Linux
08 – 01 – 2008
In this section of Lanverse we will be investigating all things Linux! I will try to update this page as often as possible with tutorials, hints, tips tricks and anything else that will help out with Linux use. First lets see, what Distro should we focus on??? There are so many to choose from, how does a nOoB decide which one to pick?? Geez this is almost as bad as deciding which version of Vista to use …… he he ho ho ha ha ! Fortunately it is not all that bad, read on.
08 – 06 – 2008
There are many LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS out there each with it’s own merit .There are mainstream distributions and there are ‘niche’ distributions, made for specific situations or tasks. Most of the ‘niche’ distributions are not really appropriate for the beginner Linux user, so to keep it simple I will focus on the ‘big three’ distributions, Which are UBUNTU, FEDORA and SUSE. Before we start the general overview of the distributions, those not familiar with Linux are sure to ask, what is a distribution? A Distribution in it’s most basic form is a Linux operating system and all the associated applications that go along with it. Why is that a big deal you ask? Well imagine a version of Microsoft Windows that is customized with all the apps you want like CD burning, Winzippers, media players, browsers, games, Office Applications and everything else. Windows users might ask, why would anyone do somthing like that? Actually the question to ask is why Microsoft does not include more quality software in their desktop and server releases. A typical Linux distribution can include over 5000 applications and they are all FREE open source applications. Microsoft of course has no incentive to include FREE, QUALITY software; as a mattor of fact their motives are to get you to spend even MORE cash. Linux and open source softwares are generally free of such tactics.
There are COMMUNITY BASED DISTRIBUTIONS such as DEBIAN, GENTOO and SLACKWARE. These distributions are maintained by a user community.
Then there are COMMERCIALLY BACKED DISTRIBUTIONS, like Fedora, SUSE, Ubuntu to name the big three. These are commercially maintained distributions.
There are many others but these are the mainstream distributions to consider. If you are a technical person by nature, consider GENTOO, it can be a bit overwhelming at first but once you get it up and running you will have learned quite a bit about Linux and how it works. For instance GENTOO does not have an installer Like Fedora or SUSE. Gentoo has a set of instructions to be followed. You must manually install Gentoo, ie make the partitons, configure the boot loader, create install folders, everything must be manually done in Gentoo. So here is my general overview of distributions to consider if you are thinking of taking the plunge into cooler waters 
UBUNTU
Is not a bad distro and is a good transition from windows. It installs very quickly and painlessly, which is a big plus. Downside is the CD and DVD install is just a basic install, most of the packages you will want to use or install will need to be downloaded from the web. This can be a chore if you have a slow internet connection or may take weeks if you have dial-up! UBUNTU has a HUGE following around the world, which is a testament to the distribution itself. UBUNTU is currently the number one downloaded distribution on the web and will most likely stay that way for the near future.
FEDORA
A nice distribution! Fedora is the OpenSOurce version of the famed RedHat distribution, Fedora has forked off from the Redhat branch and is now maintained by an OpenSource effort that is not associated with Redhat. Redhat officially maintains RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which is an Enterprise (read BUSINESS) version of Linux, maintained and sold by REDHAT for profit. Fedora Linux is very similar to the RHEL , ( the Enterprise version) and is free to use without any restrictions. I really liked Fedora and used it quite a bit. I found the interface and configuration options to be somewhat disjointed and spread out thru many different portions of the GUI. Some options required web access for configuration and many other important configurations had no GUI at all, it was necessary to drop to the command line for these options. Ultimately this was the reason I eventually soured towards Fedora. New users are looking for some level of consistancy an OS and I felt it was not there for Fedora, I got everything I wanted working, but imagine new users will have a very steep learning curve with Fedora. Additionally the interface, to me, feels like a bunch of seperate parts and pieces thrown together. They worked together but did not feel like a polished professional desktop. IMO
OPENSuse
Now here is a nice distro! The first thing that jumped out at me in OPENSuse is the desktop. It is a NICE desktop, VERY polished and professional looking. it has a nice cohesive feel to it. Additionally OPENsuse has the YAST utility. YAST stands for : (Y)et (A)nother (S)etup (T)ool, and seems to have been developed with the Redhat weakness of configuration utilities all over the place in mind. Yast is like a Sooper control panel in Linux, almost all your configuration options can be found in YAST, from display settings to ip addresses to mouse settings, it is all in YAST. YAST makes configuring your Linux desktop a lot less daunting. Eventually you will remember most of the options and icons in YAST and will reach a level of comfort similar to what you felt in windows. Like Fedora, OPENsuse has an enterprise version called SLES (Suse Linux Enterprise Server) this is also more geared towards business and is sold for profit by NOVELL inc.
DSL LINUX (Dam small Linux)
I wanted to include this interesting and unique distribution. DSL Linux is specifically made to boot from USB flash drives. Then entire Distribution only uses about 50 megs of disk space ( yes that is MEGS not GIGS). It can also be installed on your harddrive. It is very simple to use, applications can be easily added to and it supports a wide variety of hardware. Last I checked the big drawback to DSL was lack of support for nForce based motherboards, it could not detect network cards, sounds cards and USB hardware on these systems, hopefully that will be fixed with upcoming releases. A very interesting Distro for your consideration.
Applications
The BIG question everyone asks about Linux is, will it run my Microsoft Applications? This is a tuff question to deal with, many Microsoft apps WILLl run, some will run but very poorly and many will not run at all. For instance Office 97 will work under Linux but Office 2003 wont even start. For those who throw up their hands consider what you are asking, can you get ANY Linux apps to run under Windows??? Not a single one. Additionally if running MS apps is your main concern then you should stick with Windows. If you are a big gamer, stick with Windows. If you want enhanced browsing, Virus free operations, rock solid stability, improvements meant to IMPROVE THE OS and not INCREASE PROFITS, consider Linux. For the gamers out there do not get the impression that Linux does not do games. Linux can do LOTS of games, there are Nintendo, SEGA, Gameboy, PSX emulators available for LINUX that can run all the console games, there are lots of native Linux games out there, Introvision software makes Darwinia and Uplink to name two, and they are both fantastic games. What LINUX will not do is run the brand newest games just released. Until Microsoft decides to release the specs to DirectX for all the public to see I suspect Linux will always lag behind in gaming. There are several open source efforts (WINE & CEDEGA) to allow Windows games to run on Linux but even the best of them still has a long ways to go. For apps that just do not work there is almost always a FREE open source alternative to the software you are using, you will just haveta do some web crawling to find it.
Preference
Everyone has their preferences for different reasons but, after having used these three distributions (I used UBUNTU the least), I just ended up using SUSE becasue of the gorgeous desktop. Hardcore Windows fans may perk up here a bit, IMHO the Suse Linux desktop running under KDE 3.5 is a beautiful thing, it is highly configurable, MUCH MORE so than windows and again I want to stress IN MY OPINION, is much more configurable than windows or even VISTA for that matter. YAST is also another great addition, it really does make configuring Linux that much easier. SUSE Linux also has a Windows Domain Joining tool that, with a bit of configuring, allows you to seemlessly join Windows workgroups and Domains. Once joined you can browse the network just like you would any other Windows network via Konqueror or other browsing tools if you like. The ability to join and browse workgroups and domains is a very nice addition. You can use shares, print to windows printers and use network resources just like other Windows workstations, but you can do so much more *snicker*. If you have never installed or seen a Linux desktop you will be very impressed!
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