linux

[merkwannabe]

I've been wondering, what are the pros and cons to linux?

Does it use less resources than XP?..because usually my "explorer.exe" is bumming most of my computer power. I think I phrased that wrong.. I mean, it is usually pretty high even when nothing is running.

And.. Is it simple to use? I mean, can I find documents, pictures, etc easily or is everything basically hidden and you have to remember what you named your folders and such.. :confused:

This thread was made just for fun. I don't really plan on getting it, unless of course it's just that good!

[Slice]

Linux is probably not for you unless you wanted to learn a much more detailed and less graphical operating system. Plus a lot of software including games do not work at all with Linux. It's pretty much not user friendly to put it bluntly.

[merkwannabe]

Linux is probably not for you unless you wanted to learn a much more detailed and less graphical operating system. Plus a lot of software including games do not work at all with Linux. It's pretty much not user friendly to put it bluntly.ahh Thanks.. That's what I expected.. I'm a very visual person. I already get lost on XP sometimes and there's icons everywhere! I can't imagine on linux.. :eek:

[Dissectional]

ahh Thanks.. That's what I expected.. I'm a very visual person. I already get lost on XP sometimes and there's icons everywhere! I can't imagine on linux.. :eek:

go to www.knoppix.com and you can download an ISO image, and pretty much run Linux from a CD or DVD. You won't have all the functionality, but you will be able to 'see' what it is all about. 700MB download.

[Nitro]

free software rules :)

[ME BIGGD01]

i suggest messing around with it. it seems to be moving forward and crunching into microsofts shares. it isnt easy but it can become a hobby for you and if you do learn it, you will be able to say you know it and make some extra money if needed in the field. one never knows if this os will be more popular in 5 years but if you know it now, you are a head of the game.

[merkwannabe]

go to www.knoppix.com (http://www.knoppix.com) and you can download an ISO image, and pretty much run Linux from a CD or DVD. You won't have all the functionality, but you will be able to 'see' what it is all about. 700MB download.WOW. Thanks a ton!

@BiggD, well, I don't think I'll be getting that serious about it. I'd be satisfied if I could run Sam and Mozilla. :D

[JIMINATOR]

you can run doom 3 bubba!! they have a winblows emulator formerly known as wine... anyway it would be an excellent thing to learn and use, as an OS, it is far superior to windows, and if you need to do stuff, anything, internet related, it is the easiest..

so if you have a spare POS computer laying around, throw a copy of linux on it...

[merkwannabe]

*sigh* maybe this isn't for me! I can't figure which link to download..

There are quite a few.
KNOPPIX_V3.6-2004-08-16-EN.iso
KNOPPIX_V3.6-2004-08-16-DE.iso
KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-05-17-EN.iso
KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-05-17-DE.iso

I assume the newest release is best, but what's the difference between EN and DE?

Oh, and so it's a sure thing Sam doesn't work on linux? :/

[JIMINATOR]

uh, get the english version, i think de is german, right?
and if doom3 works, i am sure that sam can be made to work in directx mode...
note that i don't know what is involved for that, but it is probably complex....

[merkwannabe]

uh, get the english version, i think de is german, right?
and if doom3 works, i am sure that sam can be made to work in directx mode...
note that i don't know what is involved for that, but it is probably complex....:duh: How could I be so stupid! Thanks, that makes sense.

So, while I'm running this version of "free linux," will I be running XP too? That seems a bit like overload!

[noldhor]

wow !!

I downloaded the iso files and, after several minutes spent on it, I got to say I like this os. But im not familiar with it so i got some questions for Linux users here.

Someone told me that we need to have windows first on the pc to install linux, is that true? I find it weird but maybe its true.

What is the last version of linux? is it expensive?

I got some drivers here for graphic card, printer and so on, will i have some problems with such stuffs?

Many says its a far better os than windows, i think its true but, can you telle me why it is so good? good security against virus or something like that?

[MattMan]

wow !!

I downloaded the iso files and, after several minutes spent on it, I got to say I like this os. But im not familiar with it so i got some questions for Linux users here.

Someone told me that we need to have windows first on the pc to install linux, is that true? I find it weird but maybe its true.

What is the last version of linux? is it expensive?

I got some drivers here for graphic card, printer and so on, will i have some problems with such stuffs?

Many says its a far better os than windows, i think its true but, can you telle me why it is so good? good security against virus or something like that?

No you don't need windows first... You just need to download the iso files and burn them onto cd's... And then your computer should boot from the cd's and install the os. Any hard drive will do

As far as the latest release of linux, there are many distributions. I personally use RedHat. They release their testing os that is very stable and good as fedora http://fedora.redhat.com/ (what I use). It free...

As far as drivers I have never had any trouble with anything but wireless networking. I never really resolved this though. There may be some extra effort in setup though.

As far as "better than windows" I agree. for a few reasons
1. Its free
2. Virusses are written to attack windows and as such linux is immune to most virusses.
3. It is also very stable (never crashes)

Hope this helped

[noldhor]

No you don't need windows first... You just need to download the iso files and burn them onto cd's... And then your computer should boot from the cd's and install the os. Any hard drive will do

As far as the latest release of linux, there are many distributions. I personally use RedHat. They release their testing os that is very stable and good as fedora http://fedora.redhat.com/ (what I use). It free...

As far as drivers I have never had any trouble with anything but wireless networking. I never really resolved this though. There may be some extra effort in setup though.

As far as "better than windows" I agree. for a few reasons
1. Its free
2. Virusses are written to attack windows and as such linux is immune to most virusses.
3. It is also very stable (never crashes)

Hope this helped






didnt try Red Hat, i tried Knoppix first, then i tried suse, i really like this one but kinda "simple" for a linux Dist. I tried to install Debian but I found some corrupted files in the first cd so it could not install. Weird because I found it on the official Debian website, downloaded from mirrors. I'm trying to find a good dist, someone told me to try Mandrake, should I?

[JIMINATOR]

knoppix - ok for booting & experimenting without installing
suse pro - probably the sweetest distro that i have tried
debian - more for experienced users, requires quite a bit of config, small install and then it downloads the rest of the modules you want
redhat - basic linux, wants to be a "standard"
mandrake - based on redhat, but is much more configured, fully featured and easy to use

i don't think you can go wrong with mandrake.

[noldhor]

knoppix - ok for booting & experimenting without installing
suse pro - probably the sweetest distro that i have tried
debian - more for experienced users, requires quite a bit of config, small install and then it downloads the rest of the modules you want
redhat - basic linux, wants to be a "standard"
mandrake - based on redhat, but is much more configured, fully featured and easy to use

i don't think you can go wrong with mandrake.

thx Jim!

About Suse, I Installed it and it works fine, except I cant conect on the net lol! didnt find yet how to compile something to get it work. I use a cable modem Webstar, my isp is videotron, canada. I think its some kind of winmodem, so the drivers will not work for linux. Do you have a solution to make my connection work properly?

[JIMINATOR]

ok, most cable modems come with a usb connection and an ethernet connection. if you are using usb, then you throw away the cable, get an ethernet card and an ethernet cable. (you may already have both of these). connect them, and you should be good with no other changes, for both windows and linux.

[noldhor]

ok, most cable modems come with a usb connection and an ethernet connection. if you are using usb, then you throw away the cable, get an ethernet card and an ethernet cable. (you may already have both of these). connect them, and you should be good with no other changes, for both windows and linux.

I have ethernet cable and what i see here on my pc is Network card Fast Ethernet PCI Realtek RTL8139 Family (mmm sound cheap lol). I pluged the ethernet cable and restarted the pc but what i get is: unable to resolve IP.
Is it the card I need? or its some kind of card to log with another pc.


I know Knoppix can login on the net even if Im using usb, the prob is I dont know how to set other Dist to work that way too lol.

[JIMINATOR]

ok, cable will be keyed to the MAC address of a device. That means if you set up the ethernet card, go into dos (hit start, run, "cmd") and type
ipconfig /all
it will give a listing of settings per device. The MAC address will be under "Physical Address" and look like "00-C0-A0-3D-21-49".
You would call your cable company and have them switch your connection
to use that device. Alternately if you were to get a router, (cable modem <=> ethernet cable <=> router <=> ethernet cable <=> computer) it should have a setting where you can input this number (it can be from the usb device) and you can make your connection work without calling the cable company....

[noldhor]

Thx a lot Jiminator !

I see the physical address :)
Hope it will work fine hehe!

I heard ethernet connection is a bit slower, dont know if its true but im gonna try

thx :thumbs:

[JIMINATOR]

slower? huh, more reliable if anything than the flakey usb drivers that emulate an ethernet card....

[noldhor]

slower? huh, more reliable if anything than the flakey usb drivers that emulate an ethernet card....


Yup! You are right, i called my isp and they told me that Ethernet is probabkly better than usb, not faster, not slower but is going to improve, usb will probably disapear with time.