So whats a good linux os?

[Silent Warrior]

ive been wanting to use linux for sometime but dont know which one to get. whats a good one? and i also have xp installed. i dont want to get rid of xp. i would like to run xp and linux on the same computer.

[Garfunkel]

Excellent, another one to add to the growing army of evil penguin soldiers!!!

A good distro which I would heavily recommend to a new user is Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/

Not only is it one of the easiest to install/use, it is very popular and has a great community to provide support.

You can check out a list of distros and news at distrowatch: http://distrowatch.com

If you want, I can show you how to set up ubuntu so that you keep ALL your windows data and can select which OS you want to run at startup with a little menu.

[Silent Warrior]

yea thats what i want is a little menu to choose from. i want to mess around with linux and learn how to use it. and eventually steer away from windows.

[Garfunkel]

Tell me if you need help on installing/using it or setting up a dual boot with windows.

some links you might like that i posted in another thread:

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?p=1381725#post1381725

[Silent Warrior]

yea i need help installing and setting up dual boot. its still downloading and then im gonna burn the iso.

[masteratt]

Ask and answer questions in this thread please instead of PMing so I can find out if I am interested in this or not, thanks.

[Garfunkel]

Ask and answer questions in this thread please instead of PMing so I can find out if I am interested in this or not, thanks.

Yes sir, it's best to answer in threads anyway, i prefer to do that because sometimes when i'm looking for solutions on google i find threads on sites where someone goes "pm me and i'll show you" or "thanks for the pm that fixed it!" and that annoys me so doing it a thread makes it easier for everyone.

Just one thing, when you burn the iso, don't burn it as a data cd, burn it as an image file, in nero it has an option to "burn image to disc", that's what you need to do, burn at a slow speed, about 4x to make sure there will be no corruption.

Hey masteratt, why don't you download it too? then you can learn together!

[masteratt]

I am going to let him take the dive first and if the hit is sweet I'll jump after him but for now I'll just watch.

[Silent Warrior]

ok so how do i partition the drive that already has windows on it? i dont want to reinstall windows,

[Garfunkel]

I am going to let him take the dive first and if the hit is sweet I'll jump after him but for now I'll just watch.

WIMP!!!

[Garfunkel]

ok so how do i partition the drive that already has windows on it? i dont want to reinstall windows,

Have you downloaded and burnt the disc?

If you can, backup all your data, i will not be held responsible in the very very slight chance of you losing all your data and your computer catching on fire for no particular reason, so basically, don't sue me. But i can promise you that nothing "should " go wrong.

what you do is boot your computer with the disc in the drive, enter the bios, change the boot order to CD and boot the CD, the cd has an inbuilt partitioner that can do the work for you, the cd will boot as a "livecd" allowing you to listen to music, browse the net etc without touching your HDD.

Depending on your net configuration, when you boot the disc, you should be instantly able to open firefox and post in this thread so i can show you how to partition your drive right.

[Silent Warrior]

Have you downloaded and burnt the disc?

If so, what you do is boot your computer with the disc in the drive, enter the bios, change the boot order to CD and boot the CD, the cd has an inbuilt partitioner that can do the work for you, the cd will boot as a "livecd" allowing you to listen to music, browse the net etc without touching your HDD.

Depending on your net configuration, when you boot the disc, you should be instantly able to open firefox and post in this thread so i can show you how to partition your drive right.

ok im gonna try that now. brb.

[Silent Warrior]

wait a min.... this cd has dual boot and partition?

[Garfunkel]

when you boot the disc it will just lauch like a normal computer, the cd has an installer with a partitioner which can set up the dual boot.

[Teh Roxor!]

Excellent, another one to add to the growing army of evil penguin soldiers!!!
Oh sure, characterize us as the evil ones. :pirate:

[OmniCloud]

Hey got another one YIM! AWESOME! Ubuntu is a great start...Here's how I got up and running on my PC a bunch of great links to codecs, patches, and what have you...

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=329763&highlight=avi

http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/MultimediaCustomizationGuide#SECOND_STAGE_:_MULTIM EDIA_AND_PROPRIETARY.2FRESTRICTED_FORMATS

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy#How_to_install_Multimedia_Codecs

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=331332&highlight=flash

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=305337&highlight=Frostwire

Garfunkel can help you with specifics, but most of your basic functionality should be found in there. And listen to Garfunkel when he tells you the forums are a great way to learn! He speaks truth I tell ya! LOL...

ps-I'll get back to you on that Beryl thing, been busy messing around with KDE:-) I'm kinda getting the feeling I need a more powerful graphics card though...

[Garfunkel]

yes, become a member at the ubuntu forums, i tell you what, they are very good to newbs.

[OmniCloud]

OFF TOPIC: Anyone know how to set up different network settings in Firefox so I can bypass this annoying Websence thing? I can get to the front page of the forums here, but I guess forums must be a keyword or something:huh: Soon as I click it I get blocked. Is there really no hope for PSINEXT chatting at work?

[Garfunkel]

huh? i don't follow you.

[Garfunkel]

@Silent:

Take a look at these links:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installing

Now, to partition your HDD, first boot into XP and defragment your HDD so all data is at the front of the drive.

Now boot up Ubuntu and start the installation until you get to the partitioning manager where it will give you three options, choose the one that lets you edit the partition table manually, you should now have a table where there is one partition, (unless you got your pc from hp etc who have stupid rescue partitions and such).

The one partition there should be NTFS, right click it and resize it as to leave plenty of room for ubuntu, leave at least 5GB, but you will need more. Just don't resize it so that it is smaller then the amount of data on your xp drive.

for example: if you use 50 out of 80GB of your hdd for XP don't shrink it to less then 50GB

Now when the resize operation is complete, you should have one more partition called "free space", select this partition and create a new one as format EXT3 and as mount point "/",

When this is done, shrink the ext3 partition so that you can make another one, shrink it so that the the amount you have shrunken it by is around 2 times the capacity of your RAM (unless you have 1GB or more then just set it to 1GB).

Now you should have another partition called "free space", select it and make a new one as linux-swap, this linux-swap space is like virtual ram if your RAM in your computer is running out of space.

Now you should have 3 partitions, one as ntfs, one as ext3 with mount point "/" and one as linux-swap. Linux swap should be twice your amount of RAM and there should be enough room for ubuntu and XP.

If you want, at this point, press the "print screen" button on your keyboard and add it as an attachment so i can check if everything is right.

When you progress to the next screen, it should tell you which partitions it is going to format, make sure that the ntfs windows xp one is not going to be formatted but the linux-swap one and the ext3 ones are.

[Silent Warrior]

ok this is what i got after partitioning. what i do know

[Garfunkel]

ok, good, now right click that "unallocated space" and partition it as ext3 and make the mount point as "/" (without the quotes)

then continue with what i said in my previous post.

[Silent Warrior]

this partition shit is pissing me off. i still dont get it. im about to give up on it. mount this, mount point that. wtf!?!?!?

[Silent Warrior]

ok, good, now right click that "unallocated space" and partition it as ext3 and make the mount point as "/" (without the quotes)

then continue with what i said in my previous post.

create as a primary or a extended? and i dont see a mount point.

[Garfunkel]

create as primary for the ext3. and logical for linux-swap

as for the mount point, i was relying off memory, i think you can also just ignore it and continue to the next screen, it should fill it in automatically for you and if not you can change it.

BTW: an example of a mount point is "/dev/hda1".

just do what i said ignoring things about mount points then progress to the next screen, post a new screenshot and i'll check it for you.

[Silent Warrior]

ok stay here

[Garfunkel]

roger.

[Silent Warrior]

ok new screen shot

[Garfunkel]

do you have 2 hdd's?

[Silent Warrior]

yes, but im using the primary hd

[Garfunkel]

go back to the previous screen and post another shot, you have done it right, but you have forgotten the swap-partition.

EDIT: yes, you have done it right, you have just forgotten the linux-swap.

the reason why your other hdd shows up is because ubuntu automatically mounts it.

[Silent Warrior]

here

[Garfunkel]

yep that's right. All you need to do is resize the ext3 partition so that you have a small amount of space, lets say 1GB of "unallocated space", then create a linux-swap from that, other then that, you are good to go.

NOTE: the linux-swap isn't actually required but recommended, it will improve performance.

[Silent Warrior]

like this?

[Garfunkel]

getting warmer, but you put linux-swap and ext3 around the wrong way, see how the ext3 one is 1000MB?.

just format the ext3 one as linux-swap (logical) and the "unallocated space" as ext3 (primary). then you should be right.

I know it's kinda frustrating but your nearly there.

[Silent Warrior]

or this...

[Garfunkel]

do you want me to edit the image to show you how to set it up?

EDIT: yes, all you have to do is format the "unallocated space" as linux swap as logical. Don't touch the ntfs or ext3 partitions, they are fine.

[Silent Warrior]

ok ok.... this one?

[Garfunkel]

Yep, there you go, that's fine. just progress to the next screen and just make sure that the ntfs partition is not going to be formatted while the other two are and you are good to go.

[Silent Warrior]

ok, so is everything good here and good to go?

[Garfunkel]

Perfect. you are good to go to the next step, your xp data will NOT be deleted, ubuntu will automatically create a boot loader (a nice menu when you start your computer) which allows you to boot from xp or ubuntu.

[Silent Warrior]

umm.. got this.

[Garfunkel]

that's fine, ignore that.

i get that too sometimes, i think it's just because it doesn't have a proper mount point, doesn't matter, it still works.

[Silent Warrior]

ok so everything is installed sofar working. im starting to like it. the only thing is that my sound doesnt work. i see that it has detected it. its a sound blaster live value (ct4831). when i click on a mp3 file. it says something it cannot play cause of some decoder is not installed. so then i installed amarok and played an mp3. it plays after installing the mp3 support. but still no sound.

EDIT: It works now. I had to goto sound properties and check the box that said "SB Live Analog/Digital Output jack".

ok so, what are some good mp3 players for this? What about programs like photoshop? And what are some good all around programs to get? oh and also where can i get some different themes for this? and whats a good cd creator for making music cds and dvds? sorry for all the questions. im a newbie to this. lol. oh and how do i get my back button on my mouse to work with firefox?

[Garfunkel]

ok so everything is installed sofar working. im starting to like it. the only thing is that my sound doesnt work. i see that it has detected it. its a sound blaster live value (ct4831). when i click on a mp3 file. it says something it cannot play cause of some decoder is not installed. so then i installed amarok and played an mp3. it plays after installing the mp3 support. but still no sound.

EDIT: It works now. I had to goto sound properties and check the box that said "SB Live Analog/Digital Output jack".

ok so, what are some good mp3 players for this? What about programs like photoshop? And what are some good all around programs to get? oh and also where can i get some different themes for this? and whats a good cd creator for making music cds and dvds? sorry for all the questions. im a newbie to this. lol. oh and how do i get my back button on my mouse to work with firefox?

ubuntu comes with many programs pre-installed, I'd recommend you go to here:

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy

and follow the things that interest you. A good image editor (like photoshop) is the GIMP, which should already be installed, if you like the photoshop interface, there is a plugin for gimp called gimpshop, amarok is the best audio player IMO, kaffeine is a great media/video player and gnomebaker/k3b are great cd/dvd burning apps.

Follow the link i gave you and do things like adding repositories and stuff they will give you a greater range of apps you can install, in my first post in this thread there are lots of great links you will like that explain things like installing apps etc.

[Silent Warrior]

i want to install this theme. but i tried to install it. i dont understand it. could u remote desktop and try it for me maybe?

http://parker1.co.uk/satanic/

[Garfunkel]

Hehe, the same theme i'm using!

to install it:

1/ go to applications -> accessories -> terminal and type/paste this in:

gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 9B1DB022

press enter and then type this when it's done computing:

gpg --export --armor 9B1DB022 | sudo apt-key add -

What this does is ad a "key" to the system, telling the system that the repository you are going to get these packages from are safe.

2/ type in:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

go to the last line in the file that opens up (so theres a line between what is there and what you are going to add) and paste in:

# Ubuntu Satanic Edition
deb http://parker1.co.uk/hell edgy main
deb-src http://parker1.co.uk/hell edgy main

and close that windows.

3/ type in:

sudo apt-get update

and then:

sudo apt-get install satanic-wallpapers usplash-theme-satanic satanic-gdm-themes

(as one command, so drag a box around those 2 lines)

4/ it is installed, go to:

http://parker1.co.uk/satanic/configuration

for config options, just for your reference, to use the new splash image, type:

gconftool-2 --set \

and then:

/apps/gnome-session/options/splash_image -t str \

and then:

"/usr/share/gdm/themes/Satanic/satanic-splash.png"

and your done!

EDIT: fixed mistake.

[Silent Warrior]

its asking me for a password after i put this in...

gpg --export --armor 9B1DB022 | sudo apt-key add -

do i put in my password?

[Garfunkel]

yes, put in your password, it asks you this because you are not actually using your computer in admin or "root" mode, for security reasons (making it almost impossible for you to get a virus/spyware!), but you can get admin/"root" access by entering your password.

did the dual boot work? do you have a little menu where you can select from xp or ubuntu?

[Silent Warrior]

ok. it then opened up the window with the sources.list thing. but its blank. and im suppsed to goto the end of the list and put that thing in there? yea i got the dual boot. but its ugly as hell. looks like dos. i thought it was gonna look pretty or something. lol

[Garfunkel]

you must have typed it wrong, try again, type exactly as i wrote.

EDIT: glad you got the dual boot working, i know it seems ugly but you can dazzle it up a bit by using a background picture, i can show you how if you want.

[Silent Warrior]

i did. i copied and pasted what you wrote

[Garfunkel]

woops, just saw my command, it was my fault.

i forgot the starting "/"

the command is:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

my bad.

[Silent Warrior]

woops, just saw my command, it was my fault.

i forgot the starting "/"

the command is:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

my bad.

oh noooos! yer fired! l33t h4x! haha. thanks man. it works now. looks awesome. are there anything out there i can make things transparent?

[Garfunkel]

yes, linux is very customisable.

here is something you might like:

http://www.gnome-look.org/

What sort of graphics card do you have? because if it is decent you might be able to run a 3d desktop cube called beryl, really a site to see.

[Silent Warrior]

well right now im using the onboard video. but i have a ati all in wonder 8500 dv in my other computer i could possibly put in here.

[Garfunkel]

great! that should run beryl ok, not perfectly but it should be fine. If you want me to show you how to install beryl, plug in the 8500 dv and tell me!

[OmniCloud]

huh? i don't follow you.Websense blocks this site at work once I try to go into forums. I've downloaded Firefox at work, is there any easy way around it?

[Garfunkel]

You can use a proxy to access blocked sites, you will need heaps because they will have blocked many of them.

here are a few (type at google):

iphide
proxylord
anonomizer
proxyfree
proxify

just do a google for "proxy list" and you will get lots of sites with lists of proxy sites.

[OmniCloud]

Aight...how do I set up the proxy?

[Garfunkel]

you just go to a proxy website like http://iphide.com/ and do your browsing through that.That's all.

[PhYmon]

GNU/Linux,GNU/Linux, GNU/Linux.. what can I say.. well is a really good OS, is secure, graphics are very nice on the eyes, and so on..

The thing that I dont like GNU/Linux, is not because is its fault (GNU/Linux), is M$ fault; that make this OS sort of difficult to use, u ask why? well cuz Windows makes users lazy, everything is double-click away (BTW GNU/Linux has that behavior on the icons and any other application) u dont have to write any command or anything else..

Im willing to give it a shot (GNU/Linux), Im starting to use Ubuntu, and then going to move to SuSE 10.2.

PS. The OS its call GNU/Linux, is not Linux by itself..Linux is the kernel of the OS (the brain in a sort of way). thats if some of u didnt know that :P

PS PS. If u want to know the story of GNU/Linux watch this movie (http://video.google.com/url?docid=7707585592627775409&esrc=sr1&ev=v&q=revolution+os&vidurl=http://video.google.com/videoplay%3Fdocid%3D7707585592627775409%26q%3Drevo lution%2Bos&usg=AL29H21FWuyYKfdsV8ec7Hw4qkf1Gl4q7A), its very informative and will explain u everything u need to know about the M$ rival..

PS PS PS. Its a 1:25 hour long movie. Enjoy

[Garfunkel]

hey, thanks for the movie, Phy! i thought it would be the code linux, which is a good documentary as well, havent seen this one tho.

Another distro i would heavily recommend is PCLinuxOS, it is just as or maybe even easier then ubuntu, it's a bit of a "rising star" so to speak, climbing the charts at distrowatch, about to take over mepis. It's RPM, that's my only gripe with the latest test release i've tried, it's art is the best i've seen in any OS period, and comes with codecs, etc. you can get a livecd of it, a good feature on the livecd that i enjoyed immensely is the ability to "copy2ram", allowing you to spend a min or two copying the whole cd into ram, so your os will be even faster then it normally would be on the cd, (or hdd for that matter). It also did some things by default which took me ages to get going with Ubuntu, such as side scrolling (though, on PCLinuxOS, it's back to front, easy fix), my only other gripe was that it's kaffeine player did not detect my tvtuner even though kernel 2.6.15 and onwards (which both it and ubuntu use even later versions of) support it. It works fine in ubuntu, but not the livecd of pclinuxos, but i never actually installed it because i am waiting for the final release in a few weeks, so who knows, it might have just been disabled in the livecd.

[Teh Roxor!]

PS. The OS its call GNU/Linux, is not Linux by itself..Linux is the kernel of the OS (the brain in a sort of way). thats if some of u didnt know that :P
That is true, but "GNU/Linux" is a pain to read, say, and type. So I usually just say "Linux" or the name of the specific distro.

Cool video!

[PhYmon]

Well, yeah im not saying Im will sue u by calling one OS by the name of the kernel.. I wanted to teach u something.. Im glad u guys liked the video.. If I get to see another one I will tell u..

[Garfunkel]

it is called GNU/Linux, but Linux sounds a lot better. Both gods, Torvalds and Stallman, admit this too in that video.

It's just that Linux somewhat grew bigger then the GNU tools that package it. Without Linux we would not have the wonderful world of GNU and GPL, but without GNU and GPL, we would not have Linux.

[PhYmon]

Well if u guys liked the video.. +REP me :P and u are right Garfunkel.. they complement very well.. I wounder what the world would be without Linux or GNU/Linux??

Question: when is Stallman going to publish his kernel (HURD)?

[Garfunkel]

A world without Linux.....almost complete Windows domination and no consumer choice, no ISV's and no decent software :)

[Teh Roxor!]

Without Linux I'd have probably moved to Macs. While it's a good OS I think, I just did not enjoy using Windows.

I just installed Gentoo on a new PC, by the way.