#293864 - 16/02/2007 12:21
What's the Linux distribution of choice?
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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Ideally one that is as easy as possible to install as a dual boot with XP without screwing things up with my existing XP installation.
My current disk structure is as follows:
SATA 250Gb - boot disk running XP
PATA primary 120Gb - currently partitioned NTFS but want to repartition it. Can be formatted if required - want to install Linux on a little bit of this disk
PATA secondary 85Gb - my backup disk
What's the best/easiest/safest way to do this and have a nice usable copy of Linux running?
I just downloaded the SLAX Live CD and had a play with that which looked funky, but is only a slimline Live version really
edit: looked at Slackware and dual boot looks complex. Ubuntu looks interesting...
Edited by furtive (16/02/2007 12:35)
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#293865 - 16/02/2007 13:18
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 3583
Loc: Columbus, OH
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I've been using CentOS and it's been treating me pretty well.
I don't think it'd be the best choice for you though. It's primarily aimed at being a server distribution, and there are probably easier distros to work with. I just use it because it's basically RHEL and I've been on Red Hat since version 4 and it's what I'm comfortable with.
Mark Lord says great things about [K]Ubuntu and he's arguably the biggest linux geek around.
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#293866 - 16/02/2007 13:45
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: JBjorgen]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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Kubuntu currently being downloaded - looks just the ticket. Thanks 
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#293867 - 16/02/2007 13:49
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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member
Registered: 07/10/2000
Posts: 112
Loc: CA, USA
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Many new Linux users are happily using Ubuntu, which has become one of the more popular distributions. I've been enjoying Gentoo for the past year, having spent 13 years with Red Hat.
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#293868 - 16/02/2007 14:58
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14486
Loc: Canada
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Yes, definitely use Kubunbu, or Ubuntu (a dumbed down, but more unified GUI). And immediately after installing it all, get Automatix and install/run it, to get mp3 and video codecs and the like. This works better on a Ubuntu install than it does on a Kubuntu install, but it should be good for either. Cheers
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#293869 - 16/02/2007 17:29
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: JBjorgen]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
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Quote:
Mark Lord says great things about [K]Ubuntu and he's arguably the biggest linux geek around.
I beg to differ -- I've seen pictures of Mark, and I'm pretty sure I have at least 20lbs on him, if not more. 
(But I agree with him on the [K]Ubuntu route.)
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#293870 - 16/02/2007 17:53
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31583
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
What's the Linux distribution of choice?
Great, another religion thread.
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#293872 - 17/02/2007 01:48
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: tfabris]
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member
Registered: 07/10/2000
Posts: 112
Loc: CA, USA
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Quote:
Quote:
What's the Linux distribution of choice?
Great, another religion thread.
At least we are all in agreement and appear to share the same religion (i.e., Linux).
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#293874 - 17/02/2007 10:52
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: andy]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
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I use ubuntu for most of my attack boxes, partly because I love apt-get for the simple stuff, but partly because it behaves so nicely with everything - windows, hardware, applications etc.
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#293875 - 17/02/2007 12:25
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: frog51]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4174
Loc: Cambridge, England
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We did do this not so long ago. Peter
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#293876 - 17/02/2007 14:40
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: peter]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14486
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
We did do this not so long ago.
Yeah, but that was for a server, where good desktop integration isn't as much of a requirement (thus, even RedHat would do for a server..).
Cheers
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#293877 - 17/02/2007 18:49
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: mlord]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5914
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Quote:
even RedHat would do for a server
I should finally be retiring my RedHat 7.1 server in the next couple of weeks. I hate to think how many security holes there are in it now, although it has never been successfully attacked, with its http, imap, pop3, smtp, dns and ssh ports exposed to the world.
Our power bill should be going down as well, two servers drawing 180W replaced by one drawing 40W, not to mention that I won't have a fan heater in the garage anymore. The new (fan free) server will be living in the house.
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#293878 - 18/02/2007 15:10
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: andy]
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member
Registered: 07/10/2000
Posts: 112
Loc: CA, USA
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Quote:
Quote:
even RedHat would do for a server
I should finally be retiring my RedHat 7.1 server in the next couple of weeks.
7-years, that's ancient in Linux. Just curious, did you switch to Debian, since you don't like to upgrade/tinker much?
Edited by caseyse (18/02/2007 15:10)
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#293879 - 19/02/2007 08:15
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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Ok, installed and up and running.
Just a couple of questions
1) What file do I need to edit to change the default OS from Linux to XP?
2) And I assume I need to edit something in the same file to add an option that allows me to go to a prompt rather than starting xwindows?
Edited to add a 3rd question
3) What partitions of what size should I have created when installing it? The installation instructions were a bit vague, although it seems to work ok so I must have done something right.
Edited by furtive (19/02/2007 08:23)
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#293880 - 19/02/2007 12:22
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14486
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
1) What file do I need to edit to change the default OS from Linux to XP?
/boot/grub/menu.lst
(but there's probably a GUI somewhere to do it with less risk).
Quote:
2) And I assume I need to edit something in the same file to add an option that allows me to go to a prompt rather than starting xwindows?
That kind of thing was normally done using "run levels", but Ubuntu doesn't use runlevels that way (redhat does, though).
Do you really want to not START the GUI, as opposed to not LOGIN-TO the GUI?
(Eg. hit CTRL-ALT-F2 after the GUI appears).
Quote:
3) What partitions of what size should I have created when installing it?
The installer default is what you should have used.
One big root partition, one smaller swap partition, period.
Cheers
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#293881 - 19/02/2007 12:43
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: mlord]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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Thanks. Quote:
That kind of thing was normally done using "run levels", but Ubuntu doesn't use runlevels that way (redhat does, though).
Do you really want to not START the GUI, as opposed to not LOGIN-TO the GUI?
(Eg. hit CTRL-ALT-F2 after the GUI appears).
Hmm, not sure. Was trying to install nVidia drivers but the installer said it could not be run from within xwindows (although I have since found this site:http://albertomilone.com/latest_nvidia_udsf_edgy.html which has instructions for installing within xwindows I think)
Quote:
The installer default is what you should have used.
One big root partition, one smaller swap partition, period.
I think that's what I did - although that isn't what the installer wanted me to do - it wanted me to create 4 partitions on different drives as well as forma the drive that XP is installed on 
Edited to add:
This website looks useful too:
http://kudos.berlios.de/kf/kisimlar/tipsntrix.html
Edited by furtive (19/02/2007 12:45)
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#293882 - 19/02/2007 13:10
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14486
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
Was trying to install nVidia drivers but the installer said it could not be run from within xwindows
Ahh.. Okay, you can do this:
Ctrl-Alt-F1
(screen clears to black, hopefully you see text on the screen)
hit Enter to get a login prompt.
Login as your normal user, then do sudo bash for a root shell.
Kill off the GUI with /etc/init.d/kdm stop (kubuntu)
or with /etc/init.d/gdm stop (ubuntu)
No more GUI. Now run the NVidia installer, and afterwards either reboot or just restart the GUI by repeating the above command with start instead of stop.
But with Kubuntu/Ubuntu, none of this is necessary, since the NVidia driver is already fully supported within the distro. Just install it via the synaptic GUI (ubuntu) or the Package Manager (Adept) (ubuntu or kubuntu).
Cheers
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#293883 - 19/02/2007 15:01
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Here's a related question:
What's the Linux Live CD of choice? My sole requirement (beyond it working at all) is that it has to (easily) support WPA WiFi access with my ipw2200 (Centrino) adapter.
Ones I've tried so far:
Knoppix: claims to support WPA via kwlan, but it constantly errors out and crashes, apparently due to file permissions problems. I tracked two or three down, but then ran into a problem where it couldn't sudo properly to run iwconfig and I gave up.
{U,Ku,Xu}buntu: all of them have the wpa_supplicant system available at bootup, but I can't get any of them to actually work. Also, I don't want to have to edit complex configuration files every time I want to boot into the Live CD. I want to be able to enter information as to my SSID and passphrase and that's it.
Slax: contains the ipw2200 driver, but fails to include the required firmware files. Their answer is to download the files after you boot. Good one.
I'm tired of downloading big-ass ISO images and wasting CDs. Can anyone suggest a Live CD where they know that this works?
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#293884 - 19/02/2007 16:33
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 3583
Loc: Columbus, OH
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Have you tried mounting the iso image and adding the desired files before burning to a CD?
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#293885 - 19/02/2007 17:17
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: JBjorgen]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Hmm. That might work. If I don't get a report from someone, I'll give that a shot.
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#293886 - 19/02/2007 18:29
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: wfaulk]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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Ok, back to me...  How do I install stuff? E.g I've downloaded Firefox and now have a tar.gz file which I can happily unzip. But what do I do with it? I managed to install automatrix
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#293887 - 19/02/2007 18:40
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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enthusiast
Registered: 29/03/2005
Posts: 364
Loc: Probably lost somewhere in Wal...
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It's much easier to install stuff using apt-get (command-line) or synaptic(gui) https://help.ubuntu.com/6.10/ubuntu/desktopguide/C/add-applications.htmlEdit: Another way to boot without the graphical shell is to choose the "recovery mode" option from the boot menu And another way to install the latest graphics drivers is use the Envy script: (works for nvidia and ati) http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html
Edited by Schido (19/02/2007 18:45)
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#293888 - 19/02/2007 18:45
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: Schido]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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Ah yes - found Firefox in Adept
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#293889 - 19/02/2007 21:07
Re: What's the Linux distribution of choice?
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14486
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
Ok, back to me...
How do I install stuff?
Do this once from the command line (a shell window):
sudo apt-get install synaptic
Once you have it, just run synaptic from the menus, or launch it by name from the ALT-F2 "run command" pop-up.
Adept is okay, but synaptic is much more intuitive to myself, after fixing the dumbed-down default settings it comes with..
Cheers
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