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potential new linux user- need help

C

Chaoticknight16

Member
I'm interested in trying out linux. I've read some basic stuff but i need to find a distribution to get started on, and i'm not sure which one's will run with my hardware. I have an asus a7n8x-e deluxe motherboard (nvidia nforce 2 chipset), and an athlon xp 2600 cpu. I've looked at alot of distribution lists, they sort by platform, but i never see amd based, or if i do it's only for the new 64 bit processors, nothing for socket A, 462. If any of you can give me advice i'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks
 
If it will run a pentium it is a good rule of thumb that it will run an amd. I would suggest suse, I have it, red hat-most have it from what I have heard, or Debian. ON here a lot of people love debian- it is also closely related to ubuntu from my understanding. Try Linux google
 
Sorry, that looks confusing. It is not a version of linux called google, that is a link to google all things linux. Hope this helps and welcome to the forums. You can find many good tips sheets and such with that site too.
 
Try simply mepis, that's a more user friendly version of debian, based on debian, but easier to install and get running. It's very hard to beat debian's unstable builds for support community and available packages, if you use SUSE you are always depending on a company that might decide to start charging you for packages and programs next month, same with redhat.
 
I'm kind of in the same boat as you as far as just starting out in linux. I have no idea whether the AMD has any effect on distro compatibility (I'm on a p4), but here is my .02:

If you're considering Linux support/admin as a career path, make sure you focus on RedHat and/or Suse. Tinker with other builds all you want, but most of the corporate money is concentrated on those 2 distros.

I installed RedHat 9 and Slackware 10 so far, and hope to add Debian when I get a bit more experience. RedHat's install/config has been intentionally designed to be user-friendly to the point that you don't learn much setting it up (Suse seems the same, though I've used it less). Slackeware doesn't hold your hand quite as much, but at the same time it's not too hard and there's good documentation (Here's a good Slackware install tut, btw)

Whichever distro you choose, install Firefox once you get up and running. Aside from being a cool browser, it's a good way to learn basic installation and file-system skills - and it's well documented. Also try downloading a new theme (KDE-look.org if you use KDE). It also will force you to learn some basic skills. Change your monitor resolution (RedHat always comes up in 800x600 for me, and it's not so simple to change).

Everyone learns in their own way, but I found books don't do much for me - they're good references but practice, mistakes, and repetition is the only way I learn. By focusing on things I like --customizing my desktop, in this case-- I learn a bit without getting bored.

Good luck.
 
AMD 32bit proccessors are backward compatable with earlier archatectures.

There is a thing called a "ISA" which is a term ment to represent the fact that there is a layer of hardware compatablity so that when programs are compiled for the "x86 ISA" they will run on any computer that supports it.


anything labeled:
i386. i486, i586, i686, x86, IA32 or x86-32 (and there are other variations) will run on your computer. They all mean pretty much the same thing.


The thing is is that there are some extensions built into newer cpus and there are some compiler optimizations. A example is MMX extensions that Intel introduced a while back. They are multimedia-specific extensions ment to make doing certain things like some games and video playback more efficient. If you compile a program for a CPU platform that supports MMX instructions but run it on a cpu that doesn't support MMX then you risk having crashes.

Your cpu is new enough that you don't have to worry about it. Most distros compile for the lowest common denominator which is the 486 cpu. Some compile for 585, which is the Pentium 1 level CPUS. And rare still they'll compile for 686 which is the Pentium Pro and Pentium2/3 level CPUS. Your computer can run all of that so it's something that you don't have to worry about.

The only things you have to watch out for are stuff compiled for archactectures that use a different ISA.

Alternative computers are called PowerPC (or PPC), AMD64 (or x86-64. AMD64 cpus can run both 32bit programs and 64bit programs that is they can run both x86-32 and x86-64 with some caviots. They did this to make backward compatability easier), Alpha, Mips, and others.


The only distro that gets realy wacky is Gentoo. People custom compile all sorts of stuff and use weird compiler optimizations that realy don't make a whole lot of sense.
 
what about sites with info?

like a list of commands or tutorials on how to mount CD drives and what not?
 
Originally posted by: BriGy86
what about sites with info?

like a list of commands or tutorials on how to mount CD drives and what not?
Click to expand...

There's a doc in my sig that might help a bit, and I think drag has some linked in his sig. How-tos are generally worthless though.
 
I just started a few weeks ago with Suse, and am enjoying it a LOT. It's got a FULL FRONT END GUI which helps you get everything done. Now, you want to make sure that you don't rely on this, well then because you're not learning much. But it's great for those times when you get discouraged, and need to accomplish the task. And the "Terminal" is a click away, which lets you dig into the guts.

Good stuff! So, yeah, Suse is my reccomendation. And this is coming from a noob, that has had almost ZERO experience with any other distributions.




KeyserSoze
 
i have red hat 9 fedora core........... installed on my dell 4600

im much happier with my windows, but thats because i know nothing about it

i will probably get more into it in the future since i have a class on red hat in college comming up

the problems i have are
-there are LOTS of updates, yet when i try to get them it stops half way through
-my sound doesn't work and im pretty sure i have to get the driver or mount it or configure it some how
-the games it came with run horribly, which leads me to believe that my video card isn't mounted right or i don't have the right driver or somthing

i can run my windows just fine and i'd rather save myself the frustration🙂
 
I have SuSE on one computer, and it's great for installing an OS and having everything just work right away. Except for 3D video, but that's stupid easy if you have nvidia and doable if you have ati.
I put Debian on my laptop last month and I'm liking it a lot. It's much easier to install than most distros used to be, though a little experience and sites like this still help for some things. Keeping it up-to-date is the smoothest, most painless experience of any OS I've tried (including MS), and installing software is very easy.
 
Originally posted by: Zelmo3
I have SuSE on one computer, and it's great for installing an OS and having everything just work right away. Except for 3D video, but that's stupid easy if you have nvidia and doable if you have ati.
I put Debian on my laptop last month and I'm liking it a lot. It's much easier to install than most distros used to be, though a little experience and sites like this still help for some things. Keeping it up-to-date is the smoothest, most painless experience of any OS I've tried (including MS), and installing software is very easy.
Click to expand...

That's the major advantage of Debian. It's easy to install software, and it's easy to maintain. Not to also mention that it's one of the few OSes were it's practical to UNinstall software. (use --purge option to remove configurations along with packages)

Except for the occasional hickup with apt-get and broken dependancies it takes very little effort and there is no degragation of performance, security, or stability the longer you use Debian. As long as you take the time to properly upgrade your OS it will remain as stable and fast 2-3 years down the road as when you first installed it.
 
Originally posted by: Chaoticknight16
I'm interested in trying out linux. I've read some basic stuff but i need to find a distribution to get started on, and i'm not sure which one's will run with my hardware. I have an asus a7n8x-e deluxe motherboard (nvidia nforce 2 chipset), and an athlon xp 2600 cpu. I've looked at alot of distribution lists, they sort by platform, but i never see amd based, or if i do it's only for the new 64 bit processors, nothing for socket A, 462. If any of you can give me advice i'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks
Click to expand...

You just want an Intel 32 bit distribution which is every mainstream distribution offers. Pick one and try it. Sure, it's not 100% optimized for your system but it makes 0% difference for testing and learning and maybe 5-10% difference in real use (if even). Later on, give something like Gentoo a shot and see if it really matters. If you really want to have fun, try Gentoo NOW but be prepared to Google, read the Gentoo forums and mailing list archives and what not. It's a pretty cool distribution.

Otherwise, just grab Mandrake, Slackware, SuSE, Debian, whatever...
 
You don't need a special distro for an AMD (unless you have an Athlon 64, and even then regular distros will work you just won't be taking full advantage of the chip).

As someone said earlier, if you want to learn this to put into use a a profession, then you'll want to focus on Redhat/Fedora and/or Suse/Novell (I think Novell's distro will be gaining a lot of corporate groun on name recognition alone). That being said not EVERYWHERE will focus on those exclusively.
 
I like to browse www.distrowatch.com. Right now I am running a Live DVD of SUSE 9.2. It found my cable modem with no problems. I was able to get online without setting up anything or changing settings. And it doesnt install anything to my hard drives.
 
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