confused
 

ok I have NO CLUE about Linux but want to learn, since im disabled I figure I now have allot of time on my hands.I asked around becuase in the future after I learn would like to host a website etc some peeps say redhat 9 pro others say suse pro,, all I know is im confused as hell but want to learn,im sure there are people here once in my shoes,, so any help,input etc would be greatly appreciated,, I also looked at other forums, and this one ROcKS,,im glad I found this place.

regards.
frozenpenquin

How about Mandrake 9.2 to get used to it and progress from there?

I've heard great things about SuSE 9, but haven't tried it myself yet.

Hi FrozenPenguin,

Welcome to LQ. Actually when it comes to distro choice... Linux has many. Maybe too many. However, I think that more choice is good.

Your question has been asked here many many times. However, it's a question that has no correct answer. You have to explore this yourself.

It all depends on your expectations... If you just want to "know" Linux better, maybe you should give Knoppix a try. It runs 100% on CD and should give you an idea on what to expect. It is also very safe since your hard disk is untouched.

If you want to take the plunge... I'd recommend Mandrake to first timers. From then on, you'll discover yourself... whether you just want to use Linux... or learn about Linux.

If you're from the second category, then I'd suggest to move on to Slackware :)

being a relatively recent newbie myself, i gotta suggest you try Knoppix...it's a full system, never touches your harddrive, and does everything...i also use SuSE 8.2...very user friendly, very easy to manage and learn with...

I appreciate all answers,, now im confused a little less,,my intentions are to learn linux, ok Mandrake is good,,,can I host/maintain a server with mandrake,, that is my intention,,,and thank you ALL for the fast responses,im a Mod at a site not linux related and do apprecite the fast replies....thanks again
right now im learning mysql ( for vbulletin ) so that is my goal,to learn & keep learning,,but at my age I might forget what I've learned !

i still have to learn linux, I bought linux for dummies,,now im looking for linux for even more dumberones :study:

For servers, it doesn't actually matter which distro you're using. Linux is designed from the ground up to be a full-fledged network OS. However, for this purpose I don't recommend Mandrake.

So if you want easy to use GUI tools to administer your server, then you can't go wrong with Red Hat. Although I'm not a Red Hat fan, they are the "industry leader" for a reason, and admittedly, their config tools are quite good. The downside is, once you have to admin a non-RH machine, you might be clueless because all the RH-centric command/widgets are no longer there.

The downside to using RH, is that they're actually targetting Enterprises as clients. Meaning that individuals not subscribing to their license might not have access to critical updates and so on after a certain period of time. Don't ask me for details... I don't use RH :)

Which is why I'll only recommend Slackware for whatever solution you want with your Linux installation. It has all the goodies:

• Highly knowledgable userbase (if you have a Linux problem, most of the time it's a Slackware guy who can help you out).
• Excellent community support (somewhat related to my first point).
• Security updates are almost always 0-day... and easy to implement using tools like swaret.
• Don't have to wait for "release" versions to get an up-to-date applications (which is part of the distro). There's always a "current" version of Slackware on all mirrors.
• All these for free :) with no support contract or whatever restrictions to worry about.

Azmeen has made a great point, but in my opinion, you shouldn't start with slackware unless you are willing and able to handle a couple of big headaches. RedHat is pretty easy to install and use (I'm not saying Slack is not easy, but is more difficult) and you can also keep it up todate with apt-get, you will find great deal of help when it comes to slack, but you will also notice that most of the manuals for programs like for example PHP assume that you are using RH. I used to run a LAMP (Linux-APache-MySQL-PHP) server under RH and it was smooth, since you want a webserver, RH is the way to go. This is just my opinion. By the way SLackware is my main distro :)

start with kopnix , move to mandrake when u r a bit ease at linux and finally switch over to slackware

Thats what i recomend

ok, Thank you all,,, I went looking today at RedHat 9 Pro,, suse 9 pro,,,so im glad im here and, the support is overwhelming,,and I plan to help support the site, because what you have here is a great group of people willing to help each other,and what amaze's me is people you don't even know are willing to help you,,wish the rest of the world was like us.. as far as Linux I might take a better look @ redhat pro, and suse pro9 only thinking about suse because its cheaper for me,, I tried to download but it will take me forever..
Thanks again all and look forward to all the questions I will be having once I install,, so get ready Im sure I will have allot,, but it makes me feel good knowing I can get help/support here.

Regards,
Fp

ok folks, my son heard me talking about linux,, so he came home with Suse 9 Pro, as a gift for me, now that I have it here, is my laptop config:
windows xp home
p4 1.8
30gb hd
video -S3 ProsavageDDR
Sony CD-RW
realtek-RTL8139/810X FAMILY PCI FAST ETHERNET NIC
SOUND-via AC'97 enhanced audio controller(wdm)
512megs ddr mem

plus im on a router, does anyone have any input, can I install on my laptop,
im all excited, so bring me down easy lol, and thnx for all the help thus far !

Do you intend to wipe the whole XP partition and replace it with suse or do you want to dual-boot both OS.

If you want to dual-boot, then you must have free unpartitioned space on your HD. Something that is highly unlikely. You need a third-party tool to resize your XP partition so there would be free space for your suse installation.

An easier option would be to wipe out XP from your notebook altogether. :) However, this is not recommended if you don't have your XP installation CD or some recovery CD (what most vendors provide nowadays) at hand.

Whatever you choose, please remember to backup your important data :)

Ty Azmeen,I do not see a partion on C,unless im missing something.IM excited and nervous at the same time, I have done so much reading,that im scaring myself and confusing myself more.but then again without mistakes you can't make any progress. I really appreciate the respnse, it makes me feel a whole lot better knowing that if I screw up, there is always a place to find help, and answers.

thnx.

Fp

Hmm... I see that you don't have basics in hard disk structure... So maybe I'll just give a quick rundown.

In Windows you'll see your hard disks as "drives"... eg. drive C, drive D. However, it does not mean that you actually have 2 hard disks, C and D. It may be only one physical hard disk and partitioned into two parts.

In order to install Linux, you'll need an unused partition OR a separate physical hard drive.

In your case, assuming that you can only see "Drive C" under My Computer, it most probably means that you have a single hard drive and all available space in this drive is partitioned into one big partition which is seen as your "Drive C".

Your dilemma now is... you don't have a partition to install Linux on. So... now you need to resize your existing partition to make room for Linux.

I suggest you search google for Partition Magic or pqmagic.exe which should get you started.

Azmeen,, thank you,, for info, Ok so I have acronis true image, partion magic etc,, for some reason I thought Suse Partions hard disk for install, thanks Again azmenn, all I have is C, then it says D is winbond secure didital drive, when I go to properties it says insert disk,so now im reading,, but it feels good knowing your here lol :)

SuSE and I think all Linux distros will partition your hard disks for you. However, in your case, Windows has take 100% of your hard disk. So you need to shrink your Windows partition to make space for SuSE.

This is not something that common Linux partitioning utilities can do. There is GNU/Parted that can do partition resizing, but the reason I refrain from mentioning it to you earlier is that it is difficult as hell to use from a newbie's perspective.