Advice for Linux

Ok Today I got my first pay check from working at my new job. I'm going out tommorow and need to get another modem. I currently have windows 98 on my computer and have to have it because I need to use the Microsot Visual C++ compiler, Net Exprees for Cobol and my Microsoft Visual J ++ for school. I have had Red Hat Linux but was unable to get online because of my WinModem.


I was wondering if there were any good external modems, or internal modems that don't cost to much but are compatible with both. I also need some advice on partioning since I never seem to get it right if anyone knows of a good walkthrough website that could help. And if there is a way so I can use my compilers for school on linux it would be great.

I just recently bought an external Creative Modem Blaster V.90 for $49.00 from Best Buy. It works like a charm. I had the same problem with Linux, thats why I bought it....I strongly recommend the modem. I hope this helps. peace.

about the partitioning thing.....I had some serious problems at first. the only problem was that I wasnt creating a swap for Linux. Once I did that everything worked great. As a matter of fact I am posting these using Linux. Peace.

I suggest you go to a computer store and ask. Good Luck

tech. helps as well.....treu .....true.....peace.

A good rule of thumb when selecting a peice of hardware for Linux is to make sure that the hardware is doing most of the work and not the driver/OS. This is the super basic reason why a WinModem does not work well under any Unix falvor. Keep this in mind when selecting NIC cards and other devices too. :D And any hardware modem external or internal should do the trick. You may even want to look into a Lan Modem if that sort of thing interests you.

The best thing about Linux for programmers is that the compilers for most languages come free with the base package install. The C/C++ cross compiler for Linux is called gcc. A lot of other nifty stuff can be found at http://www.freshmeat.net . Also check out Dev C++, which is a GUI IDE from blooshed at http://www.bloodshed.net. It is a lot like Visual C++, but it is open source and free. Windows and *nix versions available.

Last but not least is the partition issue. If yow know that you are going to leave Linux on this box, but may want to try other Distrro's; then I would suggest making the following as a minimum for partition table.

/ a root partition

/home put your downloads and other stuff you want to
keep in /home. You should be able to install another
Distro, or upgrade and have all the thigs in /home
intact. As log as you do not change the Linux
partitions, or format /home that is.

/usr This is where all but the most basic programs and
and libraries that have nothing to do with the kernel
are located. (about 90% of the installed system)

swap swap is a key volume type in *nix, a good rule of
thumb is 2.5 x RAM for swap.

Hope this helped.

Instead of going with the flow, you can also try OpenBSD or NetBSD instead. Altough Linux is a good start. And as of hardware, don't buy cheap no name stuff too quickly.
Seccond hand NIC's like 3com and xircom can save you work.