Calling all Linux afficionados!

[Shakespeare]

Okay, so I'm thinking of doing the Big Switch. I've got XP on a home-built computer (PC-Zilla!!!), and I've about had it with spyware and malware and other assorted Windows fuckup issues.

So I'm thinking very seriously about switching to Linus and Firefox. What advice and/or recommendations can you give me? How much homework do I need to do before making the switch, and how hard will it be to get XP off my computer? Do I even want to take XP permanently off, or keep them both on the computer?

Hints, warnings and useful links will be most appreciated!

on edit: yes, I've been frequenting the Linux homepage, but I know there's a wealth of other information out there, too.

[Liberal Veteran]

1. My advice.....

Don't switch all at once.

Make a new partition and install Linux to that.

Then you'll have a dual boot system.

You can play with Linux to your heart's content and still reboot into windows if you need to.

Regardless of what people say, there is a considerable learning curve to Linux and you won't feel comfortable with it immediately.

Some things are actually MORE difficult to do in Linux than Windows (DVD authoring being one of them).

So do the best of both worlds.

Also, use Firefox on Windows, run ad aware and spybot, and 99 percent of your malware/spyware issues will go away.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. Interesting.

I found DVD authoring, with K3B, to be much, much easier than with Nero.

To each his own, I reckon...

[billyskank]

24. I second that.

Partition, or get a second hard drive, and dual-boot. Don't ditch Windoze immediately. Ease yourself in gradually. When you realise one day that you haven't booted Windows for six months, that's when you can reformat the partition! :)

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. From my experience...

Both professionally and personally, I can highly recommend Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official.

It is very good and the installation is quite easy.

[mainegreen]

3. I like fedora core 2 (or 3)

Just download fedora core off of redhats website and burn them to cd.

Go to http://fedora.redhat.com/download/

Its easy to set up, auto recognizes and configures all your hardware, and looks damn sexy to boot.

It may take you a while to get used to where linux places executables, but with a bit of reading, you should be all set!

The only downside might be if you have a lot of usb devices. Often vendors dont release good linux drivers.

[progressiveBadger]

I would keep both

I recently made the switch to Linux. I'm a system admin and I've been using linux on our servers/workstations for years. But I like my home computer to have complete functionality, and that's something that Linux just doesn't have. I went back to XP last week.
Firefox I highly recommend though. There are VERY few pages that need IE anymore, I use firefox exclusively now.

[Courtesy Flush]

10. I agree

I have a dual boot system at home, and I have all but stopped booting to Linux. Stuff just doesn't work right. Plugins don't work, etc. (Yes, I know there's software that's supposed to make Win plugins work in Linux, but they haven't worked for me.

Absolutely don't use Internet Explorer if you want to keep Windows healthy. Firefox is vastly superior, though not perfect.

I'm thinking of re-doing my whole system like this: I'll install Windows on my smaller hard drive (20 GB), and keep the large one for storage (100 GB). That way, I can re-install windows whenever it gets screwed up, and not lose data. It'll still be a pain, but less so.

You'd think that the law of supply and demand would have produced a better OS by now. Where are the creative geniuses out there?

[progressiveBadger]

32. Too busy creating OS X

OS X is, in my opinion, the best of both worlds. Unix backend, nice GUI, everything works (well, everything that was designed for macs). I think apple would actually rule the market if they had more software. Unfortunately, if you need to access an Exchange server frequently, or are a gamer, it's not nearly as good as XP.
I have some pretty high hopes for Windows Longhorn though. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[trotsky]

4. With a good firewall and Mozilla/Firefox web browser,

Windows will do much better. If you are asking about how much "homework" you need to do, and how you would go about removing XP from your computer, I'm afraid you probably don't know enough to install & run Linux effectively. Not a slam on you - just how it is.

[Shakespeare]

9. I was primarily referring to the dual boot issue (should I, shouldn't I).

Yeah, it was a slam. I have no doubt I can do it--just looking for some pointers on how best to go about it.

[Liberal Veteran]

16. Fortunately, the latest distros make it easy to dual boot.

There isn't even any work involved.

SuSE or Mandrake are my favorites. Pop the CD in, reboot, follow the instructions. It'll install the bootloader during the process that will allow you to choose whether you want to boot to Windows or Linux.

Installation is breeze. Getting specific pieces of hardware to function properly under linux can (not always) be nothing short of frustrating (sound and network cards tend to be the big culprits there).

[Shakespeare]

18. SuSE is the one I've been looking at.

Does Mandrake have an office suite similar to the one with SuSE?

The dual boot option sounds like a no-brainer. I'll probably build a new system in about a year (and send the current computer off to college with my stepdaughter), and might consider going with just Linux at that time. What are your thoughts on that approach?

[Liberal Veteran]

22. Both should come with Open Office.

So that shouldn't be a problem.

If you aren't a gamer, then Linux is definitely a good choice. The dual boot to "test the waters", is probably the best way I can think of.

You definitely don't want to just jump in with both feet because inevitably you'll want to do something in Linux that you could easily do in Windows and get frustrated by it in Linux.

I don't think I'll ever completely switch over to Linux just because some things (like my pocketpc) work best with Windows and there is always the odd peripheral that you are going to bang your head against the wall trying to get to work under Linux, particularly if it's something new on the market.

[trotsky]

21. Sorry about that - meant no offense.

But when you said "how hard will it be to get XP off my computer", I took that as meaning you didn't know how to repartition or format a hard disk, and you'd probably agree with me that someone who doesn't know that should NOT be messing around with Linux, eh?

No hard feelings?

[Shakespeare]

27. That was quite a judgment you made, though.

And based on an (admittedly) vague statement by me. I can understand being misinterpreted, but here's what made it a slam: instead of asking for clarification or suggesting that if I'm not familiar with/comfortable with partitioning and formatting hard drives I might want to read carefully before taking the plunge, you just dismissively declared me unfit for the task.

I'm ready to mess around with Linux--I'm just looking for a little advice while I do my research, and know that several on DU are Linux experts.

No hard feelings.

[billyskank]

25. So long as you've got your drive partitioned

using Partition Magic, or something, or you've got a second drive to put Linux on, all you need is something like SuSE or Mandrake. The installers for both those will take care of the bootloader for dual-booting for you, so you won't need to worry. It'll just install itself, and when you reboot you'll always have the option of starting Windows or Linux.

If you want advice on distros, I think SuSE is a good choice. Mandrake is also recommended for newbies, although that's more popular in Europe than the US. Mind you, so's SuSE for that matter! (SuSE is German, Mandrake is French). Once you've got to grips with either of those, dive into the deep end and install Slackware!

Once you get into Slackware, you never look back!

Good luck!

[funkybutt]

5. i'm not a linux afficionado

but my brother made the switch and it took him about a year to get all his stuff working with his box. He just worked in his spare time, and learned a lot, he says. It's a really cool system now that he has it working but it took a lot of work. Maybe you could hire someone to get it all set up for you.

I'd suggest a different "switch" ---> Go Mac OS X! That's what I use...no complaints at all!

[secedeeconomically]

7. http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en-us/

[4morewars]

8. Here ya go:

This book comes with the full distro(RedHat 9.0) and a bunch of apps:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764539388/qid=1101849500/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/002-0144139-8969604

I would suggest leaving Windoze and installing Linux on a seperate partition. Linux will then set up a startup menu that you will see when you boot. Linux will also let you make the partitions, so don't do that in windoze.

Best thing you can do right now is to READ everything you can find about Linux, starting here:

http://www.linux.org/

One more thing, you can and should install FireFox as your browser under windoze, that should end all the IE issues. Do NOT uninstall IE, as that causes even more problems.

Good Luck !!!

[Shakespeare]

15. Yup, already switched to Firefox.

LOVE those tabs. Actually, moving to Firefox is what made me start looking seriously at dumping XP. Well, that, and Bill Gates' endorsement of dim son.

I'm just starting to read everything I can get my hands on. I did that a couple of years ago when I built my system, and the whole project went flawlessly and was one of the absolute best learning experiences I've ever had. I'm looking forward (I hope) to a similar experience with Linux.

[bobbobbins]

11. gentoo baby!

it rocks, end of story

[billyskank]

26. Maybe not for a first distro though, eh? ;)

Anyway, I'd say Slackware...!

[Speck Tater]

12. Here's my experience in switching.

I went into it really wanting to love Linux., but in the end, Linux made me hate it. As hard as I tried, I had no other choice.

Linux belongs to the initiated few in some dark secret society who's members seek first and foremost to heap scorn on people who do not know, a priori, the meaning of such arcane secret incantations as "grep" and "glipnop". Simple questions to Linux newsgroups invite name-calling flame fests equating the original poster with the minions of hell itself, or worse yet, Microsoft. These few Illuminati do not take kindly to questions, as they tend to call into doubt the sacred infallibility of their god.

Inquiries like "How can I get my network card to work with Linux?" are answered with "How dare you question the wisdom of Linux by implying that it is not good enough for your network card. I truth, (cue thunderous timpani rolls as an echoing voice emerges from the very sky itself) it is your inferior network card that is not good enough for Linux. Begone, thou worthless heathen! You are not smart enough for Linux. Be thou condemned to Windows (like all other morons) for all eternity where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

I still think there might be some good in Linux, but running the gauntlet of the jealous priesthood bent on proving my incompetence was more than I felt like dealing with. Like all the rest of the morons of the world, I went back to Windows.

[bobbobbins]

13. you're obviously just not smart enough for linux

[Shakespeare]

14. LOL!

Thanks for a different perspective. ;-)

[trotsky]

20. Your observations are sad but true.

I have been messing with various flavors of Linux for years, yet even the simplest task (like upgrading Mozilla from 1.7.2 to 1.7.3 just the other day) can end up being an exercise in frustration. If you are LUCKY, you'll be able to find some tips, or at least some hints to steer you in the right direction, from archived mailing lists on the web.

Windows, with all its frustrations, limitations, and problems, is still FAR better suited to even fairly knowledgable PC users.

[alfredo]

33. Using apt-get our yum makes upgrading painless.

fuck RPM and its dependencies.

[qnr]

29. Wow, do you search these places out, just to feel affronted?

I'm on numerous forums and newsgroups, and very few of the people I know react that way.

Note that I am not saying it doesn't happen, just that apparently I don't frequent the same boards/newsgroups/whatever that you do.

[Shakespeare]

30. I think the poster was just having fun....

...exaggeration for humor's sake--I found the post hilarious!!

[qnr]

31. OK n/t

[McKenzie]

17. Xandros is probably best for migrating Windblows users

It has a bit too much of a Windowsy GUI for core geeks but it's a damned fine OS. Get the deluxe version for a whole suit of proggies including the OpenOffice suite and Code Weavers Cross Over Office which allows platform crossover for MS Office apps. There is a good firewall too called "Firestarter" so you don't need to get into the geek "iptables" malarky. Xandros has the advantage over some other distros in allowing partitioning of NTFS volumes; if you're on XP your file sytem will probably be NTFS though XP works off FAT32 as well. Some Linux distros won't partition an NTFS volume so you can't run it alongside XP unless you convert to FAT32. You get all this for around $90, less if you don't need the office apps and go for the base version of Xandros.

There are very few virri in the wild that affect Linux and you don't need to patch the bloody OS every 20 minutes either. Go to the Symantec website every time there's a virus alert and see how infrequently Linux systems are at risk.

I have several distros of Linux including Red Hat (hacker's choice), Xandros (see above), and SuSE (almost as user-friendly as Xandros). Unfortunately, I'm running Windblows right now because I have modem hassles but I'm using Opera as a browser because IE is a hacker's dream. Most of the distros are based around the same kernel anyway.

Have a shifty at the Xandros site--->>>

http://www.xandros.com/

[Shakespeare]

23. Thanks! Man, this place is a wealth of great info.

More excellent info--thanks! The GUI shouldn't be a problem for me--I don't need Linux to look and act just like XP, and I don't think (at least I hope I won't) have much of a visual block where that's concerned.

The SP2 update wreaked havoc on my system, and the malware was driving me to the bring of sanity, so I'm really looking forward to transitioning away from Windows.

[retread]

19. Go to this site and select an image such as Knoppix which

runs entirely from a bootable cd. This is a good way to get familiar with Linux without repartioning your harddrive and makes any later decision easier.
http://www.linuxiso.org/index.php

[Shakespeare]

28. Thank you SO much for all the great advice! (and keep it coming!)

DU is indeed a wonderful place. :-)

[alfredo]

34. I dual boot YellowDog and OSX. Dual booting - good.

I learned a lot by just messing around, reading books like "Running Linux" and going to sites like http://www.justlinux.com/.

I used to do the newsgroups but they are so full of p0rn and bots I gave up on them.

Start off using Linux for surfing the web. From there you will learn about apps you need for things like creating documents, and graphics. You might even be able to access Windows from Linux, running it in a Window on your desktop.

Open Office is very good, so is GIMP for photo editing. Abiword is very good for document creation, and Konqueror for web browsing. Apple's Safari uses the code from Konqueror, and shares code with that project.


Don't feel bad if you totally screw it up, that's part of the fun. Just reinstall and go from there.