[Help] Seriously Considering Linux

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, how are you all today?

I have been using Windows for some time now and have used Linux on an old AMD 800Mhz but I am now considering using it on my Novatech Laptop, however, I do have a few questions and I was hoping that someone here might be able to answer them.

Which is the best for begginers?

Can this one overwrite NTFS Partitions?

Can you install DirectX (any version) on Linux for free?

I tried to install a Linux version, think it was fedora, on a laptop before, but it didn't recognise the screen and booted me to the CLI, will this happen again?

Also here are a list of windows programs that I would like to use, is it possible to use these?

Office XP

Publisher 2003

Paint Shop Pro 7.04

Norton SystemWorks and Norton Internet Security (Although technically I won't need either of these considering how secure Linux is and how well it does a good job of organising system resources).

Also about Internet, I did see a way, a while ago to use AOL without their client (Yes I know AOL Sucks, get a better host. I would BUT my Dad, the almighty payer of the internet likes it, so I'm stuck with it) but that method no longer works for one reason or another, so is there a way to like connect to their severs (legally of course) like with some software that does the same think AOL Client does?

Also about ADSL Modems over USB, is this possible straight away or does it take some fancy configarations?

Here is the Hardware that I use:

Logitech MX 900 Bluetooth Mouse

HP PSC 750

USB Floppy Drive

USB Flash Drive

an old Philips webcam.

Will all of these work?

Thank you very much for all the help.

Sorry my questions are a bit all over the place.

-James.

#231512

OK, these questions are very common. For more answers/opinions, I suggest you search both this forum and linuxquestions.org (any other Linux forum you can find as well).

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, how are you all today?

I have been using Windows for some time now and have used Linux on an old AMD 800Mhz but I am now considering using it on my Novatech Laptop, however, I do have a few questions and I was hoping that someone here might be able to answer them.

Which is the best for begginers?

Hard question. Personally, I've had endless problems with Mandrake, Fedora, Suse, et al. IMO they're bloated, slow, and unstable.

I always suggest Knoppix first. It's a LiveCD, so you can run it right off the CD without any risk. It'll even read your partitions so you can play music, print docs, etc. If you like it, it can be installed to your harddrive. Knoppix is also based on Debian, so you can use APT to keep up to date. APT is one of the best Linux package managers.

I have also heard good things about MEPIS, but I do not have that much experience with it (seemed fine when I tried it). It's supposed to be an even more beginner friendly version of Knoppix. It's also a LiveCD, so no risk; try it.

Can this one overwrite NTFS Partitions?

You only have read and destructive support for NTFS. So if you want to delete your NTFS partitions, you can just fine. If you want to resize them nondestructively, it can be done, but it's risky, so back up.

Can you install DirectX (any version) on Linux for free?

DirectX is Microsoft's proprietary game libraries. You can't run it on anything but Windows. The graphics standard that works over all operating systems is OpenGL.

I tried to install a Linux version, think it was fedora, on a laptop before, but it didn't recognise the screen and booted me to the CLI, will this happen again?

Autodetect differs from distro to distro, but it's generally very good. Sometimes of course, it can't autodetect everything. If that's the case, you'll have to set it up manually. It's not very hard, and it'll teach you a little about Linux.

Also here are a list of windows programs that I would like to use, is it possible to use these?

Office XP

Publisher 2003

Paint Shop Pro 7.04

Norton SystemWorks and Norton Internet Security (Although technically I won't need either of these considering how secure Linux is and how well it does a good job of organising system resources).

There are plenty of office alternatives. OpenOffice is the popular one, and AbiWord is a good replacement for Word if you don't need the bloat. I personally use LaTeX.

Publisher has a few nice alternatives as well. Scribus is the most mature.

GIMP is comparable to PSP, though I'm not great with graphics, so you'll just have to try it and see for yourself.

You can try to run some windows apps in WINE, but it's usually more trouble than it's worth. Almost always there are Linux replacements that are as good or better. For the apps you listed, I know there are.

Obviously you don't need Systemworks or InternetSecurity. Those apps were just made so Norton could milk everyone's fear. I doubt you'd need them on Windows.

Also about Internet, I did see a way, a while ago to use AOL without their client (Yes I know AOL Sucks, get a better host. I would BUT my Dad, the almighty payer of the internet likes it, so I'm stuck with it) but that method no longer works for one reason or another, so is there a way to like connect to their severs (legally of course) like with some software that does the same think AOL Client does?

AOL doesn't run on Linux. There are some hacks, but they are pretty much useless. You'll have to get a real ISP, sorry. If you have AOL DSL (didn't think that existed, but you had modem questions), then it probably works. The dialup definitely won't though.

Also about ADSL Modems over USB, is this possible straight away or does it take some fancy configarations?

Any sort of networking over USB is a hack by the company using special drivers. Therefore it'll have issues in any OS. Why people use any sort of net stuff over USB is beyond me though. NICs cost $5 and run much faster and more reliably.

If you have DSL and want to use it in Linux, buy a router with PPPoE and then plug your computer into the router (the router will dialup and connect). That'll also give you a free hardware firewall.

Here is the Hardware that I use:

Logitech MX 900 Bluetooth Mouse

HP PSC 750

USB Floppy Drive

USB Flash Drive

an old Philips webcam.

The mouse should work fine.

Multifunction devices are usually supported poorly. HP has good printer support though (they're all I buy), so check linuxprinting.org to see how well that model is supported.

USB floppy and flash drives will work, probably with a bit of configuration though.

Google (google.com/linux) the webcam model.

#231530

hello. you are in the same line as me. i just installed suse 9.2 professional thanks to the advice of gene clean. you should go ask and annoy him.

i reccommend mandrake, suse, knoppix, fedora, and linspire.

i'm not sure if there is a direct x installer for linux, or if it's already built in the system. there are very good free alternatives for the windows programs like openoffice.

for gene and many people in america networking should be automatic, but for me it's kinda tricky. i doubt you will have much trouble.

www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=8885&page=4

and

www.flexbeta.net/main/articles.php?action=show&id=70

it actually depends on the distros on how capatible the hardware is with the operating system. when i installed linux all i needed to do was instal nvidia drivers which i still coulden't figure out yet :mad:

#231531

steelfist, to install the nVidia drivers, just update your system using YaST. Open up YaST and click Online Update and the drivers are there ready to be installed automatically.

DirectX and such cannot be installed in Linux. That is what Microsoft uses and Microsoft is not very friendly towards Open Source.

As far as distro's go, I'll say it again, it all depends on what you need and like. SuSE is good for beginners. Fedora Core 3 is good as well, with improved recognition of hardware. Mandrake I dislike, and Linspire is more of a commercial distro than anything else.

If I were a beginner, I would always go with the distros that allow me to dual-boot, so if I need anything I can't get/understand in Linux, I can always go back to Windows. The best with automatic configuration of the boot manager are SuSE and Fedora.

There is an alternative to WINE in Linux and it runs a fair number of programs (including iTunes), but its commercial. It costs around $40 I think, and its called CrossOver Office. http://www.codeweavers.com/

I'm pretty sure everything you listed as your hardware will work, but I don't know about your old Philips webcam. If it doesn't, you can always check their website and try to install drivers for Linux.

#231595

Hmm...no constructive conducts, but I laughed when I saw the title. It sounds like considering Lunix is a bad thing .

-NC

#231625

Thank you for everyone's help, I really do appreciate it!

The only reason why I was asking about direct X was that I saw something a while ago that said it could install it on Linux and I've seen some screenshots of people using really heavy windows games like Doom 3 on Linux, I thought that it needed DirectX but maybe not. I play a rather old game called Battlezone II and have heard about that being used on Linux as well. So I quess I was just really hoping that a multitude of Games (Modern and Old) could be played on Linux.

About the publisher alternative, does it support Microsoft .pub files, because if it does that is perfect!

Also, I am pretty sure that it doesn't yet, but I was wondering if Linux had alpha blending, if not after all that I'm learning in University, I might go and modify it myself.

Once again thank you for all of you're help.

-James

P.S. The title was not meant to make it sound like a bad thing rather more like a threat, a threat to Microsoft, hehe!

#231776

Quick question. I want to run Linux and have fun with it, but I want to run it from a CD only without creating a new partion or affecting normal Windows settings. I'm on my parent's computer and I don't want them to even notice that Linux has touched their machine. If I need to store data from Linux, I want to put it in a folder or something on the D: drive (this is not my boot drive).

Is this possible?

#231821

Quick question. I want to run Linux and have fun with it, but I want to run it from a CD only without creating a new partion or affecting normal Windows settings. I'm on my parent's computer and I don't want them to even notice that Linux has touched their machine. If I need to store data from Linux, I want to put it in a folder or something on the D: drive (this is not my boot drive).

Is this possible?

Knoppix has the ability to save your HOME directory on removable media. So if you have a thumbdrive, CF card, removable harddrive, or something of that sort, you can. If your machine has NTFS partitions, Linux can't write to that. You may be able to save a HOME dir in FAT32 though.

#231827

Cool! I might have to check that out.

#231875