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How do i get linux?

post #1 of 15
9/8/06 at 4:57pm
Thread Starter 
Can anyone help me,i want to install linux on my laptop.How do i get a copy? How do i install it?

I have a 40gb hardrive and i am using up 5gb,how much space does it take up?

Thanks i am really a new noob to linux!



Nick F
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post #2 of 15
9/8/06 at 5:09pm
http://mirrors.kernel.org/

Whatever distro you choose make sure you read through the forums, go through guides and howto's and simply educate yourself.
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post #3 of 15
9/8/06 at 6:22pm
whereas you are a n00b, we are gonna start you off with somewhere comfortable, ubuntu has always been a good bet for that (www.ubuntu.com), download ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-i386.iso, burn it to cd, and boot off the disk, follow onscreen instructions to install, should be a quick and painless process (about 20 minutes depending on hardware), the mirrors are rather loaded so i highly recommend you use bit torrent for best possible speed.

once you get that far feel free to come back and ask questions. remember and ubuntuforums.org are your best friend...use them wisely.
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post #4 of 15
9/8/06 at 7:21pm
Thread Starter 
so is there different versions of linux? what is ubuntu?
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post #5 of 15
9/8/06 at 7:26pm
linux has distributions, they are all linux, just diferent "versions", designed for certain kinds of people (moslty varying on skill lever and or intended task). each of thses distros has various versions/gens.

Ubuntu is (as far as I know ) currently the most noob-friendly distro around, because of its hardware support its easy to set up and helps the transition into linux. (instead of something more advanced like arch or even gentoo..wich require mor experience/work to get going correctly)

*all, as far as I know.
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post #6 of 15
9/8/06 at 7:33pm
like abf said Unduntu or Kunbuntu would be an easy start there is also SUSE.
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post #7 of 15
9/8/06 at 8:55pm
for the love of god stay away from Suse and Fedora....

one thing that is essential to realize is that linux is simply the kernel, you can get it at kernel.org but by itself it won't do much. combine it with some GNU tools and you can have a basic text-mode server running, but still nothing fancy. a "distribution" is a collection of useful open (and closed) source packages put together to make a functioning OS, as darq said...usually based on intended use or user skill level.

darq was also on the money about ubuntu/kubuntu/xubuntu being the more noob-friendly distro out there, and most of that friendliness comes from fantastic hardware support, a top notch community on ubuntuforums, and user-created tools like automatix that makes initial configuration and setup a snap. difference between the 3 listed above is their desktop environment, gnome, kde, and xfce respetively... dont worry about the details until you learn more, so just grab ubuntu (the gnome version of the above) and get cracking.

i am a firm believer that you can be asking questions forever and our answers won't make it any easier for you, the best way to learn is really try it out and struggle with it, for yourself.
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post #8 of 15
9/8/06 at 9:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by abf

i am a firm believer that you can be asking questions forever and our answers won't make it any easier for you, the best way to learn is really try it out and struggle with it, for yourself.

It worked for me
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post #9 of 15
9/8/06 at 10:02pm
and i dont classify ubuntu as a "noob-distro" either... i believe its just a distro that WORKS, no questions asked. i am fairly experienced and run Arch on my desktop without any real issues, but on my laptop i am just sticking to ubuntu... because after all, linux is linux and it is what you make of it....i stripped down xubuntu, removed some stuff, added some stuff, and replaced xfce with fluxbox.
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post #10 of 15
9/8/06 at 11:19pm
Quote:
one thing that is essential to realize is that linux is simply the kernel, you can get it at kernel.org but by itself it won't do much. combine it with some GNU tools and you can have a basic text-mode server running, but still nothing fancy. a "distribution" is a collection of useful open (and closed) source packages put together to make a functioning OS, as darq said...usually based on intended use or user skill level.
Grasshopper... you learn well Actually this is a topic that is probably one of the most common mistakes of people coming into linux, I believe there was a thread entitled "Mac OS X like distro" or "Why Linux" a bit back where this was gone into in a bit more depth with other explanations of it, but its a tricky subject to understand until, as ABF said, you really start digging into linux. I will however correct ABF, in that Ubuntu has the best track record of "Just Working" out of most distros, but that sometimes it doesnt just work(Much like Windows) and that can take a little help in getting working, which is why forums like these exist and are really good resources, but also dont forget to use google to find out how many times that problem has been run across before Seablade
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post #11 of 15
9/9/06 at 12:21am
This is all I needed to get up and running with ubuntu when I first tried it.
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper

Also go here for more specific questions:
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/
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post #12 of 15
9/9/06 at 5:12am
Here is another How to for Kubuntu.

http://www.linuxloader.com/modules.p...howpage&pid=28

PDR60
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post #13 of 15
9/9/06 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PDR60
Here is another How to for Kubuntu.

http://www.linuxloader.com/modules.p...howpage&pid=28

PDR60
I finally checked out your tutorials and I have to say they are very well done. I learned quite a bit skimming through them. I have to say, I love the fact that you make the users type in the commands themselves. You don't learn anything if you just cut and paste without thinking.
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post #14 of 15
9/9/06 at 1:34pm
Thanks for the Kind words

PDR60
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post #15 of 15
9/14/06 at 10:47pm
But I want to ask questions.
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