[wplug] Linux Setup

Bobbie Eicher bobbie.eicher at gmail.com
Fri Mar 17 21:34:42 EST 2006


Steve,

Welcome to the mailing list!

You've asked for advice on how to install Linux on your laptop.  Laptops are
often a bit more difficult to install Linux on than desktops, because laptop
hardware is sometimes not supported, and because of the way they're built,
replacing hardware with something compatible really isn't an option.  It's
rare that Linux just won't work at all with a particular laptop, but I
wanted to warn you about the possibility that it'd be a small bit more work
than you might have found it to be on desktop machines.

You didn't give any detail on what kind of laptop you have, so the first
thing you should do is go somewhere like http://www.linux-laptop.net/ and
look up your laptop's model.  This website is especially for people to
discuss how well Linux has worked for them on various laptop models.  It
often includes information about how to install specific distributions, or
tips to make the process go more smoothly.

If you want to just run a version of Linux from the CD drive to give it a
whirl on your laptop and see how it manages, you can download a distribution
like Knoppix.  The only thing you have to know when you're running it from
the CD drive like that, it'll seem to run much more slowly than it actually
would if you installed to the hard drive, because computers can access the
hard drive for more data faster than they can a CD.  The advantage is that
you won't disturb the current contents of your computer at all when you're
trying it out that way.

It would also help if you gave us a sense of whether you'd like to stick
with Fedora, or try out a new distribution.  Fedora is a nice general
purpose distribution, and you're already familiar with it, so you may be
most comfortable sticking with that.  If you'd rather try out something
else, you can send to the list with your basic system specifications.

Once you're doing the actual install, it's typically a process that someone
with a lot of computer familiarity finds simple.  A installer will ask you
some things like how much of the hard drive space it can take over, and give
you some of the same preference options you'd see from a Windows installer
(what time zone are you in, what do you want your user name to be, that kind
of thing).  We normally walk people through the install process at
installfests or meetings, since even if you're pretty sure you know what
you're doing it can be nervewracking the first time, but since you can't
make it to any of those for a couple of months we can certainly offer advice
through the mailing list.  If you really want help in person, depending on
exactly what time your class is, someone might be able to stick around after
a meeting to help you out.  Our next actual installfest won't be until May,
I think, anyway.

Something you may want to think about is that when Linux and  Windows are
coexisting on the same computer, Linux is actually able the files on the
section of the hard drive being used by Windows.  This is very nice for
things like school papers that can easily be worked on under either
operating system, or as a way of pulling the files off the windows section
of the hard drive and putting them in the Linux section without having to
write it to a CD or put it on a USB drive or anything like that.

Exactly how well that works can depend on which file system your copy of
Windows is using.  If you're using Windows XP, your computer is using either
the FAT32 system or NTFS (Probably the latter if it was installed with the
default options).  FAT32 is very well understood, and can be read and
written to (so that you can see the file when you go back to windows too)
from Linux.  NTFS can also be accessed and written to, but last I heard
writing to it was still considered to be somewhat risky -- risky in the
sense that the developers aren't yet absolutely confident that they have
that trick nailed so that it'll go the way you want every time.

If you're using Windows XP and you want to check which file system your
computer is set up to use, you should be able to find that out by hitting
the start button and choosing "My Computer" then right-clicking the hard
drive's icon and choosing properties.   Just above where it shows you how
much space is used and how much is free, there should be a line that says
something like  "File system:  NTFS"  or "File system:  FAT32".

That should be a start.  I hope it helps.

- Bobbie Lynn
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