Ubuntu is a good choice, but it isn't the easiest one to use. Mint is based
on Ubuntu and is easier for new users to use. However, you will find lots of
support for Ubuntu. It is the largest distribution by far. You will find
more online help as well as the books you mentioned.
I use Kubuntu which is Ubuntu with a different desktop environment (KDE).
Most users run a combination of GNOME (used by Ubuntu) and KDE (used by
Kubuntu). That is they run Ubuntu with some KDE applications or vice versa.
Other easy to use distributions to consider are MEPIS and PCLinuxOS. MEPIS
is based on Debian, the same thing Ubuntu uses and it is easy to install and
use. A similar small distribution is PCLinuxOS which is like MEPIS, but it
is based on Mandriva, a Red Hat derivative. It uses a different package
management system. Both are considered small distributions as they have a
single developer. Updates are less frequent, but they are very stable.
Ubuntu is a close second to these distributions. The big difference is that
Ubuntu uses GNOME's tools instead of adding its own and it requires some
post installation to get multimedia and proprietary codecs and drivers which
are left out in order to comply with the law. They are available, but they
require EULAs that you have to click through so they are left out for that
reason. You need to install them separately. They are packaged together as
"restricted-
Roy
2009/10/25 Roy <linuxcanuck@
> You need to let us know which distribution you are considering and drive
> sizes so that we can help further.
>
> Roy
>
> 2009/10/25 Jim Tillman <jim6440@yahoo.
>
>
>>
>> Thank you for your help! I'm working on this and i may need you yet again
>> as I said I'm way new to all this but I believe linux is what I want to
>> become prolific in. To be honest I am a tad scared at this point of getting
>> some thing wrong and crashing my computer! But I have been reading on this
>> Ubuntu and reading the, pocket guide and reference book. Is this a good way
>> to go?
>>
>> --- On Sun, 10/25/09, Roy <linuxcanuck@
>> wrote:
>>
>> From: Roy <linuxcanuck@
>> Subject: Re: [LINUX_Newbies] new to linux, have not down loaded yet need
>> help
>> To: LINUX_Newbies@
>> Date: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 3:43 PM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Linux is a bit different from what operating system you might be used to.
>> It
>>
>> allows for you to install the operating system one place and have the user
>>
>> files elsewhere. The operating system is installed in / (called root) and
>>
>> the users's files are installed in /home.
>>
>> Many people find it useful to have your operating system and /home in
>>
>> separate partitions. The reason is that you can re-use home if done this
>> way
>>
>> and never lose your data or settings if you re-install your operating
>>
>> system. The root file system is replaced, but the users files would not be
>>
>> touched provided you elect for a custom installation and do not format
>>
>> /home.
>>
>> The file system keeps users away from your root directory and they would
>>
>> need to know the password for root to make changes.
>>
>> Since you will be wanting users to use separate drives this suggests a
>>
>> custom installation anyway. You might as well go the extra mile to have
>>
>> separate partitions for root and home.
>>
>> If this was my system, I would partition the larger drive so that it has
>>
>> about 20 GBs for the root file system and the in one partition formatted
>> in
>>
>> ext3 or 4. The other drive I would format and set as my /home. To do this
>>
>> you format the drive in ext3 or 4 and set the mount point as /home. Use
>> your
>>
>> user name and password.
>>
>> After installation you can then add users and give each a password, but
>> set
>>
>> their /home on the unused partition of your other drive.
>>
>> A couple of considerations are in order. It is easier (but not better) to
>>
>> have the root partition on your first drive as that is where grub, the
>> boot
>>
>> loader, prefers to reside. It can be edited or installed on the second
>>
>> drive, but it saves you the hassle. Therefore it might be better to use
>> the
>>
>> remainder of the first drive for your other users and the second drive for
>>
>> you.
>>
>> However, you don't say anything about drive size. If users are heavy
>>
>> downloaders you may want to re-think your placement of their /home folders
>>
>> and partition size. You can run a distribution in 8 GBs, but if you
>> install
>>
>> lots of applications afterwards, you can run out of space and things bog
>>
>> down or even crash. If it is 20 GBs for / it leaves you with space for
>>
>> growth. If you opt for lots of post installation (there are 35000
>>
>> applications or so) then you want to go larger 30 GBs or even more.
>>
>> Most space should be devoted to /home as most users download and produce
>>
>> lots of material.
>>
>> All things are possible. Well almost. My system has two drives and a over
>> a
>>
>> dozen partitions. I typically have several distributions installed at once
>>
>> and use several different /homes just for myself. It is that much fun!
>>
>> Roy
>>
>> 2009/10/25 JimT <jim6440@yahoo. com>
>>
>> >
>>
>> >
>>
>> > Guess the first thing to say is i really do not know much about
>> computers.
>>
>> > and i am very interested in learning linux. I have 2 hard drives on my
>>
>> > computer and 4 users. I want to know how to do a partition to have linux
>> on
>>
>> > #2 and keep #1 for all the other users. #2 has very little on it other
>> then
>>
>> > what was put on it when it was installed by a computer service co. when
>> i
>>
>> > bought it. I have put a few things on it myself like lanwhois, auslogics
>>
>> > reg.defrag, google hacks and a trial of smart draw 2010. and my guess is
>> i
>>
>> > can just move them to #1 if i even want to keep them. It is a MAXTOR
>> 6Y080M0
>>
>> > and has 4.08 GB of used and 228 GB of unused space on it. Guess thats
>> the
>>
>> > most of it, just looking for some support on this and looking forward to
>>
>> > learning linux! Thank you, jim6440
>>
>> >
>>
>> >
>>
>> >
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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