Unix = Linux ?????

[Matata]

Is LINUX the same thing as UNIX a they are two diffrent things???

 

[Hacktarux]

Linux is a Unix clone, but Unix isn't Linux.
If you want to learn more i suggest you to search for the history of linux in google.

 

[Remote]

For all you lazy people, including me...

Google search for: The+history+of+linux

 

[Matata]

Thanks, I´m lazy too.

 

[Matata]

So UNIX it´s like the base of LINUX right????
So if I want to install Linux in my computer...

1)Which distribution/s are the best?
2)What are the pros and cons of Linux against Windows?
3)Is it stable?
4)What are the diffrences of the diffrents distributions?
5)Is it hard to use?
6)Does the diffrents distributions look diffrent?
7)Can you show me a few Linux screenshots?

Thanks.

 

[Matata]

Just one more thing: Is it available in spanish????

 

[mesman00]

So UNIX it´s like the base of LINUX right????
So if I want to install Linux in my computer...

1)Which distribution/s are the best?
2)What are the pros and cons of Linux against Windows?
3)Is it stable?
4)What are the diffrences of the diffrents distributions?
5)Is it hard to use?
6)Does the diffrents distributions look diffrent?
7)Can you show me a few Linux screenshots?

Thanks.

1. mandrake is great for beginners. also might want to try RedHat. Gentoo is a great distro if you want to be bothered compiling it yourself. But since you've never used before, you might want to try a distro with a nice install program (like windows has) and then just get used to the OS in general. Then you can try something different. It's up to you. If it were me i would probably start right with Gentoo and know absolutely nothing about what I am doing. That's what I did. Sure have learned alot about linux, but not nearly enough. If you read around techtalk you will see many a post by me concerning (simple) linux problems.

2. open source. everything is free, and there is a linux counterpart for just about every windows application. look for open-office as a counterpart to ms office, xmms for a counterpart to winamp, etc. nuff said

3. stable. yes, extremely.

4. each distro varies on user friendliness and other things. Like i said, mandrake is very user friendly. However, other distros like gentoo can be optimized and compiled specifically for your system, giving you the greatest performance on your system. Also, gentoo uses ebuilds which eliminates those nasty rpm's. to download/compile/install most applications all you have to do is have a fast internet connection (broadband, etc) and type "emerge <insert application name here>".

5. it's not that it's hard, it's just different from windows. most things are done from the bash (command prompt), such as copying files and folders and compiling applications. in windows you have step-by-step installation's for your applications. linux doesn't have this. you need to compile most apps by yourself. these are a few examples of the differences.

6. linux itself doesn't have a window manager, ie it is just a command prompt. thus, all linux distro's look the same. However, most users use window managers (giving you the feel of "windows"). there a few different window managers which are commonly used. I think the two most popular are KDE and GNOME. They have there difference, and you can use either until you figure out which you like more. Personally i use KDE.

7. for some kde-shots visit http://www.kde-look.org. you can also visit gentoo's site for some shots of users running gentoo linux with both KDE and GNOME. http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/shots.xml

hope that helps. i'm sure other people have insight as well.

 

[Matata]

Thanks for all the info, but I´ll try to learn more about linux before jumping into it...

 

[Matata]

Well, I´ve seen some screenshots and it looks pretty neat but something I don´t understand is the command prompt thing and compiling, what´s compiling?
How do you know wich commands you should use in the command prompt do do a certain thing??

 

[Matata]

Just one more thing: In wich way do you mean gentoo can be optimized specifically for my system?
Why do I need an internet connection to install something? Is a 256 kb/s enough?
Is it always a good idea to leave XP installed isn´t it?

IS IT AVAILABLE IN SPANISH????????

 

[3x3cUt0r]

you can compile the distros by yourself, and make them more system specific... because sometimes you doesnt need a kernel with all the features... like compatibility with specific hardware, and you can make linux run w/o a GUI, just the console

you asked what compiling means... is when you take the source code (you know what is this?), and you use a compiler to make a build of the program (like the .exe you use in windows)

if you need more help just pm me (igual soy de colombia y hablo español asi te podria ayudar mas)

 

[Matata]

Thanks a lot all of you guy, I get it now.
Just one more think: Is it available in spanish?

 

[linemu]

It is available in spanish... and in every other langauge I know of.
Also... if you just want to try it out, there are many live-cd distributions, these distro's run completely off of the CD-ROM drive, and are great if you are "testing the water". In my opinion SuSE linux is awesome! I use a older version of it (8.1), and the new 9.0 release looks great! Go to www.suse.com for more info. You can download a live-cd of SuSE from here: ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/live-eval-9.0/. And as for screenshots... you can look the "show me your desktop" thread here in the waaaay off topic section.... I just posted a screenshot of my desktop here. Other good screenshot places are:

here: http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xcontentmode=screenshot

and here: http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=38967

there also a number of good emulators for linux including: XMAME, ZSNES, Mupen64, INES, DGEN, SNES9X, and VisualBoy Advance.
If you decide to install linux: HAVE FUN!

BTW: www.justlinux.com is an awesome linux support forum, it has over 57,000 users!

 

[Matata]

Si ti is available in spanish....great!
Thanks for the info (specially for the live-cd thing)

 

[Matata]

Well, I think SuSe is the one to start with since it does all of the important things for you (maybe when I gain more experience Icould switch to Gentoo).

I´ve seen a lot of talk about Slackware in some forums, What about it? Is it a good distro?

 

[Matata]

I´ve read around there that Linux does not suport any hardware, now: I want to try SuSE Live-CD but the question is: Will it work with my hardware? How can I know that it will? Is the Live-CD distro going to mess up with WinXP or anything in my PC?

 

[Eagle]

The Live distro will not touch your hard drive unless you do it yourself manually.

The live distro does have limited hardware capability because you cant install any new drivers (its on a CD, how would you do that?). But the normal distro's have full hardware support for your hardware. Usually the limited hardware support on the live distro is stuff like 3d acceleration, but the video will work.

 

[Matata]

Ok, I tryed SuSe and I must say it´s REALLY COOL!!! It´s pretty fast (much more than XP to me) and it looks really great. Now here are my questions:

1)Since I have to make a partition in the HD to install SuSE, is there any way to create a partition without having to format the HD (because my father doesn´t like changes in the PC) because I want to leave XP installed.

2)Is the boot menu created automatically by SuSE when you install it?

3)Can you recommend me a good anti-virus for Linux?

4)What´s WineHQ?

5)Is openoffice already installed when you install SuSE?

6)What´s an FTP install?

7)How can I learn how to compile things (because I read that you have to compile by yourself most of the things you want to install in Linux).

Thanks.

 

[linemu]

Ok, I tryed SuSe and I must say it´s REALLY COOL!!! It´s pretty fast (much more than XP to me) and it looks really great. Now here are my questions:

1)Since I have to make a partition in the HD to install SuSE, is there any way to create a partition without having to format the HD (because my father doesn´t like changes in the PC) because I want to leave XP installed.

2)Is the boot menu created automatically by SuSE when you install it?

3)Can you recommend me a good anti-virus for Linux?

4)What´s WineHQ?

5)Is openoffice already installed when you install SuSE?

6)What´s an FTP install?

7)How can I learn how to compile things (because I read that you have to compile by yourself most of the things you want to install in Linux).

Thanks.

Here are some answers:

1. The latest version 9.0 should automatically partition windows and linux so they can run side by side.

2. I believe so

3. Can't really answer you on this... but there are no viruses for linux, they are all programmed to run on windows computers, and do not harm linux.

4. WineHQ is an organization that makes the WINE software. WINE stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. It's a program that can run some windows software.

5. With my version (8.1) an icon for openoffice.org was up, but when I clicked on it, it went through the installation. So it installs the installation program.

6. This install is a install that loads directly from the internet. You download a installer program which then downloads all the software and installs it. Personally I would recommend buying the profesional edition from amazon.com for $60... it comes with TONS and TONS of software... and if you want to compile programs, then it's sort of a must, because although you can search around through the internet looking for the libraries needed to compile programs, it's much easier to have them all on a disk.

7. Well.. I suppose I could help you here. (I complile ALL of my programs now, since the precompiled programs don't run on my version any more). The first thing is to have all the development libraries installed. If you look at the requirements of the programs and for example, it says it needs GTK, then you'll need the GTK_devel package installed, or if it says SDL then you need SDL_devel package installed, etc. The compiling itself is VERY simple. This is the way I do it. I run Konqueror, the default file manager, extract the source package, then go into the source directory that was extracted. In the directory there will be two files that must be noted, a file called CONFIGURE (this one is not ALWAYS in here though) and one called MAKEFILE. On konqueror I there is a setting in the tool-bar to turn on the TERMINAL EMULATOR. This opens a little command prompt in which you can type in commands for the directory you are in. First you type ./configure (if the file CONFIGURE is in the directory, if not just do the second command), then type MAKE. this will build the executables. You can then install the executables in the program directory or run them from where they are. If you wish to install them in the program directory (usr/local/) then you must have super-user file permisions (a user account cannot affect system directories). Type in SU in the terminal emulator, and then type in the ROOT password you set during the installation. Then type MAKE INSTALL. NOW YOU'RE done. That may seem difficult.. but it's not. Here's a shortened version.

1. extract source package, go into extracted directory

2. on the menu-bar click on WINDOW--->OPEN TERMINAL EMULATOR.

3. In terminal type in ./configure

4. Then type in MAKE.

5. then, su , and then enter your password.

6. then type MAKE INSTALL.
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If it didn't then go to www.justlinux.com, I HIGHLY recommend that you become a member at this forum. It has over 57,000 members , many of which are linux experts. THEY CAN ANSWER ALL OF YOUR LINUX QUESTIONS. It's an excellent support forum... and of course there are many SuSE 9.0 users there that can help you with more SuSE specific stuff.
You're welcome if this helped you at all!

 

[Matata]

8)When I chose to use Spanish as my lenguage in SuSE everything stays in engish, Is it because it´s just a CD Evaluation?