Linux

[rudeboymcc]

hi. i'm having great difficulties with linux. so much that i've decided to forget about it and stick to windows. and then i came to another problem. if windows doesn't sea the partition linux is on, how am i supposed to format it??

and does anyone know how i can make a partition for windows' swap file, and how to tell windows to put the swap there?

and one last thing, can anyone give me any reason to try linux, i have payed around with it a bit and it doesn't seem all that great.

[cypher_soundz]

reason: it isn’t made by microsoft:D, its FREE! , many software is GPL (i.e. free) , not as buggy.

This will destroy all data on your hard drive so back up first ;)
The way i do it (its the same with linux/ntfs too as windows FAT32 cant see the partition): get a start up disk (windows 98/ME) pop it in and restart, select command prompt, after loading drivers etc , type "FDISK" delete primary partition, then create a primary dos partition , (i used to then set a logic one too) but i found i can just set primary dos partition and then run windows 98 set up disk and everything is straight sailing;)

:::P.S Please, some one who can word things better explain i little more, i would hate for you to get stuck and have no means of help:scared: :::

i recommend installing Linux and windows on your system , use a program called partition magic , it allows you to manage all your partitions through windows.

[Joe999]

Originally posted by rudeboymcc
and one last thing, can anyone give me any reason to try linux, i have payed around with it a bit and it doesn't seem all that great.

If you have to ask after using it, there's likely not much that would be of benefit to you. While there's a lot of things to Linux which put it far over the top in comparison to windows for me, not everyone is going to find the same things as being beneficial. Primarily my reason is the open source nature of Linux, and most of my arguments are going to be centered around that fact. If something goes wrong or doesn't behave the way I'd like it to on any part of my system or installed program (excepting nvidia's drivers) I take huge comfort in knowing I can change that behavior given some time to familierise myself with the source code.

That also comes into play with the philosophy of development. In commercial operating systems the main point of the system is to make money, and the secondary purpose is to deliver improved content and performance. With open source development the user will always come first, and the interests of allies of an operating systems developers are of no concern. It's the philosophy that gives browsers native popup blocking and email clients native spam filtering. Or mplayer the ability to play things like real, or quicktime full screen.

I also enjoy the fact that I've got a choice to try out programs when I feel it's to a point in the development phase where it'd be useful for me. Is there some cool new feature in a program I've been waiting for, only to find that the release has been delayed. Fine, I can always just download and install from cvs if I feel the benefit outweighs the risk. Heck, even better if I get off my lazy ass and actually help the process to get the next stable release of something out the door. It's something that's slowly changed to some extent in the windows world as the open source development model has continued to show it's benefits, but it's still a point of rarity in the long run even in freeware. It also means that I don't have to worry about upgrading my operating system one day and finding my favorite program no longer works. If windows2050 or whatever breaks compatibility with a program I liked there that's no longer in development I'd be screwed and have to make a choice to give up one or the other. With Linux upgrading a library might break compatibility, but the source is there. I can just sit down some afternoon and update the program to the new environment myself.

And that leads into another big benefit of Linux, choice. Almost every piece of your system is there and the way it is because it's the way you want it. Hate the GUI, it's your choice whether to use one or not. Prefer things flashy, fine, kde, gnome or something else tweaked out with lots of eyecandy. Want things light and fast for a slower computer, fine again, there's quite a number of window managers that pretty much just do that, manage windows. And there's similar analogies for almost every part of the system, to the way graphics are drawn to the way your sound system works. With windows you get...windows. It might be the best choice for most people, but I'd much rather be given the chance to decide that on my own. It can be annoying to some extent in that the choice also can sometimes make installing programs more time consuming than on windows, but in the end I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Master Ki Adi Mundi]

I've had the pleasure of using Linux for about 5 years now. Linux is great for people who want to explore the deeper layers of the operating system and the applications that run atop it. Its also free. Before Linux I was in the Amiga scene, and as anyone in the Amiga scene knows, moving to Linux is a natural process. There are many reasons to use Linux, I agree with Joe when he says "If you have to ask after using it, there's likely not much that would be of benefit to you". Did I mention its free. Linux allows me to be different. For instance I use WindowMaker without dock/app icons, eight virtual workspaces, dragable windows between workspaces, gnome apps ( Galeon is great ), because... not because, thats just the way I like it. The real exciting part is that you can setup these types of environments under other OS' like Solaris, FreeBSD, MacOX, IRIX, HPUX and the list goes on. Having the source code is a pretty bloody good idea mate.:cool:

[Nosferatu]

It quite easy to put linux and windows both into the same hdd and set up lilo loader
You may avoid formatting hdd by using Partition Magic
Linux partition shouldn't be visible from windows...as it should be due to safety reason

[blixi]

Can only second the said. I think it is not for everyone. I had a really long discussion about it, and I think, if you don't see any profits for you using it, don't use it. But take a little time to give it a chance and learn a littlebit the linux-way of doing things. You can only decide if you know between which things you have to decide and the first time using linux may be hard for you and you don't see any benefits for you. So:

Have both installed parallel. So you can try both and you can choose from time to time what you 'll using.

I've no intend to convert others to use linux. For me it is THE OS for others, they have to decide.

Greets

blixi

[Navellint]

hi

I gave up on linux with rehat 6.2 a few years back because I couldn't get it online and had no real purpose except bashing microsoft and keeping my money in my pocket. But recently I had some spare time and tried to set up redhat 8.0 with my new adsl. I'm amazed by how much it has improved. I just need some hints to how i can learn basic commands and basis skills like I did with DOS 8 years ago. I really want to make this work although I still have way more purposes for using Windows (dvd2divx and gaming stuff). The three main reasons for using linux outweigh the benefits of Windows for me.

Originally posted by rudeboymcc
hi. i'm having great difficulties with linux.

and does anyone know how i can make a partition for windows' swap file, and how to tell windows to put the swap there?


I believe there is no benefit from separating your swap-file on another partition if that partition is on the same physical drive. You should have an one hard disk to run windows from and another to store/capture files/swap. Then there's an improvement in performance. It depends on the version of windows how to change yoru swap-partition: win98/se/me should have it under 'performance' in 'system properties' if you right-click on 'my computer': change to 'let me define' and choose the desired partition/hdd and then change back to 'let windows manage'. You'll see that windows keeps the swap-file on that partition but manages the rest. In winNT/2k/xp there is a similar option in 'system properties' for the pagefile: you can set a page-file for each separate partition whether they are on one single hdd or not. Please correct me if I'm wrong: I don't want to spread stupid recommendations!

One more thing about linux: I think linux-users should stop pretending either linux or Linus Torvalds is a holy thing. I've seen that attitude scare some people away who are more 'down to earth'.

Regards

PS: 'open the source code, Bill'

[blixi]

dvd2divx should be possible better than on windows (hint: mencoder&ffmpeg)

Linus is in no way a holy person, and linux isn't a religion for me. I've seen that attitude scare some people away who are more 'down to earth'.

who cares ? where are people too , the same way way other way round. You can't conclude from some extrem persons to some million Linux-users. Lets stop such discuzssions here. This is a video-related board !!!!

[omol]

Originally posted by Navellint
I just need some hints to how i can learn basic commands and basis skills like I did with DOS 8 years ago. I really want to make this work although I still have way more purposes for using Windows (dvd2divx and gaming stuff).

You can get all kinds of linux howto here (http://linuxdoc.org/).

I believe there is no benefit from separating your swap-file on another partition if that partition is on the same physical drive.

No, there is a huge benefit. You don't have to go thru fs layer when accessing vm, that means much much faster, esp in the case where fs is laid on top of a raid or journalised.

One more thing about linux: I think linux-users should stop pretending either linux or Linus Torvalds is a holy thing.

You think this is bad? Then you haven't seen those fanatically praise RMS/GNU/Hurd.

regards,
omol

[Navellint]

Originally posted by omol
No, there is a huge benefit. You don't have to go thru fs layer when accessing vm, that means much much faster, esp in the case where fs is laid on top of a raid or journalised.

I was talking about windows .swp file (or does this work for windows AND linux?) but tnx for the linux info and for the linuxdoc.org

blixi:
tnx for the hint and I meant SOME (not all) linux-users pretend Torvalds is Jesus. I would like everyone to use linux so I hate to see people quit because of that.

Back to video: First i'm going to try to get mp3 and dvd to work again in redhat 8.0 and then mencoder/ffmpeg. For now HPPY://NEW.YEAR to all!

[omol]

Originally posted by Navellint
I was talking about windows .swp file (or does this work for windows AND linux?) but tnx for the linux info and for the linuxdoc.org

Oops, I guess the "Don't drive after drink" also applies to mesg forum, "Don't post after drink"...............:p

reagrds,
omol