Linux

One thing I forget to mention and it probably doesn't apply to Neutron but maybe does/will to others:

Make sure you have a 2nd system available when "learning" or experimenting with Linux. It's foolish to have to reboot into Windows, go to a support forum or download some driver, then reboot into Linux and try what you just learned. Nowadays with virtual machines though, this isn't like it used to be...
 
Considering Linux will boot on anything, dig out an old computer and put it on it. A used $50 one from ebay will work. If you do not have 2 monitors/kb/mouse or do not have the desk space get an A/B switch to share between the 2 boxes.
 
This is my opinion only but if you intend to learn system administration I wouldn't install X at all ... Then you can rely on google to learn how to administer these different servers and software.
Unfortunately, unless the OP has another computer to do those Google searches, they will be hurting without X. Web browsers pretty much depend on it. I suppose Lynx could be used as the browser, but navigation of modern websites is darn near impossible with a text-only browser like that.
 
Unfortunately, unless the OP has another computer to do those Google searches, they will be hurting without X. Web browsers pretty much depend on it. I suppose Lynx could be used as the browser, but navigation of modern websites is darn near impossible with a text-only browser like that.

That's very true. I guess I am assuming that there is more than one PC on location. :) I do have to agree with previous posts about an additional PC. That way you don't ever have to modify partitions and/or dual boot during the learning process.
 
It depends on what you intend to learn, and your computer skills.

To me, "learning Linux" does not mean only learning how to use it at the GUI level. The use of a Linux GUI is similar enough to Windows that you should be able to guess your way through the mechanics of it. Finding things and figuring out what does what is not difficult.

Learning Linux command line will teach you much more. Given that knowledge it doesn't matter if you walk up to a Ubuntu system, or Fedora, or Debian, or Slackware, or whatever. Say for example you wanted to add a new user, you wouldn't need to search around the GUI to find some type of user administration tool. You'd just go to the command line and run "useradd". It's there on all the distros. GUIs just put a pretty point-click face on top of command line stuff that does the real work.

You can learn command line on any Linux distro. Ubuntu would be fine and is very popular. If you are already comfortable with the command line in an OS (even Windows has a rudimentary one), and you want to learn Linux with a leaning towards it's sibling Unix (Solaris, HPUX, etc.) then you might want to consider Slackware. I would not go for Slackware as your first distro if your only experience is in Windows. You might be able to do it, but you would probably struggle at first. Slackware doesn't hold your hand and guide you along like Ubuntu would.

There is no reason NOT to recommend Ubuntu as a first distro IMHO. However, dig in there and use it's command line, don't just limit yourself to the GUI. Treat the GUI as your fallback when you can't learn what you need to do from the command line in a timely fashion.

Head over to LinuxQuestions.org for excellent help getting to know Linux. The forums are very good over there.

Well stated. I too was going to recommend slackware. Linux is easy if you have some exposure to Unix. If all you know is Windows, besides sympathy there's not much I can offer neutron. I think I would recommend tackling Unix first(there used to be some freeware unix OS's out there), then Linux. That would give the most bang for the buck IMO. But definitely, get past the GUI and get into the command line if the objective is to learn Linux.
 
I hope Neutron doesn't mind me going off-topic here, but does anyone know of a LiveCD distro that supports the BCM4311 wireless chipset ? Ubuntu doesn't, at least not out of the box. It also doesn't support loading the entire CD into RAM as discussed above. There's a hack method to do that but I'm not interested in too much "work". :D
 
I hope Neutron doesn't mind me going off-topic here, but does anyone know of a LiveCD distro that supports the BCM4311 wireless chipset ? Ubuntu doesn't, at least not out of the box. It also doesn't support loading the entire CD into RAM as discussed above. There's a hack method to do that but I'm not interested in too much "work". :D

Sabayon has been confirmed to support the BCM4311 chipset. You can read more about it here. Just search the page for BCM4311 for a quick conclusion. Back to topic... honestly how many people still see Unix in the workplace? I haven't seen a Unix system in my line of work since around 1999 and that was when I was still in the military. Admittedly though Slackware Linux is a fine distribution but I haven't seen that in use 'much' on production servers either. As a matter of fact the last Slack based server I saw was doing DNS only and was doing a fine job with it. And since Slackware is Linux any well supported Linux distribution should do the trick. Distrowatch is a good place to find something usable and plenty to read about as far as what makes the different distributions tick. On another note if someone really wanted a literal Unix experience give FreeBSD or OpenBSD a try. :)
 
Sabayon ? Hmmm, sounds like another linux-distro-of-the-month and I don't join those "clubs". :)

I think only people in IT will have any chance of seeing Unix or Linux boxes at work. Of course, "Linux is ready for the desktop" for the past oh, 5-10 years now ! When my employer was "smaller" and much more local, our mail and webserver was all in-house and was ran on left-over PCs and used Linux. I setup a file server / intranet server that ran Linux too. Otherwise, the network was Novell/Windows and the desktops were Windows. We do have some Unix and Linux back-end systems in place today but end-users don't see them.
 
Sabayon ? Hmmm, sounds like another linux-distro-of-the-month and I don't join those "clubs". :)

I think only people in IT will have any chance of seeing Unix or Linux boxes at work. Of course, "Linux is ready for the desktop" for the past oh, 5-10 years now ! When my employer was "smaller" and much more local, our mail and webserver was all in-house and was ran on left-over PCs and used Linux. I setup a file server / intranet server that ran Linux too. Otherwise, the network was Novell/Windows and the desktops were Windows. We do have some Unix and Linux back-end systems in place today but end-users don't see them.

Good ole Novell. Well Sabayon is a spinoff of Gentoo. Honestly I haven't tried it but it seems like it would be ok.... Because it's based on Gentoo.
 
No-go with Sabayon and the BCM wireless. I plugged in a LAN cable and got online and what I found talked about needed the 2.6.26 (I think) kernel vs the .22 that's on the Live CD. Couldn't determine a "to RAM" boot flag either though. If it's available, it's undocumented (in the bootup help menus).
 
hello, this is my five cents>
you said, will run from vmware? right, so do not worry about anything, any distro will, do. However, sit back and analyse if you will be dealing with the installation before the hands on experience, if that is so then choose all but liveCD; With a live cd is get, burn, run and pray. Yes, is an OS, but all hardware are different.

LiveCD: Easy to peek and easy to see what basically *nix similar OS can offer nowadays. Minimum 256 ram, no hardDisk needed, and can run on CD or Usb media. A couple mention slow respond. well if you really have that much ram, son liveCD will Copy enterily to the ram and flash your eyes :). ie, Slax: your pocket operating system. For most part, almost every major player has its own, or derivated LiveCD, just go to one os those distro listing places and read the description : distro based is 'ChuChuChuaLINUX'.

Real Distro: First, make a Virtual Harddrive, vmware comes to mind. remember is for learning, not need to sofocate. Read the installation proccess from the want flavor that got your attention, and the rest is very similar to what you expected, except for...... tatatata! the upgrading and installation proccess. This is different, but thank god, most distro are moving to UI. this is catch, in old fashion they will us " ./ " to install, albeit, compile from now on, compilation can take seconds or pretty much as long as office 2000 on win me. so there is rpm, is not a car thing is redhatPacketManager or some crap similar. is a almost instalable packet, ready for redhat and suchssss, and not quite for others; there is now a trend to upgrade from UI with packets grabbers, Yes, that is exactly what that is. Is a program that shows you what is new for the os, update, upgrade, and they offer the list you click and choose and get it installed PAINLESS, they may call it different names, but in the end, it is that, a packet grabber. windows talking, would be like Add and remove program with direct acces to cnet software center, oh, yes, some even put ratings, jajaja.
ok, well that is the easy part. well, the real question would be, in what part of IT are you, FrontDesk, Repair, Network, Administration, or Engeneering. That is the best way to get your distro, look for the key words, forget about kiddy things, those five really defying you as IT:
frontdesk: Ubuntu
Repair:Knoppix
Network: Damn Small linux
Adminitration: Suse, Rh, Slackware
Engeneering: RH with Directory Server/service

Those are just suggestion, but it really is to make you think as IT, remember is a jungle out there, and welcome to the free OS, not easy, world.

good luck, please write back soon with answers and questions.
 
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