Migrating To Linux? Info/Issues/Problems/Fixes

[stampeder]

Linux in Early 2007: Overview of the State Of The Art

Trying out an entirely new OS (Linux from Windows) can be an intimidating experience for some folks, an annoying one for others, and a breeze for some. This thread will help with advice, answers, gotchas, warnings, and maybe even some sympathy too if things don't go right.

The state of the art in early 2007's major Linux consumer distributions (Red Hat/Fedora, OpenSUSE, Mandriva, Ubuntu, MEPIS, PCLinuxOS, others) is now pretty clear:

• easy installation (often in less than an hour for a fully loaded distribution, usually with only one reboot)
• mostly Open Source software (free license, usually very low cost or free of charge applications or feature sets)
• works on almost all typical PC hardware, including PCs not suitable for running Vista
• might not work on some of the very newest hardware if manufacturer doesn't provide Linux drivers
  • generally with time drivers for such gear will be written by Linux community or manufacturer
• has robust, feature packed desktop that will be familiar in most ways to Windows users
  • amazingly customizable desktop, including 3D
• automatic update capability
• easy software add/upgrade/remove tools
• includes software applications of almost every major type, worth thousands of dollars if it was proprietary software:
  • office suites (MS Office 2003 compatibility with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
  • instant messaging (compatible with MSN, Yahoo, AOL, others)
  • email (POP, IMAP, Exchange Server compatible)
  • web (browsers, development suites, Flash, Netscape Plugins, etc.)
  • multimedia entertainment (A/V creation, production in almost every format, proprietary drivers and workarounds are available)
  • digital cameras and video (hardware support, graphics suites, video editing, CD/DVD ripping/burning, HDTV, DV, etc.)
  • scanners, printers, digipads, joysticks, other accessories
  • probably doesn't run most applications created specifically for MS Windows, although many do run using various means such as WINE Windows emulation
  • more and more games are either being ported to Linux or supported using Cedega Windows emulation
  • backup, restore, archiving, disk imaging capabilities
• online or customer support is available
• wide variety of Internet forums dealing with all aspects of Linux support
• essentially no viruses or trojans, few OS-level security breaches or even attacks
• rapid fixes by Linux developers to security issues (as compared to Microsoft)
• newest Linux kernel has internal Virtual Machine capability (similar to VMware)

[spensar]

I've built my own machines since Win 3.1 and installed the various flavours since, but I would like to put together a Linux machine for basic home use. eg. Internet browsing, word processing, spread sheets, MP3 management.

Any recommendations of a Linux package that is a smooth install?

I will check my components for Linux drivers before starting as well.

[stampeder]

There are several Linux distributions that are geared towards those coming from Windows with little or no previous Linux experience.

If you are in that category my personal recommendation is Mandriva Discovery. It is preloaded with just about every feature you'd want or expect, has a very gentle learning curve for Windows users, doesn't require that you know anything about stuff like KDE, Gnome, etc. etc. and it automatically upgrades very well if you so choose:

http://www.mandriva.com/en/linux/2007/discovery

For a more advanced Linux consumer desktop version I recommend Mandriva Powerpack:

http://www.mandriva.com/en/linux/2007/powerpack

I've rarely had any hardware driver glitches with Mandriva over the years - usually just weird accessory gear that only comes with Windows binary drivers, but never any motherboard, PCI card, USB or Firewire issues.

The thing about Mandriva Discovery is the amount of stuff it offers on first install with the need for little or no knowledge of how to configure it. For that it gets my endorsement for newcomers.

[notsure]

For ease of use and ease of installation I would highly recommend Ubuntu (if you want a gnome front-end) or Kubuntu (if you want a KDE front-end). If you have reasonable hardware it is very good at installing everything right out of the box.

[spensar]

Thanks very much. Exactly what I was looking for!

[Beef]

If you are looking for a desktop replacement, then I think you're on the right track. Go ubuntu with OpenOffice productivity suite!

[rsambuca]

I also would go with ubuntu, or its derivative Linux Mint. You don't really need to do any command line stuff unless you want to; tons of software packages; and if you go with linux mint, the mp3 codecs and things are preconfigured for you (although the legality of that is an issue if you live in the US).

[klystron]

openSUSE is another distro worth checking out. I found it to be one of the slickest installs that I've tried but Ubuntu and Mandriva are also great choices.

[cyclocommuter]

Linux distros are ranked according to popularity here (on the left side of the page): http://distrowatch.com/

Currently I am running Ubuntu in VMWare and it is pretty good. Very easy to locate and install applications using either Synaptic, the built in GUI powered package manager, or using apt-get on the command line.

I have also used Mandrake (now Mandriva), Mepis, and Fedora in the past and they are also pretty good. There seems to be a lot of buzz being generated about openSUSE recently and I might look into it. I usually download the VMWare image (or appliance) for these distros and play with them inside VMWare Player or Workstation running inside Windows XP before deciding which one to install on the hard-drive.

[spensar]

I have ZIPPO experience with Linux, so to get started I am just looking for the easiest to install and get running with basic capability. Thanks for all the tips, I've been checking out the URLs and it looks good.

[rpr]

If you want to try Linux with no risk to your existing system, check out Knoppix. it is a 'LiveCD', in that the complete OS boots and runs from the CD and does not touch your hard drive. This way you can check out some of the features, applications, and most importantly, hardware support. In my experience, Linux has far better 'out of the box' hardware support than Windows XP. What I mean is, when I install a Linux OS, it usually detects, configures and uses 100% of my hardware. Every Windows install I've done in the last few years involves downloading at a minimum network, sound, and video card drivers.

Tom

[stampeder]

Excellent point, rpr - Knoppix is the best known of the Live CDs, and I know Mandriva has a Live CD version too as well as a USB drive version:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=55428

[I_Want_My_HDTV]

Take a look at the Kubuntu 6.10 DVD. Installation is very smooth since it has a huge amount of hardware support on the disc. It runs live or can be installed. The Ubuntu/Kubuntu CDs will not run on my system (due to lack of hardware support) but the DVD has no problems. The only thing it did not recognize was my Promise RAID array. (I installed it on a separate SATA disk.)

Kubuntu may be easier for some because the desktop is more like Windows than Ubuntu.

[spensar]

Any guidelines on minimum system requirements for a Linux install? Do different distributions have different requirements?

[fuzzai]

hey guys,

I used to use linux back in the "day". maybe year ago. its all i used to use. but needing some programs only avail to windows i had to install XP.

Just wondering, any of yous still using Linux, will Linux write to an NFTS partition still? i remember there was issues with it last when i was using Slackware, so im just wondering if all linux flavors can write to it, or not now?

Thanks