LINUX for Noobs. Distributions, experiences, help, etc

[peloquin]

i only have one hard drive...ill try to look for another one.

which file system do you recommend of the two linux ones? ext2 or ext3?

if i had to use just one hard drive, would separating all the windows logical drives in one extended partition, and the linux partitions (swap, root) within another extended partition help not have these conflict problems that may occur?

it may help to put them on seperate partitions, the real problem with putting them on the same one is a.) the whole NTFS thing and b.) if linux gets fucked the whole partition is fucked

id use ext3

[element86]

yeah i can imagine...

do you use both windows and linux?

[peloquin]

actually right now i am just using xp pro.... i have gone back and forth with dual boot, to just redhat.. back to windows..

ultimately i prefer linux, there are just a lot of things you have to go without when using it (certain programs, files, etc.)

ive taken various college courses on both systems though, so im very familiar with linux administration and all that bizness.

[factorg]

which file system do you recommend of the two linux ones? ext2 or ext3?

id use ext3

+1

i only have one hard drive...ill try to look for another one.

if i had to use just one hard drive, would separating all the windows logical drives in one extended partition, and the linux partitions (swap, root) within another extended partition help not have these conflict problems that may occur?

Another option you have is to load linux in a virtual machine on you windows workstation. I use this at work where I have a Fedora Core2 workstation but I run WinXp in a virtual machine on my linux workstation(does that make any sense? ) I would recommend VMware workstation for this . It's not free but i can give you a licence key if you need.

[element86]

which file system do you recommend of the two linux ones? ext2 or ext3?

id use ext3

+1

i only have one hard drive...ill try to look for another one.

if i had to use just one hard drive, would separating all the windows logical drives in one extended partition, and the linux partitions (swap, root) within another extended partition help not have these conflict problems that may occur?

Another option you have is to load linux in a virtual machine on you windows workstation. I use this at work where I have a Fedora Core2 workstation but I run WinXp in a virtual machine on my linux workstation(does that make any sense? ) I would recommend VMware workstation for this . It's not free but i can give you a licence key if you need.

so you would have to create a virtual drive right? im sorry, im not much aware of virtual machines...

whats the difference between creating a virtual machine and using partitions?

[neoee]

^^^
A virtual machine actually runs 1 OS inside the other (much virtual pc for the Macs. Using different partitions, you have to boot into the OS you choose.

Here's a screenshot of a linux box running a virtual XP workstation:

[peloquin]

very cool. i played around with wine when i was on a linux machine, but i never got it working perfectly. well worth taking a look at though

more info here

[digitalghostx]

Re:: LINUX for Noobs. Distributions, experiences, help, etc

VM Ware is pretty nice to get a Linux OS going.
I took Mandrake 10 and installed it on a VM and it works pretty nice.
It's straight forward and easy to install it without much help.
The only problem I have is I can't get the network card to recognize but Im too lazy and haven't had as much fun in the command line for Linux to go about and load VM tools once Im in the VM, that is truely tricky.

When you have a Windows VM, like a VM of XP you can pretty much click the icon on the VM screen and it installs VM ware tools for you in the XP VM.

I run XP Pro with VMs of (dist) Mandrake 10, Windows 2003 server, Windows XP.

[element86]

so which one is better? using a virtual machine or partitioning? which one is easier, cause less compatibility problems, etc?

[peloquin]

^ less probs with virtual machine id say, but partitioning is easier

[element86]

^ less probs with virtual machine id say, but partitioning is easier

could you please explain why less probs? perhaps compatibility issues? conflicts between windows/linux?...

[factorg]

With using a Virtual Machine you dont have to worry about having two partitioning schemes, ie one for windows(NTFS) and one for Linux(ext2 or 3). You install the Virtual Machine Software, run the program after installation which will allow you to install another O/S which will reside on your current O/S. After installation to start the new O/S all you do is click an icon on your desktop and the O/S will boot up giving you a choice of which O/S to work on as the image above shows.



Best thing to do would be to RTFM :wink:

[element86]

With using a Virtual Machine you dont have to worry about having two partitioning schemes, ie one for windows(NTFS) and one for Linux(ext2 or 3). You install the Virtual Machine Software, run the program after installation which will allow you to install another O/S which will reside on your current O/S. After installation to start the new O/S all you do is click an icon on your desktop and the O/S will boot up giving you a choice of which O/S to work on as the image above shows.



Best thing to do would be to RTFM :wink:

OK, started reading...
1."These operating systems and applications are isolated in secure virtual machines that co-exist on a single piece of hardware. The VMware virtualization layer maps the physical hardware resources to the virtual machine's resources, so each virtual machine has its own CPU, memory, disks, I/O devices, etc. Virtual machines are the full equivalent of a standard x86 machine."

So...dumb question maybe but...are the resources divided? I mean, suppose I had 1 gig processor...500 MHz for every OS then? The same with ram?

2. " Easily share files between guest and host virtual machines with shared folders or drag and drop files between virtual machines. " If Linux is running with XT3 file system and WinXP with NTFS, I do not think this would be possible. In a virtual machine system, however, are different file systems used? If so, how is this drag and drop possible? And if not, then how does Linux run on a file system for which it is not very compatible or viceversa?

[factorg]

OK, started reading...
1."These operating systems and applications are isolated in secure virtual machines that co-exist on a single piece of hardware. The VMware virtualization layer maps the physical hardware resources to the virtual machine's resources, so each virtual machine has its own CPU, memory, disks, I/O devices, etc. Virtual machines are the full equivalent of a standard x86 machine."

So...dumb question maybe but...are the resources divided? I mean, suppose I had 1 gig processor...500 MHz for every OS then? The same with ram?

No, VMware will utilies your processor much like any other application, it will take what it needs when it needs it. The amount of RAM that your Virtual Machine will use is determined by the value you tell it to use during the installation of the Virtual Machine.

2. " Easily share files between guest and host virtual machines with shared folders or drag and drop files between virtual machines. " If Linux is running with XT3 file system and WinXP with NTFS, I do not think this would be possible. In a virtual machine system, however, are different file systems used? If so, how is this drag and drop possible? And if not, then how does Linux run on a file system for which it is not very compatible or viceversa?

Taking the scenario that you are using a WinXP workstation and will install the VMware client on XP then install Linux as a Virtaul machine;

When you install linux through VMware, VMware will create either 2 x 2gig files or 1x 4gig file depending which option you choose(4GB is the default size but you an choose to split that 4GB file into 2 x 2GB files. You can also choose a larger size if you have the disk space or you can install it to a completely different drive altogether). Now what it does is uses those files as it would a Hard Drive, therefor formatting those files with the ext3 filesystem and installing the O/S.

I have no idea about the drag and drop.

[element86]

so the booting up takes much longer I suppose...considering the fact that part of a hard drive has to be formatted and installing linux and all...or is this done once only?