Lynn David Newton wrote:
> >> QUESTION 1: What are the chances that installing
> >> *any* Linux distro on this system will go as
> >> smooth as glass and allow me to get right back to
> >> work?
>
> >> ANSWER 1: 99.999% likely to fail.
>
> jd> ... Either -> go buy an external USB drive, make
> jd> a complete backup of anything important (just
> jd> back up the whole thing to an image). Or ->buy a
> jd> new drive ...
>
>Ah yes. Many proposed solutions to problems begin with
>"go buy". The truth is I'd love to buy a whole big new
>system, but can't spare a dollar for a McDonald's ice
>cream right now.
>
>
Another hard drive can be had for cheap. No need to replace the whole
machine unless we're talking early 90's technology.
If you have enough disk space you could also create a partition and
install your new install there,
but it isn't as safe as a separate disk.
If money's the issue, Im sure we could come up with a drive or take up a
collection to buy one.
How big is your existing drive, what machine is it in, etc?
> >> QUESTION 2: What are the chances that installing
> >> *any* Linux distro on this system with the
> >> assistance of people at an Installfest will go as
> >> smooth as glass and allow me to get right back to
> >> work?
>
> >> ANSWER 2: 99.991% likely to fail.
>
> jd> Wow, you're a pessimistic fellow :)
>
>Far from it, actually. I tend to be polyannishly
>optimistic. That's why I installed RH 8.0, and got
>myself locked into an "upgrade" that was inferior to
>its predecessor and has left me crippled ever since.
>
>
Come now, you're not the first person to upgrade from RH8 to
fedora/whatever.
99% of the work is done. You just have to seek out the information.
Spend a few days doing research and begin.
> jd> willing to help you personally to get it done.
>
>Thanks for the offer.
>
> >> Those odds aren't good enough.
>
> jd> Your odds are based on speculation.
>
>They're based on 20 years of professional experience
>with Unix and Linux systems. But it's been a couple of
>years since I've done much along the lines of system
>installation, configuration, admin, IT, etc. I used to
>do it all the time, but now I spend my time actually
>getting real work done, and have forgotten about 50% of
>what I knew about building systems. And I don't bother
>to keep up with all the differences regarding the
>distros. Got no reason to do it.
>
>
>
I've been in IT about as long (well it was called Data Processing back
then) **planning** solves almost any IT problem.
You're not talking a major mainframe upgrade here, there are no
department or functional people's BS to deal with,
its your machine. It's not like you're migrating from OS/2 to Linux..
its linux to linux.
As long as you give yourself a margin of safety - like plugging in a new
drive, making it the master, and switching the jumper on the other drive
to make it a slave (or back up the whole drive some other way) - worst
case is you revert back to what you have now.
Linux OS installs have become a lot easier in the last couple of years,
especially Redhat, mandrake, and a few others.
Debian is still a bear because it has the old school installer, but even
with that, if you make a list of the hardware the machine has,
what drivers it uses now, poke around on google a bit, its a non issue.
The main reason I went with Fedora is becaue I had no clue what hardware
it had.
> jd> Great argument for a second drive. Then you could
> jd> leave it alone until you're done.
>
>Lovely. Even better argument for a new system. You can
>only boot off one drive at a time. Life is to short to
>spend it watching systems reboot.
>
>
Five minutes max for a reboot. I didn't say dual boot, just put the old
drive in as a slave and don't touch it.
Load a fresh install of you linux distro of choice on the new drive and
when you're done you can copy over your work from
the original un-molested drive.
Im sure you're not running the most up to date hardware and you said
you're not made of money, so a new drive ($100 max, if you look for a
sale) is far cheaper than a new system.
> >> I was planning on Debian. Not real familiar with
> >> GenToo, other than I've heard positive things
> >> about it from technically savy people.
>
> jd> I love Debian, but the installer still sucks.
>
>That's why I'd like to have it done at an Installfest.
>At least there will be someone there who has done it.
>After that I can learn to maintain it myself.
>
>Thanks for the encouragement.
>
>
>
You'll be fine. If you've been using RH8 all this time, you'll like
fedora better.
Since you're already familliar with Redhat, stick with that.
JD
--
JD Austin
Twin Geckos Technology Services LLC
email:
jd@twingeckos.com
http://www.twingeckos.com
phone/fax: 480.344.2640
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