Installing Linux

esuhl

patman99 wrote: »

If you are feeling really brave, then try installing Arch Linux. This has the honour of being the only OS to have no support end date.
Every install is future-proof, but it is not foe the fain-hearted.

Arch is literally the best, fastest, easiest-to-understand OS I've ever used...

But you do need to know the basics of Linux, and it will only be of interest to people who really want to understand what's happening and how to control and customise everything.

There's no way I'd recommend it to someone new to Linux. If you're a technically-minded control-freak, though, Arch is heaven!

Geodark

esuhl wrote: »

Arch is literally the best, fastest, easiest-to-understand OS I've ever used...

But you do need to know the basics of Linux, and it will only be of interest to people who really want to understand what's happening and how to control and customise everything.

There's no way I'd recommend it to someone new to Linux. If you're a technically-minded control-freak, though, Arch is heaven!

I have a couple of older PC's here - I might have to stick it on one of them and have a bit play with it. Don't suppose you know which distro it is based on do you?

GunJack

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

I'm really surprised we've gone a whole page and nobody's mentioned http://distrowatch.com/
Might add that this one is highly portable as it runs in RAM and data is saved to a partition on the pendrive itself, so it doesn't touch the HDD at all. Will it tether to an Android Phone via USB?

He said he doesn't have a disc drive, let alone the DVD drive that you invariably need with these 'free' discs. (I think he means 'optical drive')

[/QUOTE]

never needed to try tethering with a phone, so don't know

System

Hi

Well the magazines also provide some reading and quite often how to start to install/use linux.

Lumstorm

Geodark wrote: »

I have a couple of older PC's here - I might have to stick it on one of them and have a bit play with it. Don't suppose you know which distro it is based on do you?

Arch isn't based on anything it's built from scratch.

Sterlingtimes

I undertook an Open University 10 point course on Linux. The students were taught to install VirtualBox within Windows, and then install the Linux operating system, within VirtualBox. That is a very good and safe way of experimenting with Linux without compromising Windows. Amongst other Linus systems, the Open University selected Ubuntu as the prime choice for Linux.

esuhl

Sterlingtimes wrote: »

Amongst other Linus systems, the Open University selected Ubuntu as the prime choice for Linux.

I'll never understand how Ubuntu came out of nowhere and became popular overnight. It's so bloated and complicated to configure properly. Yet many people love it... :-/

Geodark wrote: »

I have a couple of older PC's here - I might have to stick it on one of them and have a bit play with it. Don't suppose you know which distro it is based on do you?

From the Arch FAQ (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/FAQ):

What distribution is Arch based on?

Arch is independently developed, was built from scratch and is not based on any other GNU/Linux distribution. Before creating Arch, Judd Vinet admired and used CRUX, a great, minimalist distribution created by Per Lid!n. Originally inspired by ideas in common with CRUX, Arch was built from scratch, and pacman was then coded in C.

As for whether it's suitable for novices:

I am a complete GNU/Linux beginner. Should I use Arch?

This question has had much debate. Arch is targeted more towards advanced GNU/Linux users, but some people feel that Arch is a good place to start for the motivated novice. If you are a beginner and want to use Arch, just be warned that you must be willing to invest significant time into learning a new system, as well as accept the fact that Arch is fundamentally designed as a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) distribution. It is the user who assembles the system and controls what it will become. Before asking for help, do your own independent research by Googling, searching the forum (and reading the rest of these FAQs) and searching the superb documentation provided by the Arch Wiki. There is a reason these resources were made available to you in the first place. Many thousands of volunteered hours have been spent compiling this excellent information.

Recommended reading: The Arch Linux Beginners' guide.

"The Arch Way" explains the philosophy or raison d'etre of the distro and should help you decide whether Arch is the distro for you:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/The_Arch_Way

Oh, and here's how Arch compares to other distros:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_compared_to_other_distributions

System

Hi

I would like to read the raison detre for windows 8 so I can decide if it is for moi;~))

Bruce Byfield says

"If you look at the Page Hit Ranking on Distrowatch, in 2003 -- before Ubuntu even existed -- Debian was in the fifth spot. Now, in 2011, it remains in precisely the same spot."

Where is it today on Distrowatch?

Rank Distribution H.P.D* 1 Mint 2364 2 Ubuntu 1838 3 Debian 1582 4 openSUSE 1334 5 Fedora 1262 6 Mageia 1219 7 CentOS 1171 8 Arch 1040 9 elementary 899 10 Zorin 851

So choosing any of the top few will be a good choice for help and support.
(Debian is of course the father of many other Distro's like ubuntu, mint and knoppix).

Cycrow

esuhl wrote: »

I'll never understand how Ubuntu came out of nowhere and became popular overnight. It's so bloated and complicated to configure properly. Yet many people love it... :-/

Only people who are used to Linux think that.
I find it much easier to configure things through the command line.
But alot of people are lost without their fancy gui's

ubuntu was alot closer to windows, which is why alot of people started using it

Kernel_Sanders

henm2 wrote: »

Download one of the above and put it on a flash drive using instructions from http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

I've done this and created a USB running SliTaz, but can't get it to load despite putting both USB boot options higher than HDD in the BIOS. Opening the USB in My Computer shows two folders, one a .disk info file (of 2 bytes!) and the other a Multiboot folder, size 37.7 MB (39,540,688 bytes), size on disk 37.8 MB (39,645,184 bytes) , contains 85 files, 7 folders. The USB was (slow) formatted by XP, then again by Yumi. Am I missing anything?