SlackwareThis Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.
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I want to thank everyone for the very helpful and encouraging remarks. I must express my ignorance here: What exactly is a "virtual box"? Like I said, I'm new to this world and I installed Ubuntu in a straightforward way. I just downloaded it to disk and then made a direct install on my hard drive. I assume this is a way to test drive Slackware without doing a complete install? I'm impressed with everyone's knowledge and readiness to help--it's impressive!
Virtualbox is a program that is made by Oracle. It allows you to install a virtual machine of Slackware and run it inside your Ubuntu install. In other words you're running Slackware inside of Ubuntu without altering your Ubuntu installation. Virtualbox is a nice program for testing an OS before you commit to formatting your hard drive. You should be able to install Virtualbox in Ubuntu.
If you decide to go ahead and jump in with a full install of Slackware (recommended) then back up your pictures, files etc.
A virtual machine simulates a complete PC in software. This way you can run multiple operating systems at the same time on one computer. You will find Virtualbox, which is a free software for that purpose, in the Ubuntu repositories, you should be able to install it with Software Center or Synaptic.
It's a virtual machine. A virtual machine is just an application program. You start it up, and you install Slackware into it. Then the next time you start it up, you'll have a copy of Slackware running inside an application program running on top of your Ubuntu install.
I want to thank everyone for the very helpful and encouraging remarks. I must express my ignorance here: What exactly is a "virtual box"? Like I said, I'm new to this world and I installed Ubuntu in a straightforward way. I just downloaded it to disk and then made a direct install on my hard drive. I assume this is a way to test drive Slackware without doing a complete install? I'm impressed with everyone's knowledge and readiness to help--it's impressive!
Yuhan,
a "VM" is a virtual machine.... Basically is a way to run an system and a operating system virtually in a existing environment.
A virtual machine is just that, software that emulates a machine. You can install various operating systems on it and do anything that you could with a normal computer. Virtual Box is just one virtual machine, you can install it from the Ubuntu repos. It's quite easy to set up. Once you've done so point it at a Slackware.iso so when you boot up you boot up the .iso and can proceed to install it.
D'oh, didn't notice the second page dedicated to answering his question...
Last edited by Tribulation; 07-15-2011 at 11:57 AM.
I am currently using Ubuntu and having fun learning my way with this remarkably stable and fast operating system.
Good to hear your experience has been good to date.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuhan
Someone told me I should really be working with Slackware--that it's a better way to learn about Linux and, in some ways, a simpler program.
I really do not know if Slackware can be considered as a simpler program but I do know that the learning curve can be steep for some users. In actuality Slackware is a very stable Gnu/Linux with very good support here at LQ.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuhan
The fact is, I am not a techie, by any stretch of the imagination, and I have lurid memories of the days when I worked with the DOS command line!
You really should not dampen enthusiasm, cli (bash) is a lot different than DOS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuhan
That said, I like Linux and would enjoy learning more about it. My friend told me that Slackware is actually quite easy to use and the problems lie mainly with the initial installation and package management. But beyond that it's easy and a pleasure in its simplicity. Does anyone have any opinions on this? I realize it's largely a matter of opinion but I don't want to get into Slackware and find out I've bitten off more than I can chew! Thank you in advance.
Newbies will learn a lot by following the sections within. As for the experienced users, it's a good place for us to recommend corrections or suggest areas that concern you. I for one participate with 2handband on subjects that I'm interested in: Slackware! Several other members have participated.
Fabulous post, Onebuck! I truly appreciate it. In the list of helpful links you cite, there is mention of Bash. I've heard that KornShell is also a powerful shell and one that many users prefer. Getting into shells right now is probably more than I want or need to pursue. What is the "downside" of using a virtual box? In other words, why is this not alternative to partitioning the hard drive and having a dual boot? It sounds like you can use the new install, in this case Slackware, without going through the inconvenience of partitioning your drive, reinstalling all the original material, reformatting backup drives, etc. Everyone seems to concede that eventually it's necessary to actual install Slackware on the hard drive. All the suggestions and great links are really helpful!
I've heard that KornShell is also a powerful shell and one that many users prefer.
Not Linux users.
Quote:
Everyone seems to concede that eventually it's necessary to actual install Slackware on the hard drive.
Not the people in this thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuhan
What is the "downside" of using a virtual box?
It's slightly slower, it uses more memory (you're running the host OS, the virtual machine AND the guest OS), and it doesn't run X at your monitor's native resolution. Slackware's default install doesn't enable subpixel-rendering, however so the last point won't actually be a problem .
None of which will actually stop it from giving you a good idea of what Slackware is like.
You can install Slackware on a partition later, when you've decided that you like it.
With virtualization you have to dedicate some of your physical memory and processing power to the virtual machine. If you have 4GB of RAM and dedicate 2GB of that to a virtual machine then your physical machine is down from 4GB to 2GB as well.
The biggest advantage of virtualization for a learner is that you can keep Google open on your physical machine to solve problems you encounter in your virtual machine. If, for example, you can't get networking up and running in your virtual Slackware all you have to do is switch to Google in your Ubuntu to find out why it's not working. Another issue that might cause you problems with Slackware is partitioning. If you try to do that in a physical machine you might find yourself stuck, and you would have no internet access to get yourself out of difficulty. But if you do it first in a virtual machine you will have internet access and you can keep notes as you go along. Then when you are ready to install Slackware in a physical machine you can consult these notes.
If you are a patient and willing learner you will have no problems with Slackware.
The downside is that it can not use your hardware to its fully extent. The virtual machine (currently) will not be able to use the full 3D power of a video card, the pass-trough of PCI devices (add-on cards in your computer) is currently in development.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dugan
and it doesn't run X at your monitor's native resolution
It will, I have no problems to run a VM in fullscreen mode in my monitors native resolution.
Fabulous post, Onebuck! I truly appreciate it. In the list of helpful links you cite, there is mention of Bash. I've heard that KornShell is also a powerful shell and one that many users prefer. Getting into shells right now is probably more than I want or need to pursue. What is the "downside" of using a virtual box? In other words, why is this not alternative to partitioning the hard drive and having a dual boot? It sounds like you can use the new install, in this case Slackware, without going through the inconvenience of partitioning your drive, reinstalling all the original material, reformatting backup drives, etc. Everyone seems to concede that eventually it's necessary to actual install Slackware on the hard drive. All the suggestions and great links are really helpful!
Glad to help. Others have pointed out a VM. Good way to test drive a Gnu/Linux. Speed will be dependent on the host machine and clients configuration.
You could partition the hard drive, it's your machine to experiment with.
Slax LiveCD would be one way of testing. Slax (Slackware derivative) program is dormant now but it would still allow you to test a earlier version of Slackware.
"Bash (Unix shell), a Unix command shell written for the GNU project" is what is used as the default shell for Slackware.
Virtualbox is a program which "pretends" to be a computer. That is you can install any operatingsystem in Virtualbox as a VM (Virtual Machine). The operatingsystem "thinks" it is running on real hardware.
I overlooked the second page of the thread, this was written by others before.
If I were you I would instead configure Ubuntu and Slackware as Dualboot. The advantage of dualboot is that you can see directly the difference between Ubuntu and Slackware on the same hardware as dh2k in post #8 wrote.
If you go for dualboot, you'll need about at least 15GB of free diskspace on the computer. You should use 2 partitions for Slackware, one for / and one for /home. The swappartition can be the same as for Ubuntu.
If you want to create free space on the computer, you can use gparted and decrease the partition/s of Ubuntu.
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