Very Computer

I don't know anything about installing Linux and very little about the
environment.  

Is there a book that anyone could recomend for beginners that has good
information about installing Redhat on a system that already has Win
95 and NT4?  One that would answer simple questions like whick OS
should be installed first, the number of partitions needed, some basic
navagation tips, etc...

I now about all the info on the web, but I prefer to read it from a
book.

TIA

Scott Stafford
remove removethis. to send mail :)

Don't really need a book for some of this. "Linux in a Nutshell", "The
Linux Bible" are two good books to start with. What I do is have a C:
partition of about 100mb formatted VFAT so that Win95, NT4.0 and Linux can
all read it. Then install Win95(OSR2) on a partition formatted in the FAT32
file system, NT4.0 on a partiton formatted in the NTFS file system, and
Linux on a partition formatted in the EXT2 file system. I cheat a little
and use System Commander to boot between OS's.

1 - Install Win95 first, NT second, and Linux last.

2 - The number of partions I would recommend is at least 1 more than the
number of OS's you have installed. At least one of the extra partitions
should use the commonest file system for them all(usually FAT).

--

Linux it's not just a OS, it's also a Adventure.
Paul E Larson

Quote:> I don't know anything about installing Linux and very little about the
> environment.  

> Is there a book that anyone could recomend for beginners that has good
> information about installing Redhat on a system that already has Win
> 95 and NT4?  One that would answer simple questions like whick OS
> should be installed first, the number of partitions needed, some basic
> navagation tips, etc...

> I now about all the info on the web, but I prefer to read it from a
> book.

> TIA

> Scott Stafford
> remove removethis. to send mail :)

Don't really need a book for some of this. "Linux in a Nutshell", "The
Linux Bible" are two good books to start with. What I do is have a C:
partition of about 100mb formatted VFAT so that Win95, NT4.0 and Linux can
all read it. Then install Win95(OSR2) on a partition formatted in the FAT32
file system, NT4.0 on a partiton formatted in the NTFS file system, and
Linux on a partition formatted in the EXT2 file system. I cheat a little
and use System Commander to boot between OS's.

1 - Install Win95 first, NT second, and Linux last.

2 - The number of partions I would recommend is at least 1 more than the
number of OS's you have installed. At least one of the extra partitions
should use the commonest file system for them all(usually FAT).

--

Linux it's not just a OS, it's also a Adventure.
Paul E Larson

Quote:> I don't know anything about installing Linux and very little about the
> environment.  

> Is there a book that anyone could recomend for beginners that has good
> information about installing Redhat on a system that already has Win
> 95 and NT4?  One that would answer simple questions like whick OS
> should be installed first, the number of partitions needed, some basic
> navagation tips, etc...

> I now about all the info on the web, but I prefer to read it from a
> book.

> TIA

> Scott Stafford
> remove removethis. to send mail :)

--
Robert Bergfors

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his laughter he shows superiority, instead of latent idiocy."

Quote:> One that would answer simple questions like whick OS
> should be installed first, the number of partitions needed, some basic
> navagation tips, etc...

Quote:> I now about all the info on the web, but I prefer to read it from a
> book.

The first---the only one no linux beginner (or user, probably) should
be without---is Matt Welsh's "Running Linux", an O'Reilly book now in
its 2d edition.  It's a very clear explanation and well organized and
synthesized.  It makes Linux make sense "as a whole".  It's probably
the book you're asking about.  Excellent.

The second book you need is the Linux Bible or any of the other
compendia of Howtos, System Administration Guides, and other Linux
Documentation Project stuff.  A bunch of different sources lumped
together, these can hardly be called well-synthesized, but Running
Linux can't have everything in it.  These do, in very*detail.
Reading the Bible is the only way to be Saved when you run across a
specific problem like "how do I get the install program to see my
disks???"  Yes, this stuff's on the net, and on your CD, but what good
are they if you can't boot your machine?  They're about $40 and worth
many times that.  I use it all the time.  Can you install without it?
Maybe, if everything goes right the first time.  (Tucker's law: with
computers, NOTHING goes right the first time.)  Why rack your brains
when the answer's there?

The third book I have is a printed version of (most of) the linux man
(manual) pages.  Usually, of course, I read this on line, figuring
those pages probably describe the versions of the commands I have
installed, but it's enlightening to browse through a printed version
because you trip across stuff you didn't know about.  You don't need
this, and certainly not to install, but it's nice to have.

Good luck.

 -drt

 --

Boston College Law School                  PGP Public Key: 0xF3476F39
  "I may be wrong, but I'm not Clearly Erroneous." -Judge Hillman