installing linux!!

ayush_chh · 13-02-2008, 07:10 PM

hi frnds!

After a long time finally i am going to install Linux on my PC. so, i need help regarding this. i have never used linux before so i don't know nothing.

Consider me a noob and pls tell me step by step process for installing linux.

what i have and what i want

1) a PC with 3 HDD (40 GB, 40 GB, 200 GB) unpartitioned. i have win XP installed and don't want to remove it.

2) i know there is some File system problem so, i won't be able to see my XP partition from Linux and vice versa. But i have heard that there is some
File system which can be used in both XP and Linux

3) i have Red Hat Linux (3 CD)......don't know very well what it is...

thanks for your HELP

Rahim · 13-02-2008, 08:10 PM

Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" is ideal for starters. Download it or use Digit DVDs.
You can access your XP partitions from Ubuntu through ntfs-3g.
you can easily dual-boot XP & Linux.

NucleusKore · 13-02-2008, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayush_chh

1) a PC with 3 HDD (40 GB, 40 GB, 200 GB) unpartitioned. i have win XP installed and don't want to remove it.

You do not have to remove XP

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayush_chh

2) i know there is some File system problem so, i won't be able to see my XP partition from Linux and vice versa. But i have heard that there is some
File system which can be used in both XP and Linux

You can READ AND WRITE to windows filesystems (NTFS and FAT) from Linux, no restrictions there

You can also read and write to ext3 filesystems of Linux from windows using a software. I do not recommend it though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayush_chh

3) i have Red Hat Linux (3 CD)......don't know very well what it is...

Its a good distro, but I do not have any experience with the latest RedHat. I use OpenSuSE 10.3. I have a post here on how to quickly make your OpenSuSE multimedia capable.

Now before you install any Linux I would like to have a look at you partition table. In Windows, Please click on Start->Control Panel->Computer Management-> and in that, click on Disk Management System

You will see all your partition tables. Press Print Screen button on your keyboard and post the screenshot here. Will then guide you on the partitioning.

debsuvra · 13-02-2008, 08:22 PM

Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon is a good choice for everyone. Also you can try some other distros like openSUSE 10.3 and Fedora 8, they are also good and reliable.

I think most of todays distros have the NTFS 3g enabled by default and as a result NTFS partitions are not a problem to access.

Also if u have a moderate graphics hardware in your rig, then you can enjoy the full potential of compiz fusion in linux.

And if u want all the multimedia capabilities and codecs installed by default in Linux then u can install Ubuntu Ultimate.

Happy Linux Days!

mehulved · 13-02-2008, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by debsuvra

Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon is a good choice for everyone.

You want to get me started again on this?

praka123 · 13-02-2008, 09:07 PM

I suggest Ubuntu Gutsy as a n00b distro.else fedora 8(d00d,ur redhat 9 is affected by termites it is sooo old,damn trash those cd's

) which is RedHat changed their community distro name

http://fedoraproject.org
and
Ubuntu @:
http://www.ubuntu.com

always install GNU/Linux on a new partition and make sure a swap partition of 400MB is made.the File System preferred is ext3.

below site is useful too:
http://www.linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

The Unknown · 13-02-2008, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by praka123

I suggest Ubuntu Gutsy as a n00b distro.else fedora 8(d00d,ur redhat 9 is affected by termites it is sooo old,damn trash those cd's

) which is RedHat changed their community distro name

http://fedoraproject.org
and
Ubuntu @:
http://www.ubuntu.com

always install GNU/Linux on a new partition and make sure a swap partition of 400MB is made.the File System preferred is ext3.

below site is useful too:
http://www.linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

SWAP partition is not reqd. more than 1.5~3 times of RAM. Correct me if i am wrong.

and @ayush_chh trash those old CDs

Either download Fedora 8 from its webby or use DIGIT DVD. Fedora is a nice stable Linux distro.

mehulved · 13-02-2008, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Unknown

Fedora is a nice stable Linux distro.

Ever used Debian or FreeBSD?
I guess I am in a mean mood today.

ayush_chh · 14-02-2008, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Either download Fedora 8 from its webby or use DIGIT DVD. Fedora is a nice stable Linux distro.

so can i directly install it from DVD or need to burn it on CDs

@Nucleuskore

i'll be posting the screen shot soon

The Unknown · 14-02-2008, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayush_chh

so can i directly install it from DVD or need to burn it on CDs

@Nucleuskore

i'll be posting the screen shot soon

depends on the DVD. if its bootable, u can direct install.

@mehulved, why are always against Fedora ?

Even @praka123 isn't always against RH products.

ayush_chh · 14-02-2008, 10:18 AM

and one more important thing, i m doing this because i m learning UNIX in my college and they use redhat (that is why i have redhat)......can i do shell programming in Fedora?

praka123 · 14-02-2008, 10:49 AM

^ofcourse man!redhat linux is a very old distro now.it uses old kernel 2.4 contains outdated gcc etc packages.

my advice is you choose either ubuntu or fedora and do ur shell programming.

infact fedora=redhat+community now.

The Unknown · 14-02-2008, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayush_chh

and one more important thing, i m doing this because i m learning UNIX in my college and they use redhat (that is why i have redhat)......can i do shell programming in Fedora?

shell programming is supported on all *NIX (i doubt for live cds).

gary4gar · 14-02-2008, 03:25 PM

freebsd is crap.

mehulved · 14-02-2008, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Unknown

@mehulved, why are always against Fedora ?

I am using F9 Alpha. I can understand unstable apps and bad bugs, considering it's Alpha release only. But, the distro overall is slowwww. Yum takes ages, it even removed libnss and installed older version without my permission. It installed GNOME, though i explicitly selected KDE only and left out all GNOME stuff. It's better than ubuntu when it comes to stuff like programming and all. But, calling fedora as stable, well see Debian and FreeBSD, then you'll know what I mean. Well, CentOS/RHEL is stable, fedora no. Yeah, maybe since you come from MS users you may consider it stable.

praka123 · 14-02-2008, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gary4gar

freebsd is crap.

beware bsd guys can crap on u

freebsd is good..OK didja ever tried openbsd?the best (secure) OS ?

bsds are not focusing on user friendliness that doesnot mean that bsds sucks.

bsd's are the world's best server OS.

though I agree that pc-bsd is real buggy.

The Unknown · 14-02-2008, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mehulved

I am using F9 Alpha. I can understand unstable apps and bad bugs, considering it's Alpha release only. But, the distro overall is slowwww. Yum takes ages, it even removed libnss and installed older version without my permission. It installed GNOME, though i explicitly selected KDE only and left out all GNOME stuff. It's better than ubuntu when it comes to stuff like programming and all. But, calling fedora as stable, well see Debian and FreeBSD, then you'll know what I mean. Well, CentOS/RHEL is stable, fedora no. Yeah, maybe since you come from MS users you may consider it stable.

Duh! I am using Fedora since last one year and never faced a problem like this. I agree that yum is a bit slow and its reason is Python. yum is written in Python which is damn slow on command-line ( i read this in a survey ).

ayush_chh · 14-02-2008, 06:55 PM

which one out of these should i D/L

http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/

mediator · 14-02-2008, 07:22 PM

U can get this months digit as it gives u fedora 8. This one btw!

mehulved · 14-02-2008, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Unknown

Duh! I am using Fedora since last one year and never faced a problem like this. I agree that yum is a bit slow and its reason is Python. yum is written in Python which is damn slow on command-line ( i read this in a survey ).

yum refreshes the repos everytime you start it, unlike apt which is refreshed only when you ask it.
Secondly, yum uses database to store it's data, I believe sqlite whereas apt uses flat file system.

QwertyManiac · 14-02-2008, 09:06 PM

@The_Unknown (Post's directed only towards you) - Python is not slow. It depends on how you code your application. Codes written well, like those of O(log n) and anything thats not exponential. When you learn Python, you're supposed to get to know how to write an algorithm in the best manner, and that really speedens up your code, and sets it on par with any C/C++ code. Python's major part is written in optimized C code.

I suggest you read Python's Wiki for info on writing the best code rather than simply agree with a survey that it is slow and say the same without facts.

As an example, my Sieve Of Atkin implementation (Its an algorithm to find Prime numbers upto a supplied level) takes just 0.130s in Python for finding all primes upto a million. It would nearly be the same 0.100~ if written in C/C++ too. You can try it

And performance isn't limited to tools and methods within Python alone, it can be boosted via external tools as well.

P.s. And yes, I like putting an _ in your nickname. I like it that way. And it looks that way too.

mediator · 15-02-2008, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mehulved

yum refreshes the repos everytime you start it, unlike apt which is refreshed only when you ask it.
Secondly, yum uses database to store it's data, I believe sqlite whereas apt uses flat file system.

yum -C install wateva!!

Zeeshan Quireshi · 15-02-2008, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mediator

yum -C install wateva!!

I still prefer APT .

and Yes Fedora feels painfully slow .

mediator · 15-02-2008, 03:43 PM

Yes apt is better than yum when its comes to downloading speed, but yum is faster when it comes to installation speed!

Besides, the 'working on OS' part : slow or fast. Its ur opinion n may vary from person to person. IMO, fedora beats Ubuntu in terms of stability,boot speed,working speed etc.

mehulved · 15-02-2008, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mediator

Yes apt is better than yum when its comes to downloading speed, but yum is faster when it comes to installation speed!

Besides, the 'working on OS' part : slow or fast. Its ur opinion n may vary from person to person. IMO, fedora beats Ubuntu in terms of stability,boot speed,working speed etc.

Also, AFAIK yum is best try basis i.e. it will remove older version then try it's best to install new version but if it fails it can't roll back since older version is already removed. Compare it with apt or portage or such, which first install new package then remove older one so if something fails in new package it can be easily rolled back without any damage.

mediator · 15-02-2008, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mehulved

Also, AFAIK yum is best try basis i.e. it will remove older version then try it's best to install new version but if it fails it can't roll back since older version is already removed. Compare it with apt or portage or such, which first install new package then remove older one so if something fails in new package it can be easily rolled back without any damage.

yum install yum-allowdowngrade

This is a yum plugin. I dunno why u r makin this thread a fedora Vs *, yum Vs apt. But neways here's sumthing u shud know!!

Source=yum install yum-*

Quote:

yum-aliases noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 9.0 k
yum-allowdowngrade noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 7.4 k
yum-arch noarch 2.2.2-2.fc7 fedora 409 k
yum-basearchonly noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 7.9 k
yum-changelog noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 10 k
yum-cron noarch 0.7-1.fc8 updates 16 k
yum-kernel-module noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 7.8 k
yum-list-data noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 9.0 k
yum-merge-conf noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 8.7 k
yum-presto noarch 0.4.3-1.fc8 updates 18 k
yum-priorities noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 8.8 k
yum-protect-packages noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 8.3 k
yum-protectbase noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 7.8 k
yum-refresh-updatesd noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 7.5 k
yum-security noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 13 k
yum-tmprepo noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 8.2 k
yum-tsflags noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 7.2 k
yum-updateonboot noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 9.2 k
yum-upgrade-helper noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 8.7 k
yum-versionlock noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 8.2 k
yumex noarch 2.0.3-2.fc8 updates 316 k
Updating:
yum noarch 3.2.8-2.fc8 updates 509 k
yum-fastestmirror noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 9.1 k
yum-fedorakmod noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 10 k
yum-skip-broken noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 8.5 k
yum-updatesd noarch 1:0.9-1.fc8 updates 22 k
yum-utils noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 52 k
Installing for dependencies:
deltarpm i386 3.4-6.fc8 fedora 353 k
yum-downloadonly noarch 1.1.11-1.fc8 updates 7.5 k

Google as to what all of these available plugins mean. It will enhance ur "yum is best thought".

Now I guess u'll say next that yum doesn't keep existing packages in cache, so in that case u have to modify "keepcache" from 0 to 1 in /etc/yum.conf.

yum-presto is a neat thing. Find bt that also and then u an open up a thread in review/oss section marking yum vs apt.

NucleusKore · 15-02-2008, 06:40 PM

You'll all scare off our original poster, he seems to have vanished

praka123 · 15-02-2008, 07:27 PM

ahh!that much plugin for yum.seems fedora fixed most yum/rpm related problems

mediator · 15-02-2008, 07:32 PM

Nah many were there at the time of FC5, -C option was there tooo. But it seems many were just unaware! Now that livna and freshrpms etc will merge, I guess things will become even better!

The Unknown · 15-02-2008, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mehulved

yum refreshes the repos everytime you start it, unlike apt which is refreshed only when you ask it.
Secondly, yum uses database to store it's data, I believe sqlite whereas apt uses flat file system.

Yeah, its sqlite. Well as you say it refreshes repos everytime, you have to set some options like keepcache=1 in /etc/yum.conf

@QwertyManiac, i was expecting you here

Well, I am not saying that Python is slow as I myself use it. But one of the surveys conducted in 2002 had Python slowest!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mehulved

yum refreshes the repos everytime you start it, unlike apt which is refreshed only when you ask it.
Secondly, yum uses database to store it's data, I believe sqlite whereas apt uses flat file system.

Yeah, its sqlite. Well as you say it refreshes repos everytime, you have to set some options like keepcache=1 in /etc/yum.conf

@QwertyManiac, i was expecting you here

Well, I am not saying that Python is slow as I myself use it. But one of the surveys conducted in 2002 had Python slowest!