Linux Install

[homer15]

hi. i was wondering if installing linux on a windows 2000/xp dual boot sytem would mess anything up? i do know it would require it's own partition space.
if i intsall it, will it just add it's boot information to me boot.ini?

[DrZaius]

Hi homer15,

I think you might find this site useful.

[homer15]

thanks for the link. does anyone happen to know if the installation process of redhat is the same as mandrake?

[OOPS!]

Hi,

No, they aren't the same. Similar, but slightly different. They both are pretty easy GUI installs. You will need to know the same info for either one. If you know what hardware is in your box, then it will be pretty easy as the GUI install will ask you for what it needs to know.

If you have a boxed set. Check out the manual, It will get you familiar with what you will need to know. If you downloaded it, check out the manual on line. Once you do that, I think you will find that either RH or Mandy to no more difficult than Windows to install.


OOPS!

[homer15]

ok, thanks. it's a home built pc, so i had better know everthing that's in it.
i got redhat (i think version 7.2) from my school. what the difference between that and mandrake? i've heard mandrake is for like home users... but what exactly does that mean? is it geared more towards games or something? also, does linux have dvd support?

[Computer Hobbyist]

Generally speaking either Mandrake 8.1 (8.2) or RedHat 7.2 can be used for either home or business.

I think, however, that it's fair to say that Mandrake is aimed at the desktop market, and RedHat is trying hard to reach the back office or server market. There is a gamers version of Mandrake on the market, and the latest version of Mandrake (8.2) will be shipped with the StarOffice 6.0 office suite. I recently read a ZDNet interview with the President of RedHat who says that he thinks the future of Linux is in servers and not as a desktop OS. He acknowledges that he has been roundly critized for such statements. In fairness Linux and Unix combined for something more than 1/2 the server market last year. Linux in particular seems to be eating Microsoft's lunch in that arena. On the desktop Microsoft looks invincible, but then again so did that ice shelf that just collapsed in Antartica.

I use Mandrake 8.1 on my home machine and have found it an outstanding OS for the desktop.

CH

[homer15]

is freezing an issue at all with linux? or is it way to stable for that? i know it's really hard to crash a linux machine (and when one does go down, it's displayed with a skull and bones icon on a network).

[Computer Hobbyist]

Freezing is not normally a problem with Linux. It is just about as stable an operating system as has ever been written. It takes a lot to crash a Linux system.

CH