Hello all, got a pre newbie question for you
 

Hello everybody, this is my first post on a linux based forum. i am currently in the process of downloading linux mandrake 9.0 and it will be my first OS other than windows. I have never used linux before or seen it other than pictures, but i really want to get into it. Let me introduce myself for everybody since i will prolly be posting questions here alot. My name is Andrew (nickname Shaggy) and I build andvanced media using Macromedia Flash. I love programing and doing actionscript and at the same time hate some of the aspects of windows. i want to go over to linux so i can develop and learn skills that i would enjoy using, that and i hate certain aspects of windows, ie.. general support/ bugs that they just refuse to issue because most people are afraid to use anything else but windows. I'm not though, i have heard great things about linux and i can't wait for my dl to finish. For my first official newb question, it's somthing that i'm sure most people can answer, if not all except for me.

when downloading a program, what is the difference between the source and RPM format? i know what source code is but i don't know it's refrence or use for installation of a program. thanks for your time and I look forward to talking with everyone on this board.

Shaggy

Welcome to LQ... you have a long road ahead and will be spending a lot of time here!

As for RPMs... they are a package format created to install software. Aside from going to deep into technical detail, think of it as an 'auto install' script. Not all Linux distros support it, Mankdrake does. If your new to Linux it's going to be the easiest way for you to install software until you get more comfortable with installing from source.

Source is nice because of the extra control and installation options.

Good luck!

Thanx for the heads-up! I'm sure i will be spending a lot of time here, but it will be worth it. I assume that installation for both types is through command prompt (correct?) or something to that effect. Am i correct in assuming this or does RPM use a windowed interface like "Wise Installation Wizzard"? I am hoping it is through command prompt so i can dive right in to the language!

Can someone provide me with a link to documentation on installation of Linux Mandrake 9.0 since i am downloading the iso's and i am going to burn them to CDR's. Preferably one that has a tutorial on Mandrake's partitioning software since i have yet to learn how to partition (gotta learn sometime!).

Also documentation on setting up a dual boot (since my fiance uses "Windblows XP" and is not much at all on programing) would be nice. Thanx in advance...

Shaggy

http://sluglug.ucsc.edu/pub/Mandrake...all/index.html

There's your install tutorial ;)

RPM's can go either way, command line or a dorked up GUI (I don't like RPM guis).

Cool

Hi hatchetman.. welcome to LQ. I also dual boot with winxp so my wife doesn't get lost... and oh yeah, becoz most of my favorite programs still only run (however unreliably) in windows.. like macromedia flash and dreamweaver, Diablo II and Starcraft. (I'm a big fan of Blizzard's games) I still use MS publisher 2000 because I haven't found a suitable open-source replacement for it.

I don't visit these forums every day, but I come by every now and then when I have a question and I almost always have some advice for other people who have posted. I'm not a pillar of knowledge, but I have had my ins and outs with the whole dual-booting issue. I can give you some advice with that...

1. use GRUB as your bootloader.
2. if you have two different drives, install the boot loader on the MBR of the primary drive (usually the one with windows installed)
3. Make sure an entry for Windows gets added to the boot loader or you won't be able to boot into windows.
4. if you didn't do step 3 and you're locked out of windows, there's still hope. Don't re-format! Just modify your boot loader config (either /boot/grub/gruf.conf or menu.lst) as root.
5. Set up GRUB so your favorite OS boots automatically after a delay of about 10 or more seconds. Nothing sux worse than waiting for windows to boot so you can shut it down properly just because you didn't set linux to boot automatically.
6. Suppose you really meant to boot into windows but you accidentally chose linux from the boot loader. Just hit CTRL+ALT+DEL to safely restart the system.

I have been seeing more and more newbs using grub as their bootloader, and people suggesting the use of it lately, and I am not sure why. I have used several distro's and almost all of them use LILO as their bootloader by default, with 1 exception, RH. I don't think this should be considered "what the masses use" if the only distro that is going to be using it by default is RH. SuSE, Mandy, Slack, Debian, and LFS all use LILO, and probably many others that aren't coming to me right now. I know it's simply user preference at this point, as there are no lack of capabilities in either right now, so there must be some other reason why these distro's are all choosing LILO as their boot loader by default.

The only reason I'd say to use it, is because choice is the spice of life, and if there is a choice, why not see what else there is out there. But I usually don't suggest it for the simple fact that you are going to find a bit more help using LILO than you will using GRUB from tutorials and things, just due to the simple fact that more distro's use LILO by default.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents on bootloaders, and why I'd choose LILO over GRUB.

Cool

The only reason I can think of suggesting a newbie use GRUB instead of
LILO is that GRUB doesn't need to reload its configuration file everytime
you make a change to it; it does that semiautomagically (if my
understanding is correct -- I don't like GRUB for other reasons).

I was reading a grub how to, to bring my knowledge level up ;) And I understand that the reason you don't have to run grub after changes is because; when you install grub it just puts a sort of "symlink" (bad choice of terms, but it'll work) into the MBR, pointing at your grub.conf file for booting. So since all it is is a small file pointing at the file that is on your / then you don't need to rerun it to re-install it into the MBR, well unless you want to move your grub.conf file to some obscure place, which then I don't know how the he!! you'd tell that file you moved it.

Cool

thanx everybody. can someone link me to a tutorial on insallation that goes more in depth and is printable? i need to put it on my visor before i start the installation. also, can someone link me to an in depth tutorial for the disk partitioning since i basically didn't understand a single thing you guys said about it. lol. thanx in advance


Shaggy

Sure try these:

oakroadsystems.com/tech/hd-partn.htm

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...HL-7.3-Manual/ install-guide/s1-diskpartsetup.html

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...,644907,00.asp

These are just a few. I found them by typing "Disk Partitioning" into a Google search engine. If you are not familiar with Google, go to www.google.com and try it.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...=Google+Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...=Google+Search
http://mandrake.dsi.internet2.edu/Ma...86/install.htm

Amerist you can use Staroffice or Openoffice in linux, it might of came with your distro.

GRUB is slick. It's graphical. Newbies are all into that. I mean if you have some good peice of kit graphics card, you don't want to stare at a monochrome text screen longer than absolutely necessary. Sony and Toshiba are hiding the BIOS startup screen now with big logos so you don't have to look at the ugly white-on-black text. Hey, but, if you like that sort of thing...TEHO

Here's another reason to suggest GRUB to newbies. When you're using redhat and the up2date agent says there's a new kernel revision ready, you can download and install that RPM and it automatically gets added to GRUB as an option. When you want to remove the old kernel from GRUB you just open grub.conf and remove the lines referring to the old kernel. Not sure if the same goes for LILO.

Yeah, but again, this is an RH answer. It's specific to RH, and I really don't think RH is geared towards "n00bs" as much as the other "mainstream" distros. Don't get me wrong, I have no problems with RH, but I just don't think it's so much a great n00b distro as some people seem to be suggesting. GRUB, up2date, these are both normally only used in RH. So if someone is going to move around and try out different distros, I'd think they might want to become a bit more familiar with the more commonly used bootloader, LILO.

______________________________________________________

Hatchetman, actually Mandrake has a very nice partitioning tool that is built into the installer. You only need to know where the blank space exists and point mandrake to it. The rest will be done by mandrake, if you choose.

Cool

I don't know what you mean by GRUB being graphical, if you mean it has
the ability to show a bitmap background against which a menu of boot
choices is offered, that's what I've got with my LILO boot menu. I did
it just for kicks, as a 640x480x16 image doesn't really take any time or
memory to load, AND it gives nosy visitors something to look at and
deal with when they boot my machine without asking. For a while, I used
the same image as my BIOS splash screen, (Tux) but I got tired of not
seeing the hardware info.
If you mean GRUB presents a "real" GUI, with mouse support, that's
something else entirely and, if so, means GRUB is bloated, not slick.