Linux

[thisistheday]

Does anyone here use Linux? I'm thinking about installing it on my XP...

Is Red Hat version 9 good? Is it fairly easy to install?
What kinds of things can you run on it? Would the majority of Windows programs work - such as Paint Shop Pro/Photoshop type things?

Could I set it up so my computer will ask me if I'd like to boot up Linux or Windows before it boots? I don't want to have to sit there and type a bunch of command lines just to boot...

Will it be a waste of space having to make the drive partition and all?

I want to try Linux for the same reasons I tried Netscape - Explorer had too many crashes, it was overloaded with features I don't use, missing features I would use, and I generally like to be different.

Thanks in advance.

 

[vajradhara]

Does anyone here use Linux? I'm thinking about installing it on my XP...

Is Red Hat version 9 good? Is it fairly easy to install?
What kinds of things can you run on it? Would the majority of Windows programs work - such as Paint Shop Pro/Photoshop type things?

Could I set it up so my computer will ask me if I'd like to boot up Linux or Windows before it boots? I don't want to have to sit there and type a bunch of command lines just to boot...

Will it be a waste of space having to make the drive partition and all?

I want to try Linux for the same reasons I tried Netscape - Explorer had too many crashes, it was overloaded with features I don't use, missing features I would use, and I generally like to be different.

Thanks in advance.

you won't be able to dual boot your machine between Linux and Windows unless you install Linux on a seperate drive. Linux uses an "emulator" to allow windows software to run properly, however, as you may imagine, there are some that simply will not run properly as they require certain drivers and registry entries and so forth.

Red Hat 9 is pretty good and they bundle a bunch of stuff with it so that you can actually do something once you've got the OS installed. if you have some knowledge of Unix (any flavor really) it will help a great deal.

 

[thisistheday]

From what I was reading, I could just partition the drive so it would keep Linux and Windows seperate - instead of getting a secondary one. That isn't true after all?

Thanks for answering!

 

[paulewog]

Ummm, yes... I have four partitions on my 120gb hard drive. One of the 40gb partitions is a Linux partition, the rest are Win2k.

I am nto sure if Photoshop has a Linux version, but I had trouble trying to get most Windows programs to work. Emulators just don't cut it that well.

However, there is a photoshop-like thing called The Gimp. It's also available for windows, but it was built on linux.

Linux, if you can learn to use it and don't have too many windows programs that you're attached to, is a really good OS.

RedHat is good, SuSE is good... heh. Only problems I have had with it are software issues and a few minor hardware issues, specifically my sound card.

 

[Pete Harcoff]

I use Linux (specifically Mandrake Linux 8.2) as a web server. I tried it for desktop applications, but it lacks the variety of software and hardware support enjoyed by Windows.

But for server applications, it's great!

 

[thisistheday]

Thanks, both of you.

I just have (hopefully) one more question.

If I reformat and make a partition, my Windows won't be there either - no problem, I can install that from the restoration CD. Right?
But my restoration CD will not only re-install Windows, it will also format the drive (again) and take down all partitions.
So there doesn't appear to be a way that I can format and install a partition without getting rid of that partition when I install Windows again.
Stupid emachines!

Does this mean I will have to get another drive? Or is there a way around this? I do have a spare copy of XP, but I don't want to use that since this computer is an XP already.

Maybe I could just make a backup copy of the way my Windows is now... then boot from that and restore Windows WITHOUT the format.

 

[paulewog]

There is a way around it, I believe. I know that with my SuSE linux installation, it gave me the option of "resizing" my windows drive.... so, apparently, it has teh capability of resizing the partition without deleting everything.

 

[thisistheday]

Thanks, Paul.

I just finished printing out the RedHat manual. It has a utility you can use during the installation called DiskDruid - from what I can tell, it will make new sections without even touching my Windows.

I figure the worst I can do is crash everything - which I've already done before anyway.

I'll let you know if it works. I hope to have it all installed by Monday - if these iso files would hurry up and download!

Thanks again,

Mary

 

[thisistheday]

Edited: Nevermind about the NTFS problem. I found Mandrake Linux which supports NTFS partitions.
Too bad I printed out that huge RedHat manual... oops.

 

[Elijah_A]

Last I've heard, NTFS can only be mounted as 'read-only' ... but that was then, you might want to check that out...

 

[paulewog]

I know SuSE only let me read the NTFS (my win2k partitions)... no write, read only...

 

[thisistheday]

Yes, you're both right - it was so late and my brain wasn't functioning properly.

I can't run Linux on this drive. I'm not going to bother with it for now - but if I get another computer I'm making sure it's FAT32 or ext3.