Step By Step Install for Dummy
 

I was recently on The Screen Savers (TechTV) website, and downoladed the Linux 2.6 Kernel.

I would like to run Both Linux and WinD'OHs. I understand this requires 2 seperate partitions, but I dont know how to do this.

A really Barney-Styled step by step instruction would be greatly apreciated.

The Instructions I have are as followed (mind you Im stupid, and dont know what all this means)

"Downloading and installing the kernel

The new kernel is quite easy to find and download. Follow these steps.

1. First, become root!

2. Go to The Linux Kernel Archives

3. Download the Linux 2.6 kernel and save it to your /usr/src directory.

4. As root, run the following commands in the console. (Note: This assumes you've installed your Linux distribution with all the developer options. If you haven't, take a look at your distribution's website for more information on 2.6 kernel packages you can download.)

tar -xzvf linux-2.6.0.tar.gz
cd linux-2.6.0
make menuconfig

After your machine takes a bit of time to compose the menus, you should see the Linux kernel menu system. The menu gives you the ability to choose which options are included in your kernel, some of which we'll talk about on the show. After choosing these options, you'll be able to compile your kernel.

Compiling the kernel

First, type in the following.

make bzImage

If you use LILO as your boot manager, then type the following.

make install

If you configured your kernel to use modules, which many people want to do, you'll need to type in the following command.

make modules
make modules_install

Hurry up and wait

If it's your first time building a kernel, keep the boot disk from the first time you installed your OS. It'll come in handy if you did something wrong when configuring your kernel!

Building the kernel can take a lot of time, depending on your machine's specs. Think in terms of at least a half-hour and you won't be far off. It's a big plate of spaghetti for your computer to munch on, so be patient.

The good news is that Linux is great at multitasking, so you can go surf the Web while the kernel compiles. And have fun! This kind of experimentation is just the first step on the long road of kernel hackerdom. "



Please, Please, Please explain this to me, I hate WinD'OHs.
And seriously, I dont even know what becoming root means.

Ok, those are instructions for installing a 2.6 kernel when you already have Linux installed.

Part of your confusion is from the dual use of the term "Linux". Linux is used to both describe the Operation System kernel (what you downloaded, and the brains behind the whole operation for an OS); and the Operating System itself which encompasses the kernel and a bunch of other software.

So what I recommend you doing is starting out by picking a Linux distribution. A distribution is basically a complete version of the Linux Operating System. There are dozen's of different distributions. For a beginner I recommend something like SuSe (www.suse.com) or Slackware (www.slackware.com). Slackware would be a much more radical departure from Windows but will provide you for a better platform to learn what linux is all about (again, this is all my opinion, take it or leave it).

What you will have to do is download the bootable install cd's from which ever distribution you choose and boot off the CD to install it. This will install your linux kernel, along with all the other software you need to get started. All distributions come with install how-to's (at least all the ones I have ever used) to walk you through the process.

And just so you know, root is just the Linux/Unix term for the super user or administrator account on the machine.

Great response! Thank you very much!