A few newb questions about Linux.

I have never used Linux and I have only actually seen Linux being used once (don't know what version it was either). I have an old computer here are the specs:

ATC-6220 ver.1.1 motherboard
Pentium II 450Mhz
256MB RAM (384MB max for this motherboard)
ATI Radeon 9250 Video card

I would like to know what Linux is best for my machine. I have used Windows my whole life and I am very comfortable with it. But I find that maybe it is holding me back sometimes.

 

linux will teach you alot, however you should be warned its different what your used to and it will take some time (2 weeksya )
http://www.linux.com/download_linux/

http://www.ubuntu.com/
the minimum requirements seems to be around 256mb of ram so your set, but any OS will run choppy on a pent 2, but linux will run better then windows

 

My god your everywhere! lol Thanks my friend.

 

p2 450 eh.. That will run most modern linux pretty well. Ubuntu will be a bit on the bloatware side, and you may have an acpi problem from the bios being >2000. Try straight debian (will drop to low memory mode but that's fine) and strip some stuff out.. just put a basic desktop system on and add things as you need them You should be able to run at 1024x768 screen res before you get stutter problems. If you can find another 128 stick of ram things will improve greatly. My minimum for a working debian system with GUI is 32MB.. so you have a fair bit of headroom :lol:

 

Yeah I was looking at the Linux website and I saw all of these versions of Linux and I saw one call Damn Small Linux and it made me laugh I'm sure by the name it probably won't do much. Oh I have two HD's in my old Computer but they one is a 4GB and the other is 10GB I probably should have put Windows in the 10GB one but for some reason I installed it on the smaller one. I am running XP Pro on this old computer and it runs fine only it takes a while to boot up and running a lot of programs is out of the question. Maybe I sould go back to 2000 Pro? I was wondering which Linux would run the best on my machine and be able to run my movie files and such. I do plan on getting a couple of 128MB RAM cars so I would have 384 as oppesed to 256.

 

Oh and I ran across this on youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=h3Y6F1dSR8A

This Guy is running Ubuntu on a machine with stats lower than mine and he is messing with something that looks fun. What is this XGL and what is Beryl anyway?

 

I went to download Ubuntu and I was wondering if I would need the normal iso or the alternate?

 

Seriously do I need the alternate Desktop or just the normal download?

 

Actually disregard the last question I found out the info I needed to know. So about the drivers for stuff. How hard is it to find drivers for it?

 

Old machine like that.. probably easier than windows :lol:

Seriously, the hardware support under most linux is just fantastic. I use a killbill disk to find what hardware is in a box when windows gives people the unknown device syndrome.

It's only with brand new stuff you will have driver problems.

As for aix/compiz/beryl.. I think people you see messing with it on old hardware are just experimenting on things that don't matter so much if they break them.. I can't see any use for the 3D desktop stuff.. linux has multiple desktops anyway, and that is a far more useful feature.

 

The more I talk about it the more I see why so many people are using Linux. I was reading about Windows on wikipedia and I saw how stupid Microsoft is becoming. They are already working on a Vista replacement!!! It is called Windows 7 (wow lost ideas for a name? LOL) I still haven't downloaded Ubuntu yet but I am about to do it.

 

either will work, its just a different download source

ill give you a fair warning warning, living without windows is not something easily done, thats why im currently dual booting the lot of them on one hdd, anyway i suggest since you have xp already you might as well dual-boot it with linux, your going to need to fall back on windows if the linux interface confuses you (lol am joking linux can be programed by an infant) no but seriously there are going to be many programs you run into that dont run on linux, at that time you'll be glade you kept xp on your computer


not at all as complicated as it sounds,

http://apcmag.com/6101/dualboot_windows_xp_and_ubuntu
if you have enough hard drive space you'll be fine
hdds are quite cheap anyways, you can pick up a decent 50gb hdd for 20bucks!

-tripplite

 

I live without windows, and I don't even like using it while I'm out..

Live cd booting all the way. I forgot how to use XP, and that one desktop stuff is just.. well.. so damn primitive. Forget the way you are used to doing things.. don't expect linux to be like windows in anything but the superficial things. People who dual boot never seem to really get anywhere.. you need to bite the bullet and put up with the learning curve.. It doesn't take long for windows to seem like the poor relation, unfamiliar and old fashioned (yup.. I include vista in that.. 1 year old already, my debian is more recent)

It's a fallacy spread by M$ fanboys that you NEED M$ stuff.. you don't!!.
Vista and DRM is the best thing that has ever happened to FOSS operating systems and software. Apple tried the lockin in 93-95 and where are they now?? Windows arrived virtually free, and they didn't care about pirate versions circulating so long as people were using it.. It's only the last 2 years they have suddenly started playing it like a monopoly.. so ditch them, join with everybody else who has eyes and brain and lets get this war won once and for all

Don't get me started on vista... all the hassles of a unix system multiplied by bad implementation plus the same antique interface we know and hate from win95 onwards. My last windows machine was formatted and turned over to FreeBSD 2 years ago.. haven't had it in the house since. Even gave all my disks away.. not needed and surplus to requirements.
Anybody who says you NEED windows is telling fibs.. it's unnecessary. It's also a damn site easier to do multimedia stuff on linux these days.. try burning a bin file cd release on vista.. fail-fail-fail.. DRM..
TV companies with their DRM filled windows only media players are under attack from the open source movement right now.. public subscription public service broadcasters are finding we don't go away, and WE WILL NOT support M$ to access a service we are entitled to have as we have paid for it. The BBC have ip banned me from their talkback system after I started quoting their public service charter back at them.. so that's a victory, and I have complained to every MP in the UK about it. They don't let me have an opinion or access to the catch up system, but they forcibly make me pay £140 a year for TV from them.. dvd recorders rule.. check out my David Attenborough torrents for *nix users who are denied access to the content Piracy caused by exclusion.. case 1.

What programs have I found that will not run on windows... Every .exe.. and who the hell needs them anyway?? *nix has far better programs and applications.. mostly free, lean and working, without DRM restrictions. Dump those windows ideas.. FOSS works, People.. real people.. make the applications. You can give them suggestions and feedback.. they are human beings, not faceless businesses. (ipod classic sets work with linux too, no need to upgrade to leopard.. hahaha)

The ONLY thing that I have had problems with is phone software, but I'm trying. The drivers aren't a problem.. linux can handle .inf files just like any other binary.. it's the interfaces that are missing.. but those are coming as well as more and more linux users are trying to connect phones.

That's the view from a total *nix house.. no windows here, and no need for it. Dual boot is for n00bs who can't or won't learn something new.

 

I agree with varnull, I don't really miss a thing from Windows. The days of PC gaming are over, so the argument of not having any major games in really moot, if you want a recent game buy a gaming console. Or even better, buy a PS3 and run Linux on that. Two birds with one stone. If anything else doesn't work under Wine and is really important, odds are you're not the only one who wants it, and there exists a substitute.

Dual booting only encourages you to be lazy and not find a replacement, and if you keep using Windows as a crutch, you'll only keep needing it. And if you don't like the way the best replacement works, you are always able to get in there and contribute to make it better ("contribution" doesn't just mean code either, even helping with bug reports or writing documentation helps to allow those more involved focus more on what needs to be done).

You'll be surprised how many replacement projects there are for even fairly obscure things. I've just recently discovered a whole bunch of stuff for printed circuit board design and microcontroller programming that are as good and probably better than their Windows counterparts that can cost $400+ (just harder to learn due to added complexity!).

 

You guys are making me so happy! As I download Ubuntu (55% downloaded right now.) I can't wait to try it. I am a guy who loves working with stuff! I watched a thing on youtube that made me want to a least see Linux. I will probably watch some more linux stuff on youtube after I am done typing. As for Microsoft aka M$ (or doo-dooheads) Bill Gates can step on a land mine. I love this idea of people helping people. I will have to dual boot however my dad isn't very good with computers and he would be ultra confused. I cannot wait to use linux!!!! There really isn't too many .exe files I actually use. I know that windows is nothing but .exe and I don't game on PCs I barely game on consoles but the PS3 Linux thing sounds sweet.

 

Nicely put Mick.. You found linux apps are made for results not ease of use too then?

That's what I love about it.. The way things are made to do the job first, and be pretty and easy second. Too many times a pretty GUI hides a primitive and basic thing underneath all dressed up and charged a fortune for.. Those batch file renamers are a classic example. $30 for a basic dos command dressed up with a GUI. What a ripoff

nrg2iso is a classic example, as is mp3split.. of the linux philosophy.. command line only.. not to mention the swiss army knife that is ffmpeg.

Suggestions for a distro for a p2-450.. I found PClinux ran really well on one, as did suse 9/10. Ubuntu is too slow.. it's bloated and seems to be going the fedora/restricted path with regards to multimedia and codecs..

Most of the linux screenshots in the desktop thread I posted ages ago were taken on a p2 400.. (I have a fair few machines of that era)

We should start a linux only desktop thread in here.. with system specs. I'm on it now.. :lol:

 

I was doing some reading on wiki and I saw xubuntu. It is a lightweight distro that only requires 128MB of RAM. What can Xubuntu do that Ubuntu cannot? My Ubuntu download it 75% now and now you are telling me I should get something else? LOL well I'll do some more reading!