h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, my Windows has finally started apart just once too often, so it's time for me to start converting my PC to Linux.

I don't particularly know what I'm doing, I have to say, and am slightly wallowing in the pages and pages of geeky stuff on the Web. It's about time someone wrote a non-Geeks guide that doesn't assume that anyone wants to do anything other than get a desktop up and running and use normal, home applications.

Does anyone out there have any experience in this area? It would make a great collaborative Guide Entry.

Mind you...I did come across an - er - 'intriguing' article on how to install Linux on a dead badger....

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20040405/badger.shtml

Edward, have you made any descision on what flavour of penguin you'll be trying? There are quite a few out there now that fun from a cd boot which will give you a desktop and normal types of applications (open office, web browsers, music players etc).

I did an online test, and it looks like Fedora is the distro for me. To save time, I'm getting a CD rather than download.

Do distros typically come bundled with the likes of OpenOffice, etc?

Do you fancy collaborating on an Entry? I'm in the position of a rank amateur who's able to ask all the stupid questions which wouldn't occur to someone who actually knows what they're doing. I'd happily do the writing, if you're able to answer the questions as I go along.

I can try and answer questions for you, there is also the Linux Users Group - A458228 - which may be able to answer your questions.

The fedora distro does come with OpenOffice and the basics you'll need to get going.

Ah! Thanks for that link.

Actually, I've just discovered the Fedora installation pages, and it all looks deparately simple. My only worry is really stuff like sorting out drivers and the like.

Idiot Question 1:
I have an ethernet card, connected to my cable modem, and a USB card which is (mainly) connected to a Lexmark printer/scanner/card reader. Will they all work afterwards?

Idiot Question 2:
I assumed I was going to install to hard drive and boot fram there. I have a 20GB drive as my current master, which would be inconvenient to back up, plus an 8GB slave which I don't mind reformatting. I do need to reformat, right?

Idiot Question 3:
I don't really understand what 'Boot from a CD means'. Alls I normally do is turn on the PC and Windows comes up. Eventually. Only with increasingly more problems, hence the penguin.

Not-so-idiot questions:

Now...the Fedora site has a V4 X86-64 torrent. Will this work with my knackered old P2 333? Or do I need an older version for 32-bit?

Also...It seems to be advised that for machine of my age, I'll need a light windows manager. E seems to be the bees knees for low-end machines. Is this likely to come bundled with Fedora? If not, how do I get it?

You can see why I think there's a need for a proper non-techie's guide, can't you? Even though some of the sites are pretty damned excellent, I keep getting to points where I suddenly go .

Working backwards through your questions Edward.

You might need to download a different window manager if you don't want to use the default Gnome desktop. I think it's probably best that you start with that and then think about moving once installed - see if it runs too slow or not. There should be a package to download from somewhere to get the sodtware if you don't want to compile your own..

For the P2/333 you need the X86 (32bit) version of fedora. The Fedora project produces releases of the OS for X86 (32 bit), X86-64 (64 bit) amd PowerPC processors. The X86 version is labeled i386 on the bit torrent packages.

Booting from a CD - The computer reads the startup info and OS from a CD rather than the hard drive. Other options you can have are booting from floppy or external media (these days things such as USB or firewire drives).

It would be better if you did reformat the drive you're going to use. I expect the installation will prompt you to do that anyway. I have always installed on a second drive. It makes things much easier than trying to partition a drive thats in use. When you do format the second drive to use Linux you'll lose the ability to read information on there from windows (though all the windows info can be read from linux).

Ethernet cards - not a problem. As you use a cable modem you need to check what settings windows uses to connect through that and then copy them over to the linux side (have these ready during the install as you may be asked for the details then).
The usb card and devices should work though they may need a bit more in the way of setting up before they'll work (I've not tried stuff like that but a quick online check shows it should work).

Ta!

Bugger! I'd already torrented the X86-64 version...and more's to the point, burned the CDs. Hey ho!

Yes, I'd already got some recommendations about window managers. Some sound advice seems to be coming from various Indian sites. One of the driving forces behind Linux uptake at the momement seems to be its accessibility in the developing world, so there's lots of advice relevant to third world computers like mine.

I'm finding all of this an interesting learning experience. One of the key issues is finding out what questions I need to ask. That's why I think it will meak a great Guide Entry - holding the reader's hand through the scary world of geekdom.

...although...despite the geek appeal, the OpenSource community seem like a remarkably sane and friendly bunch of people, ready to offer a helping hand to the bewildered.

Ta again.

A further question's come up...and this may be a deal breaker!

There's a rumour that I'm getting an iPod for Christmas. It doesn't seem that there's a reliable solution for iTunes on Linux. Is there?

I wouldn't want to buy from iStore (not when I've got bittorrent, etc )...so can I use anything else to organise my playlists etc? I wouldn't even mind having to load manually, rather than synchronising. It seems there's a Linux WinAmp. Would that do?

As you'll still have windows then you could use the iPod with that, or use the WINE (windows emulator) to run the windows iPod software.

For native Linux use there is: http://www.gtkpod.org/about.html
or http://blinkenlights.ch/cgi-bin/fm.pl?get=ipod and they have some documentation about what is needed.

Ta.

The thing with Windows is that I'll have tom re-install it, and I can't be bothered backing up everything on my 20GB disk (which at present has most of my data + Windows) - and this was my initial spur to 'Why not convert to Linux?'

I've heard mixed messages about whether iTunes will run in WINE. I reckon I'll post on the UG and see if anyone has had any direct experience.

Hello.

An Entry about Linux for beginners would probably be a nice idea, but I'm sure it would end up being *huge*. That's because there are more than 300 different distributions of Linux, and most users have a different opinion on which is best.

That said, there are main varieties of the operating system based on the package management system they use. Fedora uses the RPM package management system. Personally, I don't like it very much, and the experience you get with a distro that uses DEB packages (Debian-based distros) will be different.

Problematically, different distros seem to have different responses to the hardware of different computers. Most users strike lucky in that all their hardware works first time with the distro they choose, but if it doesn't, it's often a great hassle, and I had to cycle through several different distros before I found one that worked best for me.

>>An Entry about Linux for beginners would probably be a nice idea, but I'm sure it would end up being *huge*.

Maybe the trick is to identify what they (we) don't need to have to worry our pretty little heads about? Remember - unlike the geeks, we're not interested in getting the *best* OS/tools, simply one that does the job.

As for having to suck and see a range of distros....Now, could this be where Linux falls down for the common folk? If you intall Windows, you expect it to work!

Comments welcome. Is Linux a) a mass-market OS or b) an esoteric toy for geeks. I suspect it's moving towards a) but hasn't *quite* got there. In which case...what else needs to happen. Maybe the 'what else' is something like my proposed Entry.

Traveller in Time adding a voice
"One of the things the Entry should cover is both the internet install and the CD install.
I tryed some recent distributions recently on a 'low end' system. The CD distributions require your attention to change the disks. But most are able to recognise and configure for 'slow' systems.

Eventually I use DebIan for the AMD 600Mc systems. Most important for use of X-windows is you have enough dynamic memory, at least 128MB .

Where is the time I installed a 2 color X-windows manager on a 386 with a 64K graphics card and 8MB internal memory? "

Hokayyy...

Promise nobody will laugh?....

PII 333
64 MB, inc 4MB shared
8G HD, which I'll want to install to
20GB HD - currently my Windows '98 boot, but all going well I want to clear out all but my data.

So...we're talking 3rd world computer here. But surely in line with the uptake of Linux in developing nations (eg the Brazilian government has recently switched to OpenSource)?

So...If I want a Linux OS to run at least as well as my Win'98 (when it still worked, how would I go about it. Or am I f---ed?

>>Is Linux a) a mass-market OS or b) an esoteric toy for geeks

Linux currently enjoys a huge market in the web and mail server business. Along with its cousins, the BSD operating systems, it accounts for more than half of all the computers serving web content. Google runs on Linux. Most web hosts offer Linux servers; in fact, many people expect them. Most ISPs will use it too.

Linux is also the OS used for IBM's new MareNostrum supercomputer in Barcelona.

Many good bookstores sell SuSE Linux, and you don't have to go far to find a shelf full of Linux magazines or Linux/Unix books.

In other words, it's mass-market, but its market is not yet massive in the *desktop workstation* arena.

At the same time, it is a geek's toy if you want it to be, but it's not esoteric. Because it's open source, you see, you are able to compile the entire operating system, and all its software, by yourself, without using any sort of 'installer'. There's no need to do that, although it does mean you gain a full insight into how the OS works.

Traveller in Time why should anybody laugh?
"I only have systems with about those specifications in my basement.

Like I wrote previously you will need some internal memory (RAM) 8MB for a mimimal install 16MB.. 32MB for most distributions and at least 96MB for a smooth running X-Windows. "

Ah now...maybe I should have made it clear that I want to talk about Linux for Humans...using desktops, for home use.

I take your point about Linux not being esoteric....compared with other OSs. But only to those that have [geek] leanings. Most people don't want to know about compilers or source code or the like. Put it this way...I drive a car. I'm *told* that it has things in it like alternators and carburretors, but so long as I get where I'm going, I'm not at all interested.

Which raises the question...does Linux *have* any advantages for the likes of me? After all...it isn't proving as easy to get ahold of as Windoze.. All I had to do there was get myself along to my local pirate software dealers.

Yes. There are advantages. Security is a huge one. Windows not only costs money to start with, you have to feed it an annual fee in virus protection software. Not so with any other OS.

Most people also find that Linux has more customisability, reliability and functionality. I personally think that it is easier to install software on most Linux distros, but again, I don't like RPM so much.

Your computer is certainly able to handle Linux. Just make sure it can boot from a CD. It's not a *requirement*, as such, but if your PC can't boot from a CD, it closes down a lot of good distro options, and just gets messy (from the layman's point of view).

To see if your PC can boot from CDs, you can go to the BIOS setup. Usually you press the Del key as soon as the computer starts. Somewhere in the setup you will see information about Boot options. CD-ROM will hopefully be listed there. Alternatively, you could just try booting from a CD! The Windows 98 CD is bootable, if you have it.

Again, a lightweight window manager like Enlightenment, Fvwm or ion would be a very good idea.

"so long as I get where I'm going, I'm not at all interested"

I know most people think this way, but personally I think it's the wrong attitude. It's the same when people eat [junk] food. They'll eat it without knowing exactly what's in it... and even more importantly, how it was made. When people hear that their food contains so many artificial chemicals and hidden animal products, and is manufactured by reconstituting beef that has fallen on the floor (or something like that), they often stop eating it!

In addition, knowing about how something works gives you a huge advantage in (a) using it more effectively, (b) fixing it when it goes wrong, and (c) getting involved in developing, extending and contributing to it.

Linux will run happily on that hardware Edward. As has been said a lightweight window manager and don't install all the source code that comes with the distro as you wan't all the space on the disk you can get.

You could try out the knoppix distribution which is a 'live cd' distro. This runs the KDE desktop so would probably be a bit slow on your hardware (more memory would never go amis ) but would you would get a feel for the system and some of the things you can do without doing a full install to start with. Download the cd from http://www.knoppix.org/