I'm in LInux! I'm a werepenguin! (Or weregnu?)

[Scott Gardener]

I'm in Fedora Core 4.0 right now, but I'm also going to try playing around with a Knoppix live CD. (You really need broadband if you want to download the good stuff.) I'm also going to try a mini-distro called Puppy.

Still a newbie, but I'll learn as I go along. Obviously, I've figured out how to installl the basics and get a web browser loaded. But, I am still figuring out how to upgrade from Firefox 1.0.4 to 1.0.6. The setup CD put the browser in; I figure that figuring out installing the upgrade would be good training for getting used to this new realm.

I've already customized the wallpaper; stuff done inside GUIs like KDE is easy. It's the command line stuff that's tricky. KDE customizes a lot more easily than Windows XP, though not as easily as Windows with Stardock's Object Desktop and WindowBlinds installed.

And, it's true about how fast it is, though I could use a better video driver.

[Lupin]

I've already customized the wallpaper; stuff done inside GUIs like KDE is easy. It's the command line stuff that's tricky. KDE customizes a lot more easily than Windows XP, though not as easily as Windows with Stardock's Object Desktop and WindowBlinds installed

Well, like anything else, the command line becomes easier the more you use it. I got proficient in it since most of the Linux machines I use are headless, and ssh is the easiest way to administer them. (Not that having monitors would help, since several of them are located in other states.)

[Vilkacis]

Woohoo! ^_^

When I first started using Linux, it was just as a hobby -- to see what everyone was making such a big deal about -- but now I use it almost exclusively. After getting used to certain features in Linux, using Windows can be a bit irritating at times.

When I started out, I had the good fortune to choose a distro that's actually decent for new users: Mandrake (they recently changed the name to Mandriva because of a merger -- bleah). I didn't have any trouble installing it, it had good hardware support and reasonable defaults, and I was able ease myself into and experiment with a Linux environment without problems.

I also found out that KDE is at least twice as good as GNOME =P

However, after a while I ran into some serious issues with package management, so I started looking around for something better.

I tried several other distros, but they just didn't cut it. Red Hat and Fedora Core were the worst of the lot, in my opinion. After much fruitless downloading of multi-CD distros on my 56k modem, I finally gave up and went back to Mandrake for a while.

After I got a broadband connection, the possibilities really opened up. I tried more distros with varying success, but the important thing is: I stopped when I found Arch Linux. I've been using it for over a year now, and I absolutely love it. And I'll tell you: I learned more in a single day of using Arch Linux than I ever did using any other distro.

Arch is not really a newbie distro (or so they say). After you install it, you are dumped into a rather minimal environment -- no GUI. If you want a Windows Manager or Desktop Environment, you're going to have to install one yourself. Thankfully, though, one of the best things about Arch is its excellent package manager: Pacman. Pacman makes it dead simple to upgrade your system and download new packages.

The other best thing is the community.

As I was still a Linux newbie, I struggled to get everything set up and configured correctly, but I was able to do so without too much undue difficulty thanks to the excellent Arch community. I was able to resolve a large majority of my problems simply by searching through the forums. When I came across something that hadn't been addressed, they helped me fix it promptly.

So, not to go on too long about my distro of choice, I will summarize: Arch Linux is harder to set up and will be confusing at first, but you will learn a lot. For people like me, it's perfect, but I will admit it's probably not for everyone.

After you get good and comfortable with Linux, and perhaps start getting a bit bored and start itching for something to do, I would suggest trying out a few different Windows Managers. KDE and GNOME aren't the only ones out there. I, personally, prefer the more minimal WMs. When I first tried Fluxbox, I loved it. On a whim, I tried Openbox, and I loved that even more. If you want to go truly minimal, try some of the tiling WMs like Ratpoison, ion3, and wmii. I personally use ion3 and Openbox. Find something that suits you (or maybe KDE was fine after all -- it is for a lot of people).

Anyway, one of the best things about Linux is that you can customize just about anything to suit your needs. I like Linux because, for the most part, I can make it do what I want it to, and not what someone else thinks it should. I don't like this distro, I can use that one. I don't like this WM, I can use another. I don't like this editor... there are a hundred others.

But it takes more work.

-- Vilkacis

[Scott Gardener]

Haven't yet installed it on my laptop yet, as I still have to do a risky partition resizing first. And my laptop is my main computer; I dare not have it go down on me right now. But, I do intend to do it soon--maybe tonight.

I've been debating whether to put Fedora Core 4 or another distro on the laptop; right now I'm needing something fairly straighforeward, but one that's likely to work with my wi-fi card. (The Knoppix live CD didn't, and I used the new 4.0 DVD version.) I hear SuSE 9.3 handles wi-fi nicely, but finding a copy of the distro that downloads properly is a bit of a challenge. I've already got Fedora on a DVD beside me.

But, open-source advocates will be happy to know that Firefox has become my default browser.

[Scott Gardener]

Newest updates:

I have successfully reserved space for a Linux partition, about six gigs. I used SystemRecoveryCD to resize the Windows NTFS partition so that it no longer hogged the entire hard drive, but still had plenty of room for toting around my entire audio library and still be able to do other demanding stuff.

As a side note, SystemRecoveryCD is itself a live CD distro of Linux. I chose it, because it was a small-sized distro that takes up around 100 Megs, and thus easy to download, and has bundled with it software specifically designed for non-destructive partition resizing, including support of NTFS. I know that SuSE's installer includes the same core program with a different graphic in its setup, but my SuSE installer was missing.

I started to install Fedora Core 4 on the laptop, but it repeatedly failed to recognize my touchpad as a mouse. When I went back into Windows and researched it online, I discovered that that was an ongoing problem with Fedora and the Toshiba Satellite P35 series, and indeed many Toshibas in general, but a workaround that avoids the process of learning how to compile my own version of the kernel, and one used by several others, is to attach a mouse. I'll have to wait until I get home to do that. But, I'm also concerned that there has been some Wi-fi adapter problems as well. With that in mind, I'm considering downloading SuSE and using it instead.

I've tried downloading the SuSE 9.3 DVD, but the download available on all the mirror sites seems screwy; it shows as only 184 MB while downloading, even though it's a 3.4 Gig .iso. When I get the full iso file and do the md5 checking thing, the funny numbers I get don't match the funny numbers I'm supposed to get. So, unless someone fixes it or 9.4 comes out, I'm considering getting the CD version. Darn, as I like the idea of having it all on one disc.

So, as I stand at this point, there's a six gig vacancy on the hard drive, but no Opus yet, just Bill.

[Scott Gardener]

Update: still nothing but six gigs of room to let on the laptop, but on the desktop I figured out Fedora's "yum," which with one command line (and your admin password) will update firefox, or with a slightly shorter command will update EVERYTHING. Even Windows can't offer that, as their update, while not involving any command prompts, involves scrolling through EULAs and making sure they didn't sneak in "oh, and we can at any time hack your hard drive" or give you that incessant "I'd reboot if I were you" prompt afterwards.

[Scott Gardener]

Latest update:

I've installed SuSE 9.3 on my laptop, and I'm in it even now. It connects to the Internet smoothly through the Ethernet cable at my workplace, but the WiFi networking has yet to be tested, so its usefulness at home remains unknown.

So far, all the hardware seems to be OK. I've got correct screen resolution, read access to the Windows partition, working sound, working mouse, and so forth. I'm missing some essential codecs, and there does not appear to be any official Linux DVD player out there, only unofficial ones.

Unfortunately, my copy of the Freeborn teaser is a WMA file, and the makers of that file format and the codecs behind it are not on the best terms with the Linux community, so finding a playback codec could be tricky.

That, and figuring out how to install codecs is messy. Point-and-click self-extracting installers seem to be considered for wusses, so a few trips to the command line console and the HowTo libraries will be in order.

But, most importantly, I can boot up and do stuff.