do i see linux properly?

[arinlares]

i had a thread under the ubuntu forum here about dual-booting vista and ubuntu. after my questions were answered, i began to think about the partition size. at that point, i realized 10G-40 of space (all i want to lose from windows) wouldnt work. so, no dual boot for me. at this point, i had a better idea: external HD, and virtual machines (VirtualBox for me). i think linux is great as an OS, every distro having its differences. i wonder, though, if anybody else has a similar view (they believe in it, but don't see it as practical at the moment). also, i feel i need to familiarize myself with linux before installing it (i hope to, soon).

[Manchunian]

I use Linux for all my day-to-day tasks as well as for my work. So, I guess for me you could say it's practical. Also, there are many countries now whose public services are switching to Linux, including here in France. The police use it, the Parliament uses it, schools are adopting it...and this is happening all over the world. Besides, being able to use your computer for what it was designed for, rather than as a platform for anti-virus and anti-Spyware software, means you can just get on with things. There are very few things you can't do with Linux, unless you need very specific software that is only available for Windows.
If you want to try it, then there is a super-easy way of doing so with this. You download the .exe onto your Windows desktop, double click the icon and install it in the usual way. When you reboot your computer, you should have the option of starting a Ubuntu session. If you decide you want to take it off and stick with Windows, although for the life of me I can't see why you'd want to do that (!), uninstall it in the usual clumsy Windows way, ie. via the Control Panel. One more thing, don't forget to check this out.
Good luck!

[arinlares]

know about wubi, and don't want it on a laptop. and i have also read the "Linux Is Not Windows" thing (first thing i read exploring Windows, got it in the Ubuntu forum after mentioning still using XP one too many times). I'm thinking about maybe doing a 10G install after learning the ins and outs of linux safely, which is where the virtual machines come in. Mostly, i use Phun, but hope to start using Blender and Inkscape. I don't think an entire operating system should be installed for this, if the operating system is too much trouble to get situated (in a virtual machine, I can, i think, figure out the issues i have in the guest). My main idea is to take it slow, probably slower than necessary, in order to make the finished product as safe and good as possible.

[Manchunian]

I agree with the take it slow approach - that's what I did. However, I don't see what your problem is with Wubi. Running a virtual machine is OK, but it's rather slow - and one of the things I appreciate most about Linux (apart from its security) is its speed. But the main thing is is to give it a whirl, however you do it.

[arinlares]

my XP bootloader doesn't work right anymore thanks to Wubi, and my old 98 lot 10G because Wubi cut out while checking the Xubuntu iso's checksum (both are my fault, but I try not to duplicate mistakes). While the blame lies with me (i knew Wubi isn't compatible with 98, and didn't know what i was doing when it was done on my XP machine), i'd rather not mess with it.

[Manchunian]

OK - that's a good reason. I'd like to know more about the problem you had with the XP bootloader, though. That worries me a lot as I always recommend Wubi to newbies now.

[arinlares]

well, manchunian, here's the thread in the Ubuntu forum: please help! how to remove boot manager? - Ubuntu Forums

it didn't damage the bootloader, but, at a point in the thread, i posted the contents of boot.ini, which, to my understanding, says what happens at boot, and they didn't have any tangible fixes (the easyBCD only works in Vista). i checked, i still have the original boot loader (does even a dedicated install change the loader in the windows partition?). i can still load XP, so it didn't damage anything, all i need to do is change the countdown on startup (it's mentioned in the thread). So, enough of that. Just a suggestion for you, when you suggest Wubi, tell them that it's in beta if they're new to the whole linux/ubuntu/wubi idea. i learned that fact afterward, and realized why it didn't work right for me. generally, as ago (in the ubuntu forum thread i linked to) said, it usually runs as normal on install. i think i just pulled a short straw, so to speak.

[Freston]

I agree on taking it slow. I too have not had any Microsoft code on any of my machines for ... I dunno? ... but I don't think going 'cold turkey' is the favorable approach. It takes a little while to get used to, and meanwhile you don't want to be frustrated about not knowing how to do stuff on your machine. That kind of defeats the purpose.

That said, you should be able to install and run any Linux distro comfortably on a 10GB partition. You could do it without much effort on a 5GB partition and remain worry free. And even far less, but that requires some planning.

[carlosponti]

My wifes desktop the only PC in the house with Windows XP has it on a 30 gb hardrive with all 30 gb devoted to windows and a spare hard drive of 10gb devoted to Ubuntu. It works and I have not ran out of space. In fact I have successfully installed Ubuntu on a 2GB Flash Drive with minimal Stuff and xfce window manager. so 10 to 20 will be more than enough to play with. remember linux isnt windows you can get a smaller install to work and until then 10 is more than enough. On my virtual machines I run 4 to 6 gb to install linux on.

[arinlares]

i might go bigger than just 10GB on the partition. in the virtual machine, i'm going to install all of the apps I'm going to be using in Linux, see what ends up happening with them. if i think i need more space, i'll expand the partition (i've heard of several applications that do that)