TR Forums

fc34 · Fri Nov 21, 2003 4:14 am

Hey,

Looking up a Distro for a friend. It needs to be dual bootable with XP, and should function well if installed second, into a existing FAT32 file system.

Any recommendations? Distro can be however large as required.

Thanks

muyuubyou · Fri Nov 21, 2003 6:13 am

Any info about your friend's background?

dolemitecomputers · Fri Nov 21, 2003 8:17 am

If they are new to linux then probably Suse, Mandrake, or RedHat. It will need to format that partition when they install it. I think Mandrake can install to a FAT32 partition but I have never tried that.

muyuubyou · Fri Nov 21, 2003 8:31 am

Yeah those should be my recommendations right now.

I'm not sure about RH's stand anymore, so I'd recommend Suse or Mandrake.

What hardware is he using? If it's Suse certified, it should install without a hitch.

Fri Nov 21, 2003 8:48 am

If you want something stupid simple, I'd go with Lycoris. It has a familiar look to it (basically because they cloned Windows) and it's very easy to configure and use. It used to be called Redmond Linux. If they just want to fool around with Linux without actually installing it, Knoppix is a good choice.

If they are an intermediate user, I'd hit SuSE or Mandrake. Mandrake is a bit easier and uses RPMs, so it's easy to find pre-compiled software for it. I'd stay away from RedHat, which is a shame. They dropped their support for desktop Linux. Biggest drawback for SuSE is that they do not distribute .iso files, you have to download each file individually or buy it at a store.

If your friend is a command line junkie, get them hooked up with Debian, Gentoo, or Slackware.

muyuubyou · Fri Nov 21, 2003 8:54 am

Thresher wrote:
[...] Biggest drawback for SuSE is that they do not distribute .iso files, you have to download each file individually or buy it at a store.[...]

Or just go to http://www.linuxiso.org and download. Suse is there (and Lycoris and others as well).

EDIT: correction: only SuSe Live is available there

Canuckle · Fri Nov 21, 2003 10:37 pm

muyuubyou wrote:
EDIT: correction: only SuSe Live is available there

SuSE's been a "pay for play" distro for some time now; last time I checked it was ~$30.

As to the original topic for those new to Linux I suggest Mandrake. I would suggest RedHat, but with them no longer pursuing offering a free distro I'm not inclined to recommend them.

If the user is really game, give Debian or Slackware a try

Sat Nov 22, 2003 8:48 pm

Canuckle wrote:
SuSE's been a "pay for play" distro for some time now; last time I checked it was ~$30.

While it is true that they don't offer free ISO images, you can install it for free direct from their FTP server, or mirror their FTP site locally if you want to install on multiple systems. This may be a bit too involved for a "newbie" though.

As to the original topic for those new to Linux I suggest Mandrake. I would suggest RedHat, but with them no longer pursuing offering a free distro I'm not inclined to recommend them.

Anyone here tried Fedora yet?

If the user is really game, give Debian or Slackware a try

If the user's willing to put up with some putzing around up front, mirroring the SuSE FTP distribution might actually be easier.

(You could set up the mirror & FTP server on an existing Windows system using Cygwin... which would also introduce them to the Linux shell and command line tools!)

fc34 · Sun Nov 23, 2003 7:31 am

Hmm...Mandrake seems huge...3 CDs? Hes downloading this. Even with a 50kbps dl rate, its going to take forever.

Well, here is the Specs.

Its an older box (he just wants to try it out)

P3 800mhz
256mb RAM
8mb TNT Graphics

ASUS Mobo, Pheonix BIOS 4

Currently there are two partitions on the HDD. 5gb for XP(NTFS), and 20gb for data (FAT32).

Should I recommend that he make another partition with Partition Magix? How large should I need to make it?

Thanks.

Fogg · Sun Nov 23, 2003 8:15 am

OK here's my 2¢ worth. If he didn't mind spending $50 go with Lindows. Updates are REALLY easy with Click and Run. Basically its Red Hat with Wine running on it. It Uses KDE and a Riser fs. I use it at home and I think it the best "Beginner" Linux out there.

Like I said My 2¢...

Canuckle · Sun Nov 23, 2003 8:40 am

just brew it! wrote:
While it is true that they don't offer free ISO images, you can install it for free direct from their FTP server, or mirror their FTP site locally if you want to install on multiple systems. This may be a bit too involved for a "newbie" though.

Interesting - I wasn't aware it was free directly from their FTP. Just like how OpenBSD operates...

Anyone here tried Fedora yet?

No, but the review I heard of from OSNews was that they weren't that impressed...

If the user's willing to put up with some putzing around up front, mirroring the SuSE FTP distribution might actually be easier.

LOL!

meanfriend · Sun Nov 23, 2003 12:00 pm

fc34 wrote:
Hmm...Mandrake seems huge...3 CDs? Hes downloading this. Even with a 50kbps dl rate, its going to take forever.

I think you can just download the first CD if you dont install too many extra apps (but you'll have to make sure all the stuff you want is on the first CD or you could be looking at lots of extra downloading). Mandrake comes with LOTS of extra software which is why it comes on three CDs. Most distros come on multiple CDs now.

If you are on a slow connection. you could also buy the CDs from somewhere like cheapbytes.com. ~$6 for all three CDs and they will ship it to you.

fc34 wrote:
Well, here is the Specs.

P3 800mhz
256mb RAM
8mb TNT Graphics

This is plenty for just playing around with. I used a P3-650, 256mb, Voodo3 with RH8 and MDK9 and it was fine. Not blistering fast, but VERY usable.

fc34 wrote:
Currently there are two partitions on the HDD. 5gb for XP(NTFS), and 20gb for data (FAT32).

Should I recommend that he make another partition with Partition Magix? How large should I need to make it?

You will have to make another partition. No way around it unless you buy a second HD. Some distros like RH and MDK used to let you install *into* a FAT32 partition but that feature is not in the newer releases anymore. They must have thier own partitions, AFAIK.

I have a reasonably full featured install of MDK9.1 and it took about 2 gigs. Add about 200-500 MB swap, a little room to grow, and you are looking at ~ 3 gigs. This will vary GREATLY depending on how much extra stuff you want install (ie. games and apps) but for a typical desktop (internet use, multimedia, games, office suite) a few gigs should suffice.

good luck and let us know how it goes.

tomjleeds · Sun Nov 23, 2003 12:05 pm

Above post is good and accurate

I haven't tried Fedora yet, although I have downloaded all 3 CDs. I'm planning on trying it and Mandrake 9.2 when I get my new rig.

You generally only need the first CD of the distros with 3 CDs to do a basic install.

They do need their own partition, they don't install on FAT32 or NTFS, although Mandrake has NTFS support straight out of the....I was going to say box...disc?

muyuubyou · Sun Nov 23, 2003 12:42 pm

If the guy uses Fluxbox or XFce, it will be blistering fast with just a Pentium III.

element · Sun Nov 23, 2003 4:08 pm

What about a Knoppix or Morphix hd install? Download the live cd, play with it for a while and if you like it, install it to your harddisk. Also a big plus.. it's debian, easily upgradable with apt.

Another one is Libranet, download the free 2.7 edition and update to testing or unstable, it's 100% debian compatible and you get the easy adminmenu.
They also have a great support page and the forum is very friendly and helpfull

ftp://dlc:[email protected]/

fc34 · Mon Nov 24, 2003 8:12 am

Actually, this discussion has also made me interested in giving Linux a shot. I am currently downloading Korppix a shot for mine.

In the mean time, I have recommended to him Mandrake, and he seems to like it. Will keep you guys posted.

TR Forums

Pls help recommend a good Linux Distro

Pls help recommend a good Linux Distro

Who is online