Which distro? Confused about Linux :

[RichardK]

Hi,

I'm new to Linux and I am desperate to make it work for me. I am impressed with the variety of distros available but not with any help which is very vague and confusing to a complete newbie. For example I wished to join the Linux Forums for help. I must be missing something because I can't work out how to post a new thread.

Is Linux for the experienced user only. I have a good working knowledge of DOS and my experience of Linux so far is confusing as I can't even successfully partition a hard drive which was so easy in DOS.

Sorry I have used the coffee lounge but hello to everyone. I will be back I'm sure!

Richard

[Jonathan183]

Welcome to the forums Richard

If you are having problems partitioning a disk try the PartedMagic CD.

There are lots of distros but some are easier for new Linux users - such as Linux Mint.

Most Linux installers will do the partitioning for you during the install, they will even let you retain Windows as well.

Ed: which distro are you trying to use?

[techieMoe]

Hi,

I'm new to Linux and I am desperate to make it work for me. I am impressed with the variety of distros available but not with any help which is very vague and confusing to a complete newbie. For example I wished to join the Linux Forums for help. I must be missing something because I can't work out how to post a new thread.

Hello and welcome! Please read our introductory thread for a crash course in Linux and how to post on the forum:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...ead-first.html

There's also a thread in there that can help you choose which distribution.

Is Linux for the experienced user only.

Not at all. Different Linux distributions appeal to different types of users. Some are geared more toward experienced users (such as Gentoo or Slackware) while other s are designed to be more friendly to new users (such as Ubuntu or Fedora). Read the article above to help you figure out the one for you.

I have a good working knowledge of DOS and my experience of Linux so far is confusing as I can't even successfully partition a hard drive which was so easy in DOS

.

As mentioned above, most distributions will do the partitioning for you as part of the installer. You shouldn't have to learn this right off the bat.

[RichardK]

Thank you for your reply. I have an old laptop which has been discarded by my son so I have opted for Damn Small Linux or Beatrix. Both work very quickly and seem to be a good staring point. I have tried popular distros such as SUSE and Ubuntu which installed with no problem but were a little slow. When I have gained enough confidence I intend to install Linux to my desktop.

When SUSE installed it created three different partitions. Is this normal and why effectively reduce one drive to three smaller drives. Both Beatrix and DSL come up with the same partitioner utility but neither provide any assistance about how to use it. I was able to create a partion hda1 which was written to hard drive but I was lost after that. Terms like frugal grub and frugal lilo mean nothing to me.

Thi is not as straightforward as DOS but I will persevere hopefully with some kind assistance.

Regards Richard

[elija]

Usually I create three partitions and I suspect this is what Suse did

One for / (which is pronounced root) and is where the system lives
One for swap - kind of like the Windows swap file but better
One /home where user data lives.

This has the advantage that user data can survive reinstalls
far easier than if it was all on one big partition.

[danbuter]

elija is right on about SuSE partitioning.

[hazel]

I have a good working knowledge of DOS
Richard

I'd say that's very useful. A lot of the newbies here have never used a command line interface. And while you can do most things in Linux graphically, commands are invaluable for getting things done quickly and simply.

You can think of the Linux shell as DOS on steroids; it lets you edit and replay commands, completes commands and filenames automatically, and you can create automated scripts that are much more powerful than DOS batch files. All your configuration files are text and easily edited. The file system is quite similar to the DOS one except that files have owners and access permissions, which makes everything much more secure. And you have powerful text processing facilities. Enjoy!

[fingal]

Welcome Richard - I also come from a DOS background and believe Hazel is right when she says it will be helpful.

I think that with Linux, the more you learn the more you want to learn.

[jayd512]

I've come to find that to be true. Each time I figure something out, it makes me eager to learn more. Gotta love it!!!

By the way, fingal... found something you might like

[RichardK]

You all seem a good bunch of people. Thank you for your replies. I've gone for SUSE because it loaded itself onto hard drive but to be honest all the live CD distros I've tried are excellent. I feel like I've seriously been missing out on something quite exciting. Better late than never.

Kind regards

Richard