I’ve been thinking of moving to Linux. I’m getting tired of having to buy new or upgraded versions of operating systems from the evil MS empire and then having to go out an buy newer, faster computers to run the new operating systems and the ever larger office applications suite.
So, I’ve downloaded and burned a few “live” CD versions. So far Ubuntu won’t load on either of my machines, Mandriva loads on one machine but not the other and Knoppix loads on both machines but the sound card is not configured correctly so I can’t play music files.
Before I go to the trouble of partitioning my hard drive (I’m currently running XP Pro) and actually installing a Linux based system, I’d kind of like to have some assurance that (a) I’m not going to blow up my life’s work during the partitioning process and (b) that there are really some Linux distros out there that will breathe some continued life into machines running at 800MHz with 128 RAM and 1 Mb of memory. The machines do have 100+ Gig hard drives so, at least partition storage should not be a problem. Just a few years ago (or so it seems) this machine configuration was the “hot setup.” How times change.
Are there any Linux gurus among us that cares to venture some advise or steer me in the right direction?
Edited to add that I would like to use a distro with a reasonably good GUI interface. I’m getting way to old and cranky to have to go back to learning command line language ala the unlamented days of DOS.
Pete, you do not mention your programming skills or level. Linux is for propeller heads. There is little that you can do in Linux that doesn’t require hands-on, low-level programming skills sooner or later. That was Microsoft’s only real contribution - providing a (relatively) easy to load and operate OS and apps that are ready to run. When you get into the *NIX world, all that power and complexity is dumped right back into your lap again. Are you up for it? Also, you don’t say what you plan to use these systems for.
I’d reccomend backing up anything you consider important before doing anything else. The back-ups should be on a drive or disc that is physically separate from the hard drive; i.e. tape, cd/dvd, or a pen drive. With that done you can feel free to expierament around and find what works best for you.
I find myself stuck with Windblows here at home because of my gaming addiction. At work it’s Windows on the workstations and Unix on some of the separate networks. I have little exp. with Linux though. I have heard good things about Red Hat and Suse, but I’m pretty sure Neverwinter Nights II will not play on either. sigh
I think that http://distrowatch.com/ is a good place to start. Check out their “Page Hit Ranking” and read up on the ones at the top. The last one I worked with was Debian, but it is not a friendly distribution.
Check out SystemRescueCd for partitioning. You could set up several different distributions and find the one you like best with 100g.
As for hard were detection, Video drivers (Nvidia?) are often difficult due to the software that the companies require for them and may need to be down loaded separately. You will only have to fix this one time though, so it may be worth the effort if the distribution as a whole is better.
Currently I’m hooked on Ubuntu and it is a really nice distro to start with.
If you can move around in Windows, this is not much harder and installatin is a breeze. As with Knoppix you can run the OS from a CD and test run the distro without installing anything. When you have setup, things like printers, network, graphic cards, sound boards etc and the system run as you like, just press “Install” and there you are. Most standard and brand name computers will work right out of the box.
It is a very nice way to test the compability without having to re-install everything once again, if you decide to stick with it. It is worth a test drive, within a few minutes after you booted the CD you’ll have a nice Linux system running
There is a slim version of Ubuntu called Xubuntu that will run smothly on an old pc. I currently use it for an old 300 MHz laptop with 128 Mb Ram and it is great The GUI is clean and minimalistic, check the screenshots.
I agree on Ubuntu. Also Debian, upon which it is based, is quite nice.
As far as applications to run, OpenOffice is now quite nice and very polished. Also if you’re into music check out Audacity…very powerful. In Linux how well Audacity works for you is going to be a function of your sound card drivers…it may take a bit of experimentation.
Distros which I don’t like because of the heavy-handed way they are commercialized are Redhat and Novell/SuSE.
Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, any fooling around with Linux has been sidelined for a bit. The morning after my original post we rushed my mother-in-law to the hospital. She was having chest pain. To make a long story short, she now has two new coronary arteries, three stents in existing coronary arteries and a new artificial aortic valve. She was given about a 75% chance of surviving the surgery and actually came through pretty well. My wife and I are now running around trying to find a short term care facility that has cardiac rehab capabilities where we can place her for next two to three weeks. She’s a pretty tough little 88 year old lady. She still has things to do and places to go. Her mother lived to 99.
When things settle down a little, I will have another go at Linux.
The GUI is clean and minimalistic, check the screenshots.
