From: Brigitte
>Personally I think there is a missing link for those of us who are not as
>computer literate as most of the people on this list. My frustration is
>that most Linux installs rely on the user having Windows
>installed. Why? Is there a distribution of Linux available which will
>allow you 1st to just install what is needed to operate the system, and
>then guide you through a logical progression of learning the system? I just
>don't want to install thousands of programs when I have no clue what they
>do and how to use them. Any suggestions of how a true novice to Linux
>should approach learning the system would be greatly appreciated.
>Brigitte
Well I am not sure why you assume this? In fact you need nothing on your
system
to install Linux. In fact I always load from a clean drive with no
partitions. Whic means
No "WINDOWS"! Also most distros will even automatically set this up for you
.
You can have the option of Dual boot and even load some version of LInux
within Windows.
Though this is not something I do myself. I have alwasy set aside pieces and
built a Linux
box. I do not hassle with Windows or dual boots.
Next alot of times when setting up dual boot boxes you have a few things to
deal with.
Having shared access to data and some time applications can be a bit rough.
Not
always but this is a thing that can happen.
As for easy to install Linux not a problem with most parts. The guide lines
you have to use
is are your parts listed under devices that are supported from your distro
of choice or is
the parts listed on more than one distro. Usually you will find that if the
devices are listed
on at least 3 diffrent distro's then more or likely you will be fine. Next
this is yet another thing
for some to look at will these devices work well with your other devices???
For instance some chipsets of old on mother boards would sometimes conflict
with certain
Sound cards and video cards, also some Video cards would not work with
certain Network cards.
such as Cirrus Logic early Video cards would interupt old 3com network
cards.
Also Turtle beach sound cards would not work with alot of the 3com modems.
Especially if you
were using "COUGH , COUGH , a Winmodem <--Which is not a true modem.
Also certain chipsets would not work with certain CPU's Cyrix was a victim
of this in alot of cases.
Cyrix processors would work well with the old Intel Vx chipsets and not the
Hx which was a more
expensive and faster chipset. Thus most saiud well it is not compatible with
certain software.
It sounds a bit rough but you should check around. It is not that bad any
more in the days of new.
Also it is possible to build a budget box for $200.00 and up.
Sometimes you can even find cheap old pc's on sale in the paper and flyers
yard sales and sometimes flea markets.
Just remember these questions.
What brand of System is it ? If it is a clone what Mother board and Chipset
does it have?
What kind of Processor at least a 486dx would be ok but slow unless you are
not running Xwindows.
How much ram does it have? How big is the hard drive ? If it has a modem
which kind? and is it a
Winmodem ? <- If so make sure it is not embedded unless it can be disabled
on some system
boards they can not. Video card brand ,type and memory on it. You get the
hint by now.
So lets say I find a Compaq Deskpro 2000cd model.
It has the following in it.
Intel HX chipset mother board , Intel Pentium 200 mhz processor with MMX
The system has 64 meg ram 2 66mhz Dimms non eec for memory , and a Esonic
awe32 sound card
S3 Virge Video card with 4 megs of edo ram , a 3 Com Usr 56k Sportster Isa
card for Modem with Jumpers
It has a 32x Cdrom , a Western Digital 4.3 gig hard drive , standard 1.44
floppy drive , and it comes with a
15 inch Monitor such as a Nec 4fge <-- Work Horse monitor I am using one
right now 8-)
I could tell you that this would be a very good candiate for a Simple and
cheap Linux Box.
It has enough to get your feet wet and let's say then they are selling this
for $275.00 <--Not bad
This would also have some upgrading that could be done with it.
Now you want a little more power and ready to move up. If you want to
upgrade it\.
You could go to a comptuer show at the Florida Fairgrounds ,
www.marketpro.com
for listing. Look around for some used parts such as a 266mhz MMx Intel
Pentium for
about 15 bucks , Memory a little high for the 66mhz ram cause they no longer
make it.
but say You find 2 64 meg dimms for $80.00 then you buy a new drive for
$80.00 for a
20 gig hard drive , and then a Diamond Monster Fusion Pci Card with 16 meg
ram for 20.00
and a SMC 10/100 nic for $12.00 to 15.00
You now could have a bit more power and give your machine a complete
overhaul. And it will
be ready for some games staying cheap and yet giving this machine more life
span how ever one
suggestion if you opt to do this buy a cpu cooler and ditch that stupid heat
sysnc only. Come on
$4.00 to 10.00 for this. Your machine will thank you for it.
Well there is my first long post . Also again Research the parts.
You will do this by going to say Redhat's web site lookin under parts
supported , Caldera , and S.u.S.E. and even say Turbo or
Progenys site. These parts listed will be there .
You also get a broad understanding of what is compatiable to use . This will
now save alot of greif ! ! !
I know I went through this my self.
When you mix and match parts of old and new together again you have to look
around. For 2 hours of research you can save
60 to 100 hours worth of unsucessful installs and fustration.
Thanks.
Forget where you want to go today but where you want to be this time next
year?
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