Very Computer

In the next six months I plan to start educating myself in Linux.  I'm a
programmer/integrator working with Windows, RAD, C++, and Web
technologies.  Looking at the way the wind is blowing, it seems that
Linux is becoming popular largely on its own merets.  Since I'm giving in
to upgraditis and getting a new PC, I plan to convert my old 133 Mhz
Pentium to a Linux box.

Since this is obviously the place for Linux advice and evangelism, I
wondered (based on my above-listed experiences):

1) What version of Linux should I purchase?
2) What are the best books on Linux - not only setup, but programming.
3) What are the best compilers and IDEs for Linux?
4) Any additional useful resources.

Thanks for your time.

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Quote:> In the next six months I plan to start educating myself in Linux.  I'm a
> programmer/integrator working with Windows, RAD, C++, and Web
> technologies.  Looking at the way the wind is blowing, it seems that
> Linux is becoming popular largely on its own merets.  Since I'm giving in
> to upgraditis and getting a new PC, I plan to convert my old 133 Mhz
> Pentium to a Linux box.
[snip]
> 1) What version of Linux should I purchase?

There are many distributions to choose from. Consult http://www.linux.org/ for
more details on what each distributions offer.

Quote:> 2) What are the best books on Linux - not only setup, but programming.

Any Unix-programming book should help. Also, the Linux Documentation Project
(on the web) provides a lot of handy information too.

Quote:> 3) What are the best compilers and IDEs for Linux?

For C/C++, gcc is probably the most popular version. But gcc by itself is
command-line based, though. There should be graphical front-ends to it but I
don't quite know of any. At least I know that the text editor Emacs supports
color-syntax highlighting for C/C++ (and several other languages).

Quote:> 4) Any additional useful resources.

The comp.os.linux.* newsgroups are pretty helpful. :-)

T

Quote:>In the next six months I plan to start educating myself in Linux.  I'm a
>programmer/integrator working with Windows, RAD, C++, and Web
>technologies.  

Wow, technologies ;}

Quote:>1) What version of Linux should I purchase?

I'd get at least a version with decent package management like Redhat,
S.U.S.E. or Debian.  You can get good prices at www.cheapbytes.com.

Quote:>2) What are the best books on Linux - not only setup, but programming.

_Running Linux_ is still good.  I've heard good things about the Matt Sobel
book. But there have been so many books on Linux to appear in the last 2
years that I've lost track.

For books on programming see the kernel panic link below.

Quote:>3) What are the best compilers and IDEs for Linux?

Everyone uses gcc.  For C++ I'd recommend egcs (which is a variant of gcc).

For RAD see www.python.org and www.scriptics.org.

Quote:>4) Any additional useful resources.

See http://www.kernel-panic.com/links/devel.html

Dave Cook

Mark G. Sobell  _A Practical Guide To Linux_ , forward by Linus Torvalds.
www.sobell.com  ISBN 0-201-89549-8.  It's available from amazon.com.  Mine
is falling apart from constant use.

Quote:

>For books on programming see the kernel panic link below.

>>3) What are the best compilers and IDEs for Linux?

>Everyone uses gcc.  For C++ I'd recommend egcs (which is a variant of gcc).

>For RAD see www.python.org and www.scriptics.org.

>>4) Any additional useful resources.

>See http://www.kernel-panic.com/links/devel.html

>Dave Cook

Tim Hanson

Quote:>In the next six months I plan to start educating myself in Linux.  I'm a
>programmer/integrator working with Windows, RAD, C++, and Web
>technologies.  Looking at the way the wind is blowing, it seems that
>Linux is becoming popular largely on its own merets.  Since I'm giving in
>to upgraditis and getting a new PC, I plan to convert my old 133 Mhz
>Pentium to a Linux box.

>Since this is obviously the place for Linux advice and evangelism, I
>wondered (based on my above-listed experiences):

Well, the advocacy groups are usually not the best for serious
questions ;-)

Quote:>1) What version of Linux should I purchase?

Caldera, Suse, Slackware, or Redhat...

Quote:>2) What are the best books on Linux - not only setup, but programming.

OK, _Running_Linux_, 2nd edition is a great general Linux book.
For programming, _Beginning_Linux_Programming_ is excellent.
For more advanced unix programming, check out anything by
W. Richard Stevens

Quote:>3) What are the best compilers and IDEs for Linux?

GCC has long been the standard compiler.  There are many IDE choices.
XEmacs is probably the most complete free solution, but there are many
others, as well as some good payware solutions like slickedit.  Right
now I'm using the demo version of a commercial product called source
navigator.  By the way, you may want to check out DDD, an X-based
de*.

Quote:>4) Any additional useful resources.

Lurk in these groups:
comp.os.linux.setup
comp.os.linux.x
comp.os.linux.misc
comp.os.linux.development-apps
comp.os.linux.hardware

Have fun,
Steve

Quote:> In the next six months I plan to start educating myself in Linux.  I'm a

<snip>

I installed my first Linux server yesterday, on an old Pentium 75.  I'm a
network administrator, mostly familiar with Novell Netware and Micro$oft
products (desktop).  I have a little bit of NT knowledge (OK, I've
installed it once and set up Exchange server). I wanted to get a better
understanding of Unix.  We have one person here at work who does our Unix
administration, and I volunteered to learn the systems and become the
backup.  I purchased a copy of Redhat Linux a couple of months ago, and
finally installed it yesterday.  I also purchased a copy of "Linux
Unleashed".  Between the Redhat manual and the book, I had the server up
and running on our TCP/IP network in about an hour.

I will be visiting this NG often, plus the other linux groups, so I just
wanted to say hello.

Kathy

Quote:>In the next six months I plan to start educating myself in Linux.  I'm a
>programmer/integrator working with Windows, RAD, C++, and Web
>technologies.  Looking at the way the wind is blowing, it seems that
>Linux is becoming popular largely on its own merets.  Since I'm giving in
>to upgraditis and getting a new PC, I plan to convert my old 133 Mhz
>Pentium to a Linux box.

>Since this is obviously the place for Linux advice and evangelism, I
>wondered (based on my above-listed experiences):

>1) What version of Linux should I purchase?

Doesn't matter *too* much once you're up and running.  Redhat is
supposed to be the easiest to install, though I've never tried it
myself.  I've been very happy with the Slackware distribution myself,
but I had worked with a number of other Unices before using Linux, so
your mileage may vary.

Quote:>2) What are the best books on Linux - not only setup, but programming.

Matt Welsh's "Running Linux" is a good one to get you started.  In
terms of programming books, I don't have many spefic suggestions, but
keep in mind it doesn't have to say "Linux" on the cover to be
worthwhile...  Richard Stevens has written some excellent books on
Unix systems programming, published by Addison-Wesley, which would
certainly be worth your time if you've already got a bit of C
experience under your belt.

Quote:>3) What are the best compilers and IDEs for Linux?

GCC is the standard compiler used by most everyone.  Not sure about
any complete IDEs for GCC (I think there are a couple), but you can go
far with just the emacs editor and xgdb (graphical front-end to the
GNU de*).

Quote:>4) Any additional useful resources.

http://www.veryComputer.com/;(big Linux archive site)
http://www.veryComputer.com/;  (Linux Documentation Project)
http://www.veryComputer.com/;        (more general info)
http://www.veryComputer.com/;         (for fun, but lots of good Linux info)