On Mon, Mar 19, 2001 at 09:08:58AM -0800, Nate Amsden wrote: > > Amit Ganpule wrote: > > > > Dear Sir, > > I have recently purchased a computer magazine along with that two CDs of > > Debian were given, now I bought the magazine for the Linux CDs, but I can't > > make head or tail of how to install, run or do anything with the CDs. I do > > not know how to partition the hard disc, I am very much interested in > > switching over to Linux OS. > > if you don't know how to partition a hard disk i strongly, honestly > reccomend against using linux at this point in time unless there is someone > local to you that can hold your hand. i have helped many many people > in person from knowing nothing about linux to being able to use it everyday > but many of them i don't think would of made it on their own(before giving up) > without a lot of help. > > especially debian. debian is not a userfriendly system to install. if your > ready to spend days/weeks configuring it then post your specific questions > here. in your case i would suggest getting a dedicated PC and using something > like mandrake until you get the hang of linux. then move to debian later. > setting up a dual boot can be dangerous unless you know exactly what your > doing(honestly the first time i tried with slackware ~5 years ago i wiped > out my C: so i speak from experience). > > i don't mean to discourage you but to save you a lot of effort, your post > suggests you are not ready for debian(yet). >
I disagree with much that is said here. I see this time and time again on many different forums that debian is not for newbies. I installed debian hamm after one year of using W95. Slink is much easier to install than hamm. I didn't even know which disk to use for installation. I posted to the list, asking if I use the binary or source disk. I read and understood as much as I could and posted to the list about that which I did not know. People were great and helped me immensely, still do. A few months after installing hamm I tried Redhat. The install was easier but I couldn't get ppp working for two weeks, there were many frustrating bugs and shortly thereafter I went back to debian. Installing a dual boot system can be done relatively safely by installing a second hard drive. A cheap 1 or 2 Gig drive will do nicely. Unhook your drive containing windows and install debian. Hook up both drives and use a boot floppy to access debian till your confident enough to use a boot-loader. Amit, if you would like to give debian a try there are people on the list that will help. I would suggest you start out by reading the documentation at - http://www.debian.org/ especially the installation instructions - http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/#new-inst I spent a considerable amount of time choosing the first distro I installed. I chose it because I wanted a bit of a challenge, in order to learn and because debian is created and run by volunteers. I've tried several distributions since and always come back to debian. hth, kent -- From seeing and seeing the seeing has become so exhausted First line of "The Panther" - R. M. Rilke