RUNNING linux

[romo91]

hello, currently i am running windows xp home edition, and i am bored with it i have fheard that linux opensuse is a great open source operating system and can i dual boot either windows or linux.:confused:
also is my pc compatible with linux and why is linux beter :confused:


SPECS :grin:
CORE 2 DUO E6400
ASUS P5B DELUXE
XFX 7900 GT
1 CORSAIR XMS RAM
HIPER PSU
SEAGATE 320 GB HDD
MAXTOR 200 GB HDD
VIEWSONIC GAMING LCD
SAITEK 2 ECLIPSE KEYBOARD
CREATIVE X-FI SOUND CARD
ZALMAN HEATSINK
SAMSUNG LIGHTSCRIBE ODD

:paw: :paw: :paw: :paw: :paw: :paw: :paw: :paw: :paw:

[DragonMaster]

Your PC will work, not the X-Fi, Creative doesn't want to release card information for the Linux drivers. nVidia makes their own Linux drivers, your LightScribe feature will work with NERO for Linux (not free tho)

The only thing is that you'll hav eto stick with onboard sound, until Creative decides to release driver information or make their own drivers. With Crossover you'll be able to use a lot of Windows programs. Direct3D games will run through OpenGL on your GPU tho.

Linux has 2 problems :
- Companies don't support it(Lots of Win/Mac only programs, DirectX only games, etc.)
- Compatibility between different distributions makes installing some programs hard (Needs to be compiled for every different distributions and architectures, you can't just click a program's source to compile it, but you can easily learn to type
--------------
cd (program directory)
./configure
make
make install
--------------
and install missing dependencies if any. As you'll install more programs, you'll have less problems.

Advantages of Linux :
-Free
-About every programs updated and installable with the OS
-More interface, program, etc. choices.
-Support easily available in linux forums.

Start with dual-booting and see. I personally use both, mainly due to the lack of support for linux from software makers.

[romo91]

well my motherboards onboard audio is suported because i went to their website and it said linux for drivers and software i already checked that out but is linux more better than vista, should i try linux right know and how will i be able to dual boot :wink:

[Absolut352]

You should try a live cd of ubuntu or fedora. Then if you like it install it. Open suse is good as well.

[romo91]

yeah i planned everything out but how do i dualboot and once installed on the same hdd can i delete the linux os later if i dont like it:grin:

[DragonMaster]

If you want to dual boot you need some unpartitioned space (At least 15GB I'd say) you won't be able to write(just read) to NTFS partitions on the same HDD, keep that in mind. Once you got that space, you just need to start the installer, and it'll figure out what to do with it, as long as you select the good option. You'll get a nice boot menu once it's installed.

To get rid of it, use the XP recuperation console and do fixmbr and/or fixboot (I'm not sure, I do both) and then delete the Linux partitions (linux swap, init, main, etc.)

Linux should be the last thing to install, Windows will erase it's boot menu.

[vfrex]

cd (program directory)
./configure
make
make install

LMAO


anyway, you're most likely going to have to shrink the partition that Windows XP is currently on. Its pretty easy with something like Partition Magic. A little less easy with Linux installers. Once you cross this hurdle, its pretty much cake.

[DragonMaster]

Yep, installing a program from it's source is really easy, unless it needs old packages or packages incompatible with your distribution (which rarely happens)

One other thing with the program source is that it's not too easy to remove and update tho. For this, you can take a few steps more and create RPMs from the program source. (A few more lines, but much less trouble if you think you'll update the program often ;) (there are some ".spec" files to write for RPMs to work) )

You could download Knoppix to see how Linux looks like, and to modify your partitions using qtparted(pre-installed on Knoppix) which is a free clone of PartitionMagic.

[vfrex]

I don't see much of a point in installing from source with so many packages out there for Debian, Ubuntu, Suse.

[DragonMaster]

A lot of programs can only be downloaded using the source or a package for a very old OS, or something that doesn't work with your distro... (In fact, everything you can't find in a repository for your distro will generally need the source. If the package would be complied for your distribution, you would probably be able to find it in a repository.

[vfrex]

Yes, but there also tend to be complications with compiling many programs that aren't in the repository.