Linux?

Im looking for a version (or distro or whatever its called) of Linux for my laptop. Since I'd like to play around with it. But I dont know which to get. Obviously Im not looking for something to play games with, but still something that has functionality. Someone point me in the right direction?

www.distrowatch.com has a list of distros. Personally I would say go with fedora.redhat.com, but there's a million reasons to choose or not choose any particular distro.

Try out a Live CD distro such as Knoppix or Damnsmalllinux before you make the plunge. Fedora, Mandrake and SuSE seem to be the current desktop favourites. Some of the older linux users seem to prefer Debian and Slackware. And for ultimate Hard-core-geekism you should probably try Gentoo. I've listed them in the (increasing) order of difficulty I have found in installing them. Using them is more or less the same with everyone using KDE/GNOME, except for Gentoo. So go ahead and make your choice.

Edit: Damnsmall works best with older laptops and other lower end hardware. But it lacks some essentials (such as GCC :o ) You can easily install that though.

I use damnsmalllinux on my laptop, and it works great ... boot from the cd and work away :smile:

What kind of games? DirectX games (Half-Life for example)? If so you need a WineX which costs money. I've personally used SuSE for a few years and they're pretty good. To be honest, it really doesn't matter what you choose since they all have the same desktop interfaces. It just depends on what you want out of that OS.

But, The only one I really don't like is Red Hat ... Don't ask why because I can't tell you.

But, I think you'd have an easier time getting around using Mandrake or SuSE, I've never used Fedora before so I have no idea how it is.

Don't be fooled though, they're still a pain in the ass to set up properly :smile: Especially if you want to use them for Windows games. But it can be done, just ask Horn (If he ever shows up again).

Personally, when I get time, I'm putting Slackware or Gentoo on one of my computers and try out configuring it to see if I can replace my Windows OS. I know for a fact Gentoo is a f**king pain in the ass unless you take time to configure some automation (you have to compile a lot of 3rd party utilities yourself, which, honestly, is what you should do anyway to ensure it is hand made for your system).

On a complete side note, I F**ING HATE KDE. Too damn slow and cluttered ... but it looks pretty.

I've used redhat, but don't ask as it was about 1 and a half years ago and I was a noob to puters and was first time on linux, i've got mandrake 10, really should get that set up some time.

Whats the difference between Mandrake and Red hat and SuSe? And where could I find a real download link to one. I've found many mirrors that are just br0ken junk.

http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3

there you've got all the mirrors for mandrake.

Really, the only differences are their own installation techniques and things like that.

I just don't like Red Hat, that's just me. But it is harder to use (if you've never used Linux of any kind) then SuSE. (Also, just to let you know, SuSE does have the largest Linux knowledge Database and they use it.)

I think Ultimate Linux or United Linux can't remember the name will be coming out soon. It's basically contributed by all major distributers except RH.

SuSE

The link Jeff gave has links to all downloadable versions. They're usually FTPs though.

To be honest you might like "Lindows" or "Mandows". I think they cost like 10 bucks. But they install over your Windows OS giving you Linux functionality and OS. But it also uses the Windows end of it to run Win32 applications.

I think Lindows was renamed to "Linspire" after Microsoft tried to sue it, but I may be wrong...

I prefer Fedora myself, and with any luck I'm going to get the Fedora 3
64-bit disks soon. I've used Mandrake, which seems to be good, simple,
and very reliable, but doesn't work with Cedega (Cedega is also known
as WineX - it's a program that allows you to run DirectX programs on
Linux).

As for Live distro's, my favourite is Slax - always seems to be
reliable with plenty of functionality and still fairly small in size.
DamnSmallLinux is good, but only really much use to me when I'm using a
very old machine. Knoppix tends to be considered to be the best one,
but I still prefer Slax...

For distros the best place I've found yet is http://www.linuxiso.org - seems to have most of them.

Loco said:
I think Lindows was renamed to "Linspire" after Microsoft tried to sue it, but I may be wrong...

Nope, your right.

I knew they tried to sue them, I didn't know they actually settled and changed the name ... that's so stupid.

I would seriously suggest using Knoppix if you're just getting into Linux. Like people have said before about it, I'm sure, it's incredibly easy to use. Basically go to http://www.knoppix.org (click on the English link, first), scroll down, click on the Download button, then scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list, click on the HTTP link for one of the bottom 3 (I think Purdue is the only one with HTTP available (or just go with the FTP or RSync links for one of the other two, if you want), agree to the thing, and then download the KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-05-17-DE.iso package. Simply burn that to a CD, then.

Keep that CD in your drive, and restart your PC. Make sure that your BIOS is set to boot to the CD before the HDD, or directly boot to that device, assuming your BIOS supports that. Then, wait for it to load, and when it gives you the promt that says "Boot:", simply hit return. Wait a little while, and it'll auto-log you into a KDE session.

Congradulations, you're running Linux.

It's incredinbly easy, and it's a great way to get started with Linux. The plus side of this method is that it automatically mounts (gives you access to, essentially) all of your HDD's, so that you can access all of the information on them. It has some really nice programs for just about anything that you'd want to do (code, listen to music, imaging software, Office style programs (for word processing), web browsing (although it's Konquerer, which I can't stand), etc.).

The only downside is that it won't let you eject the CD while you're in the Knoppix session.

To end the session, simply click the big K icon in the taskbar (where your Start button would be in Windows), click log Off, decide whether or not to save your settings, then click OK or whatver. It'll automatically run all of the kill commands, then will spit out the CDRom.

Next time you boot, assuming the Knoppix CD isn't in your CD drive, it'll boot back into Windows with no harm done.

I wonder, where are your setting saved when you use a liveCD like Knoppix or DamnSmallLinux ?

And those disks have problems with NTFS or not ? (only tested it on FAT drives)

Thx for the link btw, Loco ... real good: http://www.linuxiso.org/

Yeh thanx for all the links guys I have been thinking about switching for a while but I havent really looked for any distros and this has spured me on to switch.

It really doesn't have to be a switch. Use a boot manager and use both
windows ?nd linux. I have to do that to keep my family members happy.
:smile:

Don't get the wrong idea about Knoppix, gimp. It's not meant to be a permenant solution if you want to run Linux. If you really plan on going with a linux install, I'd say go ahead and just work on installing Debian or Mandrake or something along those lines on a partition that you don't really use (assuming you have a partitioned HDD). Just get used to the install process, and have another PC handy so that you can look things up if you run into something you don't understand.

And Force, yeah, they seem to be compatable with NTFS, as I just ran it on my laptop and was able to access my NTFS disk from it. And as for where it saves things, I have no idea. I haven't looked for any files that mysteriously popped up, but I will once I get off work. I assume it just dumps some small text file on your primary drives primary partition, but that's just a guess.

Knoppix is a great introduction to Linux, but it's by no means something that you'd want to constantly rely on for your Linux install.

yeh I knoppix aint a permenent solution but it will get me a bit used to a linux distro before I do accually switch or try some other distro.

if you install on a partition (which Linux will allow you to adjust once you try to install it) Linux will be able to see and use the windows partition. Such as, you can open the C directory and listen to all your music.

I'm not sure which distributions don't support this.
Some other things you'll probably want is Samba. Even though it's not that great it's the only ( I know of) to network windows to unix/linux and vice versa.

Fedora Core 1-3 do not come with builtin support for NTFS partitions due to some legal issues. You need to get separate rpms (available at livna) to get it running.

I wonder, where are your setting saved when you use a liveCD like Knoppix or DamnSmallLinux ?http://www.linuxiso.org/

No idea about DamnSmallLinux, but Knoppix has the ability to use a USB
key or something like it as a home folder, so you effectively have all
the software of a computer on a cd and usb key. Not sure how it works,
but I think there may be a config tool in there or something. I'm
afraid I don't have the Knoppix disk to hand to try it out.

Well I have downloaded SuSE and I have been trying to install it and it comes up with a error under the software section when it scans the system to see what its like and so you can change stuff. Anyway the error reads "Error: No Proposal" and from what I can gather it means that it cannot find KDE or Gnome is this correct?

and if so do you know where I could find Gnome or the file to run gnome and how to get the installer to find it?

Is it giving you that during the actual install process, or what?

no its the section before the actual install it wont let me run the actual install because of the error

Did you do an md5 check on the images before you burned them to CD?

yeh and it said it was ok

That would have nothing to do with KDE or Gnome, then. KDE and Gnome are just windows managers for a piece of software called X. X is basically a graphical interface that Linux uses. In any case, you need to have a basic Linux install before you even have to worry about X or and Windows manager.

Ok, another question- would you mind listing your HDD partitions, and what they're partitioned as?

EG:

C: NTFS
D: FAT32
E: NTFS
F: EX2

gimpz0r: a google search on your error turned up this link:
http://www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/guestos_suse91.html

Scroll down a bit to find:

<A name=1285646></A>Installation from DVD May Stop with an Error Message <SPAN class=smaller>

Installation from a DVD may stop at the Software item under Installation Settings with the following error message: No base selection available. ERROR: No proposal. SUSE has seen this problem on both physical and virtual machines. To work around the problem inside a virtual machine, type the following at the boot prompt as you begin the installation:

<TT>linux cdromdevice=/dev/hdc </TT>

Replace <TT>/dev/hdc</TT> with the appropriate device name if your CD-ROM device is not the master device on the second IDE channel. The installation should then proceed normally.

</SPAN>

Ok, I got Mandrake 10.1 Community installed on my laptop but Im running into some problems. Not only do I not know what Im doing ( :biggrin: ) But I cant seem to get my wireless card working either. Its a U.S.Robotics 802.11b card.

Right now Im running on KDE (I tried GNOME but I didnt like it very much. But I guess thats because I had spent more time on KDE before hand)

As well, whenever I click on the "Configure your Computer" button, and then when I click on something like "hardware" or "Boot loader" or anything, it takes ages to load. Like, hours sometimes. And sometimes I just give up and restart the computer.

Thanks. (And sorry for reviving an old thread, just too lazzy to create a new one.)

Wild Card said:
Ok, I got Mandrake 10.1 Community installed on my laptop but Im running into some problems. Not only do I not know what Im doing (:D) But I cant seem to get my wireless card working either. Its a U.S.Robotics 802.11b card.

Right now Im running on KDE (I tried GNOME but I didnt like it very much. But I guess thats because I had spent more time on KDE before hand)

As well, whenever I click on the "Configure your Computer" button, and then when I click on something like "hardware" or "Boot loader" or anything, it takes ages to load. Like, hours sometimes. And sometimes I just give up and restart the computer.

Thanks. (And sorry for reviving an old thread, just too lazzy to create a new one.)

Please tell me you're restarting the computer using "logout" and not your power button...

Unfortunatly when happens I have to press the power button because the mouse wont move, and the keyboard wont press. Heck it takes upwards of 20 seconds for the CAPS lock light to turn on after I press the button :sad:

Then wait. Seriously, it is very detramental on Linux to just shut it down, you can easily mess up your table structure and then you have re-install the OS.

If it "freezes" it is most likely busy, not frozen. Also, you can try pressing "ctrl+c", I can't remember if that works in windowed modes, but it is the kill command, it should kill whatever process is running and return to normal.

It is most likely gathering information about your hardware, so let it run. It isn't Windows and it doesn't put up with noob user BS :smile: (no offense)

Yea but why does it have to take so long :sad: lol. And I dont mind, I am a noob Linux user.

Ok, I let it run this time, and when I close it, I have no taskbar or desktop icons anymore. Just the background.

And how do I set up my network card?

(Yes, Im being annoying, I know :biggrin: )

Have you tried refreshing the desktop?

Also, hitting ctrl+alt+del under most linux X modes to bring up logout information.

You install your ethernet card by going to whatever install wizard they have and configuring it. Or you can go to the manufacturer site and download linux drivers, unpack and install them.

Try looking for some information, it isn't hard to find.

Ctrl+Alt+Del doesnt do anything. And its like the laptop doesnt even recognise the wireless card.

Wild Card said:
Ctrl+Alt+Del doesnt do anything. And its like the laptop doesnt even recognise the wireless card.

It doesn't have auto configuration unless the hardware was inserted during the installation of the operating system.

You might need to compile the kernel again to get support for your wireless card. www.kernel.og has the latest kernel source - I recommend the latest 2.6 version since pre-emptible kernel patches can speed your system up a lot. Fedora probably has their own kernel source in an RPM somewhere, but I prefer the vanilla stuff unless you need the extra patches.

Right now I'm running Slackware on my main computer (and I got Xinerama working - two screens, hooray!) with IceWM as my window manager. KDE and Gnome are neat and are great for when you're first migrating from Windows to Linux, but I prefer IceWM because it's a heck of a lot faster. Besides that, it supports all the KDE and Gnome apps anyway - just without all the bloat.

My server is running Gentoo. Word of warning - you won't get your system back for up to two days if you tell it to compile everything from source. Make sure you're on Broadband when you try this. I've been pretty impressed with Gentoo but I miss all the "default installed" packages that Slackware came with. Nothing's more annoying than realizing your system didn't come with Telnet installed, for example.

So what to use? Knoppix is great for learning without having to make any changes. When you are ready to make the jump go ahead and install either Fedora or Mandrake - both very user friendly, although Fedora is taking a very hardcore approach to free software and so their XMMS doesn't ship with an MP3 plugin, etc. (I think. They might have changed that since then).
After that I'd suggest launching straight into Slackware or Gentoo. You'll learn to compile from source using makefiles (not hard at all), and you'll do a lot of work with the console management stuff and edit a lot of config files by hand. By the time you've figured out your Slackware system you'll be a real Linux poweruser.

So would I just be better off installing Knoppix Linux then? Or reinstalling Mandrake (by the way, during Mandrake install, a lot of stuff I ddint know what I was doing)

One more question, are ISOs permanent? Or can they be deleted?

You don't 'install' knoppix- it's not a permanant thing. It's only there when you boot to the knoppix CD. Nothing is actually installed on your computer- it's all run just from the CD. So, take out the knoppix disk, you get rid of the linux.

If you want something simple, I'd say go with either Debian of Fedora. I've never used Fedora, but from what I've heard, it's pretty simple.

You can try to use the Debian net install, but I'm not sure if it will work with your wireless card or not. To get it, simply go to this site:

http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ .

There is a set of links with the title : "netinst CD image, with Debian base".

Click on the "I386" link below that. Burn that to a CD, and boot to it.

If you don't want to risk doing a netinstall, since it may not detect your network card, go here: ftp://sunsite.ualberta.ca/pub/Linux/debian/debian-iso/images/current/i386/ and download those ISO's and burn them to a CD.

It'll ask you the basic questions, and when you get to the part where it asks where you want to install linux, either select the top option, or select the bottom (manually configure your partition table).

Once there, it'll show you a list of all of your partitions. Highlight the one you want, and hit enter. Then, set the format type to EX2, make it bootable, and have the root set to "/".

Once through that, it'll install the basic Debian packages.

Then, it'll spit out the CD and ask you to reboot. It should reboot into your new Debian install.

Next, it'll ask you where you want to get the rest of your packages from. If it successfully detects your network card, select HTTP and pick a region and a host nearby you. If you did the CD, select CD and follow the prompts.

After a while, a menu will show up asking you what you want to install- at the very least, since you're new to the whole process, select the Desktop managers one (should be first on the list) and anything else you KNOW that you'll want.

Let it do its thing, following prompts if it asks you anything. If you don't know any specific value, it'll usually have a default value set up or tell you what everything does.

With any luck, then, once it's done installing it should boot you into a nice Linux desktop manager.

I know it seems complicated, but it was probably one of the easiest Linux installs that I've ever done. In all honesty, it's really not more difficult than a Windows install, it's just that they have different names for things.

Oh, and all ISO's are are CD images. As in, you open up Nero or Roxio or whatever you use, and load that image, and then burn it to a CD. If you want to get rid of the ISO afterwords, go right ahead and do it. All the pertinent information should be on the CD (unless the burn process fails).

I have been following this thread for days and the only thing I know for certain is, it contains the 26 letters of the alphabet, and a few numerals.

AHA! It also has other characters: / : ? . etc. And an accented "a" from Forceflow. For some reason. :biggrin:

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting fraggard</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>AHA! It also has other characters: / : ? . etc. And an accented "a" from Forceflow. For some reason. :biggrin: </DIV></DIV>

He was trying his luck at French. :razz:

I'll give a try to Debian maybe. Since to reformat my drive, I have to take out the hard drive tray from the laptop, unscrew it out, get my 2.5 to 3.5 converter, and plug it into my desktop since the laptop has no floppy drive. Only CD.
What would be the difference between Debian and Mandrake?

Debian will be harder to use and install from the offset, but is less
cluttered and chock full of useless RPM's and never used Windows
manager like Mandrake.

If you're prepared for confusion and bafflement getting Debian
installed, everything else about it is pretty simple. Make sure you
have a net connected PC before attempting anything :smile:

ohhhhhhhhhh, i'll be getting a new HD at the beggining of next month, then I can finnaly install mandrake! [cough 10 cough*]. Is mandrake easily updatable?

thanx to you all that have helped I have finaly got Fedora Core 3 Installed and running fine

Spinkee up your desktop and show us a screenshot.

For your window maker/manager I recommend Enlightenment - tis ultra sexy. Monqui can vouch for it as well, from ease of install to compatibility, eh Monq?

Bwahahah :biggrin:

Think I figured why it was so slow executing stuff. I didnt have a Linux swap.

Right now, Im re-installing Mandrake but version 10.0 this time.

Here's my partition setup:

Mount point: /
Device: hda1
Type: Linux native
Size: 11GB (41%)
Not formatted

Mount point: swap
Device: hda5
Type: Linux swap
Size: 792MB (2%)
Not formatted

Mount point: /mnt/Windows
Device: hda6
DOS drive letter: C (just a guess)
Type: FAT32
Size: 15GB (55%)
Not formatted

Wild Card said:
Think I figured why it was so slow executing stuff. I didnt have a Linux swap.

Right now, Im re-installing Mandrake but version 10.0 this time.

Here's my partition setup:

Mount point: /
Device: hda1
Type: Linux native
Size: 11GB (41%)
Not formatted

Mount point: swap
Device: hda5
Type: Linux swap
Size: 792MB (2%)
Not formatted

Mount point: /mnt/Windows
Device: hda6
DOS drive letter: C (just a guess)
Type: FAT32
Size: 15GB (55%)
Not formatted

That's why I asked you what your partitions were!

I can't believe you didn't create a swap partition, the main source for VMM space.

By the way, I hope you also have, root, user, and home partitions set up for Linux, otherwise you're going to be in a bit of a rut ... again.

Well, umm this is what I created... did I forget something?

Im trying to set up my wireless card, this time around, Mandrake did detect the card, so Im running the Network & Internet Configuration.

So here is what I did:

Page 1: Wireless connection

Page 2: eth0: Intersil PRISM2 11 Mbps Wireless Adapter

Page 3: Automatic IP (BOOTP/DHCP)

Page 4: checked "Assign host name from DHCP address"
DHCP host name: Family network
checked "Track network card id (useful for laptops)"
unchecked "Network Hotplugging"
checked "Start at boot"

Page 5:Operating Mode: Managed
Network name (ESSID): any
Encryption key: (left blank)

Page 6:RTS/CTS: ??
Fragmentation: ??

Page 7: Host name (optional): ??

Page 8: Zeroconf Host name: ??

Page 9:

I dont know what to do starting on Page 6, and Im not sure if I configured it proprelly so far either. Its going to be connected onto my wireless router at home, a D-Link 802.11g router (DI-524).

Thanks for any help.