Putting Linux together
 

Every time I go to download ANY Linux distro, I get taken to a confusing FTP directory. How would I download Linux from the directory, and then put it together so that I can use?

*****Colonel Panic*****

Download
 

Can you give a specific example of a dist that you tried to download and exactly what happened?

What I usually do and what seems pretty easy to me is to just download the .iso images and burn them to CD. There will probably be 2 and they will be about 650MB each. But once they are burned to cd all you have to do is run the install. Of course you need a CD burner to do this but they are getting to be very affordable.


Other than that you would have to go the hard way and download floppy images to boot and then download the packages you want and install them manually. I have never done a complete install this way so I won't be much help there.

Well, I'm trying to download Debian. http://www.debian.org

Anyway, when I go to download it, it takes me to a confusing FTP directory, and I don't know what to do. I don't think downloading the ISO images will work to good with me because I can't stay online for too long at a time. Also, I have no CD burner. I'll have to get one. THis is there I go to download it:

http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/

Any 'pointers'? Thanks for the help!

*****Colonel Panic*****

let me refer you to a sweet site:
www.linuxiso.org

the chick that runs this has practically every notable linux distro available as an ISO image. Download it, burn it, and viola... insta-linux.

there's www.cheapbytes.com
they have debian on 3 cd's for $10

Thanks! Does anyone know if Debian is hard to install? I have pretty good success with Red Hat. Does it have a GUI? I'm guessing no. I don't like to partition using a text mode.

*****Colonel Panic*****

there is no gui for a debian install.. all text based including the linux fdisk.. but if you want you could first partition using partition magic and then mount the drives in fdisk sorta like disk druid that you are probably used too.. also if you want you could buy progeny debian which is a complete debian distro that comes with a full manual and what not