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Tell Me About Linux

Number_6

Number_6

beer, I want beer
I have an extra hard drive for my laptop, and am thinking about installing Linux to it, to try it out and see what I think.

This is a whole new world to me.

I see there are various "kinds" of Linux, like Suse Linux from Novell. What do these different types of Linux mean?

If someone has time, educate me. I have a couple of days before I'll do anything, because I need to burn a shitload of screencaps from the drive before reformatting it.
 
The different types take the code in different directions. As a general rule, all types of Linux share the same basic commands and functionality, but they use different packages for higher-level things.

Ubuntu seems to be the thing to start out on, but you should be good with that, Suse, or Knoppix.

Ubuntu and Knoppix I've used, and they both seem to provide a basic functionality without the need for learning commands.
 
Maybe I'll start with this Ubuntu. I've heard a couple of other people talk about that one as being a good place to start with Linux.

All I know is that I've had it with MS products. I'm tired of shit not working correctly.

However, I have some pretty serious A/V needs, and from what I'm seeing, I'm going to be hard pressed to find something for Linux like PowerDVD. I need to be able to play DVDs in 5.1 surround (I often plug the laptop into a "smart" classroom), and I need to be able to make quality screencaps and clips.

Is this something I'll be able to do in Linux?
 
Basically, how's your bandwidth? Are you on broadband?

I've been dual booting with WinXP and Ubuntu for awhile now (had some minor experience with RedHat, Debian, Mandrake and a few other flavors of Linux a few years ago), and Ubuntu's quite impressive. You can download a Live CD image to try it out...you just burn the disc image to a CD and boot from the CD, no installation necessary. It'll give you an idea of what you're dealing with, but you won't have full functionality that way.

If you like it, you can download an installation CD and install it either on another hard drive or on a partition of your current drive. Either way, the download is around 650MB and free.

http://www.ubuntu.com/
 
Number_6 said:
However, I have some pretty serious A/V needs, and from what I'm seeing, I'm going to be hard pressed to find something for Linux like PowerDVD. I need to be able to play DVDs in 5.1 surround (I often plug the laptop into a "smart" classroom), and I need to be able to make quality screencaps and clips.

Is this something I'll be able to do in Linux?
Click to expand...

I don't know, not having a huge need for things like that, myself.

You might want to try the ubuntu forums. They seem to be helpful, in most cases.

If worse comes to worse, you can install an emulator and run PowerDVD from that.

Personally, I double-boot XP and Linux, mostly because gaming is easier without having to emulate it.
 
Bandwidth is good--we're on DSL--but I find I have no blank CDs.

Looks like a trip to Office Despot is in order.

I'll hunt through the forums and see what I can learn.
 
Yeah, the problem is that when I play films clips through the laptop, it needs to be compatible with the system in the classroom, with the voices coming through the center channel, or I wind up with a lot of background noise, and barely audible voices.

But I don't have to teach film again until Fall, so I have a lot of time to get everything situated and ready to go.

I assume that this Open Office suite has something comparable to PowerPoint?
 
Well, having just spent a day and a half with SuSE 10, I can advise you with some authority not to use that distro. Actually, I don't know, it MIGHT work for you, but it didn't do the trick for me, despite early signs of promise. It installed to my external USB hard drive -- but then it didn't. It recognized my sound card -- and then it didn't. After the THIRD full install procedure, it booted from the USB external. And then it didn't. If I wanted that kind of hyperactive mind-changing, I'd get involved with a new woman, not get a new OS.
 
Okay, I'm going with the Ubuntu. Just created my boot/install disk, and will be installing it on the other hard drive momentarily.

With any luck, the next post I make here will be from a Linux platform.
 
Well, it's very brown.

Still no wireless. I had to come upstairs and plug into the ethernet.

Any suggestions on getting the wireless configured and running? It's a Dell Inspiron 8600.
 
^^Maybe Menty could be of some help -- Gods know I didn't even bother expecting SuSE to recognize my Linksys Wireless-G router, since it wouldn't recognize an Audigy 2 sound card.
 
Friday said:
Isn't Linux supposed to be close to a Mac OS? I think a friend mentioned that at one time...
Click to expand...

There're not to far apart from each other... OS X is a GUI (graphic user interface) on top of a Unix core, whereas Ubuntu is a GUI on top of a Linux core... same concepts with differnent implimentation.

In fact, the differences between each Linux distro is pretty much just in the GUI... so I hear tell.

OS X is designed to run on any Mac, so installation is as easy as disk in, press install, sit back. Linux and WinXP have to deal with a wide variety of motherboards, chipsets, RAM, and what have you so install is a little more involved. I have to say, however, that Ubuntu's installer was super easy to use.

So yeah, they're close. ;)
 
LOL

What Friday understood....

blah blah blah blah So yeah, they're close blah blah blah blah.... ;) :lol:
 
Number_6 said:
Well, it's very brown.

Still no wireless. I had to come upstairs and plug into the ethernet.

Any suggestions on getting the wireless configured and running? It's a Dell Inspiron 8600.
Click to expand...
Wireless support is a fairly recent addition to Ubuntu - when you go to Network Connections, does it show a wireless connection?

If it doesn't, you can use ndiswrapper to emulate the windows driver for whatever card it is.
 
FBI parte due said:
Wireless support is a fairly recent addition to Ubuntu - when you go to Network Connections, does it show a wireless connection?

If it doesn't, you can use ndiswrapper to emulate the windows driver for whatever card it is.
Click to expand...

No, no wireless connection appears--just the ethernet and the modem.

I have no idea what ndiswrapper is, but I'll have a look over at their forums and see what I can find.

If anyone wants to explain it here, I won't argue.
 
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