Very Computer

Hi all,

I know my hardware is OK, running intel based PC and have two UDMA HD,
presume that a partition on the second HD is a good place to install
linux, my questions are..

where is a good place to get it? (no huge downloads pls)

what version / extras should I get for PC hardware compliance?

what learning materials should I get / use?

what should i do to prevent it "screwing" with my existing win95
installation and hardware?

will a FAT32 partition on HD#2 be OK? and how big?

how should I boot into linux / win95 at will?

what is a good source for apps, (like winfiles.com) once I have the
OS?

many thanks,

GF

Depends on where you live.

If you live near a CompUSA or a MicroCenter, that's your best bet.
MicroCenter, if you live near one, is the best retail source for Linux.

If not,  you can order the RedHat 5.1 distribution from www.redhat.com.
I don't recommend using FTP unless you really know what you're doing; I
don't.

Quote:> what version / extras should I get for PC hardware compliance?

The latest will have the best.

Quote:> what learning materials should I get / use?

Linux Unleashed is my personal preference.

Quote:> what should i do to prevent it "screwing" with my existing win95
> installation and hardware?

Keep it on a separate drive and you won't even have to reload Windows
95.

Quote:> will a FAT32 partition on HD#2 be OK? and how big?

Not a problem.  Make it the whole drive.

Quote:> how should I boot into linux / win95 at will?

Use Partition Magic or LILO

Quote:> what is a good source for apps, (like winfiles.com) once I have the
> OS?

ftp.sunsite.unc.edu is the best, but Redhat.com has a good source for
non-freeware.

The store. Every major bookstore/computer store has packages of 6 CD's,
with loads of software, for about $25.
You can download it as well if you like, but with a phone line
connection, that will probably be far more expensive than buying the
CD's. Besides, you have to figure out yourself what to download.

Quote:> what version / extras should I get for PC hardware compliance?

Depends on your PC... Just pick a distribution (RedHat, Debian,
Slackware, etc...) each one has it's pros and cons. If your hardware
isn't too obscure, drivers should be obtained quite easily after a short
search. But you're not there yet... First see if the installation
process goes well :).

Quote:> what learning materials should I get / use?

You should go to a random FTP-site with Linux on it, let's say
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/ and start out with the docs directory,
the obvious README-files... Doesn't take a lot of time and your view
will be much more clearer of what documents to read.
You can buy books as well; the O'Reilly books are good, such as Linux in
a Nutshell by Jessica Hekman or Running Linux by Matt Welsh and
...(forgot the other guy).
Important: READ a lot before you start installing.

Quote:> what should i do to prevent it "screwing" with my existing win95
> installation and hardware?

Installing it on a different partition from the win95 partition; keeping
your win95 partition bootable; making sure that you have an emergency
startup disk and backing up your software.

Quote:> will a FAT32 partition on HD#2 be OK? and how big?

Linux has it's own filesystem so FAT32 (or FAT even) is irrelevant. In
the installation process you'll have to make an ext2 partition but if
you read the documents, that's pretty self-explanatory.

Quote:> how should I boot into linux / win95 at will?

I myself have installed LILO, Linux Loader. I can choose to load Dos or
Linux at the starting up of my PC.
How to install LILO? It's all in the documentation...

Quote:> what is a good source for apps, (like winfiles.com) once I have the
> OS?

- asking questions on newsgroups and mailinglists (that's what they're
for)
- if you've bought a CD set, there will probably be LOADS of apps on it
already

Quote:> many thanks,

> GF

Hope this helps... a novice answering a newbie :)

--
Annatar Gorthaur, Darkfriend Trollsbane a.k.a. Maarten de Jong

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essels in my brain carry death until my birth
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On Wed, 22 Jul 1998 22:24:26 GMT, Guy Fawkes

www.cheapbytes.com
www.infomagic.com

There may be better places to get it in the UK.  Check linux.org.

I recommend the Redhat distribution.

Quote:>what version / extras should I get for PC hardware compliance?

You shouldn't need any.  All the drivers are in the kernel.

Quote:>what learning materials should I get / use?

A good site for online stuff is:

http://www.progsoc.uts.edu.au/~timj/ispuid/

_Running Linux_ is still good, if a little old.  There are so many Linux
books out now that I've lost track.  I suggest visiting a good technical
bookstore and doing some browsing, or check amazon.com.

Quote:>what should i do to prevent it "screwing" with my existing win95
>installation and hardware?

It shouldn't do that.

Quote:>will a FAT32 partition on HD#2 be OK? and how big?

That's OK, but during the install you will delete that partition and a Linux
native filesystem will be layed down instead.

Quote:>how should I boot into linux / win95 at will?

The install program will install the LILO boot program.

Quote:>what is a good source for apps, (like winfiles.com) once I have the
>OS?

http://rufus.w3.org/linux/RPM/

Dave Cook

On Wed, 22 Jul 1998 22:24:26 GMT, Guy Fawkes

I've had good luck with www.cheapbytes.com.  You can get any
distribution for under $5, and four or five for under $20 from either
them, or www.lsl.com.

Quote:>what version / extras should I get for PC hardware compliance?

Get four versions and see which one works best.  (There is no general
answer.  Not only do you not tell me what hardware you have, but each
distribution is constantly upgrading and changing, so the answer may
not be the same in two weeks.)

Quote:>what learning materials should I get / use?

What I did was go to a couple of bookstores and see what books looked
good.  There is a lot of free material at the Linux Documentation
project, visible via www.linux.org.

If you don't need the very latest thing, you can get books for very
little at "outlet" bookstores.  Linux hasn't changed that much in the
past two years or so.

Quote:>what should i do to prevent it "screwing" with my existing win95
>installation and hardware?

Can't say without knowing the details of your setup.  Read the
Installation-HOWTO at the LDP, or in comp.os.linux.info.

Quote:>will a FAT32 partition on HD#2 be OK? and how big?

Linux has its own partition type.  I installed Debian Linux into a 400
meg partition about two years ago, and it still isn't full.  I'm
running a news server, a proxy server, the X Window System,
newsreader, mail reader, archiving lots of stuff . . . .

However, only you know your own requirements.  It all depends on what
you're going to do with it.

Quote:>how should I boot into linux / win95 at will?

Depends, again.  I use a program called "loadlin", which lets me load
the Linux kernel from DOS.  This is useful on some systems if your
hard drive has over 1024 cylinders.  The alternatives are a boot
floppy, or a boot loader called LILO that comes with all major Linux
distributions.  Again, see the HOWTO and decide what method works best
for you.

To use loadlin under Win95, you first use the "Restart in DOS mode"
method, or hit F8 at boot and choose "command prompt only".  You can
create a Win95 icon that starts Linux.

Quote:>what is a good source for apps, (like winfiles.com) once I have the
>OS?

There are (of course) several.  If you go with a major distribution,
you will often find lots of files for it at that distro's web site.
(For instance, I find them at http://www.debian.org/.)  A good general
site is ftp://sunsite.unc.edu.
--

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