[wplug] Linux newbie
Christopher DeMarco
cdemarco at fastmail.fm
Thu Oct 21 21:56:09 EDT 2004
On Thu, Oct 21, 2004 at 02:46:51PM -0400, Embery, Nathan wrote:
> Ahhh, that's easy. Dump windows and go full steam ahead with Linux,
> break stuff, then ask us for help :)
It sounds religious ("linux is the path to true enlightenment") but
really that's the best way to become fluent quickly. IFF you have
proprietary apps which are required for some aspect of your life, then
you'll have to develop a work-around (second computer, Remote Desktop
/ VNC connection, WINE) but IMHO a dual-boot system for anything OTHER
than games is a crutch that will hinder your progress.
> Your choice of Distro varies on what exactly you want to
> accomplish. If you want to be completely set up with a minimal
> amount of fuss go with something like fedora core 2 or 3. If you
> want to learn more about the internals, go with something more like
> slackware or debian
Gentoo can be a nice middle ground. This is entirely opinion, so I
hope distro wars don't drown out what is a potentially very
interesting and fruitful discussion, but I've found Gentoo to have
most things configured out-of-the box very nicely, but with good
documentation and hooks into 'tweaking' your system that make its
internals more-accessible than, say RH's.
> It depends though, is learning to manually setup your wireless
> connection / X server / whatever using only config files even worth
> knowing these days???
YES YES YES! The first few times you have to perform black magick
you'll feel totally lost but the first *success* is exhilarating.
While many tools can automagically configure WiFi, and X is mostly
hands-free these days, there are definitely times when you'll need a
familiarity with XF86Config and wlan-ng (e.g. Xinerama, or a
dual-mouse setup). And mucking around in the system internals will
give you confidence. The more exposure, the better.
--
% You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.
Christopher DeMarco <cdemarco at fastmail.fm>
PGP public key ID 0x2E76CF5C @ pgp.mit.edu
+6012 232 2106
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