help me with linux please!!

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wayne

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Aug 4, 2003
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i m totally new to linux but i plan to install it on a POS system that i have and i chose linux because the only other os i have is winXP and i dont wanna buy other software to get a useless computer to work... i believe this computer has a pentium 133 Mhz cpu, a hdd about 1 gig and it uses the old kinda keyboards (AT)...

i want to install linux because winXP takes about 3 gig and i dont think it has that much memory on the harddrive

now, i m totally new to linux, first of all, can someone tell me the most popular versions of linux and in chronical order so i sorta get an idea whats new and older... and which ones free?... and where can i get them?

when i install linux, do i just boot from cd and let the setup do its stuff?, anything i have to keep in mind?

thanks in advance
 
Going by desktoplinux.com, most popular ones would be Mandrake, Redhat, SuSE, Debian...

Basically, you can get almost distro without paying. I think one of the few exceptions is Linspire, which costs $49. Doesn't matter anyways, we're not going to care about that.

first off: go to http://www.linuxiso.org

Here you can download linux distributions in .iso form.

Since you have never had linux experience, I'll recommend using an old version of Redhat, or an older SuSE version.
 
for a newbie install, i'd reccommend mandrake. i think your best bet would be to install mandrake 8.2 or red hat 7.2, both of which are available from the above link.

if you are going to install any "new" distro, i would be careful about how many packages you install. most new distro's assume you have a newish pc that has copious amounts of hd space and a decent cpu.

for example, if prompted to install both kde and gnome desktop environments, don't. pick one or the other (i'd pick gnome, because it's smaller, and not as processor dependent).

even still, gnome probably won't run too hot on that processor. look into using blackbox or fluxbox. if you need something more windowy, see if icewm is an option for you.
 
BillLeeLee said:
Going by desktoplinux.com, most popular ones would be Mandrake, Redhat, SuSE, Debian...

Basically, you can get almost distro without paying. I think one of the few exceptions is Linspire, which costs $49. Doesn't matter anyways, we're not going to care about that.

first off: go to http://www.linuxiso.org

Here you can download linux distributions in .iso form.

Since you have never had linux experience, I'll recommend using an old version of Redhat, or an older SuSE version.
Click to expand...
whats .iso form? and how do i use it?

how do i install it on a new system? install meaning the whole process, etc... do i install it like i would install winXP?, load cd and boot from cd rom and follow setup steps?

thanks
 
ISO is a CD image. any worthwhile CD burning suite will have "burn from image" or "burn from ISO" or some such.

installs are normally "insert-cd-follow-instructions" like XP, but vary by flavor and are generally more complex. You really ought to read up on some install documents before you take a stab at it, just so you're aware of what the options really are (swap partitions and so forth).

//edit: I likewise think Mandrake is a good starter distro
 
lomn75 said:
ISO is a CD image. any worthwhile CD burning suite will have "burn from image" or "burn from ISO" or some such.

installs are normally "insert-cd-follow-instructions" like XP, but vary by flavor and are generally more complex. You really ought to read up on some install documents before you take a stab at it, just so you're aware of what the options really are (swap partitions and so forth).
Click to expand...
where do i read up on some install documents?

thanks
 
Pick a distro, then go to that distro's homepage and peruse their documentation. I'm certain the install instructions will be easy to find regardless of which you pick.
 
lomn75 said:
Pick a distro, then go to that distro's homepage and peruse their documentation. I'm certain the install instructions will be easy to find regardless of which you pick.
Click to expand...
ok, i m downloading disk one of redhat 7.2
thanks for the help so far

under redhat 7.2 theres 4 discs to download and also a fifth one called alpha-docs.... can i assume thats the documents?.. if so, thats a pretty big file, 593mb

so i just download these 4 discs, burn them to 4 different cds and boot it in the new computer?

thanks
 
You probably only need the first one or two. 3 and 4 are likely additional but rarely-used packages.

Alpha is for an entirely different processor architecture (the Alpha), you can ignore that. x86 documentation will almost certainly be on disc 1

Google found this pretty quick on a "redhat 7 manual" search. I'm not saying that to belittle but to point out that a lot of stuff will be fairly readily available, particularly howtos.
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/
 
lomn75 said:
You probably only need the first one or two. 3 and 4 are likely additional but rarely-used packages.

Alpha is for an entirely different processor architecture (the Alpha), you can ignore that. x86 documentation will almost certainly be on disc 1

Google found this pretty quick on a "redhat 7 manual" search. I'm not saying that to belittle but to point out that a lot of stuff will be fairly readily available, particularly howtos.
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/
Click to expand...
wait, so you're saying i dont need disc 3 and 4?... is this a fact?... because it takes me about 3 hours to download one disc so it saves time if i dont need to download all the discs
 
lomn75 said:
Right. Technically, disc 1 is enough to get by, but disc 2 is usually worth grabbing on most distros, as it will (likely) have a lot of useful packages.

found a reference here
http://www.geniusweb.com/LDP/HOWTO/ATA-RAID-HOWTO/preparing.html
The topic is a little different, but note they only suggest grabbing discs 1 and 2.
Click to expand...
thanks for the reference... i guess i ll try with 1 and 2 as of now and if i need 3 and 4 i can always wait a lil longer

so as of now, i m just waiting for disc 1 to finish downloading which is at 29%... really slow download and this is cable, i feel sry for those downloading on 56k, lol

so yea, i m gonna leave my comp on all night for this and next night for disc 2 and next next night for disc 3 and so forth

thanks... is there anything else i should know?
 
Before you burn you iso's to cd, make sure that your MD5SUM's match.
 
I'm assuming that you are downloading from www.linuxiso.org/ ,since it has already been mentioned. You said that you are downloading Red Hat 7.2. Look to the right of the download link and you'll see a link that says MD5SUM. Click on it and you see a combination of numbers and letters like "2f48bec90aa3c59ce3fb7d3aa27da15e RedHat-7.2-alpha-20020627-disc1.iso". The first 32 numbers is your md5sum. Download a md5sum checker and check the iso you downloaded. If the number doesn't match, don't bother to burn it to cd, because it probably won't work right. I found out the hard way. Went through a stack of cd's before I ever heard of md5sum's.
 
I think the best way to learn linux is to go to Barnes & Noble and get a copy of the redhat bible. They are good books and reading them is what taught me how to use *nix.
 
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