Re: It's all so confusing, so should I get a CD Distribution?
> OK, I'm finding all this Linux thing really difficult because I'm using it > on my home computer and have to go to my mother's college to download > things, and I'm a total newbie so I > don't have a clue when it comes to recompiling the Kernel to put NTFS > compatibility on, and installing X Window etc. Therefore, I am considering > buying a distribution. > > 1) Would you recommend a distribution disk for a newbie? I Think a newbie (and also others with out fast and handy internet connection) should have a CD. Take a look at www.debian.org. Some commercial companies that I recall selling CDs are www.chaepbytes.com, www.lsl.com. I think that those CD cost about $20 or less, mostly for overseas shipment. > 2) Are there different ones to get? Yes. The differences are the addition to the "standard" Linux software. For example, There might be an "office" software for Linux, or an integrated clone of Motif, or a book (www.linuxpress.com), to name only some possibilities. > 3) I know this is a Debian list, but do you recommend Debian for > user-friendliness? What are its advantages/disadv. ? I read an article about > Red Hat being good, but it's expensive (£50 = $85) I would recommend Debian for user-friendliness. The fact that a package tells you what its dependencies and if they are fullfiled seems to me very user freindly. And the new deity are said to overcome the difficult sides of dselect. By the way, I think that an official Red Hat can be bought for $40 or even $20, without shipment. It may be that the mentioned $85 includes more then a bare Red Hat distribution. > 4) Can I dual-boot Windows NT and Debian? I believe you can althgough I never tried to. -- E-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST. Trouble? E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: It's all so confusing, so should I get a CD Distribution?
G'day >1) Would you recommend a distribution disk for a newbie? > >2) Are there different ones to get? > >3) I know this is a Debian list, but do you recommend Debian for >user-friendliness? What are its advantages/disadv. ? I read an article about >Red Hat being good, but it's expensive (£50 = $85) Well, I have now installed both RedHat 4.2 and Debian 1.3, and found them both pretty easy to install (actually, debian was a bit of a pain, but only because I was using an old laptop with a small HD and no CD-ROM!), and if I had to install one again, i think i'd probably go with debian... Redhat is pretty easy to install, but it seems to me (even tho I've only been using Linux for a few months) that the guts of Debian is a little easier to get a hand on than RedHat... RedHat has some nice X-Windows configuration tools, but using them you never really learn what's going on, and changing something by hand then becomes quite difficuly... >4) Can I dual-boot Windows NT and Debian? Yes, you certainly can... My system boots between RedHat, Win95 and WinNT4. There is actually a HOWTO that describes how to add Linux to the NT boot loader, which it pretty cool :) NTFS support in Linux is still a little shakey (seems to work, but i wouldn't want to bet important data on it) YMMV, but I tended to find that Linux was easist to set up on a disk by itself (that's if you have a HD to spare...) but lots of ppl seem to be using dual-boot systems, so I guess it can't be too hard! Anyway, hope that helped a little... damon Damon Muller ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Web Page: www.sub.net.au/~tr It's not a sense of humor. It's ICQ UIN:2920281 a sense of irony disguised as one. PGP Key ID: 0x232C09E1 - Bruce Sterling -- E-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST. Trouble? E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: It's all so confusing, so should I get a CD Distribution?
On Sun, 15 Mar 1998, Tristan Day wrote: > OK, I'm finding all this Linux thing really difficult because I'm using it > on my home computer and have to go to my mother's college to download > things, and I'm a total newbie so I > don't have a clue when it comes to recompiling the Kernel to put NTFS > compatibility on, and installing X Window etc. Therefore, I am considering > buying a distribution. You should still compile a kernel with a distribution. I kernel compiled for your system will be better than the generic ones provided to load an boot an installation. Besides, if you don't compile your own, you probably won't be able to use your sound card, and stuff not provided with an installation kernel. > > 1) Would you recommend a distribution disk for a newbie? If you want the 'easy' way out, buy a hard drive that already has linux installed on it. Otherwise, bite the bullet, read the docs, and ask questions to the list. > > 2) Are there different ones to get? > > 3) I know this is a Debian list, but do you recommend Debian for > user-friendliness? What are its advantages/disadv. ? I read an article about > Red Hat being good, but it's expensive (£50 = $85) I think we are a friendly to users. Debian has better program dependancy/conflict checks than Red-Hat. Red-Hat has better commercial software support. You can download bot of them for free, or find them on disks cheap, but if you want some of the commercial software/support, thats what jacks up the price on red-hat. > > 4) Can I dual-boot Windows NT and Debian? Yes. Mark -- E-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST. Trouble? E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: It's all so confusing, so should I get a CD Distribution?
On Sun, 15 Mar 1998, Tristan Day wrote: > 1) Would you recommend a distribution disk for a newbie? Yes. > 2) Are there different ones to get? Quite a few: RedHat, SUSE, Debian, Slackware, ... > 3) I know this is a Debian list, but do you recommend Debian for > user-friendliness? What are its advantages/disadv. ? I read an article about > Red Hat being good, but it's expensive (£50 = $85) Since this is a debian list, debian of course! It still is difficult to install for a UNIX novice. > 4) Can I dual-boot Windows NT and Debian? Yes. There is a HOWTO which describes the steps required. There are comparisons of the different distributions available. Search the WWW. -- Jean Pierre -- E-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST. Trouble? E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
It's all so confusing, so should I get a CD Distribution?
OK, I'm finding all this Linux thing really difficult because I'm using it on my home computer and have to go to my mother's college to download things, and I'm a total newbie so I don't have a clue when it comes to recompiling the Kernel to put NTFS compatibility on, and installing X Window etc. Therefore, I am considering buying a distribution. 1) Would you recommend a distribution disk for a newbie? 2) Are there different ones to get? 3) I know this is a Debian list, but do you recommend Debian for user-friendliness? What are its advantages/disadv. ? I read an article about Red Hat being good, but it's expensive (£50 = $85) 4) Can I dual-boot Windows NT and Debian? Thanks. -- E-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST. Trouble? E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
