Linux Newbies

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Want to learn about linux? Heres the place to do it!

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Want to Learn Linux?

What is this big rave about Linux? The desktop environments can't look better than Mac can they? Windows is more stable isn't it? The answer to these questions will be answered in the following discussion.

Linux is kernel that controls the hardware in your computer system, it allocates resources to programs that run on top of it. It makes your cd tray open and close it makes the pixels display on your screen, it picks up your printer or makes your hard drive spin. On top of Linux you have a bunch of software and a distribution in the most simplified terms is a bunch of these software packages and a way to manage them. They come in all shapes and sizes but fundamentally they all run on top of Linux.

This distributions or distros as they are called come in a range of different flavors from open source only, to a mixture of both. Many of the well known systems such as Ubuntu, Debian of Fedora only ship with free and open source packages.

But why are there so many different distros? Well first and foremost it gives you a choice. I would start with something like Ubuntu and then experiment around with Fedora and other distros. Look at what they offer and shop around as one may tailor suit better than another. In the end you can just install the packages from the other systems as Linux is Linux is Linux and they all run from a common group of GUI's.

The three major GUIS are Gnome, KDE and XFCE. Gnome is the most common desktop GUI or environment and is the default for more linux distributions. KDE is another environment that may be a good choice for people coming over from windows, however I personally found gnome easier. Finally XFCE is a lightweight environment that I use that is designed for low end machines. However I think it packs quite a punch.

Anyway basically Linux is highly modifiable, I suggest just grab a distro and dive in. Its easy to install I would back up your data in case its your first time partitioning. Another good idea would be to install a program called WUBI which allows you to install Ubuntu as if it were a program on your windows machine, no partitioning and can be uninstalled from the control panel. Anyway good luck I will see you on the other side.

Discussion Forum

Want to learn about Linux? 2 Replies

Started by Dejai. Last reply by Kushaba Akami Aug 12.

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Comment by Patrik Drevestedt on September 22, 2009 at 12:41am: The problem with mounting and dismounting harddrives is solved.

Comment by Patrik Drevestedt on September 20, 2009 at 3:26pm: Having a problem with mounting and dismounting internal hardrives on Linux Mint 7 Gnome. Please PM me if you want to disscus this further.

Comment by Pedro Remedios on August 30, 2009 at 12:25pm: Is there a way to find out the scan code of the key I'm pressing of my macbook keyboard?

Comment by Kushaba Akami on August 12, 2009 at 11:16am: Man i will just say linux is not manga studio or tablet friendly. is there anyway i can get this to run without the headace?

Comment by CoolBreeze on May 8, 2009 at 11:46am: I just put easy peasy (eeebuntu) on my netbook and love it so far, but Still learning!! If anyone has any advice please throw it my way!!

Comment by Lee (Robzilla) Naramore on April 16, 2009 at 5:44am: Thank You Garet W.

Comment by Garrett W. on April 15, 2009 at 9:30pm: OS X is based on Unix. Linux is similar to Unix but not the same.

Comment by Lee (Robzilla) Naramore on April 15, 2009 at 9:25pm: OK question.... Isnt OS X based upon Linux? Also: I'm on dialup and I want a small, clean, yet easy version of Linux to try to dualboot my iMac that has OS x on it....... Any ideas? Ps. I'm on a very limited budget.

Comment by nodedog on April 14, 2009 at 5:10pm: I've fooled around with Linux for a long time but I still consider myself a newbie My microsoft versions are getting too obsolete so I am now looking more intensely to get rid of it entirely. However, I need a distro that works, not just one to play with.

Right now, I have Ubuntu loaded on one of my machines but I am having trouble getting it to work with my video card. Any ideas of a good distro that might help me to give the boot to Windows?

Comment by Andrew on February 11, 2009 at 4:13pm: Im trying to figure this stuff out, why some may ask, I tried and if I bring a disk I can boot off it at school and I dont have any restrictions on which sites I can go on then. (I can go on youtube and Geeks now!!)

;-) Andrew