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scoobydu
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 1:56 pm    Post subject: .: Some 'general' Linux info, that I thought I'd share :. Reply with quote

Not specific gentoo, but what I use to help out friends thinking of switching to linux.

Hope it helps in some way! ;)



The Kernel, X11, Graphics and OpenGL, The Window Manager,
The applications & Finally the distribution.



The Kernel
Quote:

http://www.kernel.org/
Kernel 2.6 now supports a large amount of hardware;

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Hardware
http://www.linuxhardware.org/

amd64 is also supported for both 64FX and Opteron, via 64bit kernels, as all the drivers are built from source.

Each piece of hardware is selected and tweaked in the .config file for the kernel. Alot of distributions have auto hardware detection to get everything up and running. Editing the .config gives you total control of what gets included in the kernel and how it works.



X11
Quote:

This is the windowing system for Linux. Working with the window manager. It is included with most distributions.

XFree86 has changed it's license and the GPL'd Xorg-X11 is becoming the new standard X11 for Linux > http://freedesktop.org/Software/xorg.


Graphics and OpenGL
Quote:

Accelerated drivers are available for NVIDIA and ATI, with my preference being NVIDIA, as they have good stable native 64bit 3D drivers, where as ATI's are less stable and more difficult to install (from what I have read in these forums, as I don't have an ati card).

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux.html
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=3380 (thanks to valeo for the ati updates ;) )

These graphics drivers do not come in the kernel, but they are easily inserted via modules.


The Window Manager
Quote:

http://xwinman.org/

There are two main types, basic window managers, and complete desktops like GNOME & KDE.

Most distributions side with either GNOME or KDE, where KDE is said to be more 'Windows' like .... I find them bloated, and prefer to use just a window manager that is very fast, but still has some of the nice effects and eye candy Smile

http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/
http://pekwm.org/
http://icculus.org/openbox/
http://xfce.org/index.php?lang=en

If you don't like the look of some of the screen shots, then you can make your desktop look exactly as you want it!

http://www.users.monornet.hu/linux/index2.html >> Aluminum Alloy - Volcanic is my current theme.


The applications
Quote:

The package manager [Like Windows update for EVERY open sourced application that you have installed] >>

A list of Windows applications with their Linux alternatives >> http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html

I use;

fluxbox [Window Manager - http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/ ] & pekwm [http://pekwm.org/]
mozilla firefox [www]
xchat [irc]
gaim [icq, msn etc]
gkrellm [sysinfo]
gvim [editor]
pan [news]
rox [File manager]
jpilot [Palm Manager]
graveman, xcdroast [dvd burning]
alsa [Sound drivers]
mplayer [DVD, avi player, plays most file types]
usbview [USB Viewer]
bluez-utils [Bluetooth utils]
openoffice2 [Office Suite]
abiword [Word Editor]
dvdrip [DVD to avi ripper, excellent quality with xvid 1.0!]
gftp [FTP Client]


Package Types (Like .msi files)

Distro's form into three area's RPM, DEB, source (meta) distributions. Redhat based distro's use RPM's to package up their binary files, where'as Debian based distro's such as Ubuntu, Xandros, Lindows, Knoppix use DEB files.

Basically the key point for packages is 'dependencies'. When you select a package to be installed, you want all of the libraries to be installed with it, to allow it to run! Of course!


Finally the distribution ('distro')
Quote:

Distro's are all the above put together into a complete distribution ....

Personally I feel Debian based distro's such as Xandros, Libranet and Lindows are better for the first time user.

Initially try -> Ubuntu, Mandrake, Xandros, Libranet are good starter distro's

Then try -> Gentoo, Slack, debian are better (give you more control, once you have mastered the basics of linux)

Check here for a good list of the most popular distro's with a basic summary of what they are ..

http://www.linuxiso.org/
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions
http://distrowatch.com/



That's it, hope it helps ;)
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Last edited by scoobydu on Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:51 pm; edited 8 times in total
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Insanity5902
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That is a good post, lost of good advice. I like the app compare link. I haven't seen that one before and it is the best one I have seen.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Insanity5902 wrote:
That is a good post, lost of good advice. I like the app compare link. I haven't seen that one before and it is the best one I have seen.


Glad it helped :wink:
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i noticed the lack of "fendora/red hat"

any reason why? (i'm just curious as i almost opted for it, but choose gentoo@ the end)
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PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2005 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gripp wrote:
i noticed the lack of "fendora/red hat"

any reason why? (i'm just curious as i almost opted for it, but choose gentoo@ the end)


No real reason Gripp, except for my initial experiences with Redhat where dependencies were a headache (and a put off for people trying Linux for the first time). That has improved, so it is a viable option.

I am trying the latest Fedora on my mac mini, and it works quite well. Probably a cleaner interface than that of some of the 'debian' based distros.

scooby.
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I convinced a friend to try linux. He bought the Red Hat cd (i told him he didn't have to), but he wanted a manual (I told him look online). He couldn't get past the GUI install, and installing his raid card. Oh well. I forgot to tell him about Google.
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

chovy wrote:
I convinced a friend to try linux. He bought the Red Hat cd (i told him he didn't have to), but he wanted a manual (I told him look online). He couldn't get past the GUI install, and installing his raid card. Oh well. I forgot to tell him about Google.


You're right, but I'm surprised RH gui install was too hard 8O
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

well, it was getting his raid card recognized that he couldn't do.

He said windows recognized it immedialtely.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I convinced a friend to try linux. He bought the Red Hat cd (i told him he didn't have to), but he wanted a manual (I told him look online). He couldn't get past the GUI install, and installing his raid card. Oh well. I forgot to tell him about Google.


If you had to tell him about google(or if he didtn know) how does he know about linux? Google is a much more common name than linux.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm joking...he knows about Google, but didn't/can't find what he's looking for with it. And the only reason he knows about linux is because I keep talking about it.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

text is bland like salty crackers sometimes(heh but not this time)
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice post! getting fluxbox as we speak!
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 6:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i just installed xcfe4, not bad.

Fluxbox was cool but I couldn't figure out how to set a background for the desktop.
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

chovy wrote:
Fluxbox was cool but I couldn't figure out how to set a background for the desktop.

Read the Gentoo Wiki entry Fluxbox: Setting the Wallpaper
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

readme.txt wrote:
nice post! getting fluxbox as we speak!


Glad it was useful :wink:
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