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Taking the Linux plunge...

 
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klaatuborada
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:26 am    Post subject: Taking the Linux plunge... Reply with quote

or not....

Am I going to have to completely start from scratch if I swith to Linux? I just have a itty bitty laptop, will it make a difference? Am I going to give myself headaches trying to reinstall all the software that I have? Is it worth it? Should I just stay here in XP Pro land?

As you can see I'm doing extreme soul searching of my on-line experience... you should see what goes on when I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner....
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Atomic Booty
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Joined: 10 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lady K,

I am about to try out Linux for the first time myself. From all that I've read and the feedback I've gotten from other Linux users, it's a lot easier than it used to be. Basically, there are 3 options:

1. If you are concerned about ease of use, buy a retail distribution. They are only about 50 bucks. For a new user (windows converts like us) they make the transition a lot easier with wizards etc. and come bundled with pretty much everything you need to get started.

2. It is possible to have both Linux and Windows OS's on the same machine, but they need to be behind separate partitions; so you will probably have to repartiton and reinstall Windows before you can do this. While this can be a big pain in the @ss initially, it's a good failsafe for a beginner Linux user to be able to boot in Windows, just in case! Also, there are still some programs (and a lot of PC games) that Linux does not yet support.

3. If you have an extra box laying around you can experiment on, do it. This offers the opportunity to play around with it (even with a free distribution with a slightly higher learning curve) without worrying about messing something up and losing precious shrubs, photoshopped picures of Sadaam Hussein with Lance Bass, or the definitive John Denver mp3 collection.

For more authorative advice on the subject, nose through this thread http://www.kwsnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6644

Also, http://www.linux.org/ has some great tutorials. Last but not least, there are Linux User Groups (LUGs) in cities and regions all over the world. Most of them meet periodically (mine meets twice a month) and have messageboards or email groups so you can ask questions. I hope this helps! Good luck, and keep me posted on your progress, I'll do the same once I get going.
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jbyram2
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ubuntu is free.

You can also get it on a live linux CD, that boots your computer into Linux temporarily to give you a chance to try-before-you-buy.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jbyram2 wrote:
Ubuntu is free.

You can also get it on a live linux CD, that boots your computer into Linux temporarily to give you a chance to try-before-you-buy.



the other way is download VMWare player, http://www.vmware.com/products/free_virtualization.html , this is a free download that has pre built dsitros called Virtual appliances, including ubuntu, this allows you to try before you delete your windows setup....

#ni-1 #ni-1
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klaatuborada
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Joined: 08 Dec 2002
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 3:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for the input. I do have a dead computer, I might try to bring back up. The problem being a complete booting problem. I'd love to try to save what's on it, but if it's impossible I'll reformat. The more time I'm away from that computer, the more I realize that I could care less what's on it. Perhaps that will be my first try. And perhaps if I'm allowed to boot up onto Linux I can delete the files interfering with my accessing the harddrive and get the files I wanted to fix.... the possibilities are endless, it's just having the time to go crazy with it....
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Grawlfang
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Being a Linux user of some 8 years experience (with a much enjoyed foray into FreeBSD (which rocks I have to say)) I'd lob this into the forum - unless you're happy dicking about I'd stick to windoze (I hate to say this, but for those who don't have the time and patience to learn Linux (or even learn how to pronounce it) then windoze is a very safe option) - why, because every piece of hardware you purchase will need inspection beforehand to determine if some kindly soul has written an open source version of the driver/software (My latest one of these was when I purchased a creative mp3 player and found that gnomad2 existed) - though on the flip side I've also found that a number of USB 'sticks' work without need for extra drivers under linux (as they do under windoze) - and because there may be much editing (using 'vi' which is not a really user friendly editor) of /etc/... files to gets startup options working - that you may wonder why you installed this suberbly stable OS in the first place.

Your biggest headache may be getting broadband to work (or if you have a wireless DSL router, then the encryption working instead)... though many routers are Linux under the hood, they each have a decidedly windoze interface at the frontend - I've got mine to connect, but as I said I've 8 years of Linux experience to call upon and it required a combination of pure linux knowledge, and a hugechunk of ndis wrapper learning.

anyway, some words of warning,
enjoy and hope all installs well,
Fang
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Grawlfang
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:46 pm    Post subject: Re: Taking the Linux plunge... Reply with quote

klaatuborada wrote:
or not....

Am I going to have to completely start from scratch if I swith to Linux? I just have a itty bitty laptop, will it make a difference? Am I going to give myself headaches trying to reinstall all the software that I have? Is it worth it? Should I just stay here in XP Pro land?

As you can see I'm doing extreme soul searching of my on-line experience... you should see what goes on when I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner....


So did you take the plunge or not ?
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