Running and understanding Linux

segasega

Hi,
I have used Windows for years, 3.1,95,2000 and xp. I was thinking of setting up an old machine to run Linux. I know a good bit about computers and programs and such but never really thought of running Linux. But I think I might give it a go. I just wanted to know if people here who run it found it hard to get used to if they were a windows user before hand and do you think it is a lot better than windows?

Cheers.

segasega

Also looked around the next and there is so many different versions and ways to install it so was wondering what is easy and straight froward?

Just saw this Live CD thing, might give that a go.

DublinEvents

Yup, a Live CD is the best way to get a feel for Linux before you decide to get your hands dirty with it. A word of warning though: Linux is NOT for the faint of heart. You will have to read a lot about it to do the simplest of things. Configuring it can be a real pain. If it didn't have these problems, everyone would be running it and no one would install Windows. Sadly, they haven't made Linux simple to use for the newbie so far. Linspire claims to offer the best experience for those who are new to the Linux world but it costs a bit of money. You can try out Freespire or Mandriva 2006. All of these claim to be user friendly but don't expect them to be as easy to use as Windows. Linux has a long way to go before it can threaten the dominance of Windows among the general population.

Static M.e.

What Dublinevents said.

I found Ubuntu though to be very userfriendly, it installed on my machine with zero problems and I found a lot of Doc. on the net about it.

Also the guys in the Unix or OpenSource forums here are really great for any questions.

GL with it, it will be difficult but the potential is massive so many excellent free tools and packages run on linux it does make me quite jealous sometimes

Khannie

segasega wrote:

I just wanted to know if people here who run it found it hard to get used to

I did yeah....but....

segasega wrote:

if they were a windows user before hand and do you think it is a lot better than windows?

No doubt about it. I think windows is good, and it's definitely easier to use if you're not familiar with linux, but once you've gotten over the hump (there is a hump to get over, as others have said), linux is far more powerful than windows.

I'd also recommend giving ubuntu a go. There is a live cd, but if it's an old computer, I'd say just go for it (it's much more responsive running off the hard drive). If you do install it, visit www.getautomatix.com to get a program that will help you get yourself up and running properly (installs flash player, mp3 codecs, etc.).

matt-dublin

id go with ubuntu linux, the installation is a live cd, so you can run it before you want to install.
although installing it performance is much master.

Ubuntu is fairly straight forward and has a windows type gui which makes it easier to navigate around and there . also there is a lot of documentation for this version of linux which is good as i've always found that other versions lack in documentation.

Also it is an excellent starters version of linux too as you're not straight into the cui.

Documentation and iso images can be found on http://www.ubuntu.com/

download ubuntu desktop 6.10 from here (for i386):
http://ftp.esat.net/mirrors/releases.ubuntu.com/releases/6.10/ubuntu-6.10-desktop-i386.iso

Ghost Train

I'd also say start with ubuntu. If you've any non standard hardware it may be tricky getting it working like you want

Zapho

I've messed around with a couple of versions of linux and Ubuntu is by far
my favourite. There's no better way to learn then on an oldish machine that
you won't be using for very much besides learning linux so if you mess things
up you can just reinstall it. It took a little while to get used to how things work
in linux but once I got the hang of it there was no stopping me! Getting hardware
to work is difficult at first but gets a lot easier. I much prefer how things work
under linux rather than windows. Give it a shot, you may end of loving it.

Also once Ubuntu is installed and running, its actually easier to use than windows.
I've converted my sister over to it (she's hopeless with computers) and now
she's well able to do just about everything she needs to do with out asking
me for help every 10 minutes.

generalmiaow

The problem with the Ubuntu LiveCD is that it will run pretty slowly whatever the speed of the machine, just because it's on a CD, so you won't get a feel for it. Khannie has the right idea, just install it, if it's an experimenting machine you have nothing to lose - just read about partitioning for linux first, (that being the only difficult part of installation) then install it. Ignore the networking setup during the installation, it rarely works for me. You can sort out any problems you have after installation later. Depends how old the machine is, but Xubuntu (a flavour of ubuntu using a different less intense GUI) might suit better. I'm no linux expert but I've got ubuntu running on four machines and I love it, I can't fault it for a newbie distro, and even having used others I keep going back to it, there's so much support for it that virtually any question you have about it has been answered somewhere in easy terms. Plus with the preinstalled software and the automatix script you can get up and running doing most useful stuff, playing media, writing documents, browsing the web and doing graphics right away, without having to delve into the books. I agree that user friendliness is a bit of a problem, but it's not like you need a university degree.

As for understanding linux, there's nothing better than a good linux book and a bit of practise, and there's loads out there. Try to get into shell scripts too, they're loads of fun and you will learn a lot. Good luck.

junii

Zapho wrote:

I've converted my sister over to it (she's hopeless with computers) and now
she's well able to do just about everything she needs to do with out asking
me for help every 10 minutes.

I have often considered showing people who are new to computers Linux. The problem then is that its the only computer they can use as computers at work, library, cyber cafes are usually windows.

One day they come home and say I want Microsoft word and you have to install windows for them. Things are getting better with VMware I suppose. Don't know how good wine is.

Personally, It took me a few gos at the start to start using Linux properly as when you face a big problem (trying to get a piece of hardware working for example) its much easier to just use windows rather than having to read wads of technical information. I like the ins and outs and learning stuff but most of the time I don't have the time or the patience. Luckily, ive got over the steep hill (its very steep at the beginning) and now have a good understanding but some things still take ages.

zilog_jones

I also recommend Ubuntu, or more specifically Kubuntu (which uses the KDE desktop instead of Gnome). If you're running it on a particularly old PC (128MB RAM or less) I'd recommend using the "alternate" CD (it uses the standard Debian installer instead of the Live CD install which will be helluva slow), or if you're running it on something even worse I'd recommend Xubuntu (which uses the more basic Xfce desktop) - I have that running on a P200 MMX with 160MB RAM somewhat comfortably.

Zapho

Also if you do use ubuntu then have a look at:
www.ubuntuforums.org
Its an invaluable resource for getting things working. Everyone of my problems
were solved here.