Want to learn Linux, help start me out

[wheels]

Ok, I have never used linux, and Im new to computer hardware and all that. I want to install debian linux on an old IBM aptiva comp with the following specs Im pretty sure it uses. Thats all I know. Dont know where to download (and burn) the OS or how the drivers work. I dont even know if the following is linux compatible, so much junk on google, I dont even know where to begin. I also dont know what to do with the current operating system. I want to completley get rid of all evidence it has win 98 though.
All the netorking info, I am not sure about. All i know is the comp is behind a router and the router has dhcp enabled.

pentium 2 400mhz 64mb ram

Windows 98

cdrom (or dvdrom) drive: Hitachi GD-2000

NIC: Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter

Onboard sound: Crystal Pnp audio system MPU-401

onboard graphics: Rage Pro Turbo 2x AGP (mach64)


The whole point of this is, I want to learn how to install linux and how to implement it, then learn the OS, and eventually be able to use it as my main OS. Links, info, anything would be helpful. If you want me to give you more information, I will try. Thanks in advance.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Personally, I wouldn't recommend debian if it's your first time.

But if you absolutey want to install it, www.debian.org is the website where you can get iso to burn.

http://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/ are mirror sites

edit: if you want to use something like debian though, i would recommend ubuntu.

It's cleaner then debian and easier to install.

 

[djdrastic]

Good luck

1)Read A Lot

2)Ask A Lot

3)Be Patient

4) Document everything that you fix / do


5) See 1,2, 3 and 4

 

[bersl2]

#4 is not critical, if you're willing to reinstall if things get too FUBAR. Just remember to make a separate partition for /home.

And all of your hardware that you've listed is compatable AFAIK.

DistroWatch helps you pick out a distro.

The Linux Documentation Project has the HOWTOs, which are a good resource, but tend to be out-of-date.

LinuxQuestions.org is self-explanatory.

 

[andyhrn]

SimpleMepis will do. I've tried about 60 distros(incl.Xandros/Linspire-desktop Linux) and SimpleMepis is the best.It's a realy simple and stable.

 

[Davegod75]

might wanna try unbuntu as well.

 

[wheels]

Well, I chose Debian cause I heard it would be good to learn on, but if Unbuntu will also be good, then Ill choose that. Now, what do I do with the Windows 98 on that computer? Do I use fdisk to wipe the hdd and delete all partitions or something? Do I need to create any new partitions? I dont want to dual boot, I just want linux. How will the drivers work, are they all built in or something or what?

 

[phisrow]

You'll use fdisk during the install to kill all the old partitions, and then make some new ones. At the very least you'll need a swap and a /, many say that more complex schemes are better. Most every distro makes it pretty clear what to do if you want to use the entire disk. As for drivers, most old hardware, and some new stuff, will pretty much just work. You may need to attend to it if you decide to build your own kernel; but most modern distros will know what to do. More than a few things don't work at all, and probably never will, but you don't seem to have any of them. Certain modern components have binary drivers that you need to install seperately. You shouldn't have to worry, with gear of that vintage; but if you had a modern graphics card, one of a number of winmodems, or something of that nature, you would have to install those drivers manually.
Your particular box should follow the generic install guide pretty closely overall.

 

[wheels]

So I dont need to get rid of windows 98, during the install process where you make partitions it will let you delete everythign and start all over?

--------

the hdd is 6gb. so it would have 128mb swap, / like 3gb, what else? What kind of partions should i make with that size hdd. and does whether or not I install xfree86 or w/e factor into this?

 

[Davegod75]

yes...with ubuntu you can do all that stuff from the installation program

 

[corkyg]

One thing you could do is join a Linux Forum where you are sharing experiences with others. I have a friend who is going that route with Knoppix, and he loves it. But - there is also a Knoppix Forum as well.
Linux
Knoppix

 

[Jeff7181]

Make sure you have lots of patience... for the computer, and for people you ask for help. There's a lot of Linux users who look down on you for not knowing what they consider the basics. You'll get a lot of "RTFM's" and stuff like that.

 

[silverpig]

Your hardware is all fine. The network card there is probably the best linux network card. It uses the tulip module (you'll find out about that later). Really simple.

DHCP is easy to implement in linux as well, so you shouldn't have any problems with networking.

Good luck.

 

[Randabis]

For that system I recommend Beatrix, a ubuntu-based distro. Your system lacks enough RAM to run a full blown ubuntu desktop well imho.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: Randabis
For that system I recommend Beatrix, a ubuntu-based distro. Your system lacks enough RAM to run a full blown ubuntu desktop well imho.

Any distro will be fine, just don't run KDE or Gnome. Fluxbox might be good.

 

[wheels]

would blackbox be good? looks pretty simple

 

[Randabis]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Originally posted by: Randabis
For that system I recommend Beatrix, a ubuntu-based distro. Your system lacks enough RAM to run a full blown ubuntu desktop well imho.

Any distro will be fine, just don't run KDE or Gnome. Fluxbox might be good.

I'm just speaking in an out of the box sense. Of course any distro will do after you tweak it.

 

[codemills]

Download UBUNTU from http://ubuntulinux.com and for basic guide visit http://ubuntuguide.org/
and
<Morpheus Voice>
Welcome..... to the real world....
</Morpheus Voice>

 

[Basie]

If you would like to play with Debian, Libranet is a good distro. It is
easy to install and most of the distros will let you keep Win98 as a dual
boot. You can find it at www.distrowatch.com. It is a two CD set. But since this is your first experience Live CD's that you can also install to the hard drive I think would be best. Gobo, Mempis and Berry all can
do it.

 

[ColKurtz]

Everyone has their pet distro and will tell you so. After you work with it for a while you'll see how little difference their actually is among most them. Having said that, the most significant difference is package management and Ubuntu/Debian use .DEB files whereas most of the other "popular" distros (FC, SuSE, Mandrake) use .RPMs. They're 2 different ways of doing the same things, and one is not really superior to the other... but I would say as a beginner that RPMs are more easily and readily available. Learning RPM management on one distro allows you to take that knowlege with you to several other popular distros (including corporate-favored RHEL and SLES) whereas DEB management limits you to Debian/Ubuntu.

But at the same time they're pretty similar and once you find some DEB repositories it's all very similar to to RPM management.