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  • #2251702

    If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

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    by kaicremata ·

    i’m committed, new system (intel duo e6600/2 gig of DRAM/nvidia 7300le/250gb HD/20″dell e207fwp) coming in next week, and i want to go lynux.

    I am pretty sold on the KDE office, which is important, as i am a good document generator (on a killer dell 5110 color laser which dims the light when it kicks in). i am liking the beryl interface, although out of fairness, i have to save i have never touched a line of linux code in my life.

    my system comes with vista, i don’t want to use it all. i don’t want to ever use msword again, it is horrid, i like thunderbird over outlook, am a happy firefox user and i voip (viatalk), which has turned out to be a fine value.

    i am looking for some constructive path directions for distros, painless integration, worthwhile plugins and oh, we do like bells and whistles…for a purpose.

    impress me with your experience, show me the way…and i thank you in advance for your input.

    heck, if i could some good response, i’ll even post my picture up (no conceit in our family)

All Comments

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    Replies
    • #2500309

      snag

      by jaqui ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      pclnuxos, got all the bells and whistles except berl installed by default.
      [ has the same UI as Vista without the MS bloat to bog it down. ]

      but them there bells and whistles are why I use linux from scratch, I detest them and don’t want them on my system at all.

      no plugins, no multimedia garbage. just a plain jane ui that works.

      • #2500300

        Says it all really

        by now left tr ·

        In reply to snag

        first response is called “Snag”.

    • #2500206

      I recommend PCLinuxOS

      by stress junkie ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      There is a brief discussion of PCLinuxOS here:
      http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/opensource/?p=41

      You can find PCLinuxOS here:
      http://www.pclinuxos.org

      Get the 93a Big Daddy version. The 2007 version is still in beta.

      I would set up my system as follows:
      The first hard drive would have three partitions. The first partition would be 12 gigabytes and would be used as the root partition. The second partition would be 500 megabytes and would be the swap partition. The third partition would be the data partition and would be mounted at /home. Your normal user accounts have their home directories in the /home directory. That means that when the third partition is mounted at /home then all of the data in the user home directories is going into the third partition.

      The first and third partitions would use the ext3 file system. It is a reliable and robust journaling file system. Journaling file systems are said to have several benefits. From my point of view the main advantage is that if a journaling file system is disconnected without being dismounted, such as in a power failure, then it usually does not have to run fsck file system checker before it can be used.

      I would create two user accounts. One is for using the Internet. The other is for personal information and it never uses web browsers or IRC or other vulnerable applications. The personal account uses email but otherwise it does not use the network at all.

      You have to make sure that the account that uses the Internet cannot read the home directory of the account that has personal information.

      You don’t necessarily have to log off of the Internet account to use the personal account. I use a terminal window and the su command to log on to the personal account while I’m using the Internet account. Then I set the DISPLAY variable to :0.0 in the personal account and when I start an X application it displays on the same desktop as the Internet account is using. It looks like the TR web server is interpreting part of the contents of the DISPLAY variable as an emoticon. In English, the contents of the DISPLAY variable are colon zero period zero.

      In order to do this you have to log in to the Internet account, open a terminal window, and enter the following command.
      xhost +localhost
      You only have to enter that command one time when you first set up your accounts. That command tells the X window manager to allow other accounts on the local machine to display their X applications on the desktop of the Internet account.

      Using this configuration I almost never log on to the console in the personal information account. I always log on to the Internet account. When I want to use data in the personal information account I open a terminal window, enter the su command with a dash after it followed by the name of the personal information account. It looks something like this.

      su – personal
      Password:
      personal>

      Then you enter the name of the software that you want to run, such as kmail or kontact. You will see a bunch of messages in the terminal window and if there are no problems then the window of the application that you ran will display on your desktop.

      The main vulnerability here is that if the Internet account is running some software that scans the video memory then whatever is displayed on the screen can be read by the Internet account. So your personal emails that are still in video memory could be read by a rogue program that is being run by the Internet account. You can prevent this if you log off of the Internet account and log on at the console to the personal information account.

      I compared KOffice, gnumeric and abiword, and Open Office dot org office document software. I finally decided to use OOo instead of KOffice or abiword and gnumeric. Since KOffice file format is not compatible with OOo you may want to give OOo a test drive before you commit a lot of time to KOffice. You should probably look at gnumeric for spreadsheets and abiword for text documents if you haven’t already done so.

      Open Office dot org software can be found here:
      http://www.openoffice.org

      And yes the “dot org” is officially part of its name due to some restriction on the expression “Open Office”.

      I chose OOo over KOffice due mostly to compatibility with other software. I receive documents created with MS Office so it was important to be able to read them. While none of the office document software suites that I tried were perfect replacements for MS Office I found that OOo was as close as I could get. I still have trouble with MS Excel macros and graphs and multiple worksheets but can generally get by ok. I still sometimes have to use genuine MS Office to read some files that I receive.

      If you don’t need compatibility with MS Office then you may still prefer KOffice. I just thought I’d contribute the results of my own testing.

      I hope that you enjoy using Linux. It can be a lot of fun. All of the high quality software that is available for free is amazing. You can find a lot of software for Linux here:

      http://www.sourceforge.net
      http://www.freshmeat.net

      You can learn about which software works well and which doesn’t by reading Linux web sites such as:

      http://www.linux.com
      lxer.com
      http://www.linuxhq.com
      http://www.linuxinsider.com
      http://www.newsforge.com
      osnews.com

      Those will get you started. 😀

      • #2490264

        Could the /home directory be installed on a fat partition

        by pennatomcat ·

        In reply to I recommend PCLinuxOS

        so that Windows (on a dual-boot system or network) could read/write to the user’s home directory? If it can be done, would it be advisable?

        I’m REALLY impressed with Damn Small Linux running on my ancient Dell P2 laptop. It flies! Goodbye Win98!

        • #2490253

          nope

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to Could the /home directory be installed on a fat partition

          because the MS partitions don’t support the permissions structure that linux requires for a lot of files.

          the app specific folders [ .gnome for example ] would be displayed.
          the temporary files in ~/tmp/ [ dcop etc ] would not be able to be made.

          you would have to completely rebuild the entire distro to have no permission settings at all, which would break the entire os, to use a fat partition for /home/[user].

          NTFS has permissions, but it won’t play nice so it also isn’t a viable partioning scheme for this.

        • #2490239

          So then the best possible solution would be

          by pennatomcat ·

          In reply to nope

          to copy or backup the windows files to the /home partition? I’d like to sort out this isssue before I partition for a permanent install. I have 4 computers that I’d like to sync the data on a regular basis, even with dual-boot on all systems. (cron backup?)

          Thanks for the info.

        • #2511275

          The best solution,

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to So then the best possible solution would be

          if you are using both is to create a small fat partition to use for the shared files, both operating systems can read and write to it, you just have to remember to put any new or changed files into the shared partition.

        • #2511308

          Wouldn’t it work the other way around?

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to nope

          Install Windows on a FAT partition, install Linux in a dual boot configuration, and access the Windows “My Documents” from inside Linux? Not as /home/user, but as some other mounted resource?

        • #2511276

          yup that would

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to Wouldn’t it work the other way around?

          work.
          or, install windows onto NTFS for the security, but keep a small fat partition around and specify a mountpoint for that in linux, use it to transfer between them.

        • #2494621

          Very illuminating

          by intj-astral ·

          In reply to nope

          I’ve learned something new today- this explains why things got strange when I
          set up an external drive with fat32 and
          accessed it from Linux. Thanks.

    • #2500098

      Go for ubuntu

      by blu.saphire ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      I will recommend a distribution which should be easy to install and configure.

      Since for a new person it will be difficult to get it going with all the configurations on the first go…..!

      It is better to go for Ubuntu 6.10 distribution on a new PC.

      The installation Step can be completed without using the command prompt

      1. Install the distribution(Ubuntu)

      Be ready with the distribution CD’s and make sure to set the system to boot from CD/DVD drive.

      Insert the first CD/DVD(bootable) into the drive and start the system.

      Select the method of installation.

      If you want to specify the partitions to be created manually [ esp. for root (/), swap(twice of RAM), home (/home) ]; else select the default partitioning scheme.

      Select the packages you want to install during the installation.

      And with minimal user interaction the system should be ready.
      Intall the graphic driver if it is not set during instal.
      Following the link for configuration https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/

      It is recommended to have one more user other than root which can be used for internet access and for playing games.

      • #2509379

        I 2nd Ubuntu

        by rick ·

        In reply to Go for ubuntu

        I would second Ubuntu. This has open office and all the apps you want to download.

        The new Office O7 doesn’t even come with a new PC. I just bought a PC with Vista Home Enhanced and they gave me a 60 day trial of Office 2007, in the short time I used it, it is worse teh the old stuff. much more confusing and you have to download a patch to make things backwards compatible!
        It really stinks!

        I just wish open office had better premade templates we could download.

        Cheers and Good Luck!
        Rick
        ——————————–
        http://www.pbxinfo.com

        • #2509331

          Go with Kubuntu

          by bereaduke ·

          In reply to I 2nd Ubuntu

          If you prefer KDE, then you won’t like Ubuntu which is Gnome based. However Ubuntu has a KDE flavor named appropriately enough Kubuntu.

        • #2509323

          KDE vs. Gnome – Draw the battlelines, please.

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to Go with Kubuntu

          I can’t say that I’ve played with either much. What are the criteria you use for evaluating a GUI? What do you like and dislike about each, or other GUIs? What do you see as the functional differences between them and ‘Windows Classic’?

          As near as I could tell after using each about 15 to 20 times each, the differences were minimal. Maybe I don’t know what I’m looking at.

        • #2509279

          differences?

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to KDE vs. Gnome – Draw the battlelines, please.

          There is only one diffrence, from the use perspective:
          G.N.O.M.E. is meant to look like Macos < X K.D.E. is meant to look like Windows. both are heavily bloated with tons of garbage that has no place on an office desktop system. [ just like windows and mac, bloated guis ] I won't use them. don't want the bloat.

        • #2494170

          What do you suggest as an alternative…?

          by nbibbins ·

          In reply to differences?

          What do you suggest as an alternative, Jaqui?

          Or do you use command line only?

        • #2490431

          depends on what you want

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to What do you suggest as an alternative…?

          if you want a full multimedia rich gui, use one of them.

          if you wanta minimal desktop environment, fluxbox, blackbox, mwm ….

          I personally use enlightenment window manageras my gui.
          extremely lightweight on resourse consumption, with very few bells and whistles.

          There are a lot of options, most people like the bloat of GNOME and KDE, I don’t.

        • #2494114

          I have been playing with both quite a bit lately…

          by Anonymous ·

          In reply to KDE vs. Gnome – Draw the battlelines, please.

          My experience thus far is that KDE is a little more stable, in that I have fewer (none, actaully so far) unexpected application crashes, whereas some of the GNOME applications have quite unexpectedly crashed for seemlingly no reason.

          From a performance perspective they seem similar, though KDE takes a little longer to initialize.

          Many people say KDE is bigger and more bloated then GNOME. I am still trying to figure out why, as the KDEBASE install is about 2/3 the size of GNOME-Core (note this is in Debian 3.1R4, perhaps it is different for other distros), and when running idle, KDE consumes less CPU and less Memory, according to top.

          AS far as comparing to Windows Classic, do you mean win2000 or WinXP GUI?.

          What I look for in a GUI…
          responsive (no sluggish), intuitive (I shouldn’t need to read a manual to figure out how to make it work),enabling (good efficient use of both Keyboard and mouse, so I can do things quickly and easily, I am a fan of context menus, and KB shortcuts).
          Also true GUI’ishness is important (Though that is more an issue of the apps rather than the specific GUI). Putting a pretty frame around the old cmdline interface just doesn’t cut it.

        • #2494618

          Whatever turns you on…

          by intj-astral ·

          In reply to KDE vs. Gnome – Draw the battlelines, please.

          That’s the beauty of Linux. If you use
          Windows, either will make you relearn
          a few things but also have pleasing
          extras you haven’t had before. I like the
          ease of KDE menu management, but I don’t
          quite get how that works in Gnome. Gnome
          has Gedit text editor, though, and I
          really like that one. You can also use
          KDE or Gnome apps in the more minimalist
          desktops like Blackbox and so on. and
          KDE has screensavers to drool for, way
          nicer than windows. Also, if you sought
          out Windows equivalents of apps included
          in your average distro, you could
          probably buy a high-powered gaming rig
          with what it would cost.

    • #2498587

      Mandrake now Mandriva was my start

      by tony hopkinson ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      Went in easy and put all sorts of stuff to have an investigate of.

      Personally I’d start with a minimum and then add bits, remove the ones you don’t like. The package manager (installer) is fairly easy to get your head round.
      Unlike windows, be prepared for a multitude of potential options, and that’s just on the provided media.

      If you like KDE and want to look at development install the development tools (was an option on the installer in Mandrake 9 and 10). KDevelop is quite a good start, lots of options and help in it and all GUI’d up.

      Happy learning

      • #2498570

        start with a minimum?

        by jaqui ·

        In reply to Mandrake now Mandriva was my start

        I would actually say install absolutely everything, look at them all and pick which apps you like.
        then find out the dependencies for those apps so you know what is needed for them.

        to really learn the os, break it.
        and rebuild it.
        and break it
        and rebuild it.

        until you know what apps you like, what is needed for them, and how the system works.
        use the same release version until you are comfortable, then get the newest version of the same distro.
        check it out, then start looking at other distros to find one that suits you best, with you knowledge of what you want much higher than when you first picked one.

        • #2498405

          Well coming from windows I personally

          by tony hopkinson ·

          In reply to start with a minimum?

          found the range of options daunting, nor did I know what came with what or what was needed with what.
          I ended up finding the first thing that worked and I could figure out and stuck with it, this was at work of course.

          Since then in my copious free time, I decided to go the other way to make sure I at least did a real comparison of the options provided.

          You and others often come up with ways and tools you’d recommend, they are on my distribution, but were buried under more ‘apparent’ options. I was missing things and I don’t like that, some of them might be of use.

        • #2511446

          that’s why..

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to Well coming from windows I personally

          in order to not miss something I say install everything.
          it only takes about 10 gigs.

          then you have everything there to look at and see what works for you.

        • #2511359

          i think i agree with that

          by kaicremata ·

          In reply to that’s why..

          throwing everything on the wall and seeing what sticks seems preferable to onesy twosy trying stuff as you go along. a certain amount of chaos makes things interesting anyway…

        • #2509399

          British beef

          by andypiesse9 ·

          In reply to i think i agree with that

          My biggest beef with many (if not all)linux variants is that there are a lot of useful bits and pieces which are installed but buried. so often you will find that some feature that you want is actually already there.

        • #2511060

          The same is true of Windows

          by stress junkie ·

          In reply to British beef

          You’d be surprised what is installed by default in Windows. I’ve spent a lot of time just investigating /windows/system32 to see what is in there.

        • #2509398

          Much of a muchness

          by tony hopkinson ·

          In reply to that’s why..

          There are so many options whether you install all and look at one by one , or install one by one and then look at it.

          I just got lost, didn’t like x unistalled it lost y and z which I hadn’t looked at yet.

        • #2494282

          yup,

          by jaqui ·

          In reply to Much of a muchness

          the dependancy thing.
          that’s why install all, look and decide which you are going to use, then uninstall what you won’t, but look at what gets removed as well because of dependancies before clicking the okay when it displays the also removing becauseof deps issues.
          it’s very rare for any linux app to toss up a message box without including important information, package managers, every box is important information.

          you can reinstall an app you want, if you missed it in the list because of space restraints, and then you’ll get the deps for that app displayed.
          [ don’t do it with a DE, those deps lists are killers that you never see the entire list. ]

    • #2498399

      i like hats

      by luthorstrange ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      Fedora Core 6 is my current linux OS and i am really liking it. pretty straight foward install, package management really easy with yum and nice desktop to make moving from windows a little easier.

    • #2511435

      What type of future do you want to experience?

      by daveo2000 ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      Part of your decision should be deciding how deep do you want to go. Many new distros of Linux really do seem to give an option of load and go without really getting down deep into it.

      Much of the Linux world of addicts are dinosaurs like me that really like the fact that we can tune, configure, change, rebuild, retune, reconfigure, change again, etc. Some want to rewrite the device drivers to get that one extra feature out of the printer that isn’t there yet. Some just want to get their real work done.

      What floats your boat?

      • #2511362

        thats is an excellent question….

        by kaicremata ·

        In reply to What type of future do you want to experience?

        i use a computer to work with so it tends to be a tool, albeit there is nothing wrong with a fancy tool. for all attached devices, like the printer, my perspective is there are no extra features, you either have them or you have less than what you need(this is important to me – i generate paper for money)
        so i think i will get up and running and add what i can make the system work. at a certain point, i will be materially done. i mean how many different media players do you need? and how much better can the next one be? thank you for responding, to everyone, it has been interesting assimilating the responses, this crowd is all over the map!!! except for one thing
        Y’ALL LOVX LINUX! and i hope to join you soon in that lovx, dell has my ship date as 02/23 with 3-5 days of delivery.

    • #2509500

      try live CDs first

      by pfyearwood ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      One way to find what you like is to use live CDs. You can try many different distros without spending the time to install. Most have install options if you find one you like. Or, you can just use the live all the time. A small one called Puppylinux loads entirely into RAM and is a whiz to run. You can load OOo into a file on the HD and it is there for use. It is designed so you can use the CD/DVD drive as it is totally in RAM.

      A really fun website is http://www.distrowatch.com . Great starting place for all things linux and, to further confuse thing, BSD. I personnally use duel boot Dreamlinux/XP and have PC-BSD on an 8 y/o 400 Mhz with 160 RAM that is faster than my custom built Linux/XP box with 1.6 GHTZ and 512 RAM. Have fun learning. Because it never stops.

      Paul

      • #2509441

        thank you paul..

        by kaicremata ·

        In reply to try live CDs first

        that was a very practical and useful reply…the dell has been shipped and should be here in a few days…having used fairly reliable but sometimes quirky 7 yr old thinkpad for some time, i am just wild about a new system and a new o/s.

      • #2509434

        Live CD is the way to go

        by flash00 ·

        In reply to try live CDs first

        In fact, I’ve been using Puppy Linux ( http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/ ) as my exclusive OS for over a year now. I run it from a multisession DVD in a computer without a hard drive. Puppy Linux is very small, only about 80 MB, so it loads very fast from the DVD, but full featured. It has Mozilla, a spread sheet, word processor, media player for DVDs, and much more that I never use — and none of that command-line stuff unless you want to use it. 🙂

        When the computer is shut down, its state is saved to a new session on the DVD. When the computer is restarted, programs, settings, work in progress, etc., are reloaded from the saved sessions on the DVD. Security is absolute, because the DVD can be removed from the drive after the computer is shut down, leaving only empty RAM.

    • #2509430

      Multiboot?

      by andypiesse9 ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      As your new system is coming with Windoze you have the option of setting it up for multiboot. I use my good old fashioned drive image to make the image then write it back in a smaller partition the rest I use for Linux. As to which flavour I am using SUSE 10.2 at the moment. It may be worthwhile going to the http://distrowatch.com website

      • #2509415

        Agreed

        by charliespencer ·

        In reply to Multiboot?

        You paid for Vista, you might as well keep it. You never know if you might come across a new software package that requires it. Plus, if you have trouble getting started with Linux, you can boot to Windows to get to the web for help.

    • #2494247

      Email

      by thumbknuckle ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      I’ll second Thunderbird over Outlook, but you might want to take a gander at Evolution. I’m still a noob, but I’m happy that Ubuntu chose this app.

    • #2494246

      I’ve got your system!

      by lastchip ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      Well almost.

      I’ve used Kubuntu as a base system. Burn the CD (don’t forget to verify it – it’s important), pop the CD into the drive and follow the prompts. Kubuntu will install painlessly.

      Once your system is up and running, browse to the Automatix web site and download and install Automatix2. This is a GUI that will turn your Kubuntu installation into a multi-media machine. It will also update your graphics card painlessly (which will probably be required for Beryl).

      Go to the Beryl web site and follow the Wiki instructions for downloading and installing Beryl.

      That’s it, job done!

      • #2490469

        well crap dude….

        by kaicremata ·

        In reply to I’ve got your system!

        is it any good…mine in on ups delivery today in gainesville, fl, im in tampa due to family death this past weekend. its killing me not to waiting at the door for it. hows the performance on your machine???

        • #2490446

          It’s really cool!

          by lastchip ·

          In reply to well crap dude….

          Kubuntu has proven to be an excellent starting point for Linux newbies (like me) and using Automatix, took all the pain out of installing the multi-media applications I wanted.

          I’ve also tried Madrake (as was), SuSE, Xandros (another excellent starter distro)
          RedHat (didn’t like at all), but Kubuntu is the dogs danglies.

          Beryl has the WOW factor. Being able to operate four independent desktops with all the applications I use and then rotate through them at will, sends my friends into fits of jealousy.

          It’s a 64 bit system that rocks!

          Just be aware, when you install Beryl, you will probably have to slow down the default rotation speed. When I first installed it, I couldn’t work out why I couldn’t see the cube. The answer was, machines so fast the cube rotated faster than I could see it, so into Beryl’s management menu, slow it down and hey; this really is the WOW!!!!!

    • #2490508

      Slowly!

      by cls8 ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      The worst thing you can do is “switch” to Linux. Some silly little thing won’t work on your system, because you didn’t check for Linux compatibility first. And you’ll ask about it in some random forum, where you’ll get ignorant jeering from MSFT fanboys and arrogant sneering from FOSS fanboys, and you’ll give up and spread Linux FUD until you’re old and grey.

      Ease into Free and Open Source Software. Migrate slowly.

      Split that 250 GB drive in half. Put your MSFT on the first half and use it for the things you haven’t yet learned how to do with Linux. Use the second half to experiment with Linux for a while. Go to distrowatch.com and check out all those distributions you’re not hearing about from the Ubuntu and Fedora fanboys. Nobody but you knows what’s best for you.

    • #2490321

      Before you make the change….

      by intj-astral ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      Before you make the change….

      Image your hard drive and save the backup. If you completely forsake windows then fine, but if you have to go back this backup will save you hours of reinstalling, configuring, and will prevent Microsoft from forcing you to talk to tech support in India if, according to them, you have reinstalled too often.
      Save all your data on a CD. This will keep your files accessible no matter what. Then, make sure you have the following: Windows XP CD and key, Gnome partition editor (download this free ISO file and create a CD with it), disksave from the NT4 resource kit (might take a little searching, but it’s actually out there, on the web…), save your Windows fonts from your Windows XP installation, and if possible an imaging software like Acronis true image. Install the Acronis in windows and create a boot CD. You can use this to backup your Windows (safety net!) as well as your Linux installation. Save the image to an external drive, preferably.

      Finally, do a bit of research to get used to Linux conventions before installing. For example, your c:\ drive would be hda as a device, its partition designated hda1 (provided you’e only one partition on the drive), and it’s mount point (the folder it’s ?mounted? on) might be, for example, /windows. All folder and partition names in Linux begin with a / so for example, instead of c:\Documents and Settings\Joe Blow\My Documents, it would be /home/joeblow/documents. I know it might sound like a bit much, but being aware of this should help.

      Then go ahead and install the Linux. Tip:I find putting it on a unpartitioned drive makes it easier. The stuff I recommended having on hand all makes life easier. There are plenty of how-to pages and tutorials out there. Look up the Jem Report, there might be a tutorial for your chosen Linux. I got Suse Linux 10.1 before the whole Novell-Microsoft deal-with-the-devil ruckus. Be prepared to learn more than you expect, but it’s worth it in the end. I’ve been dual-booting since August, because I must maintain proficiency with XP in spite of my switch.

      • #2511260

        that was a most handy reply…

        by kaicremata ·

        In reply to Before you make the change….

        specific, constructive and based upon your own experience,,,i have really enjoyed the responses to this simple enquiry…going home today and breaking the new machine out of the box…

        • #2511212

          when you decide,

          by pfyearwood ·

          In reply to that was a most handy reply…

          When you decide what distro you want to use, post back and let us know how things are going.
          Paul

    • #2511026

      In the same boat.

      by nomorevictoriasecret ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      i’m looking for another system to play with and i was told ubuntu is a good system with newbies so let me know how i goes with your experience. i’ll share mine as well.

      jOn

    • #2510386

      Consider MEPIS

      by rdaugherty ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      I am going through the same thing you are. I considered several different distros, and tried unsuccesfully to install a few. Then I downloaded the MEPIS live CD, which allows you to load the OS off of the CD and test out the distro. Since is a very recent version, everything is very up to date.

      The distro is based off of Debian and Ubuntu, so has great features from both. What I liked the most is it has KDE already setup, a package installer that automates the installation of every piece of software you can think of. Plus the hardware detection on this distro is supposed to be the best in comparison to others, from what I have read online.

      It easily lets you dual boot both your windows and linux to switch back and forth. Plus I was easily able to mount my NTFS drives to access my Windows docs and my mp3 partitions, and had no trouble playing music right out of the box.

      I have added via the package manager, Postfix email server, MySQL, ez-ipupdate with a easydns registration, Apache, SSH, and many others. I am still working on gettin all these services up and running, but this is the great part that is allowing me to quickly learn Linux.

      So that is my vote. Good luck in whatever you try. Another good place to find info is at linuxquestions.org.

    • #2498287

      Regardless of which ‘flavor’

      by xt john ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      or distribution you use, if you are going to set up a dual boot system, I’d advise getting a secondary hard drive and installing Linux there. I’ve seen many people (myself included) start partitioning their hard drive for a Linux install and screw everything up. I’ve found it easier to use a boot loader (Lilo my fave) and have it default to the operating system you use most. As far as distros go, Mandriva has proven to me to work best out of the box.

    • #2508995

      the new system is in, everyone has been helpful…

      by kaicremata ·

      In reply to If you were a new linux user, how would you set up your system?

      i am so far behind on my work i feel like my head is on fire and my ass is catching…can i say that here???

      system came with vista home and if i ever had any doubt about moving to linux, my vista experience solidified the linux consideration…

      i am already having problems with buggy screen appearances, program crashes and for anyone who is afraid of the linux learning curve, i can only see this,,,

      every program has a learning curve and with vista, what i am really ending up with, a software application for me designed by someone else…its liking buying an off the rack suit in an off price store

      never will fit right…i have a week probably to unbury myself and then linux is coming…i will download and burn a distro, offload my work files and wipe that HD clean…no more redmond

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