I have three kids, three pcs runnin w98, a linksys router, print server, and want to install linux on one of my pcs because i don't like the prospects of buying 3 copies of future msoft windows osystems. i have downloaded a copy of rhat's 7.1 from tucows, and read a lot of install problems in this site, but would someone advise me in general about the methodology, preparation, etc? i installed my network myself (but needed a little help), but still a newbie to linux. my kids are primarilly 50% aol instant messenger users, 30% msoft's messenger product, 20% internet users. wife and i are 20% email, 80% internet.

I dont know if you have enough hard drive but i'd recomend partitioning your hard drive and you can have both win98 and RH. And if you want and if u feel comfortable you can wipe off the windows partition... The easiest way to partition your hard drive is Partition Magic or you can use fdisk. and when you install RH i'd recomend to install Mozilla <~~ its just a browser, but i think its better than almost all browsers out there.

Thank you. I will follow your advice. I had downloaded netscape, as a reviewer on tucows said it was their choice for linux, but i'll download your advised browser instead, and not patronize aol. btw, how much hard disk space would i comfortably need to do what you say?

it really depends on what you do on the net... I would suggest at least 4GB. but i've never used msn messenger before, is there a clone for MSN Messenger on Linux?

i'm sorry, you're suggestion of "4B"...does megabytes have diff terminology in linux? or did you mean 4 gigabytes?

sorry about that i just fixed it and no it does not have any diff terminology, it was just a typo.

There's not (to my knowledge) a dedicated MSN Messenger client for Linux. There are however, in theory, much better solutions...

Everybuddy or Gabber.

These chat clients support MSN, AOL, ICQ, Yahoo! and their own unique protocols. I prefer Gabber personally, generally quite reliable and so forth. If you have a go at Gabber, and get any of the Dymanic packaegs working, please let me know! I couldn't get any of them to install....

Gabber is a client for the Jabber network, which has a dozen or so windows clients aswell....

http://www.jabber.org
or http://gabber.sourceforge.net (i think)

There's also one called Imici, but as far as i can tell it's a bit toss...

Chris
xxxx

imici supports msn, yahoo, icq, and aol. It is pretty good.

However I think aol keeps blocking it from working for aim.

There is a new version out.

http://www.imici.com/

check it out here.

http://www.imici.com/c_pitch.php

Linux is the bomb, and you will have a great time with it. In my opinion, RedHat 7 is a great distro to start out with. For your browsing needs, you can install it with the KDE desktop environment, which comes with a browser called Konqueror. It is a very clean browser, that also functions as your file manager (like Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer, rolled up in one.) Mozilla is also a great browser, as well as email client. In my opinion, they are both much better than Netscape - I find it choppy and archaic in formatting. The default install of RedHat comes with a slew of chat and internet programs, so it will serve you well, I think. If you find disk space available, you could try dual-booting Linux and Windows (install Linux last, and it will be able to load windows without a hitch for you). After you're comforatable with it, you might devote an entire machine to it. There are also such programs that allow you to emulate a windows environment, so that you could run some of you win32 programs from within linux, as well as software called VMware that allows you to boot the two of them simultaneously (just to give you an idea of what you can do for compatibility.)
I would say disregard the horror stories you hear on installation and running of Linux. Most of these ppl have no idea what they are doing and end up in a bind because of thier own ignorance and misunderstandings. It is an OS that you may have to put some effort into if you are new, but it will be fun and worthwhile anyway. Remember, if you have trouble with something, there is undoubtably someone on the forums that have gone thru the same thing. Feel free to ask for assistance.

Linux is a lot different from windows.

Give it a good chance, and it will be a great challenge to you.

You will learn a lot about computers.

Thanks to all for your suggestions...I will heed and am excited to try this out. Peace.

Hey shealbi, For all the AOL,MSN Instant messenger...why don't u try Trillian. It is a open source program that currently works for windoze right now. It consolidates all IM (Instant Messenger) into one window...pretty cool I can't wait till they get it to work with Linux...check it out at www.ceruleanstudios.com or u can check the techtv.com website....This can limit the space used on your pc

I like your signature. I don't feel I have to bite billy-boys hand though, I think he's going to do it to himself now with the .NET initiative.

since nobody's suggested it yet, there's always gaim.



gaim is the linux version of aol instant messanger... it works off the same network, so your kids don't have to make too much of a switch.

www.marko.net/gaim

the standard install for redhat comes with some things but if you are comfortable with a custom install you'd be surprised what is missed out

personally i would use linux more than windows for

1. choice of apps to do certain things
2. the support from places like here
3. if it doesnt work then you will find the answers here
4. cheaper than windows
5. choice of window manager, which is a cool thing

all in all a choice for the gnu generation methinks