What version of Linux should I install on my computer (and how?)

December 30, 2001 | Darth Sidious

[Darth Sidious]

Will appreciate any comments and ideas. Thanks!!

[steve50]

bump for later. I'd like to partition my drive and try a linux os also.

[jimtorr]

FWIW, lots of DoD operations use the Red Hat variety of Linux. I don't know whether that's a recommendation or a warning, though. I don't know anything about it, myself.

[NeonKnight]

I would be curious to know the benefits...in terms of resource utilization. Is more ram freed up? Is processor speed used more effeciently?

[A CA Guy]

Pong? LOL

[Orblivion]

What do you want to run Linux for? You should figure that out and look for a distro that focuses on that. :) However, I must say Mandrake Linux has an amazing installer. And it seems pretty solid.

[July 4th]

I've had good luck with Mandrake. It's the first Linux distro I've ever tried, and the only one. I'm using it on the recommendation of others that it's good for beginners, and I've found it to be so. Prepare for disagreements! (and fill up that 60 gig with free software...I hope you have a cable/DSL line.)

[JRandomFreeper]

Caldera is one of the easiest to set up that I have seen. Red Hat is ok. Debian will download itself from the net, but I wasn't thrilled with it. Real geeks use slackware (Do not try this at home). If you decide to use slackware, find a good security checklist, and implement it.

/john

[Darth Sidious]

Among other things, Linux is open-source... meaning that you're free to look inside the code and see if any trapdoors, hobgoblins etc. are lurking around.

It's also very resource-friendly, from what I understand of it.

[JRandomFreeper]

Change the Caldera to Mandrake. My brain is fried because I'm at work.

/john

[atafak]

Mandrake 8.1...incredibly easy install...their partitioning tool is the best around...you can start the linux install, go as far as partitioning, then exit and install your M$ product, which will likely seize the master boot sector...after installing the M$ on its partition, do the Mandrake install and it will provide dual boot functions automatically...when installing Mandrake, use the expert mode, which is only slightly more difficult than the complete automatic install...the expert mode will allow you to choose, where you wish to make a choice, or go with defaults, where you prefer to...

[Billy_bob_bob]

If you are concerned about security you may want to consider getting BSD unix instead of Linux. I had a Linux box set up once and it got hacked inside of a week. Once I switched it over to BSD 4.3 it didn't get hacked again. Just a thought.

[Cboldt]

Mandrake 8.1 is reasonably easy to setup. If you plan to have Win and Linux, the installation/partitioning can be "tricky." I wanted to have WinXP plus Linux on my new laptop, and did the following: installed WinXP; used Partition Magic (costs about $50) to shrink the WinXP partition to about 3 Gb; installed Mandrake 8.1.

You should have multiple partitions for Linux, one partition for a swap area, and two or three additional partitions. I have a partition for the /home directory, which is where I keep "my stuff;" a partition for /usr which is where many programs reside; and a third for /tmp (probably not required). Mandrake's install provides a partition auto-configure with separate /usr and /home areas.

Linux is an awesome system - I started using it on a lark about three years ago, and am just scratching the surface. It is much easier (more efficient) on the hardware. Not just on the CPU, but noticeably on the disk drives. No thrashing, clunking whatsoever.

[Darth Sidious]

You're the guy who held up a sign talking informing motorists about red light cameras if I'm not mistaken. That was you, right?

Yup :-)

[stlrocket]

Don't forget to apply for your official Linux Certification Credentials.

OFFICIAL LINUX CREDENTIALS

[July 4th]

. It is much easier (more efficient) on the hardware. Not just on the CPU, but noticeably on the disk drives. No thrashing, clunking whatsoever.

Total agreement. Sometimes I'll be studying in my apartment, I'll be booted up in Win2k, and I won't have touched my machine for an hour and a half. All of a sudden I hear my hard drive start to run. For a minute. Is that really necessary?

[atafak]

if you use the mandrake partitioning tool prior to installing M$, you can skip spending the $50 on partition magic...