Want to convert an XP machine to Linux

Seems we have an extra machine around here and I would like to go open source. So, if anyone here can help out with some advice, here are my questoins:

1. Which version of Linux is easiest to install?

2. Which is cheapest?

There will be others probably, but I've wanted to do this for a long time - I think the time has come.

And personally I love fedora core 3, the free version of red hat linux. It's as easy, if not easier to install than windows, and comes with a messload of drivers. The install can be as easy as choosing to install fedora as either a workstation, server, webserver or developer machine, and all the neccessary packages will be installed. Plus fedora has a huge range of rpms so if you want to install something new, odds are you wont have to compile it yourself.

I would stay away from fedora core 4, though.

sounds good - I'll check it out. I thought it was still reasonably free.

Three distros tend to rank highest among people new to Linux, not necessarily in this order:

1) SuSE
2) Fedora
3) Mandriva (formerly Mandrake)

All of these will install a fully operational desktop system complete with GUI and most of the options you could want without a lot of mucking around with it just to make it work. SuSE seems to be geared more toward the business user in that it includes a lot of software that businesses would use, but that'd doesn't mean it is not for the home user as well.

All of these have their strengths and weaknesses. I personally had far more luck with SuSE figuring out my hardware. Fedora didn't like my USB ports at all and refused to install without disabling them, which wasn't much of an option at all.

4) Knoppix -- If you would like to play around with what's possible without going for the full install from the beginning, Knoppix has an excellent LiveCD that will offer you a fully working system by booting from the CD alone and not installing anything.

Before you start, be aware of a few things.

Modern graphics cards and any Linux distro sometimes don't play well together, particularly those with a Radeon engine. The drivers are still proprietary because the companies won't release the source or open the design elements necessary for outside development, and ATI especially has been very slow to support Linux. (It's getting better, though.) I eventually got mine to function well with everything except video capture, but before I knew what I was doing, I was about to throw the machine out the window.

If you have a wireless network, you'll need some assistance in getting it up and running in many cases.

Due to copyright and patent restrictions, playing DVDs, MP3s, and other media formats tends not to be possible "out of the box" with the fully OpenSource versions of most Linux distros. It's relatively easy to get all these things to work, generally better than they work under Windoze in my opinion, when you know what packages you need and where to get them.

Some sound cards and some distros have issues with each other.

If you have a mouse with more than 3 buttons, you may have to manually edit a configuration file and create a small script to execute at startup to get it to work properly. What that file is and how to edit it depends on what desktop GUI you install. Again, it's easy when you know how to do it, but be aware that if you have a modern, advanced, mouse, all that may work on initial install are the basic functions and left and right click.

None of this is meant to disuade you, just to give you fair warning. Once you figure all this out, you'll feel like you've accomplished something and that you have a better understanding of how your computer works. Fixing things becomes easier with experience, and it's a worthwhile journey. Just in terms of dollars and cents, I added it up recently, and I have on my Linux system software that would have cost me over $5,000 for the Windoze equivalents. It all works just as well and in some cases better.

I already use a lot of open source product, from a sound editor, dvd burner, browser, bit torrent stuff, email client and open office, so, after a week of futzing with XP on three of our machines and getting pissed I think I'll make the leap on the spare machine.

Any word on how it works with a Dell? We have a Dimension and it already has some proprietary issues for Windoze. :eyes:

Dell offers their products without an operating system that is intended for those wanting to install Linux, and I haven't noticed any major differences in the hardware configuration of those systems and those sold with Windoze pre-installed. In fact, one system they offer is notorious for being *more expensive* without an OS than it is with Windoze even though the hardware configuration is exactly the same, which is due to the fact the costs of production are subsidized by advertising that can be installed on the system if it has Windoze, i.e. pre-installed adware. How fun.

As long as the BIOS isn't configured in some bastardized way, such as what Gateway used to do with its sytems, requiring a "hidden" partition to be present on the hard drive with specific information before it would even start to boot, you shouldn't have a problem with the basic setup. I've never heard of Dell doing this, so I wouldn't worry.

Before you get started, you really should consider burning a LiveCD of Knoppix and trying it. If you can get it to start, you'll most likely be able to do a full install of a full system. If the Knoppix LiveCD won't boot on a first try, you can mess with the boot options, so don't give up on it. I tried this on a Gateway system once, and once again the USB ports were the problem. I just found the option to disable USB port detection, and everything booted fine. (Then I installed SuSE and had no real problems at all.)

OnEdit:

For distro downloads: http://www.linuxiso.org/
Help: http://www.linuxquestions.org/

(this post is almost 1 year old. Newer versions of Linux are available for download. The proceedures I used are still current.)


So many flavors to choose from.
Last month, I installed 11 different flavors of Linux, looking for the best fit.

You can go here and download ISO's of all these versions and try them out FOR FREE!!

http://www.linuxiso.org /


For my rather generic box, only three versions recognized almost all my hardware, and installed without hassles.

SuSE 9.1
Knoppix...Kanotix
Ubuntu

The sole hardware exception common to all versions was my scanner (HPScanjet 4470C on USB). Most versions correctly identified the scanner, but the software interface failed to initialize. In Linux defense, my scanner is NOT on the hardware compatibility lists.

I really like Mandrake, and worked hard to get it installed, but was unable to get my Net Card working. I even bought and installed a NetCard that was on the Mandrake Hardware Compatibility list and no luck. During BOOT always the same error message {NET CARD eth0....FAILED}. I spent several late nights trying to "build a kernal with a tarball"..lots of fun, but no success yet. Someone with more Linux experience could get this working.



I also downloaded and installed :

Mandrake 10,,,10.1...10.2(peek)

Debian 3r4 (install options confusing for me)

Fedora Core 3 (would like to try again)

Slackware 10.0 (over my head)

Lycoris (almost a disaster...maybe a bad disk)

Knoppix...cool and easy

Kanotix Bug Hunter(a Knoppix knock off update)

SuSE 9.1 (smooth and easy)

Ubuntu 4.1 (Warty) (elegant, my favorite)

Many of these have released a "LIVE" disk that you can run from the CD. Simply boot your box from the CD and get a look at the fully functional distro. Of course, it is slow, but you can get an idea if your hardware is compatible.

Distros known to have a "LIVE disk:
Knoppix
Kanotix
SuSE
Ubuntu


My suggestions for playing with Linux without trashing WinDoze.
I am migrating from WinXP, and will be using WinXP as my primary OS until I am comfortable with Linux.

Partition Magic 8.0 has a tool to partition the HardDrive for Linux installations.
Partition Magic 8.0 is available for download over the Net for about $32.00. I used it without problems.
AVOID LETTING THE LINUX INSTALL PROGRAM PARTITION YOUR HARD DRIVE.
Windows utilities or Partition Magic may not be able to undo partioning performed by Linux install programs.

PartitionMagic doesn't run well from within WinXP, so you will probably have to boot from the PMagic floppy to create the Linux Partitions. To avoid any confusion with Drive Letters, put the experimental Linux partitions at the end of your HardDrive (or at the end of a 2nd HardDrive). I am using about 7 Gigs for the Linux partitions and that is way more than enough.

(I have a small hidden partition with a bare bones WinME. I can boot to WinME and use PartitionMagic8.0 to set up the Linux Partitions without ANY problems)


Almost all of the Linux Installs recognized the pre-partitioned Linux Partitions and asked if this is where I wanted to Install. Say YES.
(Note: Fedora Core was vague at this point in the install, so I backed out, not willing to risk my Windows partitions).

Linux will automatically install a boot loader (Grub or Lilo) that will let you choose either Windows or Linux at boot.
Both worked on my system without problems.
You can edit the boot loader to make Windows the default boot until you are confident to default to Linux.



Removing Linux from your Box without trashing Windows
Easy.

Step 1) Use the already installed LILO (or Grub) to boot to your Windoze System and use PartitionMagic to delete the Linux Partitions.

*If you are using XP, you will probably need to boot from the PMagic floppy instead of using the Linux loader to boot to Windows (since XP seems to hate PartitionMagic).

Step 2) Boot from a floppy that contains the Dos partition utility FDISK, and type "FDISK /MBR" (without the quotes). This will remove the Linux boot loader (Lilo or Grub).
My system was ALWAYS restored to the regular Windows configuration after these two steps.

Caution Note: My DOS boot floppy is from WinME and contains the latest preXP FDISK command. I don't believe XP comes with an FDISK utility, so make sure you have a BOOT Floppy that has a functional FDISK utility that can work with large Hard Drives. I KNOW the FDISK in ME will work. I believe that Win98se DOS Floppy will work, but cannot vouch for it. FDISK was able to remove the Linux boot loader (Grub or Lilo)("FDISK/MBR"), but was unable to read or delete the Linux Partitions. PMagic was necessary to delete these partitions from the HardDrive.

I have read online that you can use the XP BOOT CONSOLE to restore the MBR (master boot record), but I have never used that method.


Summary: After looking at the versions listed above, I preferred UBUNTU. UBUNTU diverges a little from traditional Linux in the methods of logging on as SU, but is conceptually consistent. SuSE was equally as functional, my choice was subjective. I currently use Ubuntu to browse the Internet and play with the Linux system. I am still using XP for my Graphics Software and Games.


Linux has a HUGE online community that is very helpful.
I have bought a How To book on the nuts and bolts of Linux (Inside Linux, Tobler) and am working my way through, learning to work from the command line. The Learning Curve is steep and a little frustrating at times, and I have background in Command Line Dos. But overall, it is fun. I am learning the system of the future and can always boot to WinXP when necessary.

Good Luck.
Remember to have FUN!

All I have to do is power down, unlock and remove the tray with whatever system on it and swap out. Turn it on and run-that way I don't have any partition conflicts, etc. With drives being as cheap as they are now it's no problem. I have drives with DOS, Win98SE, Win2000, Ubuntu 5.10, Suse 10.0, and Linspire. I'm using a 1.8 Ghz Duron with 512 Mb Ram and 64 Mb S3 Savage video. When I'm playing with DOS, I probably have the fastest DOS computer in the country.

I recently discovered the joys of these as well and now do exactly the same thing.

I noticed you were planning to use a Dell Dimension for you Linux experiment, and it was too late to edit my post, so I added that info here.
I ran in to no problems that were attributable to the basic platform being a Dell.

Suse, Ubuntu, Kanotix, Knoppix automaticaly installed my net card, and logged on through my router without any adjustments. This is essential because you will need the Net to download packages and access trouble shooting advice.

Remember to HAVE FUN.