Help me start up with Linux

Steedie

Steedie

Steedie

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Hey guys

I'm currently applying for jobs and in my particular area, a lot of jobs mention a basic understanding of Linux, so me never having used it before, figured I better start using it

Thing is I have no idea what the best version/distro of linux to use at all, especially for a beginner, but I also want to use one that would mean I get all the experience of using Linux rather than one thats basically Windows

Also, if possible, I would rather use it on my laptop as my main PC is purely for gaming so don't really like making extra partitions if I dont have to (petty I know :(), however, if I'm able to use some sort of VMware to run it then I wouldnt mind as much sticking it on my PC

If not I guess I'll just make an extra partition on my laptop

So help me out guys, whats the best way to get started and what version should I be looking at :)

Many thanks in advance
 
I'd recommend getting VMWare server running and installing Gentoo, It's not your average n00b distro but the install alone will teach you a fair bit about linux, and force you to use the command line,

Visit www.gentoo.org in the docs section they have a very very good installation manual/handbook, pretty much a step by step guide but with lots of explanation of what you're doing, and why, and they also have a forum which is usually very good for sorting gentoo-specific problems out...
 
Gentoo would work if you're interested in diving in the (very) deep end of the pool. If you want to start out a little bit easier you could go for a distro like OpenSuSE, Fedora 7, or Ubuntu. These will have more traditional installers and will get you into a working system in which you can learn and experiment. It depends on how you want to approach your educational experience.
 
Ok thanks guys, I'll give Gentoo a go, see how I get on

I take it I want the latest version of thisyeah?

Cheers again
 
Well in business the most common distros used are Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novel SUSE Enterprise Linux so either Fedora 7 or OpenSUSE 10.2 are good choices due to the similarity to their big brothers.

Gentoo and ArchLinux are two great distro's if you fancy getting stuck in at the deep end. Arch is perhaps a little more forgiving due to the binary packages rather than having to compile nearly all the source for gentoo. Both give you very good look at the underlying linux OS.

Ubuntu is the popular home\desktop distro, easy to get most things setup and working in it and lots of ready built packages but tends to "hide" a lot of the settings behind GUI's. It starts as a live-cd so you can easly give it a try before installing. Knoppix is a pure live CD so you can just boot from CD and get messing around without worry of killing your laptop or installing VMWare.
 
Vtec9k said:
Well in business the most common distros used are Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novel SUSE Enterprise Linux so either Fedora 7 or OpenSUSE 10.2 are good choices due to the similarity to their big brothers.

Gentoo and ArchLinux are two great distro's if you fancy getting stuck in at the deep end. Arch is perhaps a little more forgiving due to the binary packages rather than having to compile nearly all the source for gentoo. Both give you very good look at the underlying linux OS.

Ubuntu is the popular home\desktop distro, easy to get most things setup and working in it and lots of ready built packages but tends to "hide" a lot of the settings behind GUI's. It starts as a live-cd so you can easly give it a try before installing. Knoppix is a pure live CD so you can just boot from CD and get messing around without worry of killing your laptop or installing VMWare.
Click to expand...


Ah fantastic

Might try that Knoppix first then :)
 
Try Wubi.

Its a Linux windows installer. Basically it take a bit of you hard drive and uses it for linux but can be uninstalled using the windows uninstaller at any time.

I used it for a few months to get to know linux better before making the full switch.


http://wubi-installer.org/
 
To be honest, I'd recommend NOT starting with a LiveCD.

Don't get me wrong, I think LiveCDs are absolutely fantastic, but I don't think that it's going to be helpful in your circumstances.
LiveCDs are great if you want to get up and running under Linux as quickly as possible, but it's often true that the inner workings of Linux are hidden from the end user in order to make the process as painless as possible. For example, configuring your resolution for your desktop is done automagically by LiveCDs, but it's important to understand which file you need to edit, and how you edit it, if you're to understand Linux as opposed to just being able to use it. Anyone can use a Linux distro, these days, but understanding how it works and how it is different to Windows (or OS X) only comes from installing and configuring it.

As such, I'd suggest doing a manual installation instead of relying on the LiveCDs such as Knoppix or any of the Ubuntu flavours. It'll make the learning curve steeper, but it will be worthwhile in the long term.

I'd also steer clear of Ubuntu (or its variants Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc...) because you'll learn how to use it but not how it works.

You'll learn most from using Gentoo, but I think that trying to use it with having no prior experience of Unix/Linux might be a tall order. Instead, I'd say to try Fedora (because it's a cut down version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or OpenSuSE (cut down version of Novell's enterprise SuSE Linux) so you'd be in a good position should you find yourself using Linux in an enterprise setting. Once you've got your head around either of those distros, then by all means make the switch and do an install of Gentoo and you'll learn so much more about *nix, but to start with, try Fedora or OpenSuSE.
 
I'd start with Fedora. It's basically a bleeding edge version of Red Hat Linux (not a cut down version) and Red Hat is a popular commercial distribution so this will be give you an edge if you're working for someone that uses RH.

Once you've familiarised yourself with Fedora, you should then try out another distro like Slackware, Gentoo or Debian.

btw, Gentoo isn't the deep end guys. The real deep end is LFS. :P
 
I agree that LFS is the real deep end having never succeeded on an install. At the moment Slackware 12 is relatively friendly but still shows you the inner workings, for a smaller download you could try Zenwalk. Be aware though, Zenwalk doesn't contain Gnome or KDE which are very popular desktop managers.
 
All very interesting (really :)), but didn't Linus Torvalds himself say that he has no time for so-called 'technical' distros, as the real idea of Linux was an EASY TO USE gui giving quick access to the underlying power of the kernel?

His current choice of distro is Fedora 7, but he did say that he uses whatever's easier at the time. I think he has a point. Don't get me wrong it's great to learn how Linux works, but for someone who's just after knowing the basics and how to use Linux in a corporate (or indeed desktop) environment, I'd say Fedora, OpenSUSE et al are more than sufficient.

I'll see if I can't hunt out the article/interview with Torvalds I referenced above. I was surprised, but it made sense I suppose ;)

Don't get me wrong, I use Ubuntu myself on the main desktop (simply because it IS so quick and easy - the kids love it). However I have come to appreciate, with time, that there is more power to be had in other distros (such as Fedora), and sometimes Ubuntu does limit, or at least make awkward, "power use". Hence I dual boot, and the other machine is Fedora 7 only.

I've gone through Gentoo, Suse, CentOS and loads of others, and learnt a LOT on the way, but for a complete newb I think it's a bit TOO deep end to start on LFS or Gentoo/Slax/Whatever. Walk before running, is probably what I'm trying to say - or you'll soon be so sick and bored with frustration you may well give up.

Just my humble opinion - good luck to the OP whatever you choose :)
 
No I feel the same these days. I started using linux a long time ago when everything was much harder than these days (No gui installs etc..) and even though I have learned a lot using gentoo/arch/linux from scratch I would not use them on a day to day basis. Fixing/Compiling tends to get in the way of getting anything productive done for me. Depends if your interested from an Educational point of view or just want stuff to work.

That's the beauty of open source though, loads of choices and freedom. Linus is pretty outspoken and does not mince his words. This stubboness is quite useful though, without it I think linux may be a lot different from the way is it today.
 
i agree with above, distros like gentoo and arch are fine for those who are linux mad and all they want to do is tinker but for the average user especially a new user i think he could do worse than Ubuntu.

everything just works and you still get a good flavour of how things work without breaking stuff left right and center.

once you've learned some basics go for a gentoo build or a LFS :D
 
I personally use Gentoo because of the flexibility of the package system and installer (well, bash).

However, I'd recommend CentOS if you're aiming for (free) industry-centered experience, as it's practically identical to Red Hat Enterprise Linux - which is favoured in a large proportion of the corporate sector due to its official support and updates channel, and comprehensive training certifications.

Of course if you have money to burn, you could try RHEL for real :)
 
Agree with matja. However, stick to CentOS. The only benefit from RHEL IS the support, and if you're only learning how to use the OS I doubt it's worth the £100s or even £1,000s it'd cost to get the RHEL licence and support package. CentOS is, as was said, identical to RHEL except for the artwork on the menus etc (due to copyright).

Another good one worth pursuing is SLED (Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop). Version 10 SP1 is a great distro and easy to work with. Both are different in certain ways (package management etc) but both are easy to work with once you know the basics.
 
Going back to the original request for a distro that is definately Linux (i.e. not a "What Windows Should Be" distro) You can't go wrong with Zenwalk, it may be a tad tougher than (K)ubuntu or SUSE but it's nowhere near as hard as gentoo/slack (saying that, it IS slack with some tools for ease of use)
 
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