Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - Hardware/Software - Any tips for a Linux n00b?
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windwaker
Posts: 1782/1797 |
To start, Ubuntu, but once you get more advanced, Debian all the way. The package management is just insanely great. |
candrodor
Posts: 15/19 |
Originally posted by Cellar DwellerWhy not just "tar -xvzf file"?
Because I'm new to this. Thanks. |
||bass
Posts: 806/817 |
Originally posted by HyperHacker
Originally posted by candrodor
There might be a smaller basic download where you then download later what programs you want, I don't know. It certainly is easy to use though. What are you after exactly, in a Linux distro?
Windows, with a lot more power (eg better command line, less restrictive environment) and a lot less bugs.
You want Ubuntu or Fedora. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 7209/8210 |
Originally posted by candrodor
There might be a smaller basic download where you then download later what programs you want, I don't know. It certainly is easy to use though. What are you after exactly, in a Linux distro?
Windows, with a lot more power (eg better command line, less restrictive environment) and a lot less bugs. |
Cellar Dweller
Posts: 251/269 |
I know that Debian, and many other distros, can be installed over the Internet that way.
I strongly urge against downloading whole CD images in favor of a network install. I have installed and upgraded Debian several times over a dialup connection, something that would not have been feasible with CD images, and should be easy on any broadband connection.
gzip -dv file
tar -xvf file
Why not just "tar -xvzf file"? |
candrodor
Posts: 14/19 |
There might be a smaller basic download where you then download later what programs you want, I don't know. It certainly is easy to use though. What are you after exactly, in a Linux distro? |
HyperLamer
Posts: 7156/8210 |
Ah, well I might try it again. Though it's a big download, and I generally use up all my bandwidth downloading animé.  |
candrodor
Posts: 13/19 |
Mandriva is the most version of Mandrake. I think there was a merger or something. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 7108/8210 |
Is Mandriva anything like Mandrake? I tried that but didn't really like it. |
candrodor
Posts: 9/19 |
I guess I'm in a similar situation as you are. I started using Mandriva yesterday, after having tried to install/get into a few others before to see which one I preferred. I found Mandriva installed easily, and in the end, I thought "sod it" and went for this one again.
Gentoo, whilst I could install it, I couldn't seem to get GRUB working or something. It took absolutely bloody ages, and I couldn't connect it to the internet during, making it ridiculous. I gave up.
Ubuntu was too easy, on the other hand. Everything worked, and it was just odd. I didn't like it. SuSE refused to install on my SATA, so I gave up on it. I think I didn't do something I needed to there, but it just didn't detect it.
Erm, what else...? I tried a few others, but can't even remember their names. I think everyone finds different distros to their liking, but I think it's certainly worth trying out a few before you start using one for anything, so you get a bit of experience.
I'm running it dual-boot with Windows, and as soon as I get wireless running, I'll be moving into my own computer full time, and not have to use my mum's. yay.
Hyperhacker, I would suggest Mandriva, as it seems so easy to install, graphically, and without typing errors causing nastiness. I feel it feels different enough to Windows to make you feel like it's a change, and different, and like it's a bit of a challenge, but it's not so hard that you give up before you've even started. I found Ubuntu was just a windows clone, and I wasn't learning anything, but anyway.
One thing I will say, make sure you have an internet connection set up on the computer. It makes things so much easier to install, simply using the package manager of the distro, rather than downloading on another computer or on Windows, copying it over, working out how to ungzip, untarball, install it...
*isn't struggling to install a media player >.>;;*
gzip -dv file
tar -xvf file
is what I've used, by the way. |
Ailure
Posts: 10976/11162 |
Originally posted by dan
Really, if you are a Linux newbie, you should not be using Gentoo. Apparently, it's for hardcore Linux nerds users, so it's not advisable to use when starting out. Like Cornellius said ubuntu, fedora, or even one of those live CDs you can get, would be much easier to learn from.
I would say to try Slackware if you want something good, it's not as easy to install as Fedora core or Red hat but it's not as insane as Gentoo is. I didn't find Slackware hard to install, but then i'm not a Linux newbie either... I know how to use the Linux CLI pretty well. 
Althought I yet have to try Ubuntu or Gentoo. |
neotransotaku
Posts: 3890/4016 |
Originally posted by Felix
Originally posted by dan
Really, if you are a Linux newbie, you should not be using Gentoo. Apparently, it's for hardcore Linux nerds users, so it's not advisable to use when starting out. Like Cornellius said ubuntu, fedora, or even one of those live CDs you can get, would be much easier to learn from.
I don't know that it's necessarily "for hardcore Linux users". I use GNOME all the time at school, and I'm relatively new to the whole Linux thing.
The thing is at school, someone has set up all the Linux stuff for you, so all you have to do is login and use the semester. dan is referring more to setup and maintence of the OS, which is complicated depending on which Linux flavor that is used. |
Felix
Posts: 422/422 |
Originally posted by dan
Really, if you are a Linux newbie, you should not be using Gentoo. Apparently, it's for hardcore Linux nerds users, so it's not advisable to use when starting out. Like Cornellius said ubuntu, fedora, or even one of those live CDs you can get, would be much easier to learn from.
I don't know that it's necessarily "for hardcore Linux users". I use GNOME all the time at school, and I'm relatively new to the whole Linux thing. |
Nebetsu
Posts: 1405/1574 |
Originally posted by Cornellius
To use Gentoo, you must REALLY know your hardware. For a beginner, I'd start with Ubuntu or Fedora. You might even try Knoppix or Gnoppix.
I prefur Kubuntu over Ubuntu, but whatever floats your boat. I use Debian, but a new person should use Kubuntu, SUSE, Linspire, or something like that. |
dan
Posts: 727/782 |
Really, if you are a Linux newbie, you should not be using Gentoo. Apparently, it's for hardcore Linux nerds users, so it's not advisable to use when starting out. Like Cornellius said ubuntu, fedora, or even one of those live CDs you can get, would be much easier to learn from. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 6948/8210 |
Well I bought and put together the whole system myself, so I know it pretty well... Will that do?
Besides, I already printed out the 145-page "handbook". (How big are these peoples' hands? ) |
Cornellius
Posts: 389/460 |
To use Gentoo, you must REALLY know your hardware. For a beginner, I'd start with Ubuntu or Fedora. You might even try Knoppix or Gnoppix. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 6924/8210 |
Ah, but Common Sense takes +4 damage from Typo.
My printer is far too crappy to do 4-on-1 or even double-sided (since it loves to pick up two sheets at a time, which would throw off the ordering). I printed most of it in plain single-sided mode. Need to buy paper to finish the rest. |
FreeDOS
Posts: 1576/1657 |
It's not always a vision issue, but sometimes about the resolution of the printer Mine's too crappy to do four-on-one, I know that.
By the way, COMMON SENSE. You should have known what partition Windows was on, otherwise you wouldn't have had any trouble. |
Thayer
Posts: 376/988 |
Hmm... do you have any vision issues? I can read the print just fine. |
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