Anyone Use Linux?

[geoffinbc]

Well I have used Linux several times before but I have never installed it to my own computer. So I have a Laptop here that is a couple years old and I think I am going to give it a shot. The current version of Windows was installed with a Volume License Key that was caught my Microsoft so I can no longer update it. So I am going to format the drive and install Linux. I have chosen to try Fedora which is a free version similar to Redhat and is easy to install. So I hope it all goes well.

So have any of you guy used or are you currently using Linux? What can you tell me about it?

[black05gt]

Getting off of Windows is a great decision, and not that hard. If you are interested in trying a Linux system, I suggest that you look into Ubuntu - it's free and getting a lot of support from the Unix/Linux community.

[TazMan]

Yeah I switched to linux a couple years back. It's a great OS, but it takes alot of time and patience. I wouldn't limit myself to a specific distro right away if I were you. Try out a few. It usually takes some time to decide which one works best for you. Many will run right from the CD so you can test them before installing. I've used Fedora, Slackware, Ubuntu, Kubuntu (ubuntu with kde instead of gnome), Redhat and Zenwalk. My favorites were Slackware, Mandriva, and Kubuntu all of which were free. I found Mandriva to be easiest to use. It also comes packed with alot of software. Slackware was very stable but probably better for the more advanced linux user. I would however keep a copy of windows installed just to play games.

[Superdave]

I use Slackware for my web server, pretty steep learning curve but it works great.

I dual-booted XP and Slack for a while but i got tired of having to spend hours doing something that only takes 30 sec in Windows.. So i went back to WinXP for my desktop.

[geoffinbc]

Well this Laptop is not my main PC so I am not worried if it wont work right out of the box. The PC I am on now uses WinXP and my other laptop uses Vista. every PC I have does everything I want it to do. But since this old laptop I have no longer has a valid copy of Windows I think it is a good candidate for Linux.

Has anyone here every used some way off OS? Like OS/2?

[black05gt]

Yup, I used to run OS/2, haven't touched it in a long time. Think I MIGHT still have the disks/CD's in the back of the closet .

[Tonglebeak]

Gentoo Linux is the best for me, is for more advanced users who want total control over everything. If you're starting out, I'd recommend Kubuntu.

[walterdude]

My own experience with Linux has been less than Earth Shaking.... If I knew someone else, close to me, who used it and could help me over a couple of small hurdles it might be different... Alas, I don't know ANYONE who uses Linux... One day I'll probably make another partition and double boot a XP/Linux install,,, it's been 5-6 years since I've played with Linux and alot has changed,,, they say it's easier to use these days.....
Regardless, what I really wanted to say is just because a copy of XP isn't legit doesn't mean you can't update Windows...
This site http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/ will update Windows, from the Microsoft site... It's primarily for people who use Mozilla Suite or Firefox... It WON'T work with IE.... BUT,,, it WILL let you update your "Illegal" XP installation....
Not saying don't try Linux,,,,, just offering an alternative!!! NOT condoning Piracy either!!! Wellllll,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Tom....

[geoffinbc]

Ehh I don't care about piracy either. I was quite happy with my version of XP until it kept reminding me it was not valid every time I restarted.

I still have 2 desktops and 2 laptops running either Vista or XP. I can say that both have been great and I have no problems with either. I know lots of people who constantly bitch about Vista and how many problems and that it wont run old programs or work with old printers. But for me I was able to run the original roller coaster tycoon and use my girlfriends old printer that is probably turning 10 this year.

Well anyway I decided to stick with the Fedora version of Linux. It was easy to get and comes with tons of software and is a version supported by RedHat. The installation is happening right now and I will report back when I get her booted up.

[geoffinbc]

Well that was easy. A lot less time and less annoying that installing windows. Now I need to figure out how to get my wireless working

[bszopi]

I have Fedora 8 running on a workstation in the basement. It hardly ever gets touched though. One of these days, when I get some free time, it will be converted to a webserver.

[nixtux]

Wireless is pretty easy if you're still playing around.

iwlist eth0 scanning (eth0 may be eth1 depending on your NIC's. ifconfig may shed light. The interface may be something else so try "ifconfig -a")

If it's the wrong interface you'll get something like

"Interface doesn't support scanning."

after that command runs choose your wireless AP and run

iwconfig eth0 essid APNAME

then ifup eth0

if you have a WEP code that's a bit more tricky.

In those cases I would recommend a front end to use since i believe you need to configure using the HEX code. I've only configured one workstation to use WEP and that was about two years ago. So I'm sure it's easier now than it was then. I don't use WEP I use MAC address filtering /w my AP and there isn't anyone close to me so I don't get too concerned with security (and I have internal firewalls for that anyway cause this house has two private subnets since it's just easier to seperate the house from the addition using a bridge.)

But if your AP is wide open the above should work from CLI.

If you have a WEP google your GUI + wireless frontend and there should be good tutorials.

[geoffinbc]

Well I am using a network manager for Fedora but I cannot get the wireless to work. I think it is a device driver problem. The computer does recognize the device is present but I cannot activate it. My Ethernet connection was a simple click and it was running but not so much with my wireless.

[nixtux]

do a lspci and lsmod in a terminal and paste the output.

Then we can see if the driver was loaded by udev and if not what driver you need. At least run the iwlist command and see if it can find any AP's.
And are the lights on the wireless card or is it a internal one?

Well I am using a network manager for Fedora but I cannot get the wireless to work. I think it is a device driver problem. The computer does recognize the device is present but I cannot activate it. My Ethernet connection was a simple click and it was running but not so much with my wireless.

[geoffinbc]

Well I tried the commands in a terminal window but all returned a command not found. The last experience I have with command lines is MS DOS but Linux does not use many similar commands as far as I can tell. So if there is anything more specific I have to enter your going to have to tell me. LOL