as Mandrake. I'd suggest go with Mendrake or Fedora and learn from that and then possibly upgrade to something else like Suse, Debian, or even Slackware.

[LocoCoyote]

The best bet if you just want to check Linux out, is to get a copy of Knoppix. This distro is well rounded and runs directly from the CD. Nothing is installed on your system, but you get a full OS. This is not just some kind of demo..it is the real thing. I know people who use knoppix exclusively.