[ILUG] Newbie

[Stephen McCune]

> Stephen McCune wrote:
> > Ok, i am a complete newbie to linux and Wouldnt mind a bit of help. I am
> > trying to use linux because i wanna start programming, want more
control,
> > sick of windows etc.
> > 1) I have got DragonLinux and Corel Linux. Which should i install?
>
> No experience with either, I'm afraid. Mandrake is very user friendly,
> Redhat is also good. Debian is my distro of choice, but last time I
> installed it, it wasn't quite so straightforward as the other two.

Ok, im downloading Mandrake Linux (15h per ISO - eep)


> > 2) What should i read? (Online books, faq's etc)
>
> Read up on things as you have problems with them... http://linuxdoc.org is
> great. There are a lot of well written and informative Howtos there. Get
> a distro installed, then try and set specific things up, while reading up
> on them as you go along.

Done.

> > 3) Have you got any advice for me?
>
> Enjoy :) And if you are dual booting and want to go down the partition
> resizing path, be sure to backup your data. It can go horribly wrong.

Yuh, i've done a load of this and i know what can happen.

> > 4) Should i get linux drivers for all my hardware before installing?
>
> Not unless you have to. Most common hardware is supported by the Linux
> kernel itself. I'd only download proprietary drivers if you have to.
> Usually, they come as modules which can be loaded and unloaded when they
> are needed, without rebooting.

Yuh, i'll check around for anything i need.

> > 5) Are there any good gui's or should i learn to use commands? (I loved
dos)
>
> There are a lot of good Desktops... the GUI thing under unix generally
> consists of a hierarchy of software, at the top being your desktop
> manager (I use Gnome, KDE is nice too, there are hundreds of others),
> below that is the Window Manager (I use Sawfish, hundreds of others etc.)
> and finally, the windowing system. Xfree86 is the usual choice under
> GNU/Linux. Occasionaly its setup can be problematic, though if you own a
> newish graphics card with a sane monitor, it isn't too bad.

Yuh, newish computer which i built myself so i will check that out.

> Hope that's of help and best of luck,
>
> Steffen

Thanx