..the story so far...

[Wakou]

Well I found, over there at: Linux Online - Getting Started with Linux - Lesson 1 (1), what I thought would be ideal, a course divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced sections that I could follow at my leisure, and acheive "goals" etc.

The author airily dismisses dual-booting using the metaphor
"if you buy a new car, you don't hang on to the old one until you get used to the new"
A more stupid, ill-thought out and less apposite analogy would be hard to find.
If you learn a new language do you completley abandon your old one before you speak the new? Meaning for instance you have no method of communicating with anyone, even to help learning?

He then proposes re-partitioning the HDD and installing Debian. He suggest a partitioning scheme different to the ones offered by the Debian installer, without telling us how to do it his way.
Linux Online - Getting Started with Linux - Lesson 2 (3)

Perhaps I am stupid but I cannot work out from this what he wants us to do. He mentions "initialising" a partition wthout telling us how why or what this means.

Anyway, I go ahead. I use windies software to shrink its partition, leaving 15gb unallocated, and let Debian work its magic.

After a while, I have Debian installed, I let Debian choose the partition scheme, but chose the four partition option, so as to follow as closely as possible the "instructions" on the course.


Whilst I had Debian installed I tried to follow the early lessons of the "course".....



After a few hours of nonsense, and realising that even the SIMPLEST examples were different syntax or just plain WRONG, despite having chosen Debian specifically and ONLY because of the recommendations of this course, I thought "If I can't even use these examples, what about when it gets more complicated?"

Result? Fail!... but also a "Fail" for the "teacher".


I now had a machine which would ONLY boot to a debian shell, no windows, despite having carefully installed linux on separate partitions, and closely followed the debian installer's instructions for dual bootery. Surely there should be BIG RED FLASHING WARNINGS about using LiLo on a windows box.
Luckily I have some experience with Windows and eventually get my computer back, but this sort of experience is unlikely to encourage the Linux noob to fall in love with his new toy, rather to get rid ASAP and never go there again.

ps, currently downloading OpenSuse I WILL NOT BE BEATEN!!!!!

[GNU-Fan]

Hello,

on the page you linked is a e-mail address especially for feedback. Maybe you should address them directly if you have complains about their article. After all, they are the persons who are able to fix it so that future learners do not fall into the same trap.

[Wakou]

Hello,

on the page you linked is a e-mail address especially for feedback. Maybe you should address them directly if you have complains about their article. After all, they are the persons who are able to fix it so that future learners do not fall into the same trap.

Hi! I know there is a feedback option, but to sensibly and constructively use it would mean re-installing the dastardly debian, and repeating all the problems and making careful notes of the consequences. I don't feel quite up to it ATM, although I might if I get bored soon. My post was along the lines of a get it off my chest gripe.

[Wakou]

Well I got bored, as I knew I would and re-installed Debian, this time using GRUB and not the dread Lilo, and waddya know, it all seems to be fine. V. pleased with self, esp after sorting out mousepad prob (see other thread in this forum.) I restarted the course so roundly castigated above and have got to lesson 6. I have now stopped due to aching head, but I will return to it.
In answer to my new friend Freston's Question, in another, now defunct-ish thread:

Why then don't you just tell what you are trying to do??

I read some of your other posts and understand you are moving to SuSE. These pieces of the puzzle don't fit in my limited understanding. Sure! SuSE is as capable as the next distro, but as with Ubuntu, I see it far removed from anything I can rhyme with Russix or BT. Those distro's are good at other things

Well this is a tough question!
I am a truck driver and have to spend a lot of lonely, bored evenings on industrial estates and service stops, and access to the internet is a great boon. Sometimes, there are kind (or maybe not too clever, but lets give them the benefit of the doubt) people who have no encryption on their WiFi connections, and I can hitch a ride to the internet. There are also folk with WEP encryption, and it was while googling on this subj that my interest was piqued, and I started trying live CD's for pen-testing etc, hence my trials with wifiway, russix, BT3 etc etc. Having messed about with these, I started getting a bit more interested in the whole linux thing. As there are I guess, millions happily using it, many of them without support in their native language, a decent internet connection or using old hardware, I thought if they can, so can I! So I suppose a sort of intellectual curiosity is the only reason for putting myself through the linux mangle. This might be heretical, but I confess I have no real problem with the Anti-christ from Seattle, there is nothing that I really NEED to do which MS doesn't (except wiFi packet injection experiments, see above), it is just that I think someone with nerdygeek tendencies like myself should know at least some basic stuff about linux, rather in the way that a gentleman should know how to ride a horse, dance a foxtrot, politely eat aspargus and handle a shotgun (not necessarily at the same time), even if he is a one-legged vegetarian city dweller with a butter allergy. I have to go out now to bathe my aching brain in Guiness. I know that I could dig out the answer with assiduous googling, but I also know that many folks like to kindly share their expertise, so:
Reviewing my DMESG, there is a warning (Debian BTW)

"No High memory space available!"

Is this a problem? is this a bios setting needs adjusting?
I did get the openSuse DVD downloaded yesterday, what do folks think, uninstall Debian and load openSuse, or keep the pretty minimal (CD1 only) install of Deb, maybe building it up as I learn how?

[rokytnji]

what do folks think, uninstall Debian and load openSuse, or keep the pretty minimal (CD1 only) install of Deb, maybe building it up as I learn how?

My first Linux install was Xubuntu,then I tried Damn Small Linux.(Computer Limitations at the time)

I , like you, was bored recovering from some injuries. Starting out with Linux was a painful endevor because I am computer illerate and didn't know about the extended linux communtiy. Took a while just to get online as I fumbled around in the dark. I commend you for taking that course.

I tried Open Suse 10.3 KDE later, and still not knowing what I was doing, I bought a old Suse Book for 8.2 Suse. Started reading that and to get a understanding about what the heck I was doing wrong.

Later I installed Mepis 6.5 and the internet opened up for me and I was pleased that I finally had a working install going.

So to answer your question about whether you should stay with Debian or go Open Suse, Heck I don't know. Learning can be painful and time cosuming. I do know that. If I ever get the huevos to do a multi cd install Like Debian or Slackware, or a rolling Distro Like Arch or Crux. I will either bork it or it will work out OK. If It works, I will be one proud SOB. If not I won't lose any sleep over it. Good luck on the course dude, I admire you for it.

[Wakou]

Thank-you for the frankly un-earned admiration! I think my first "bash" was Ubuntu; I hated it! Can't tell why, precisely, but just did not suit (see other threads, re. 35hz refresh etc,) but I still did not like it even having got that going.
Thank you for your reply to my "shameless troll", have to say that it (your reply) is perfect... (nice tractor btw) Many many many many years ago I had a Triumph Daytona chopped raked hard-tailed, custom tanks, hand built wheels etc etc. It was, frankly a motorcycle not very good at anything much, but it was MINE, and I loved it.

ps what mean "bork"?

[rokytnji]

but it was MINE, and I loved it.

That says it all.

ps what mean "bork"?

It is related to FUBAR or SNAFU. Kaput I guess for German. Means that if my install procedure leads me to wiping the hardrive and having to start over because of ineptness.

Right now, I unpacked my Wiped IBM M57 6075 BHU Tower. 1.8 gig dualcore, 2 gig RAM, 80 gig Sata, with CDRW/DVDROM. So I unhooked my Ubuntu Linux IBM M41 Tower which is a IDE computer. Hooked up New M57. Booted into Bios and made a few changes. And to my shock and amazement, I can't friggin save changes to the durn thing. All that part is greyed out for enabling saved changes and using F10 or F9 is no good either. Drats! Not to be fazed by this bull, I go to startup and look at startup and luck is on my side. CDROM is boot first. They must have left it that way when they wiped the drive. (Whew). So I boot up Mepis 7 Live and I got no detect of modem. This is wired by the way (Broadband). Not to be fazed I boot up a Dream Linux 3.0 Live. Same stuff as Mepis. Now I start to Wonder.
Being stubborn I boot a Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy I have and boom, I'm connected. (whew). Now I got Ubuntu 8.04 live booted up and I am connected and flash is up and operational.

I am going to hold off on install yet till I figure out why I can't modify the bios. Hope your day is as exciting as mine. Happy Trails.