I have a somewhat outdated machine that the wife doesn’t have to use anymore and I want to put Linux on it. For no good reason. . .I just want another platform to mess around on.
Now, I had Linux running on a machine about 10 years ago, but that was the last time I did an install, and I assume things have changed a little since then.
Any specific answers, or general answers would be appreciated:
What am I looking at in terms of an install?
Is there a way to automate any of it from Windows (currently running XP)? What if I want to rid the computer of Windows entirely?
Do I need to create a “boot CD ROM”? Can I download such a thing?
Is this going to be easier if I don’t mind wiping out EVERYTHING that’s currently on the computer?
Are there more popular releases out there now? (I’ve seen Red hat, FreeBSD, something called UBUNTO or something?)
Finally, is there a single website I can just do this all from, or is it easier to purchase a Red Hat distribution at Best Buy or something?
You can get a CD or DVD Linux now at the book store for 30-50 bucks depending on which version you want to go with. The newer versions do most of the installing for you so basically you answer a few questions and off it goes. I tried a couple of different versions and they all took about an hour or so.
If you don’t want to buy a book you can download a CD from the net, but they are going to be 700megs and you will have to figure out a way to create a bootable CD. Personally I’d just go with buying a book.
If you download and burn an ISO from all the major distributions, it will be bootable (probably as a LIVE CD that will run the OS from the CD/DVD), and allow you to install it.
Or look at one of the Linux magazines - they usually come with a cover CD of the latest and greatest distro - sometimes several.
You can repartition your disk (fairly safely) and dual-boot windows or linux. I prefer the “burn the ships” approach myself
Ubuntu or or relatives (Kubuntu, Xubuntu) are easy and very popular. Mandriva is good, Fedora Core 6 (based on/supported by Red Hat) is nice, but maybe not a beginner system. OpenSuSE is also popular. Look about on the web, look at the Linux magazines, too. FreeBSD is actually a different operating system, and does not have as much development effort thrown at it.
I recommend Kubuntu, but thats because I never really liked GNOME.
It will be part of the Boot CD install. I think that the Windows Ubuntu install gives you similar options - but I have never used it. Use the Boot CD method - probably the most reliable and safest.
Depending on how old the computer is you might have problems with the newer installs which require at least 64megs RAM. For the even older machines I recommend Damn Small Linux which seems able to have a graphical interface on small RAM machines and a variety of monitors and video cards.
Go here to hunting for that distribution that’s just right.
It’s always been real twitchy. . .odd crashes at odd times. Sometimes it would just disconnect from the 'net for no reason. It didn’t store it’s date properly!
We put up with it for a long time, but we finally got a decent laptop, and so the desktop has just been gathering dust.
For one, I hope that linux can make that machine more effective. But, I’ve also been teaching myself a little bit of web programming and I want something I can screw around with a little more than the laptop.
If I may be so bold as to suggest:
Take the case off.
Make sure all the chips are seated properly.
Check the battery for intermittent contact.
Clean all PCB contacts.
