linux or not to linux?

[sponge]

Righty, all i know about linux is that its a free OS, what is it used for, why would you dual boot if you have windows? could someone just post me alink as im very interested.

[kage]

Linux (as well as some of the *BSD's, Open Solaris, and various others) is not just a free Operating System, it is an Open Source Operating System. This means the source code behind the OS can be freely downloaded and you can change it.

Why would you dual boot it if you have windows? Choice.

For more information on linux, check out these links:

http://www.linux.org/
http://distrowatch.com/
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://www.knoppix.com/

[sponge]

thanks for that, i just wanted to know what all the fuss is about, i might try linux. Is it only good for coding or does it have other uses?

[kage]

It is great for server applications, and networking. They only way you can find out if you have any uses for it, would be to try it. The Knoppix link I posted above is a live-cd, which runs from the cdrom, so you can try it out without installing it.

[smurfy]

If all you use a computer for is Web browsing, e-mail, Office-style word processing & spreadsheeting, listening to music and watching video, playing puzzle games etc then Linux can do it for you.
If you are interested in learning programming then either O/S has tools that can assist.
If you want absolute control over what is on your PC, then Linux is definitely for you.
If you want complete freedom of choice of what graphical shell and desktop environment you use, then Linux is for you.

If you use legacy applications that are only designed to run on Windows or are a heavy 3D gamer, then you'll still need Windows.

[jmtjet]

Linux has far greater security than any Windows machine. It's nice not to worry about virii,trojans,worms,adware,spyware, keyloggers, hackers and malware. You don't need to run umpteen security programs, just a firewall and even that is optional. Have a look here;

http://www.ubuntu.com/

If you are on a broadband internet connection you can download an ISO image, burn it to disk and install it for 0 dollars. Or pick-up a disk from some other source, ebay or the distro's website are good sources. As open source software the support will come mostly from other users via Linux forums.Have fun.

[sponge]

Sounds like a pretty nice OS, thanks for answering my post guys. Ive had a look and there are a whole bunch of different linux's is there a best one, one you can recommend, a test to see which one i would like?

EDIT: I would dual boot it with win xp home, is there a certain one for that?

[jmtjet]

Do your homework before you attempt to set up a dual boot. It can be tricky. I use a harddrive select switch and have Ubuntu Linux installed on it's own harddrive. I've used most of the main Linux distros over the last few years and have to say Ubuntu is the best one I've came accross-by far. Good luck, and have fun.

PS: Ubuntu comes on one CD. After the basic install use can add the programs you want to the kernel. So don't be fooled by the basic kernel install, you fill it out as you go along.

[renegade600]

I used suse the first time I installed linux and it was an easy setup and worked first time. Also Xandros is an excellant one for beginners. I installed that one the other day and it was a snap.

See the following

I would suggest trying a live cd/dvd before installing it on your harddrive. You can get the live ones by going to the linux forum and check out the sticky. This way you can check it out before installing it on your harddrive.

[sponge]

yesh i have a blank hard drive of 20 gb. How do you get a hard drive select?

[jmtjet]

The switch I have is a Romtec Trios harddrive selector switch, but it's no longer made. The company went belly up about two years ago.

http://www.dslwebserver.com/main/fr_...tec-Trios.html
http://www.hothardware.com/viewartic...?articleid=281

Notice the date on these articles are 2001 and 2002.

Found something similiar on ebay;
http://cgi.ebay.com/COMBOX-Hard-Driv...QQcmdZViewItem

I went to the selector switch after a failed attempt at a dual boot with Win 2K pro. I lost Win 2K in the process and decided to isolate Linux from Windows. There are many who dual boot without problems and like it that way. One advantage to a dual boot is you can read the Windows partition from Linux.

The Ubuntu CD is also a "live" CD and can be ran from your CD-ROM drive.

[leroys1000]

I've tried a lot of linux distros,and finally settled on freespire.
It looks good,easy to install,automatically configures the hardware,
And I can actually find the file locations in it.
Had a problem with mysql until I figured out not to modify my.cnf
and just enter user data diectly to mysql.
Installation of programs is automatic through apt-get or
click and run.

[acidburned9]

if your new to linux i would use live cds first until you get the hang of them.ubuntu is easy for beginner,not very good if you like eye candy.kubuntu is good uses kde as the desktop and has good eye candy.simplymepis is a live cd that you can install and is a very newbie distro.i run 4 diff linux os from one hard drive.simplymepis 3.4.3 which is based on debian unstable/etch.2 mepis remasters with only light desktops,fluxbox.and kanotix.the new simplymepis is ubuntu based.

[jediforce]

you don't necessarily need to physically switch the hard drives for new distros of linux. Most of them will install a boot loader to the master drive so whenever you turn on the pc, a selection window will come up for you to choose what operating system to boot into.

[acidburned9]

thats true i chainload the 4 distros i have from 1 hard drive.if you dual boot with windows,just install grub to the mbr.chainloading like i do is alittle more technical.