No more bendin over to uncle Bill for me!

[Brian Cluff]

On Friday 20 December 2002 10:30 pm, Vona and Travis Vanlandingham wrote:
> Howdy,
> I'm starting at ground zero with Linux, I've been contemplating install=
ing
> Lindows because of it's compatability with windows apps. My doctor who =
is a
> Linux nut said no,no,no, Mandrake 9.0 I confesss total igrorance in thi=
s

The problem with lindows is that it's subscription based,  They want $100=
/year=20
to keep you updated with the latest software.... but if that doesn't both=
er=20
you, it does get great reviews.  I would also recommend mandrake, it make=
s a=20
great distrobution for the first timer.... although I would look into deb=
ian=20
once you get the hang of things, it gets rid of a lot of headaches associ=
ated=20
with installing and updateing software, but the install and initial setup=
 can=20
be a little hard for someone that isn't familiar with the device terms an=
d=20
such :)

> area despite my computer background of many years. I don't have a clue =
as
> to where to start, what is the linux equiv. to fdisk, format,outlook
> express,Etc. All help would be appreciated.

fdisk is fdisk and there is another version called cfdisk that gives you=20
dos-style graphical display for fdisk.  I would probably try using it fir=
st=20
if you can, otherwise type ? from the prompt in fdisk to get the menu... =
it's=20
not too much harder to use.

format is mkfs (read "make filesystem") there can also a be lot of varien=
ts=20
like mkfs.ext2 mkfs.ext3...etc etc  they are all links to the same progra=
m,=20
but make it default to formating with different filesystems, the default=20
being ext2, the default linux filesystem.  I would however format your dr=
ives=20
with ext3 these days.  It's a version of the ext2 filesystem with a journ=
al,=20
so you'll get a little better performance while rebooting after a crash w=
ith=20
it.

I don't know if you have tried installing it yet, but I though I would po=
int=20
out that there are no letter drive in linux like there are in windows.  Y=
ou=20
file system is just one big directory tree with any add on drives appeari=
ng=20
whever ever you want them in the file system.  Or in other words, you can=
=20
have your whole machine running off of one hard drive, with your home=20
directory being at /home/username and a seperate hard drive that is mount=
ed=20
at /home/username/mp3s so you don't fill up your regular hard drive.
Since the hard drives don't have letters, they are known by their device=20
names.  In reality they can be named anything and be anywhere on the syst=
em,=20
but by default they are in the dev directory and are named /dev/hda1 for =
the=20
hard drive (hd) first device (a) partition 1 (1)  the secondary device is=
 at=20
/dev/hdb1, primary partition on the master on the secondary controller is=
=20
/dev/hdc1 ....etc etc..    If you have any SCSI devices that normally sho=
w up=20
at /dev/sda, scsi device (sd) first drive (a),  the "a" drive is the firs=
t=20
drive found on the controller, and NOT the drive set to ID 1, so be caref=
ull=20
if you use scsi not to add drives with ID's lower than your drives you ar=
e=20
already using, unless you know what you are doing, especially if your OS =
is=20
installed on one,  a will shift to b and your system will no longer be=20
bootable.

Under KDE, the default for most distros, kmail will be the mail program=20
closest to outlook express that get put your your system by default.  You=
 can=20
install evolution, and that will give you something very similar to outlo=
ok=20
(minus VTP, microsoft's Virus Transport Protocol :)
There are many many others to choose from, you might want to play with a =
few=20
of them and decide on your favorite.  There is always the mail program bu=
ilt=20
into netscape/mozilla, and that will be exactly the same on every OS you =
want=20
to use it on.

> the dedicated box so far is:
> duron 1300 chip,mb,case.
> mem,hd, up for discussion
> and copleation due for early jan. 2003.

That sounds like a GREAT box, and isn't so bleeding edge that you will ha=
ve to=20
track down weird drivers to get it to work.
Just one more thing I though I would throw in,  if you want to do anythin=
g=20
with 3D graphics, you will probably want to go with a ATI Radeon card, an=
y=20
model,  they have 3D support built in by default and shouldn't give you t=
oo=20
many headaches getting it up and running.  A close second would be Nvidia=
=20
G-force cards, my personal favorite, but they require installation of dri=
vers=20
from Nvidia's website that can be a little tricky, especially if you have=
=20
found a need to recompile your kernel.  They do have drivers built for th=
e=20
default kernels though and it's just a matter of installing 2 RPM's and d=
oing=20
a very small tweek to the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file so that your X Windo=
ws=20
display will recognize the new driver.

Brian Cluff