Interested in linux but not too sure

I'm contemplating using linux just for "fun" but i'm not sure if it'd be the right choice. Reading over the "linux is not windows" page has made my decision even shakier. Questions like: Can my computer even run linux? and Is it really even worth it? Are floating around in my head. Can anyone give me some insight?

 

I'd say, "full steam ahead," but that's just me. If you want to try it for fun/out of curiosity and are willing to learn as you go, you'll be fine. If your computer is just a tool you use from time to time and you're not particularly interested, then don't bother.

 

Umm...if its a desktop it will run linux easily. Go to the ubuntu site, ask for a free live-cd and try it out, its all free...everything is free and opensource try it...it wont hurt you in any way. You will like it, its lk mac osx but more customizable...plus more free software...around 20,000 free open source software for your use...oh and free open source games!

 

Do i have to do any command line coding with a live cd?

 

ok...heres what you can do. i was in EXACTLY the same situation man. so i tried these two. thy re simpler to use..and dont offend the brain at first glance as much.

1. linux mint
2. ubuntu

get the LIVECD distributions. you dont install ANYTHING. it boots the operating system from Disk and you can test it out. it truly works. if youre interested...you can install...if you dont choose..then so be it.

id deffo say go for it..ive now got my main computer running xp pro and my craptop running linux mint and its really great..im finding im using my craptop most of the time. its fast..efficient..and so far EVERYTHING has worked out fo the box. wireless, GPU, even my tiny little LED light on top of the screen

give it a a shot i say.

 

You have nothing to lose with the LiveCD...you try it without installing.

 

sorry about the double post. but you dont have to do anything...seriously...its truly easy.

 

Instead of ordering the live cd, can i just download the live edition and burn it to one of my cd's?

 

Yes you can. And I suggest you to try Linux Mint to get something as easy as possible.

 

How would i go about doing that? I just download the .iso file and burn it to my cd using wmp or something?

 

Yes, you download the .iso here: http://linuxmint.com/mirrors.php?id=15
And then you burn it on a CD (with some programs you select something like "Burn image to disk")

 

Calvin, go for it. Downloading the ISO, burning to CD and then actually using the LiveCD or installing Linux is so simple even I managed - which means just about anybody can pull this off! LOL

Enjoy.

 

Alright, seems easy enough. I'll go ahead and download it and burn it and try it out. One question though. Can i run windows in the background while i run the live cd? Like if i was downloading ubuntu via torrents and wanted that to stay on while i tried out linux mint?

 

You just put the LiveCD in the tray and reboot into the distro you've chosen instead of Windows.

If you decide to install Linux, you'll be given a choice: boot into the Linux distro you've chosen, or Windows.

 

Thanks for the info Rob.

 

Calvin, keep your wits about you and take notes. I'm a little bit alarmed that everyone said it's so easy. You can very quickly go into the ditch, especially the first time or two.
For instance, are you familiar with Linux-speak for drives and partitions? If you're not sure what "sda1" and "sda2" means you're going to be confused when you get to the partitioning part. The concept of "mount" can be mystifying to newbs.

What wireless chip do you have? Broadcom chips are ubiquitous and still can be a pain to get going, although that has improved recently. Intel wireless chipsets are much easier.

Do you know how to set your BIOS to boot from the optical drive?
Did anyone mention that you should burn the LiveCD at about 4X or so? Don't let your burn utility go at full crank.
Also, there's a "Check CD for defects" option at the first splash screen when you start the LiveCD. I'd strongly suggest you run the utility, and if it reports errors don't even think about trying to install with that CD.

 

LOL, too true. I've been using Linux for two years now and still can't figure out mount.

(Then again, I've never had a situation arise where I've had to use it)

 

To this day I still don't fully understand the way Linux manages volumes.

 

Thanks for the backup, Lysander -
I certainly don't want to discourage the OP from trying it. I think Linux is the future, and the sooner you start using it the better. I just don't want to Calvin to think this is like going out for pizza.

I'm not a Linux guru by any means, but have spent hundreds of hours at the Ubuntu Forums (Bartender over there) so have some idea of where the bear traps are hidden.

Linux installs can be trickier on laptops than desktops. So there's the first hurdle.

From what I've seen, one person will pop in the Ubuntu/Mint/Suse/ whatever CD and 20 minutes later they're Linux users. The next person tries the same thing and wipes out their Windows data, or the screen is blank, or wireless doesn't work, etc.

 

Telkwa...i was just about to go download and install linux but now i'm scared...

 

Scared of what? The LiveCD installs nothing on your HDD. If you don't like, you eject the CD from the drive and everything is finished.

 

But didn't he just say that some people pop in a cd and it works but others op it in and windows got messed up?

 

No it won't modify anything in Windows. The only thing is that if you go under "Computer" and then in your Windows partition and then you start deleting files manually...but I think you wouldn't do that

 

Calvin -
I apologize. I want you to try Linux. As others have said, when you use a LiveCD, Linux runs entirely off the CD and your RAM. As long as you just poke around, see what you think, try running your printer or plugging in your digital camera, that sort of thing, you'll be fine.

If you decide to install, that's where I would ask you to pay attention, take notes, write down the things that are confusing, and ask questions before committing yourself. You can even back out of the install procedure if you're partway into it.

 

What's really funny? Windows NT based versions of Windows actually manage volumes in an almost identical way to Unix, internally at least. They just hide it with drive letters. You could actually mount a drive in Windows at, say, c:\Program Files, and then all your installed programs would be on a separate physical drive, but it would still appear to be part of the C: file system. Linux is the same way. Instead of the folder being on the same physical disk, it's just pointed to a different disk.

As for the LiveCD's, the only way you mess up your Windows install by using a LiveCD is if you click on the Install option in the LiveCD, or play with the partitioning and disk tools that often come with them. If you just try out things like OpenOffice.org or The GIMP, then there's no danger with a LiveCD whatsoever. And even THEN, most LiveCD's (if they make it accessible at all) will mount your Windows drive as read-only, so you can't change things even if you wanted to.

Really, you don't need to be scared. The only things you really need to do is remember that you will be a complete newbie as far as system administration is concerned (you know how to drive a mouse and use programs, that's where a lot of the similarities end), and read, read, read and keep reading more about Linux, and the issues you run into. Good luck!

 

First, back up your data just in case.
Then have at it!
I'd try Mint first just because of the good things I've heard about it & seen.
I'd also try the Windows version of Linux distros included software so you understand it in Linux(ex. Gimp, OpenOffice).

 

I'm downloading linux right now since my bw is finally free'd up. And Thomas what do you mean by "just in case"? The live cd won't touch my windows install.

 

When or if you install it.

 

Oh, ok. That makes sense. One question though. When i use the live cd, will it save any data or customization i do within it to the cd or something so that i can just play it safe and boot linux up from the cd when i want?

 

You will lose everything every time you shutdown the computer, but you can take a look here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCDPersistence

 

Thanks for the link but that's a little too command liney for me. I'll just have to deal with it.

 

So just think of the LiveCD as a way to 'test-drive" the linux OS. You can see if your wireless works, if your printer is recognized, etc.
But you won't be able to save changes in preferences, resolution, desktop wallpaper, that sort of thing. Still, the LiveCD's are incredibly useful to see the OS with your own eyes. Did anyone mention that it will run rather slowly, especially on an older computer?
That's because it's running from the optical drive and RAM rather than your hdd. So don't let that discourage you if it seems awfully clunky.

If you have the time and inclination, you might get a kick out of running the Ubuntu LiveCD, then running the Kubuntu LiveCD. Excellent way to get a look at the differences between the Gnome desktop environment (Ubuntu) and the KDE desktop environment (Kubuntu).

 

Lots of good advice here so far.

A great little freeware utility for burning an ISO is BurnCDCC. You can download it here, http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html.

I think Mint would be a great distro for you to start out with. Hopefully it supports your AMD CPU well. I recommend that you use the KDE version, as it will be more Windows like and familiar for you to use.

I've noticed that the Mint site is down again, so Mint may be out of the loop for now.

Two other distros I can recommend to you are Kubuntu, and SimplyMEPIS. Both of these distros will require you to install some codecs and plugins to gain full functionality, but that should be no big deal for you, and both of these distos have great free support and user communities to help you out with everything.

I'm using SimplyMEPIS right now, and it's been a great experience so far.

Just download the ISOs, and give them a spin. Play around with them and have fun. When you feel like your ready to install, there's plenty of online help to guide you along the way.

There's no need to fear the command line (the shell). Think of it as a powerful, trustworthy friend that's there to help you. It can actually make doing some things easier and more efficient. It's rarely even necessary anymore, and when it is, you can find great explanations, examples, and tutorials online to help you out. Here's a few good ones.

Really Linux

LinuxCommand.org

Alphabetical Directory of Linux Commands

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks scoober, that really helped me out a lot.

 

Here's a command line entry for you. You can do this from within the LiveCD environment, and then you won't be a command line virgin anymore.
In Ubuntu, go to "Accessories", then click on Terminal. (I always put a terminal icon in the upper panel once the OS is installed to the HDD)

Don't do anything in the new window except type in these three letters: top
Then click the "Enter" key

"top" gives you a neat list of running processes. The one on top is the one using the most CPU resources. It's interesting to watch as the processes change order every second or so.

That wasn't so bad, eh?

 

To you gents who recommended Mint: Just took a brief look at it - looks nice - thanks for the heads up. As I type, I'm DBanning (is that a verb?? LOL) my old eMachines which currently has XP and PCLOS 2007 installed. Am going to give Mint a shot, and try (once again!) to get SUSE to install. For some reason, both SUSE and Gentoo have been uncooperative (or, more likely, I'm experiencing an operator error ).

Bye Windows . . .


@Calvin: Are you up and running with LInux yet? If so, what do you think? Pretty nifty, no?

@Telkwa: Rep for your good advice and downplaying of perhaps overly enthusiastic posts like my own.

 

@Calvin: which distribution have you chosen?

 

The Mint site is back up.

http://linuxmint.com/

 

I want to use linux mint. When i tried to download it the other day it didn't work and now since it's up again i can download. Been trying to download it for quite a while. Thanks for your help guys, i'll try the command prompt thing as soon as i boot it up.

 

Hey...guys...what's up with all the weird folders? .disk, casper, disk id, isolinux, md5sum? Should i burn these to my disk?

 

You only have to burn one file and it's the ISO.

 

Just navigate through the file folders to the ISO itself and download it.

The MD5 checksum should open in your browser. You'll need a checksum utility to verify the checksum of the file after it's completed downloading. I recommend this little freeware utility called Hash for this purpose. You can get it here, http://www.keir.net/hash.html.

Once your download is completed, just open up the file in Hash. Hash will take a little time, and then it will provide you with the MD5 checksum, among other things. Compare this MD5 checksum value to the one provide with the download. If they match, then you know your download is good, if they don't match, then you know it is bad (corrupted), and you'll need to try again with a new download.

 

I can't find any .iso files...

 

http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/releases/ --> http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/releases/LinuxMint-4.0.iso

 

Here's a link to the torrent and other downloads, http://www.linuxmint.com/mirrors.php?id=15.

The MD5 checksum is listed right on the download page there as well.

 

There are some problems with crashing on the KDE version of Mint right now, so stick with the GNOME version. That's the link I provided.

 

I figured it out. The file itself is .iso but winrar is the default "open with" program so it extracted what was in the .iso. ok, so i just just burn the .iso to the disk right?

 

And what is the problem? Just burn that ISO file.

Edit: yes

 

Yeah i saw it was in Beta so i stayed clear of it.

 

Have you started burning it yet?