So you talked me into it...

[ViRaL1]

I've decided to expand my horizons. I'm going to put Linux on one of my boxes. It's a machine that I haven't been doing much with as of late. I'd love to hear suggestions from those of you who have used or are using Linux. I don't have many requirements and hardware really shouldn't be an issue (I hope). I'll be putting it on a system with the following specs.

Celeron 1.7GHz
1GB RAM(or 512MB, I forget)
40GB IDE HDD
CD-RW
DVD-ROM
On-board Video
On-board Audio
On-board 10/100

I also have a 250GB drive running on a secondary ATA / SATA controller, but I don't want to install the Linux OS or any Linux apps on that drive.

It's currently running W2K Pro. Dual booting is preferred. If possible I'd like to keep my current OS intact. I don't have a problem resizing the partitions with Partition Magic beforehand if necessary. Also, I'll be Ghosting W2K before I start just in case I change my mind. The only MAJOR CONCERN I have is that I have a 250GB drive running on a secondary ATA/SATA controller which is pretty full, and I don't have any way to back that up. If Linux can see the drive and actually read the contents that's great. If not it's no big loss because I can always boot into W2K when I want access to the data. I'm just concerned about not corrupting it. My other requirement is that I want something that's fairly standard. I'd hate to put time and energy into learning something that's very non-standard and therefore impractical everywhere else but my apartment. I assume that for the most part, the core Linux commands and apps don't change much, but that's just an assumption.

TIA

[ViRaL1]

Anyone...?

Bueller...?

Bueller...?

Bueller...?

Sure, I see how it is. All the Linux stuff happens when I'm offline. It's not fair.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

[bazooka]

Resize your partition with Partition magic.

Stick in a linux install cd and use grub as the bootloader.

Do the automatic partitioning and tell it to remove all linux partitions.

It will now install and will keep your y2k partition alone and you will have a dual boot system.

[ViRaL1]

Thanks. Any suggestions on distros?

[bazooka]

You could try Fedora.

I recommend it.

[ViRaL1]

I'll give it a try. I actually downloaded and burned the FC2 DVD last night while I was waiting on responses since I hear you talk about it a lot. I'll give it a shot sometime this week. In the end I'll probably try 3 or 4 distros for a couple months at a time. Thanks for the help.

[Faustus]

From my research into the subject on a PC I'd suggest either Fedora Core or Gentoo (if you don't mind a DIY install)

[ViRaL1]

I may take a look at Gentoo also. I fear no OS. Although I'm not going to even TRY Linux Punchcard Edition.

[bazooka]

No problem, but you should try the Fedora Core 3 Test 3.

It already has firefox installed.

[stiltman]

I've always been a Mandrake fan.
It's been the most stable distro from my experience

[ViRaL1]

Just started downloading FC3 test 3 DVD.

[bazooka]

I don't recommend the dvd.

Get the cd images.

When you go to install the dvd will not work.

Mine didn't.

I had to use the cd's.

[Faustus]

The DVD worked on Virtual PC just fine.

[bazooka]

Cool.

But when I tried it in virtual pc, it said it was looking for a cd.

Maybe I did something wrong.

[Faustus]

It does say its looking for a CD. Then it sees the DVD and boots it up.

[bazooka]

It did not see the dvd.

I got an error message saying that virtual pc needed a cd.

[Faustus]

Thats odd. Cause VPC 7 booted it right up.

[Cobra]

Mandrake 10 is very newbie-friendly. I'd recommend it, and the Lilo bootloader - Grub gets more than a little pissed off when you get rid of Linux!

[bazooka]

You are using it on a mac right.

I am using virtual pc 2004.

Big difference.

[Faustus]

Hrm... I'll try the DVD on my PC with 2k4. Strange that it will not work. Sounds like the emulator is not emulating properly.