Do I need a separate server to use the server features ? or can I just use my PC as a Mail server ? Do I need a cable modem or will a regular connection work just as fine ? Thanks.

Vijay

Is this a good start for Linux ? Can I learn a lot from this ? Thanks.

http://www.knoppix.net/

Since you are planning to go directly from windows to linux, mandrake is probably at the top of my list because the installation is very cut dry and simple. Unlike some distros, hardward configuration is done for you and is very simple. X configuration is done for you by default, the only thing you have to do the whole installation is change cds, pick the programs you want, and set a root password.

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"If Microsoft ever makes a product that doesnt suck, it would be a vacuum cleaner."

I already have Windows installed on my system. Will I have to uninstall everything and start fresh with Mandrake or will Mandrake install itself over Linux ? Thanks.

Well Vijay,

The disc prices thing, is probably just copies burned from the download - don't forget, the downloads are usually GPL (general public licence), hence legal. The more expensive ones are probably genuine mandrake "originals" and if so, would contain a few extra bits and pieces not included in the download.


Your pc should be able to run as a mailserver, and no you don't need seperate server equipment - necessarily.

As far as modem's are concerned, if you have a dial up internal modem, then you will need to check EXACTLY which one i.e. type, it is. Get the modem details and then look here because if it is a "winmodem" then it may be possible to configure it, it might not - though if you are thinking of running servers, then surely the cable modem would be a better idea. Faster etc. Don't forget though, if you tried to get config info out of your ISP, you will, more than likely, get the "we don't support linux" excuse. That doesn't matter - they are just providing the "transport" (tcp/ip is tcp/ip irrespective of what kit they use). You just come here to LQ and there is probably someone who can advise you of the correct configuration (though to save getting nagged by the moderators, use the search facilities first - cable modems and winmodems are two subjects that get answered over and over again).


As far as knoppix is concerned, I understand it is a "bootable CD" distro. In other words, it is one that will run from within windows, directly from the CD. How it does that exactly without writing to the hard disc in anyway, I don't know. Also, how it would/could run a server is another mystery (to me).


As far as installing mandrake is concerned, it is one of the distro's that can read native NTFS partitions, as often found with windows 2k and xp. It is also capable of resizing the NTFS partition to make a partition for the linux distro. You would then tell it to install the bootloader in the first section of the hard disc, so then it see's the OS's actually installed and offers you an OS selection (well that's how it works with mandrake and lilo, which is the default bootloader), you just leave it if you want the default OS or use the arrow keys to scroll it to the OS you want to boot. Thats one way of doing it. Though I would have thought that you would be dropping any servers you have running when and if you swap OS's.

A more complex of using dual boot, would be to get another more basic pc unit, and set it up so that is the server/firewall/router with linux, and then connect the main pc to that
via a LAN, and do all you main stuff from it, including remote control of the server/firewall/router - get a cable modem (for the additional speed etc) and run it like that, then at least, you won't have any problems when you change OS's, and the server box could probably talk to either OS via "samba".

Hope this gives you some idea of which direction to take - I would still suggest that you went the "mandrake" route. It's a good distro to get learning with, and there is lots of advice and assistance out there for it.

regards

John

Oh and a good place to look for all things linux is googles linux server, which is here and if you look at the "rute user" link in my sig, that's not a bad place to start reading.

If you do try the "mandrake" route, then when installing, just go for the defaults that are offered. You can always install any other app's via the cd's and packmanager later.

and as previously mentioned, most people only have problems with modem's and sound (though it's only honest to say that occassionally, some people have had mega snags installing linux full stop - but they are very much in the minority)

regards

John

Thanks for all the helpful responses so far.
I have Win 98. Will Mandrake partition here as well ?

As far as I know, it should be even easier, win 98 is, from memory, formatted as FAT32, I think I am right in saying that mandrake should be able to write to the windows partition as will (someone correct me if that's not right)

regards

John

So, to summarize everything if I get one of those cheaper Mandrake Distro 3set Cds for about $10/-, install it in my PC with win'98 and 1.5G free space, I can set up basic Linux and learn to use it. I will not have any problems. Correct ? Thanks.

Vijay

Details of my Present PC:
IBM, 333Mhz Pentium II
156Mb Ram, 4G HD of which 2.25 used.
56K Modem, Regular CD ROM drive.

Uses: Just basic E-Mail, surfing, Word Processing, Spreadsheet etc.,


Vijay

The reason that they are so cheap is that being open source they are allowed to copy (burn) the CDs for you and charge you $10 for the service of downloading and burning them for you. It's totally above board.

If I didn't have a cable modem and a cd writer this is the route I would go.

If you decide you like Mandrake and would like to support them you can then join mandrake club. but that is up to you.

The boxed set for $45 in the store is you paying the store, the wholesaler, the distributor, the shipper, and mandrake for makeing the CDs and the manuals. But who needs the manuals, you have LQ.

Best assurance I can give you is the experience of the 2 fellows who work with me, one in graphics and the other in data-basing. They sort of just sit at their screens stunned at the crisp response they get. We use only the GNOME desktop here, and they had that sorted out and easily under control in an hour.

They have pretty stiff learning curves in the switch from Adobe to the Gimp in the case of graphics and from c-isam to postgresql in the case of data basing, but they both feel that Mandrake is clean, fast and gives a feeling of precision they have not known before.

About the only thing that caused some difficulty was when getting used to the bash shell - explicitly having to do with the 'dash' delimiters both Unix/Linux and Windows use. That was easily taught too: move forward with linux as in directory/sub/folder/file or backward with windows as in directory\sub\folder\file. No more confusion on that count.

The main difficulty most newbies have is deciding on what to include and what not to. That took me by far the longest time, but once done, we can get a full-fledged server up and running from an empty disk to full service for our users plus our own dns, our own Sendmail and of course Apache2 in a half day, no problem.

I hope that helps provide some 'basic comfort' for you.

Happy learning!

If by 'server', you mean hardware, no. Our main development server runs our own dns, our own sendmail, the Apache2 webserver - all without any problem. But I would definitely go with a DSL line if that is available. It makes downloading of updates a snap. You can schedule them too and know that you are always on top if things that matter.

Thanks for all the responses. They have been very helpful in understanding/learning.

Vijay

Just looking at you spec Vijay, and I would guess that the cpu and ram should be fine, though you might want to look into either a bigger hard drive or be careful about what app's you install - with 1.5 gig's of available space, it is worth noting that if you just selected everything (if you're unfamiliar with the names of the app's) you would use up most, if not all the available free space.

Mandrake 9.1 is nominally 3 cd's each containing in the region of 650 megs of data. Hence if you go the mandrake route, my suggestion would be to use individual package selection during install.

That would be something like X (which can be used for virtually everything, but is a lot heavier for command line useage), maybe kde or gnome (you can use konqueror as a web browser as well as a file manager in kde, and I believe you can do the same with nautilus in gnome - maybe someone will confirm that, I use kde myself as it's the mandrake default). Open office (you could try k office, but I think that open office is better). If you went the kde route, you would also have k-mail for e-mail, but i'm sure that there is an equivalent in gnome.

Then as the install progresses, any dependancies that come up i.e. libraries etc and that should at least get you up and running.

Personally, I would say that you might be better installing a larger hard disc first, not some really expensive thing, but maybe 10 or 20 gig's, you might be able to pick something up cheaply on sale as it seems that industry standard seems to be a minimum of 40 gig's - but go for the cheapest. Then at least, you will have removed one of you biggest limitations and you can "play" to your hearts content.

The other thing that you need to investigate BEFORE, you install is your modem. Get as much info as you can about it and then have a look here because if it's a "winmodem", you might have considerable difficulty in getting it configured. There are drivers for "some" winmodems, but not for all, and if that where the case you could be in for a major dissappointment not being able to get connected to the net.

At least it sounds as if you are planning your beginings to linux in a sensible and methodical way, which is rather better than the way I started i.e. a friend at work gave me some disc's marked 1,2 and 3, so I just put disc 1 in the drive and booted it. Luckily, I didn't make any major mistakes (also I still have various windows disc's so if it had gone "pear shaped", then I could have just re-installed windows).

regards

John

Here is my Modem: Rockwell HCF 56K Datafax PCI Modem
There are so many options at this site. I am getting confused. Is this modem OK ? Thanks.

Vijay