advice needed on linux fot a total newbie

hello

can some one help me with linux....my problem being im totally new to computers in general.....
and i have 2 computers (when i say new i been using ms windows for 18 months)..and before i became security minded thought i new a fair bit(since visiting this webby ive realised i dont even know 1% of the basics)..and have read in lots of posts how good linux is...

so what my point is i have a
amd 650mhz 256 ram 64 mb ati rage graphics computer sitting on the floor not been switched on for 8 months or so....so was thinkin of formatting hard drive and installing linux to see how it went

but to be perfectly honest havent the first clue regarding drivers or basically anything(until 4 weeks ago i aint even heard of linux never mind installing it)

so am i best "going for gold" so to speak install it then pick it up as i went along or am i going to be totally unprepared as the only systems i ve ever used are ms windows?????
i need to know all the basic dumdass stuff you can tell me ......when ive looked through websites/posts everyone assumes you sorta know a liitle bit about it so i sorta understand some stuff but other stuff is confusing me......is the operating system as easy to pick up as windows????

please help and remember i know nothing (manwell faulty towers)

thanks all help welcomed

waterboy

waterboy,

To speak the truth... it's really difficult, more if you only know Windows. I know members here will give you many links to tutorials, because, personally, this is the only way for you to learn and it could take you a long time to do it. Don't be "afraid" at first if you don't get too well with Linux programs, consoles, commands, etc., if you read enough to start absorbing the knowledge you will get a very powerfull OS for sure.

Which Linux have you chosen?

Good luck!!!

Bye.

Hrm, well, before my switch to Linux I tried to learn Windows in and out. I wanted to be sure that I can learn that OS before I went on to harder challenges. If you only heard of Linux a month ago, maybe you should read up on the History of Linux, Linus Torvalds, and anything about the whole *nix family. By reading up on the history and creator of the OS, you can slowly start to get into the OS itself, which is a little hard for people who are new to Linux. Read alot, that's the advice I was given and it has worked well since. If you need any specific help, lemme know and pm me.

also, go to http://www.linux.com they have an online Linux class type thing you can read, and if you wanna, print it out and fallow along, i read threw it and looked over the lil class and it was really good, so just go to that website, look for the Linux class online and read it, the tutorial/class assumes you know nothing about Linux so you wont have to worry about knowing anything at all.

Its great that you want to learn more about linux, but I tend to agree with Spyder. Try and get a good understanding about the windows OS before "jumping in the deep end' so to speak.

Remember, the level of security of your system reflects on the level of knowledge and understanding of the owner, so if you do install linux on that machine, I would recommend not connecting it up to the net until you are confident that it is secured appropriately. Come to think of it, the same should be applied to any machine....

I have been trying to dabble in the world that is linux too......
besides the links provided by everyone else.... I found the 'slackware linux for dummies' book a great help....gives a good basics intro and starts from scratch and progresses through... its not a new book, so there maybe others out there... but it helped me loads and i started from scratch too.. maybe that and some of the links posted here should help you get a damn good start.....

if you're interested amazon.com or your closest major book store should stock it or something similar....

what would i do without the 'dummies' series.....

good luck!

¬bye
GO FOR IT, if the other computer is just sitting there! but i suspect you have alot of reading to do.
search here first to check if you can put it on your computer http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/?pagename=hcl infact, you would be better off going to www.redhat.com or http://my.linux.whatever and reading through the manuals and documents there, its all you need. however, i am procrastinating.
have a blank disk, for a boot disk. for todays class we shall be utilising redhat linux 7.2 (though its roughly the same).
turn on the computer and stick in the cd and boot from it by pressing whatever key your computer wants pressed for a boot screen, or configure your bios to boot from a cd instead of a floppy. then select your language, keyboard, keyboard layout, deadkeys and mouse. next is the system installer part of the installation. do a custom install for the hell of it. manually partition with diskdruid and create 3 partitions to get started. (select your hard drive hda or sda and delete any existing partitions, and select add) you need to make a 'mount point' and set the size for boot '/boot' about 50MB and comes first, then the root '/' and this can be up to whatever size you have, then the swap partition which would be ok as long as you have more than you have ram. perhaps 2 times more, incase you buy more ram? you could make mount points for '/var' and '/home' on seperate partitions, even different disks, but this wouldn't really be necessary if you are using it as a small home play thing. go here for an overview of the linux directory structure http://www.firstlinux.com/articles/cards/lds.shtml. select 'make boot disk'.

assuming you want to get started NOW, in the next screen you get, check the conf DHCP option and uncheck the start eth0 on startup (eth0 is the name of the first ethernet interface) if you don't have the box on a network so as to speed up booting. it can hang for up to 3 mins looking for a network when booting which can be worrying if you don't know why its stopped loading. next you set your time zone, and then you are asked for the root password (which is the super account that can do anything) and to configure user accounts. of course you make a user account for yourself aswell now, and log in as it later so you don't break anything. you can leave the next screen as it is with the md5 pwds and shadowded pwds checked and the nis, ldap and kerberos ghosted. finally select what packages you want to install, kde, dos/win connectivity etcetra and select your monitor type, resolution and color depth. click install. wait. MAKE BOOT DISK, reboot. login...as the user account you made earlier, and have a play around in the menus, marvel at the non-windowsness that it is.
no this is where you go nuts looking for information. but because i know you want it NOW,
then you could go here, http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ to find help texts written on iptables, webcams, zip drives, and related stuff.

at some point you will have to use the shell, that is, the black DOS box of linux, so some commands may be useful.
http://www.emba.uvm.edu/CF/basic.html
http://www.cquest.utoronto.ca/infodo...cCommands.html
http://tardis.csudh.edu/linux/commands/
the 'man' or manual command when used with another command will give indepth information about that command.
introduction http://tille.soti.org/training/linux/new/ to linux

so your choices would be: 1 windows machine. or, 2 windows machines. or, 1 windows and a linux machine. you can't loose!

i prolly shoudv mentioned to, if your just starting out, Mandrake Linux is in MO the easiest, even easier than red hat in MO. SUSE and Mandrake are what i would say you should try out, Buy them in a store to and youl get books usually so youll have an extra manual so you dont have to keep searching, the books usually also help you threw the insall and then some commands and also how to get the system started and will bring you to around a decent begginer to intermediate level. after youv bought one Linux and gotten good at it, you can prolly start downloading another form, i just reccommend buying the first one so you have books to help you with. moving from mandrake to Suse to redhat to caldera open and then to debian or slackware should get you going fairly good, also, you wont learn anything if you dont try it out:) so make sure after its installed and your playing ith it, read the manuals, and fallow along and you should be fine.

Any OS is good to learn.Having the knowledge to know how they operate can be diffrent from migrating from Mikersofts product to LINUX.The way these 2 system operate is litle diffrent.
I asume that you have installed Microsoft a few times before.So you have some kinda base knowledge about how installation procedure works.Well in Linux world the installation for a newbie can give problems if you are not sure what you are doing.So that Tutoring is something that you have to go tru really well.There are many sites that will give you great tutoring before you start installing the packages and compiling the kernell.

I will just say that yes anyone should try more then one OS speacially if you only have had Microsoft.I recomend that you take a look on the tutoring links..

cheers chaps

as u can see im still awake 3 am reading up on linux...thanks for all the help ive decided to go for suse or mandrake as mentioned gonna see which one i can buy with books etc to help me along my way then hopefully move on to redhat..but lets not run before i can walk

cheers again

waterboy

cheers chaps

as u can see im still awake 3 am reading up on linux...thanks for all the help ive decided to go for suse or mandrake as mentioned gonna see which one i can buy with books etc to help me along my way then hopefully move on to redhat..but lets not run before i can walk

cheers again

waterboy

my two cents:

don't worry about security, all your hardware, or even being productive with linux for a while. you need to learn the basics first. Oblivious had the best idea, buy a beginners book, learn the commands, install something like suse or mandrake, and just learn how to use it. you have plenty of time to play with word processors and security later.

and remember not to be shy asking for help, it's not easy to begin with. good luck!

If you have a broadband connection you may want to download the ISO images for the specific distro for free. you can find those here, although you won't recieve the very helpful book that comes with the boxed set.

Pak

Thanks Waterboy for posting this thread. I too have been wanting to cut the window's apron strings, and go for something more powerful, and reliable. Now with these links that the other members have provided, I too will strike out on my own and discover the new world that is Linux.

Also. . .again. . thanks to all the other members who have provided great links. .

We can do it together Waterboy!

as all members know, i've turned my system from WinXP Pro to mandrake Linux 8.0
but the only mistake i've done was, not to leave a dual boot , what i did is , i deleted the windows totaly from my machine.
i think i'll get windows back with a dual boot for linux as well, till i get used to linux then.
suck the windowz sh1+ outta ma baby toshiba :)