hi folks,

just a quickie here for a wee bit of help. I've been talking to a lot of people that i know and they all say i should try linux, but i have no idea where to start. i bought a copy of LinuxFormat and it has Mandrake 10.1 on the front. it only gives a few lines inside about how the linux OS works and i was wondering if anybody here could point me to a site where all my newbie questions would be answered. Basically i know that Linux is an OS but thats about it, and before i start messing around with it, i would like to know more about it. i.e. is it better than windows, can i still run all the progs i use on windows, how stable is it, how hard is it to convert your way of working from windows to linux. you know the sort of things i mean, cos you all probably thought about the same things before you started to use linux.

thanks in advance for any help given.

Rattz

there are so many sites on linux esp for newbies out ther e on the internet .

a search in google should do it .

You found it

Actually, I'm not kidding, although that is funny Check out the tutorials, Linux Answers, the HCL. These will all have info on exactly what you are looking for. Next, grab one of the "Live Distro CD's" and boot your computer with one of those (knoppix seems to be the most popular with the 'checkin it out' crowd). You can then get a hands on feel for linux without taking the plunge. Ubuntu actually offers free shipping along with their free CD which includes a live CD as well as a regular install CD.

Cool

Thanks folks, will have a look around here and see what its all about. will be intouch about how i get on, cos you know i'm gonna need help lol

cheers

Rattz

In order:

yes
generally, no
very
depends on how receptive you are to new ideas / how stuck in your ways you are / what you want or need to be able to do. Patience and perseverance - and a shedload of RTFM'ing - will pay off.

This forum is a good place to start reading...

i was going to say the same thing about the knopix or live distro lol i guess grate open source users think alike lol


o and about the programs for windows on linux it depends on what programs you mean if you mean like ms office then you have to options
a)forget ms ofice and swich to open office (mandrake comes with this)
b)use wine to run ms office

wine is a layer that runs over linux\unix that works like an emulator but make note that it is not some other programs will work other than office i just know for a fact that office works with it cause i used it myself

check out http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php
(very comprehensive list of liveCD's)
(maybe too comprehensive for someone trying to choose just one

Although I'm not much of an expert on Linux (been using it for a few months now but don't have much knowledge of it's inner workings), I'm not too keen on the Live CDs. They tend to eat up a lot of memory, and when they are running on a machine that doesn't have much, they tend to access the CD constantly, which means the computer grinds to a halt most of the time. It's OK when you're working from the command line, but a pure beginner doesn't want to start there. My opinion is that you only learn how important the command line is when you start to depend on the desktops.

thanks you all for replying, but this is the problem i have with my friends evrybody has their own ideas on the best way to get into linux and its starting to confuse me.

the progs i would like to keep using are:

3ds max 6
Vegas 5
DVD - Lab Pro
Paintshop Pro 8
AOL 9 (my broadband)

office and the such don't bother me too much, just as long as i can convert from open office to .docs for college.

thanks again for your help i am trawling through the tutorials on this site at the mo, just starting at the top of tutorial page and working my way through them, i'm gonna be here a while lol

rattz

3ds max 6 - Might not be able to run this, but Maya runs on linux and I've heard it runs better on it. So if you just need a 3d modeler I guess you can give it a shot.
Paintshop Pro 8 - Might not be able to use this too, but if you are willing to try GIMP, it's quite good.