Well I am just starting to learn about linux... I have been an MCP and A+ Tech for a few years now and I am extremely fluent in windows and a little mac but I have totaly ingnored linux and never learned anything about it. I know that it is an alternate OS and it's open source... but thats about it. I just wanna know the basics on how Drivers [if applicable] work and what the interface is like...

Does anybody know any resources or sites where I can find somehting like a "Linux for dummies" or somehting like that.

I use windows vista on my notebook... of course I absolutely hate it. I'd put on XP but half of my hardware doesnt have drivers for XP... so I'm screwed.

Just help me out... point me in the right direction.


Possibly an opinion on which versions of linux would be good to start using... (redhat..etc)

-Firekid, CT, US

Try googling for the RUTE tutorial. It's a good starting point for the basics. You need a browser that supports gzipped html though (like Firefox).

As for distributions, if you want to learn an enterprise version, the leading two are Red Hat or Suse. You can get a free clone of Red Hat Enterprise by downloading CentOS (they just stripped out the red hat logos and recompiled). For Suse, I don't know how close OpenSuse is to the enterprise edition.

If you don't need an enterprise type version, I'd just pick one of the top ones at Distrowatch and try it out for a while. Most of the top 7 or 8 are pretty well supported in the community.

I *STRONGLY* recomend reading this first...

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

It will save you a lot of headaches...another thing (that goes along with the link) Resist the urge to compare Linux to Windows and vice versa (i.e. Don't say "This is easier in Windows...").

As for the Distros...depends what you want...but most people here would Recommend Ubuntu. It's a good "beginner" distro. Another good one is CentOS (a Red Hat Clone).

One thing you can do is use VMWare and install Ubuntu or CentOS (or both ) on a Virtual Machine until you get comfortable with using Linux; then you can install it in a dual boot configuration.

Good Luck!

-C

P.S I know the article is long...but try to read it all

Hey Thanks Cuntangro... That link to the tutorial made a lot of sense and gave me a view on Linux that I did not have... and the use if VMware(which I've never heard of) is helpful too. I think Im gunna try centOS...

But Thanx Much!!

-Firekid, CT, US

Glad I could help....

Another tool that is helpful is the Google search function. Google has a search page for Linux!

http://www.google.com/linux

Enjoy! And have fun! That's what Linux is all about

-C

Actually I do need help with something else though... I actually decided to go with ubuntu 7.10[desktop, 64bit] and decided to do a dual boot becuase the live CD install seems to work great from what i've read. My only problem is the installation seems to crash about 5 minutes into it. I end up with my laptop screen having a bunch of horizontal lines and some weird glow to it.. almost like looking at an aurora or something...

Someone told me to use the alternate cd which I am trying now... but in case I have the same problem... whats is causing it and what should I do???

My system specs...
Compaq Presario v6210us
AMD Turion 64 mk-36
1 gig ddr
80 Gig HDD
Geforce Go 6150 Graphics
Integrated Wifi (i think it's intel)
DVDRW

Did you check the integrity of the CD and ISO you burned to the CD ? Also, does it give any error messages ?

There actually is a linux for dummies book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...rocess=default

And Ubuntu is one of the choices.

If you already have windows installed, you have a broadband connection, and you want to dual boot linux, you can use unetbootin to do a net-installation of many different distributions:

http://lubi.sourceforge.net/unetbootin.html

Well I just installed Ubuntu... eveyrthing seemed to go fine the installation completed 100% with no error reports or anything... so when the grub loader shows up it automatically starts linux (or lets me hit escape to use windows) and the load screen for ubuntu shows up. it loads fully and then my laptop screen just goes black with a bunch of vertical lines. Over a period of 30 seconds or so the black screen gradually turns white and just stays like that??? Is it possible my video card is not supported?? I have a geforce go 6150 integrated into my laptop.

It's possible. Try hitting CTRL+ALT+F1. Then login with the username and password you created. Then do sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and when prompted to pick a graphics driver, try picking VESA.

Well Pljvaldez... I tried what you said but when my system goes into this white screen thing it is unresponsive and ctrl+alt+f1 doesnt do anything... the only way to get out of it is to hold my power button and do a hard shutdown...
any other ideas... maybe the way I installed it is different? here is a link to the instructions i found to do a dual boot with vista and linux... http://apcmag.com/5046/how_to_dual_b...nstalled_first. I installed ubuntu exactly how thye told me to on there... with the exception that I didnt have a GUI for the installer... it wa all blue screen...

Also... I have tried both the regular disc and the alternate disc. The regular disc wont even complete the install and my PC goes into that screen... the alternate version with the text based installer completes the installation and install the GRUB loader like it should... and when I go to load linux it crashes... never prompted me for a user name or password...

Maybe someone can refer me to a better source to do the install or if i am doing everything right... why won't it work??

Firekid, CT, US

Buggy BIOS - try to pass noapic and/or noacpi to kernel, get BIOS upgrade if avail.
Bad RAM - Linux uses different memory regions than Windows, one OS running fine and other crashing is not unheard of. Run memtest86, longer is better. In one case memtest gave errors on seventh day!

Edit: Does Linux boot and X server crashes? Then you should boot in single user mode and try generic VESA driver.