Thinking about going Linux

[avx]

Ive been on windows all my life, so I want a change of pace, so when I do my new build Im thinking about going Linux, maybe even a duel OS system. Any problems you guys could see me running into?

Thanks for you advice

avx

[electrotech]

I have used only Linux Mandrake 9 and have experience loading it and doing a little surfing with it, but my 14 year old son swears by it, uses it most of the time. Has the look and feel of windows and seems straight forward, still has some tricky stuff dealing with mounting drives etc.
I installed a romtec triple hard drive switch in his system, this keeps all three of his OS,s - W98se, XP, and Linux completely separated, very nice for experimenting and not goofing up your main OS and allows him to play the games that works best in each OS.

http://www.romtecusa.com/trios/product/rom_t6_main.htm

[avx]

Thats one of the main reason I wanted to get it, cause it was a little more difficult than windows

Thnaks for the advice electrotech, I guess Ill just go for it...at the very worst I wont like it and Ill just remove and install XP.

Thanks again.

avx

[Markoman01027]

Few buddies of mine had a problem duel booting Windows 2000 and Linux Mandrake even though they installed Windows 2000 first. Problem was, they installed LILO. Not sure if that was the cause of the problem. I suggest you boot Linux off of a floopy disk, so it doesnt alter the master boot record.

[avx]

Ok, When I do it Ill be sure to remember to do it that way, thanks for the heads up markoman.

[Dangermouse1]

I have recently put Mandrake 9 on my WinME system. Went to bios and changed it so you boot from cd.Put cd in and restart and Mandrake 9 does it all for you. I still have loads to learn but using linux is fun (so far)
DM1

[Computer Hobbyist]

I think you need to get a good book if you want to learn linux.

What uses do you want your Linux OS to support. Desktop, Mandrake is hard to beat. Server, Redhat is great. Suse is great too. None of this is to say that Redhat 8.0 won't do a great job on a desktop or Mandrake 9.0 can't be the basis of a network server. Linux is Linux and the various distributions are little more that variations of the same basic core.

I would mention Lindows and Lycos but you want something a little harder than Windows and those distros are intended to be very Windows like.

I am probably the last guy on the planet who says that, if possible, you should dedicate an entire machine to Linux..

CH

[crow]

Try Knoppix. It runs off of a CD & you do not have to install it. You can try Linux without all the riggamorel. Set your Bios to start with floppy--cd--hard drive. Insert the CD and restart. When you're ready to (give up), remove the CD, & restart.
-
Len

[jglen490]

Originally posted by avx487 Ive been on windows all my life, so I want a change of pace, so when I do my new build Im thinking about going Linux, maybe even a duel OS system. Any problems you guys could see me running into? Thanks for you advice avx

I had the same thought a couple of years ago. I borrowed a small (1.1GB) corner of my wife's PC, brave soul that I am , and installed Mandrake 8.0. It worked beautifully, once I overcame a hardware failure (CD drive), and my own fumble-fingers.

Since it was only a small corner of her machine, I dual-booted. The dual-boot process couldn't have been easier to set up, again after I overcame some more fumble-fingering, using Grub installed on the MBR of the hard drive. Since Grub was set up to default to Windoze and had a fairly short timeout (5 seconds, IIRC), it didn't really affect Windoze boot-up.

Today, I have my own, dedicated Linux box, and it works wonderfully for all that I want to do in computing. Your goals, and results, will be different, but dual-booting is a simple thing and doesn't require a great deal of effort to either set up or take down. Give it a try!!

[penetrecion]

Worst case scenario... you have to reinstall Windows or Linux again (big deal). I have dual booted my systems for a while now... the process is really simple once you get used to it. Have had Windows 98 with Mandrake 8.2 & 9.0, ASP Linux 7.2 & 7.3, Red Hat 7.3 & 8.0, Ark Linux, Debian, Slackware... Had a lot of fun! Had to try them all out! Out of all of them... Mandrake 9.0 was best with ASP Linux 7.3 coming in second, Red Hat, I never liked (it's userability stunk... the menus were garbled and had lots o problems with). Ark Linux is great but is still in Alpha stage... once they get it all fixed up that will take place of Mandrake for me (maybe).

Main idea is to have fun... do a full installation... Linux distros come with a HUGE amount of documentation already within it... don't buy a book, just play!