Thinking of getting Linux and partioning 5/10BG off HDD space for it.

a) is it free? I only see it in PC World (red hat etc.) for £40 or so. Not gonna spend 2 weeks downloading it either.
b) Is 5/10GB a good bit of space to live off?
c) Is it like Unix in that I can run unix commands, scripts, ksh, Perl etc. on it?
d) Is it easy to set up on PC? Any concerns I need have.

Basically my needs are that I use Unix at work and wanna 'practice/be able to try' at home as well. Is that possible?

Loads of people get the linux kernel and all the other software you need to make a machine useful and sell as a linux distribution, eg Redhat, Suse, slashware etc.

Most of these sell the software within the shops for around 40-50 quid or you can download them from there web site. Some people will sell these download version for not much more than a price of a CDROM. Ive used http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/.

Basically linux = just another unix but its know as a unix like OS. Yes you will get perl / bash / ksh etc. Redhat is pretty easy to configure and will not at least 500meg of disk space. 5g will be good until you start installing loads of software.

Probably go for RedHat or SuSE.

Is it easy to set up?

Running 2 HDD's on my PC. One 60GB for music etc. one 40GB for op systems, applications (basically everything else). Got about 25GB free so partitioning 5GB should be OK? Both HDD's are NTFS. Can I free up another 5GB at a later date easily?

Can I access the other HDD with the music on it from Linux?

Many thanks for help! :)

SuSE 8.2 is due for release mid April. I'm hoping for big things, especially with the new kde and the gcc compiler.

Having just done this as a die hard windows user I have some views ;)

a) is it free? I only see it in PC World (red hat etc.) for £40 or so. Not gonna spend 2 weeks downloading it either.

>> you need min 3 CDs takes about 8 hours downloading using ADSL but it's free. I also believe that others can copy the CDs for you if they have them at no cost.

b) Is 5/10GB a good bit of space to live off?

>> should be ok for starters

c) Is it like Unix in that I can run unix commands, scripts, ksh, Perl etc. on it?

>>yes

d) Is it easy to set up on PC? Any concerns I need have.

>> yesish! you need to know Unix IMHO, I needed to recompile the kernel to get some things working. I tried Mandrake 9.1 which didn't work with my KVM (but was v easy to set up and use, and recognised all my hardware) and RedHat 8 which also recognised all my hardware, worked with the KVM, but doesn't seem as easy to use as Mandrake.

Regards,

Greg

As for downloading it, you don't need to bother. Practically every Linux magazine in the newsagent will come with at least one distribution, not to mention the more 'mainstream' titles like PCW etc. If you've got DVD-ROM, there may even be a choice. It's worth looking out for one of the 'test install' versions that don't require you to repartition to try it out.

Drac,

a) What you are paying for is the distribution and the install tools, something like Suse/Redhat have installation tools which make things like hardware configuration alot easier. You normally got a large bundle of apps which saves you rummaging around on the net for stuff too. As was mentioned just get yourself a copy of Linux Format mag which has CDs/DVD with it and normally has at least one distro. Check out the website too which has forums to ask questions in.

b) I made the assumption that I wouldn't need as much power to run Linux and in reality I dont think this is the case, once you add an x-window system say KDE 2.x or 3 then you need 5-10 as a minimum. I put it on a 333Mhz with 128MB and 10GB and it crawled along.

c) Yep, all the commands and scripting capabilities are there.

d) Yes and improves all the time, I had abit of a mare setting up USB support and my USB ADSL modem but over time these things get rolled into the install.

You may want to look at a distro called knoppix which you can burn onto a CD then boot from the CD just to have a play and get a feel for linux.

Good luck


Gary

I've heard that SuSE are releasing a new version on the 11th April. Is this worth it or shall I just get the lastest that is available now? I assume I'll be able to download the extra bits anyway?