View Full Version : OMG... Linux Rocks!
First of all, thanks to Dude for helping me with Linux, as he recommended a few distros for me. I'm using Knoppix Linux 3.7 and I'm amazed to find that on my first boot (It's running live on the CD) that the Internet works. How the hell does that happen? Lol...
On either Windows XP or OSX I'd have to do go though some sort of installment process, but I just clicked on Mozilla and bang, I was online.
I can really get my teeth into this now which is great, I just need to know how to install it on to my HDD!
:Carrot:
Sandman
02-02-2006, 04:23 PM
I've never had to go through an install process to access the internet, unless it was a dial-up service, or through a router.
stanDarsh
02-02-2006, 04:24 PM
I suppose you have to start somewhere :) Linux is great, I really like Ubuntu and Fedora Core versions of Linux definitely worth checking out! Oh and MacOSX86 ;)
I thought that I was going to have to go though a massive process, especially because I've never really used Linux before. But there you go. Anyway, I've downloaded Fedora as well, just need to burn it to disc then I'll see what that's like! Yey!
stanDarsh
02-02-2006, 04:41 PM
Fedora is slightly more complex to setup than Ubuntu or Knoppix (Yeah what setup with knoppix? :)). But yeah well worth it, good to learn off it too!
Eidorian
02-02-2006, 04:46 PM
If you have a router or dial up getting Linux onto the internet is ease. Just use DHCP to get an IP and connect or fire up your modem.
The only real issue left for Linux is wireless. It was murder getting my laptop to work on the campus network.
I'm just using a cable modem, but I thought I would have had issues with my ISP. Well, back to Windows XP for now. I'm only using Windows for a few days, then it's straight back to Linux and Mac OSX.
Eidorian
02-02-2006, 05:05 PM
I'm just using a cable modem, but I thought I would have had issues with my ISP. Well, back to Windows XP for now. I'm only using Windows for a few days, then it's straight back to Linux and Mac OSX.Yeah, if they don't lock your connection in using your MAC address then you can plug in anything.
Omega
02-02-2006, 05:44 PM
Welcome to Linux!
What form of linux is everyone running then?
WolfmanNCSU
02-02-2006, 05:53 PM
Welcome to the world of Linux.
I myself am running Slackware.
Benson
02-02-2006, 06:52 PM
I just installed a dual boot of Ubuntu, still working a few little things out with it, but over all I am very pleased with the ease of install. It recognized all my devices no problem, Windows doesn't.
Coded-Dude
02-02-2006, 06:52 PM
I am ruinning Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4....
Congrats on geting it up and running FATS(and thanks for the kudos), the live CD is definately a agreat way to familiarize yourself with the OS. Now all you need to do is get comfortable with teh shell(or command line interface)
btw - did you figure out your partitioning plans yet?
The only real issue left for Linux is wireless. It was murder getting my laptop to work on the campus network.
Mos Def.........it all depends on which NIC and which version of the NIC
I had the same problem witha "supported" wireless NIC. IT was listed as tested and working, but the one I bought had a different chip and there were no drivers so I gave up after a while, but I believe it works now. THey are making headway in teh wireless department, but much more neeeds to be done!
Eidorian
02-02-2006, 07:21 PM
Mos Def.........it all depends on which NIC and which version of the NIC
I had the same problem witha "supported" wireless NIC. IT was listed as tested and working, but the one I bought had a different chip and there were no drivers so I gave up after a while, but I believe it works now. THey are making headway in teh wireless department, but much more neeeds to be done!It's not the hardware support. It's the security and authenication support. Unbuntu recognized that I had an Intel 2100/2000 Wireless chipset just fine. Now, getting it to authenticate on my network, I could never get it to work over WEP or WPA. It was fine on unsecured wi-fi though.
Coded-Dude
02-02-2006, 07:27 PM
now that is wierd, I have never had an issue with the software, linux's biggest problem is lack of hardware drivers(especially for wi-fi) That sucks man! We have to authenticate everythign here at work, and I've never runinto somethign liek that before. Not doubting your skillsket(or even trying to question it) but it could have potentially been your switch configuration as well....... But I woudl have had to see the issue to better understand it.
Eidorian
02-02-2006, 09:43 PM
now that is wierd, I have never had an issue with the software, linux's biggest problem is lack of hardware drivers(especially for wi-fi) That sucks man! We have to authenticate everythign here at work, and I've never runinto somethign liek that before. Not doubting your skillsket(or even trying to question it) but it could have potentially been your switch configuration as well....... But I woudl have had to see the issue to better understand it.It's just how we authenticate on campus. It's HELL just to do on Windows. OS X is the easiest way to do it.
Teh Roxor!
02-02-2006, 11:36 PM
I use Gentoo. It was a little more dificult to set up (no real installer, you do it manually) but now it's my favorite because of portage. Now when I want to install something I open a terminal and type "emerge NAMEOFAPP" and it downloads the source, compiles, and installs. The benefit of this is that it can optimize everything to your PC... the downside is it can take a long time to install some of the bigger things, like KDE or OpenOffice.
I cannot get any Linux distro to install properly on my laptop, and I've tried many. It's an Averatec 6200. I'm going to try a few live CDs and see if any work.
Coded-Dude
02-02-2006, 11:43 PM
that is just a rip off of apt-get(debian) which was the original all in wonder installer....
but yes it is a very good way to maintain package integrity
in the olden days...you would download an app and find out it needs 50 dependencies. Of course, finding compiled binaries/libraries was a pain in the ass. So you woudl have to download all the sources and compile one at time. Digging through comile errors was a pain in the ass and the dreaded realization that something you already comiled needs to be re-compiled with different switches and all other sorts of headaches.
It is one reason people strayed away form linux, but as technology and the open source community grow, it becomes easier to manage and maintain.
Teh Roxor!
02-03-2006, 02:45 AM
^Well, if you want to get technical it's a "rip-off" of the port system used in BSD. There are many differences from apt-get, and in my opinion, many more benefits.
Gentoo Linux is a source-based distribution. While the installation media provide various levels of pre-compiled binary packages to get a basic Linux system up and running, the idea behind Gentoo is to compile all source packages on the user's computer. The main advantage of this is that all software is highly optimised for the computer architecture it is built on. Also, updating the installed software to newer version is a matter of typing a simple command. Many Gentoo users enjoy the fact the software packages kept in a central repository are usually kept highly up-to-date and available within days (sometimes even within hours) since their release by the upstream developers. On the other hand, installing Gentoo and turning it into a full-blown distribution with the latest graphical desktops, multimedia and development tools is tedious and long - count on several days even on a computer with a fast processor.
BugenhagenXIII
02-03-2006, 04:09 AM
I use Ubuntu on my laptop. It's awesome. Once I get my desktop fixed, I'm gonna make it dual boot XP/Ubuntu, then try out other stuff on my laptop.
Coded-Dude
02-03-2006, 05:38 PM
There are many differences from apt-get, and in my opinion, many more benefits.
Not really, they are prety much identical(now at least). Both can be fully automated, both can download, compile, and install source(or binary).....and both are relatively easy to learn to use.
As for which one came first, I am not certain, but I would assume ports did.....
Eidorian
02-03-2006, 06:26 PM
Not really, they are prety much identical(now at least). Both can be fully automated, both can download, compile, and install source(or binary).....and both are relatively easy to learn to use.
As for which one came first, I am not certain, but I would assume ports did.....Synaptic Package Manager :-)
Not's not first but it's easy.
Coded-Dude
02-03-2006, 06:28 PM
^agreed, haven't really used synaptic too much, but from what I understand, it's basically jsut a GUI version of the same thing(apt-get or ports)......
Teh Roxor!
02-03-2006, 09:56 PM
Synaptic is to apt-get as Kuroo is to portage.
Synaptic is cool, though. I got linux on my laptop, finally.
Oh, and dude- can you set up USE flags with apt-get? I'm not so experienced with it. USE flags in portage tell the system what options to compile into the programs you install should they be available.
Eidorian
02-03-2006, 09:58 PM
^agreed, haven't really used synaptic too much, but from what I understand, it's basically jsut a GUI version of the same thing(apt-get or ports)......That's what it is. You can even make sure all dependencies are taken care of.
Coded-Dude
02-03-2006, 10:11 PM
@ Teh Roxor! - There is a debian/rules file in which you can specify compile options and opther such things. Its kind of like a script file(in that is must start with #!/usr/bin/make -f and folow with the options) I don't know if you can pass flags through the command line, but this file is read every time and you can put FLAGS in it.
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