Best Linux ... Thing

Brynn

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Ok whats the best linux operation thang.
Suse/Red Hat or what?

Im a Linux virgin so be gentle
 

NaveT

Fledgling Freddie
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I am currently running Fedora Core 3 which is quite nice and easy to get to grips with.

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The Fedora Project is a Red-Hat-sponsored and community-supported open source project. It is also a proving ground for new technology that may eventually make its way into Red Hat products. It is not a supported product of Red Hat, Inc.

The goal of The Fedora Project is to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from free software. Development will be done in a public forum. The project will produce time-based releases of Fedora Core about 2-3 times a year with a public release schedule. The Red Hat engineering team will continue to participate in the building of Fedora Core and will invite and encourage more outside participation than was possible in Red Hat Linux. By using this more open process, we hope to provide an operating system that uses free software development practices and is more appealing to the open source community.
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Gurnox

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NaveT said:
I am currently running Fedora Core 3 which is quite nice and easy to get to grips with.
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Yeah, Fedora Core 3 is pretty straightforward for beginners. Not much between that and SuSE to be honest - Though SuSE, pre Novell, wouldn't let you download iso images which was a royal pain in the arse. They may have changed this now though.

Also worth checking out Debian. It's got a rather slow release cycle but has the best package management around.

Gentoo is also an excellent distro, but certainly not one for the beginner. If you want a project rather than a simple install, go for it. It will teach you more about the inner working of Linux than any other distro. Worth reading the docs to see if you really want to go through the agro though.

See:

http://www.gentoo.org/
http://www.redhat.com
http://www.debian.org/
http://www.novell.com/linux/suse/index.html
 

fatbusinessman

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I'm going to agree with popular opinion and say Fedora's probably your best bet as someone new to Linux - really nice and easy to set up, you get a shedload of software bundled with it, and you can get ISO images.

I'd recommend not going for Gurnox's suggestion of Debian though - while it's really powerful once you've got used to it (I use it myself) it's not for one who's new to Linux, as it can be a right bastard to get working.
 

Gurnox

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fatbusinessman said:
I'd recommend not going for Gurnox's suggestion of Debian though - while it's really powerful once you've got used to it (I use it myself) it's not for one who's new to Linux, as it can be a right bastard to get working.

I'd put that post together in a kind of 'order of difficulty' sort of way. Sorry, should have made that clear. Agreed though, Fedora is by far the easiest. CD in, boot, configure, install, done. Peice of cake.
 

Brynn

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Installed Fedora - loving it already.

But i cant log on to the net with it - BT shitty adsl modem doensnt like it, so i have to purchase a router, when that time comes im gunna be a hardcore linux user :p
 

Brynn

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:eek6: soo confusing ... im new to linux, dont know what to do

Nother thing, how can i tell it to boot linux on start, or windows? i dont want to have to switch cables around.

Another thing, is that it says my Linux HD is unformatted....im quite confused
 

NaveT

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welcome to the world of linux dist.. It can be confusing to start with, but after 24 hours working on a problem, there is so much satisfaction when you fix it. :p

Windows / Linux booting - Look up Bootloader / grub on google.

What says your linux driver is unformatted? If its Windows that says this, it is normal. Windows can not natively view ext3 partitions.
 

Brynn

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Thats confusing me :p

do i just install grub/bootloader then restart the machine?

I cant understand the faq because its in jargon. and i have only been using linux for about 2 hours
 

Brynn

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'fer fooks sake - i have to reinstall windows, think my best option is to fiddle with cables
 

NaveT

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uhmm...You shouldnt need to re-install windows.

What is your setup? Are you running on two seperate harddrives?
 

Brynn

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Yea, XP on my C Drive, and Fedora Core 3 on D.

But i cant use the linux system as i need a router to get my net to work
 

Gurnox

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NaveT said:
welcome to the world of linux dist.. It can be confusing to start with, but after 24 hours working on a problem, there is so much satisfaction when you fix it. :p

Brynn, he's spot on with this. Do stick with it.

You'll already have Grub installed - now it's a matter of telling it about your Windows drive. The info on:

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Multiboot-with-GRUB.html

Is a bit dated and goes through the whole shebang (From installation onwards), but you should be able to take what you need from it.

A workaround could be to change the boot drive in your system Bios rather than faff with cables every time. Saves potentially knackering pins on the HD too.

I'd definately buy a router though. Not just 'cos it's easier to use with Linux (Or any other OS for that matter), but also because you get loads more thrown in for good measure too. Anything with Draytek written on it gets my vote (Pricey, but worth every penny).
 

Brynn

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Gurnox said:
A workaround could be to change the boot drive in your system Bios rather than faff with cables every time. Saves potentially knackering pins on the HD too.

Boot Drive is just set as "HD" in my bios
 

Brynn

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Whoop Whoop - got internet running on the linux pc - now to get gfx drivers working.
 

Brynn

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Next question - how do i get into the root thing. becuase im trying to install nvidia drivers, but says i need to get into the root thing. But its confusing me :p
 

Brynn

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how do i stop X server from running? sorry to be annoying but i need some help :p
 

Athan

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Stopping X from running at all will likely be a matter of finding the *dm you're running and stopping it. I'm assuming here that your linux boots straight into a graphical display with a login window in the middle. It'll be gdm, kdm, or xdm probably.
ctrl+alt+F1 to get back to the text console (X will still be running though), login as root, and issue /etc/init.d/xdm stop (or gdm or kdm, whichever you're using). Then do the gfx install from there.

hth,

-Ath
P.S. with all this to and fro you might want to just prod a linuxhead awake on #freddyshouse, it'll be quicker.
 

Brynn

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doesn't have any of those three :(
this is stressing me out :p

Screenshot41.jpg


is the display of the folder, and what files there are
 

NaveT

Fledgling Freddie
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All i did when i installed the nvidia drivers was to go into the console and do the following.

$ su
$ (enter root password)
# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1.run

That should be it, if thats the nvidia driver you are using. If that fails, can you let us know the exact error message you are getting.
 

Brynn

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willdo when i get home - thanks very much for you help NaveT i really appreciate it
 

Brynn

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ERROR: You appear to be running an X server; please exit X before
installing. For further details, please see the section INSTALLING
THE NVIDIA DRIVER in the README available on the Linux driver
download page at www.nvidia.com.
 

TheJkWhoSaysNi

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Brynn said:
how do i stop X server from running? sorry to be annoying but i need some help :p

type "telinit 3" into the terminal. and "telinit 5" to start X again.
 

Brynn

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TheJkWhoSaysNi said:
type "telinit 3" into the terminal. and "telinit 5" to start X again.

bash: telinit: command not found
 

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