Learning Linux

hey everyone. im a total newbie. this is my first post on there ever. i have been reading as much as i can from the newbie posts and trying to learn and pick up what i can. from what i read, i think it would be a good thing to start using linux. however, b4 i dump windows and use linux on its own partition, i want to be able to learn it on the same partition of windows. i was wondering if anyone could give me a version of linux that runs on the same partition as windows. also, does anyone know a book or web page where i can learn commands of linux. please help.

go to www.linux.org there's an answer to all your questions.

any version of linux will work as long as your hardware is compatible. get system commander and partition magic. it made things alot easier for me anyways.

There are versions of Linux that recognize Windows file systems, but it wouldn't be wise (if it was even possible) to install Linux on the same partition. If you want to run it on that machine, you should resize your partitions using something like FIPS or Partition Magic. Just remember to defrag first. However, I have found that trying to partition a mahine to run both Windows and Linux is more trouble than it's worth. It's pretty hard to please both OSs. I tried to repartition my machine to put SuSE on, and in the end, I ended up deciding to blow the whole thing out and install just SuSE. If you want to learn Linux, the best thing to do is to get a junker machine, and install Linux on that. I don't feel it's a good idea to risk your main box right off the bat if you want to learn Linux. There's too much that can go wrong. Even when you do know how to repartition for Linux, there's a lot that can blow up on you. I learned that the hard way. Red Hat, Mandrake, and SuSE are all good distributions to start with. When you feel you're good enough, you can switch over on your main box. As for commands, you simply have to learn basic UNIX. However, UNIX can be a total bitch to learn, with all the arguments and flags you have to know. I have a book on UNIX from the 24 hours series, and it makes a wonderful reference when I need to do something in the terminal. If you don't want to get a book, I did a Google search for you. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search



Hope this helps. ;)

Buy SuSE! for personal use, it comes with all the software you need and a lot of thick books full of information on how to install/configure etc.

Personally, I prefer the professional version of SuSE. It gives you all the software you need, so you don't have to go looking for it. Personal gives all the software a typical user would need, but I need that little extra push that only Professional can offer. After all, the more CDs an operating system comes on, the better it is, right? ;)