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Converting to Linux System?

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Converting to Linux System?
I have been thinking about converting from winXP to some type of unix/linux/etc.

OpenOffice and Gimp seem like reasonable starting points. Is there any recommended starting set of software for converting to *nix?

I also don't fully understand the various types of *nix. Linux seems to have the most interest right now. I would prefer to install FreeBSD, as it is what my webhost runs. Is there a practical difference for picking one distribution over another?

Thanks,
--
Rob

SW Montana's Online Community
Modular Model Railroading

Last edited by:

BeaverheadRiver: Jan 17, 2005, 2:56 PM
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Re: [BeaverheadRiver] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
Hi,

Give Mandrake 10.0 a go. I installed it on my machine in just under 2 hours (including all the office/accounts/development software). It has 3 CD images (~700Mb each), but its well worth it =) There is so much software that comes with it (something that M$ products fail on pretty miserably).

Cheers

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk
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Re: [Andy] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
Thanks for the info Andy.

I rrdered 3 live CD versions for $9 at linuxcd.org. Figured playing with versions that will run from a bootable CD would be the easiest.
  • Mandrake Move 2.0
  • Knoppix 3.7
  • FreeBSIE 1.1

From research, it seems BSD is unix and Mankdrake and Knoppix are linux.

FreeBSD can use a NTFS file system and linux can't

I've read good things about SuSE, so I'll have to get a live Cd of After reading more, I'll have to get a copy of SuSE 9.2 ordered and see how it works.
--
Rob

SW Montana's Online Community
Modular Model Railroading
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Re: [Andy] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
Mandrake is up to 10.1 I believe.

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Re: [BeaverheadRiver] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
Quote:
FreeBSD can use a NTFS file system and linux can't
Linux can read from an ntfs file system, but write access is still experimental, and disabled by default I believe. =)

Cheers,

Alex
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Gossamer Threads Inc.
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Re: [Alex] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
I did a quick search the other day and it says in FreeBSD's FAQ that it also only mount ntfs partitions read only.

Adrian
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Re: [brewt] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
Is there any technical reason that make Linux better than BSD or BSD better than Linux? Or is it more of a choice of other software included in the distro and/or personal preferences?

This would be for a consumer in a desktop application.
--
Rob

SW Montana's Online Community
Modular Model Railroading

Last edited by:

BeaverheadRiver: Jan 21, 2005, 7:12 AM
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Re: [BeaverheadRiver] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
This article may help a little...

http://people.freebsd.org/~murray/bsd_flier.html

It is generally accepted that linux distributions such as Mandrake, are more for beginners and are easier to install and configure. Debian/Slackware for example might be considered for slightly more advanced users, although I suppose there are for/against arguments for each version.

If you are just starting out with Linux, Mandrake or RedHat are usually quite popular.

CentOS may be worth a look too.

I am a Debian fan as apt-get makes installations and upgrades of software really easy.
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Re: [TypeR] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
In Reply To:
This article may help a little...

http://people.freebsd.org/~murray/bsd_flier.html

It is generally accepted that linux distributions such as Mandrake, are more for beginners and are easier to install and configure. Debian/Slackware for example might be considered for slightly more advanced users, although I suppose there are for/against arguments for each version.
Thanks for the article. I noticed it is on the freebsd website, so I figured he would prefer freebsd.

I have become frustrated with MS completely changing things every 5 years to make up for their lack of forsight. *nix solved most of the problems in the late 60's that MS seems intent on creating 40 years later.

It appears I might be trading frustration over MS for new frustrations over bsd v. linux, kernel versions and a multitude of distros. I am getting the sense that there a multitude of nearly compatible bsd and linux distros.

I downloaded OpenOffice 1.1.4 for Windows and am going to play around with it. Seems like a reasonable replacment for MS Office. I do a lot of word processing and a little of everything else in office. If I was a power excel user, it might be different.

There doesn't seem to be a replacement for Quicken/Quickbooks for bsd/linux. That is a large hole for me. Anyway, I am waiting for my 3 live boot CDs to actually play around and see what is available and what it will do.

Is there any good magazine or website with more consumer level information? Most if what I can find is written for/by users that would really rather be working from a command prompt.
--
Rob

SW Montana's Online Community
Modular Model Railroading

Last edited by:

BeaverheadRiver: Jan 22, 2005, 5:43 PM
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Re: [BeaverheadRiver] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
I'm not sure what information you specifically require but linuxquestions.org is full of info.

Review of several distros...

http://www.linuxquestions.org/reviews/index.php?cat=2
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Re: [BeaverheadRiver] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
This thread got me in the mood to tinker with my system (yet again!)

I had XP Professional installed with the following disk partitions:

C: - 20GB (XP Pro)
D: - 20GB
E: - 20GB
F: - 20GB
G: - 20GB
H: - 20GB

I had music, videos, software etc all on their own partitions.

Anyway, I went hunting for a decent Linux distribution. I've used Mandrake, RedHat and Debian in the past but in the end I couldn't live without XP.

I had a look for info on the Internet and the general opinion seemed to be that Gentoo was a great distribution.

You can choose from three types of installation - stage1, stage2 and stage3, going from the most versatile to the least versatile respectively.

I went for stage1 - not realising what was ahead Unsure

I downloaded the required ISO which was 50MB and burned it to CD. I started the installation process with high hopes. All was going well - I'd configured the kernel and begun compilation.......5 hours later it was still downloading and compiling packages from the gentoo server. Hmm I was getting bored so I went online and saw that it can take upwards of 20 hours to fully compile - UGH. That was the end of that.

Sooo.....it was time to try the stage3 install which required a 100MB download to start with which was the barebones system. This time things were much better. It only took a few hours to install...hehe.

It's nice because you get the basic system up and running without all the bloat that you get from something like Mandrake or RedHat.

The next thing I did was install KDE which actually took the longest time of all. I started the install at 5pm today and it finished about 30 mins ago (1am).

I've just finished setting up the KDE environment to my liking. Sweetly enough you can make KDE look remarkably similar to XP, which is nice.

I'm just downloading FireFox too now but it's complaining because I don't have libgtk so I have to get that too. I suppose that's one of the downsides to have a barebones install - you have to keep downloading dependencies.

Anyway, end of my waffling :)
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Re: [TypeR] Converting to Linux System? In reply to
The CD's came today. Knoppix, 3.7, Mandrake Move 2.0, FreeSBIE 1.1. All loaded and ran fine AFAIK (didn't check any logs).

FreeSBIE1.1 states it needs a i386 minimum
Mandrake Move 2.0 needs a i586
Knoppix 3.7 needs a i386

Haven't really done anything but see if the CD's work yet.

It does seem like Knoppix comes with the most software and FreeSBIE the least.

Kind of nice being able to play around with live CD's and not have to touch the hard drives.
--
Rob

SW Montana's Online Community
Modular Model Railroading