[lug] new install

[Daniel Webb]

On Mon, Mar 05, 2007 at 11:25:27AM -0800, Bob Singleton wrote:

> I need help and advice.  I want to make the leap from windows to Linux. I'm
> a little bit leary because I don't have an internal CD drive or floppy etc.
> I do have an external CD/DVD drive. Should I anticipate a problem when my
> old operating system is being deleted - will my computer be able to see the
> external drive?   Also, someone recomend the best Linux system to install,
> Red Hat, or what? I'm coming into this cold turkey.
>    
>     I have an IBM Thinkpad X30
>   processor is pentium III with 1.06 MHz
>   Memory is 128 MB
>   Storage is 20 GB

Sorry to chime in so late, but:

 1) That's not much memory.  If you use any of Firefox, java, acrobat reader
or OpenOffice, this is likely going to give you a bad impression of Linux,
since all of those programs are obscene memory hogs in comparison to everthing
else (on my system, they use the majority of 1.5G memory, and I have a LOT of
processes running).  Those programs will eat up gigs of memory without
trying.

 2) Try any distro that has a live CD first.  You'll probably think about
trying other distros if you like Linux anyway.  I like Debian stable (or
actually, Debian Etch which is almost stable), except I'm not sure if it has
a live cd yet, so maybe try Knoppix which is a live CD based on Debian.
I agree with others that VMware is a good way to start out and you can try
that out for any distribution, live CD or not.

 3) As others have said, don't get rid of Windows yet.  It will be a long
process.  One of the toughest things about fully migrating to Linux is just
figuring out the best software for a given task, especially as a new user.
There is no good way to determine this that I know of other than word of
mouth.  This list is invaluable for that.  

 4) It WILL be frustrating at times, unless your needs are extremely simple,
in which case you may not even notice the difference.  

 5) A major adjustment to using Linux is that you'll have to start evaluating
hardware before you buy it to make sure it will work right with Linux.  Don't
let anybody tell you different.

 6) It's worth it.

P.S. I'm not even sure about the external drive issue.  Don't delete Windows.