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How do I install Linux on my machine?

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pitupepito2000

Golden Member
Hi,

I am kind of new to Linux, and I want to install it in my new computer. I know there are many different versions of Linux, but I don't know which one to download. How much space would I need in the partition to install Linux? I have heard that I need 2 partitions to install Linux is this right? I think I read somewhere, that some OSes, are kind of picky in which sectors of the hard driver they are installed. Is this right? and does Linux has this issues also? I would really appreciate it if you give me some links and also some important info on Linux.

Thanks for the input!🙂
 
I am going to do a dual boot with Win2k and RedHat Linux. Right now I am reading the material, so I know as much as possible. I have a question:

What format should I use to create the partition where Red Hat will be? I mean should I use NTFS or FAT32?

How big should my partition for RedHat be?

I have read about a swap partition, what is this partition for?

Thanks for all the input!
 
What format should I use to create the partition where Red Hat will be? I mean should I use NTFS or FAT32?
Click to expand...
Neither, unless you already have an OS on the hard drive .

Here is what I typically do with a dual boot box: First the decision is based on what the box will be used for. With the exception of CIV II and III, I'm not a gamer. The last dual boot box I put together uses an older 9 GB hard drive. A determination was made that Win2K takes up roughly 50 percent of that. 1/2 of the hard drive was partitioned using FAT 32. The remaining space was left unpartitioned and unformatted. Installed Win 2K and insured it was functional. Then used the fdisk feature Red Hat to create the Linux partition prior to the Linux OS installation (There are three methods, automatic, Disk Druid and fdisk). The fdisk feature although fairly straight forward, can be a bit confusing. Therefore, the Red Hat installation took up the remaining free space on the hard drive with its own file system.

Also have a triple boot box here at home (98, Win2K and Mandrake) and did basically the same thing. My method is not the best. Many users install Linux on a hard drive already completely partitioned for Windows and allow the partitioning application to adjust the partitions from there. Other users employ Partition Magic for partitioning.

Great reference on the subject from Red Hat

How big should my partition for RedHat be?
Click to expand...
Depends upon the size of your hard disk and what you want to do with the OS. I recommend setting aside at least 2 GB of disk space for the Linux OS itself. For games and other apps, multiply that by 3 for a total of 8 GB. This is a conservative estimate. If you are just beginning with Linux, you may not require so much space. Other Linux users have better recommendations, I'm sure.

I have read about a swap partition, what is this partition for?
Click to expand...
In the event of memory overruns, a swap partition is required. The recommendation is 2x physical memory size. So for 128 MB, the recommended swap partition is 256 MB. If you have 512 MB of memory in your system, you obviously would not require as much swap space unless you are running some real memory intensive applications. My Red Hat box has 512 MB of SDRAM. However, I set the swap partition at 300 MB.
 
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