Linux geeks/fanboys

[bully]

After reading the thread on here about loading Linux on a Dell i have decided to do it.
I am just going to use the Dell (desktop) as a file server. It has a wireless ethernet card in it.

So, what flavour of Linux do i use? and where do i get it?

what is easiest? i am a bit dopey tbh

will i be able to wirelessly connect to it from my Laptop to transfer files both ways?

 

[Griff]

I asked the same question recently and went with Suse after Si's reply.

openSuSe 10.2 has a Live DVD, it does not include an installer.

Even though I am an Ubuntu user, I think you would be more impressed with SuSe than Ubuntu "out of the box"

http://download.opensuse.org/

Ubuntu as will all distros is easy to configure for eye candy but personally I think the default look is s**te.

Here's openSuSe 10.2 running from DVD:

Here's STANDARD Ubuntu:

Here's Ubuntu with Beryl (NOT THE DEFAULT LOOK)

 

[ViolentJ]

I took my own advice as well recently and replaced Ubuntu with openSUSE

I can't really make any recommendations on file server usage as I only use it for the desktop, I guess it depends whether you want to purely use it for a server or you will be using it as a desktop as well.

KDF might be better able to point you in the right direction though.

 

[172.com]

I used to use SUSE 9, seemed OK to me.

 

[G_F]

I went with Ubuntu and installed Beryl (blows Vista out the water with its visuals, i will add)

Is it for home use? i shouldn't think you need a dedicated OS like Samba, the same as you wouldn't install Server 2003 for a home network.

 

[cli0 172]

well i'm just about to be converted also .... KDF is being kind enough to set up Ubuntu on my pc for me ,whilst doing a few other tweeks

 

[G_F]

OOO err, sounds sexual

 

[Adams_16v]

KDF is a top bloke!

but if that flavour is so 'user friendly' to use why does he need to set it all up I bet ya end up going back to Windows within a week max hehe

I am tempted to give linux a go again, but iv tried 4 times in the past. twice it wouldnt even boot into the OS, once it was so slow i could hardly use it and half my hardware didnt work, and the 4th time i had no fookin clue what to do once it was all working! all command line stuff! just to install one app i wanted was a complete command line nightmare, and after 3 hours i gave up!

 

[KDF]

After reading the thread on here about loading Linux on a Dell i have decided to do it.
I am just going to use the Dell (desktop) as a file server. It has a wireless ethernet card in it.

So, what flavour of Linux do i use? and where do i get it?

what is easiest? i am a bit dopey tbh

will i be able to wirelessly connect to it from my Laptop to transfer files both ways?

Personally, if im just doing a fileserver I would normally use RHEL, but for home I would go with FC6, and wouldnt bother with an X environment (set up everthing by command line).

Box would take seconds to boot and would run schweet for years without reboots (although admitedly you probably would to switch kernels)

To be honest pretty much every mainstream flavour of linux is gonna do the job. The only problem i can forsee is your wireless card... setting that up can be a pain sometimes.

 

[KDF]

I took my own advice as well recently and replaced Ubuntu with openSUSE

I can't really make any recommendations on file server usage as I only use it for the desktop, I guess it depends whether you want to purely use it for a server or you will be using it as a desktop as well.

KDF might be better able to point you in the right direction though.

Soon I will hear you muttering the words..

"I was once the learner, now I am the Master." - Darth Vader

Got to say im loving ubuntu ! I have only touch a command line a couple times and that was cause I find it faster than GUI's

 

[KDF]

well i'm just about to be converted also .... KDF is being kind enough to set up Ubuntu on my pc for me ,whilst doing a few other tweeks

Your done, its ready to go !


ive configured everything you said you would be using.. and stuff you didnt. I havent installed your printer as quite frankly its easier/quicker than windows..

 

[G_F]

Unless you need to learn it, for prospective/your job(s) etc or you need to packet inject wireless networks or you are unable to use cracked Windows versions or you have enough time + patience is there much point?

I c**k about with different Linux distos all the time, interesting none the less, but it earns me no extra £ in my job, so could be put down to a waste of my time. The only real use i get out of Linux, is the ability to install a whole OS on a Flash Memory Stick, which i have only done very recently and hey, it can be productive.

Ive babbled, unsure of the point i was trying to make now. lol

 

[KDF]

KDF is a top bloke!

but if that flavour is so 'user friendly' to use why does he need to set it all up I bet ya end up going back to Windows within a week max hehe

I am tempted to give linux a go again, but iv tried 4 times in the past. twice it wouldnt even boot into the OS, once it was so slow i could hardly use it and half my hardware didnt work, and the 4th time i had no fookin clue what to do once it was all working! all command line stuff! just to install one app i wanted was a complete command line nightmare, and after 3 hours i gave up!

Thanks for the kind words..

I'm setting it up for him as he wanted all his windows documents backed up.. favourites from browsers etc. As you know in windows people's saved documents/files seem to be spread all over the place... not a problem in linux.. everything goes in your home folder..

No danger he is going back to windows.. i'll make sure of it ! He's already had experience of linux as when we went to florida he used it to connect to a wireless network and do everything he wanted.. he just wouldnt do the one thing I wanted.. put it back on charge after he was finished !! So by the time I got it the fecking laptop was flat !

I'll admit there has been a couple times where it has frustrated me.. right up to the point that I realised I was doing something wrong.. not the OS..

If you wanna try it again .. go to www.ubuntu.com download the desktop version.. chuck it in your cd drive and boot your pc, it wont touch you hard drive and you can try it out, if you like it double click the installer and follow the prompts... piss easy.

 

[bully]

After reading the thread on here about loading Linux on a Dell i have decided to do it.
I am just going to use the Dell (desktop) as a file server. It has a wireless ethernet card in it.

So, what flavour of Linux do i use? and where do i get it?

what is easiest? i am a bit dopey tbh

will i be able to wirelessly connect to it from my Laptop to transfer files both ways?

Personally, if im just doing a fileserver I would normally use RHEL, but for home I would go with FC6, and wouldnt bother with an X environment (set up everthing by command line).

Box would take seconds to boot and would run schweet for years without reboots (although admitedly you probably would to switch kernels)

To be honest pretty much every mainstream flavour of linux is gonna do the job. The only problem i can forsee is your wireless card... setting that up can be a pain sometimes.

Speak english boy!!

Didnt get much of that.

I said fileserver, i am going to keep my Photo's, MP3's and Vid's etc on it and any other junk i think of..

I might need a desktop if i need to go on the net.

My wireless card CAN be sorted though can it? If i get someone clever round to my gaff??

So what say you? Which version of it and where do i get it for free and where do i get instructions for complete numbskull's?

 

[Adams_16v]

printer - quicker than plugging it in, waiting 20 secs for it to install automatically then it work? hehe

 

[Adams_16v]

sounds good ill give it a go after the weekend! i would be happy to use a linux OS, just from the times iv tried iv not seemed to get anywhere like. and windows does everything i need with no mojor probs. i do like trying new things out though!

ill report back once iv tried it out, cheers!

KDF is a top bloke!

but if that flavour is so 'user friendly' to use why does he need to set it all up I bet ya end up going back to Windows within a week max hehe

I am tempted to give linux a go again, but iv tried 4 times in the past. twice it wouldnt even boot into the OS, once it was so slow i could hardly use it and half my hardware didnt work, and the 4th time i had no fookin clue what to do once it was all working! all command line stuff! just to install one app i wanted was a complete command line nightmare, and after 3 hours i gave up!

Thanks for the kind words..

I'm setting it up for him as he wanted all his windows documents backed up.. favourites from browsers etc. As you know in windows people's saved documents/files seem to be spread all over the place... not a problem in linux.. everything goes in your home folder..

No danger he is going back to windows.. i'll make sure of it ! He's already had experience of linux as when we went to florida he used it to connect to a wireless network and do everything he wanted.. he just wouldnt do the one thing I wanted.. put it back on charge after he was finished !! So by the time I got it the fecking laptop was flat !

I'll admit there has been a couple times where it has frustrated me.. right up to the point that I realised I was doing something wrong.. not the OS..

If you wanna try it again .. go to www.ubuntu.com download the desktop version.. chuck it in your cd drive and boot your pc, it wont touch you hard drive and you can try it out, if you like it double click the installer and follow the prompts... piss easy.

 

[KDF]

Personally, if im just doing a fileserver I would normally use RHEL, but for home I would go with FC6, and wouldnt bother with an X environment (set up everthing by command line).

Box would take seconds to boot and would run schweet for years without reboots (although admitedly you probably would to switch kernels)

To be honest pretty much every mainstream flavour of linux is gonna do the job. The only problem i can forsee is your wireless card... setting that up can be a pain sometimes.

Speak english boy!!

Didnt get much of that.

I said fileserver, i am going to keep my Photo's, MP3's and Vid's etc on it and any other junk i think of..

I might need a desktop if i need to go on the net.

My wireless card CAN be sorted though can it? If i get someone clever round to my gaff??

So what say you? Which version of it and where do i get it for free and where do i get instructions for complete numbskull's?

Sorry..

RHEL = Red Hat Enterprise LInux (not free hence only use at work)
FC6 = Fedora Core 6
X Enviroment = Think of windows desktop.. if you dont have it you will get something that looks like DOS (only much more powerfull)

If you want to view photo's/vids etc on the fileserver (not as in a true fileserver that you only dump files on and leave in a corner somwhere then you still have a massive choice.

Heard good things about the new SUSE and of course I would deffinatly recommend ubuntu for beginners !

What wireless card do you have ? (make, model, pci/pcmcia ?)

 

[KDF]

printer - quicker than plugging it in, waiting 20 secs for it to install automatically then it work? hehe

lol.. that has never happend to me on any printer I installed on windows.. maybe just me ?

But to be honest.. yes I could install a printer in linux quicker than 20 seconds.. I would probably say about 10-15 seconds.

 

[cli0 172]

well i'm just about to be converted also .... KDF is being kind enough to set up Ubuntu on my pc for me ,whilst doing a few other tweeks

Your done, its ready to go !


ive configured everything you said you would be using.. and stuff you didnt. I havent installed your printer as quite frankly its easier/quicker than windows..

dayum you don't hang about .... well actually usually u do

hang onto it just now .... you may be changing all the hardware over to a nice new shiny case lol :rasp:

 

[ViolentJ]

printer - quicker than plugging it in, waiting 20 secs for it to install automatically then it work? hehe

lol.. that has never happend to me on any printer I installed on windows.. maybe just me ?

But to be honest.. yes I could install a printer in linux quicker than 20 seconds.. I would probably say about 10-15 seconds.

Unless of course you have to switch between ECC and EPP, then it takes a little longer

Ubuntu wanted EPP but when I stuck a parallel printer switch on it wanted ECC then when I changed to openSUSE it wanted EPP again :S

 

[Mells]

I use Ubuntu. Put Beryl on it and it will kick the s**t out of Vista's visuals.

Cant get used to Open Suse 10.2, but its on my PC so I'll give it alittle more time.

 

[ViolentJ]

I was never a KDE fan until I used openSUSE now I much prefer it over GNOME.

 

[KDF]

I was a KDE fanboy till RedHat started pushing Gnome.. now I dont mind either or rather I can switch between them without getting lost.

 

[Daz]

KDE/QT is evil.

 

[sn00p]

QT is evil.

For sure. I'd like to know which f**kwit decided to base an open source gui/toolkit on a commercial product!

 

[richy22]

ok for the majortiy of us that dont know what u lot are talking about!!.....

Which version on this page should i download to have a look at this open suse 10??

http://download.opensuse.org/

Theres 3 different versions,, 4 cds and a DVD for each one!

 

[KDF]

x86 = 32bit processors built on the x86 architecture eg. 486 586 686
x86-64 = 64bit processors built on the x86 architecture.

PPC = PowerPC Processor, you definatly wont have this !

either download the 5 CD's, the one DVD, or the internet installer if you have a decent connection, the internet installer will only download the packages you choose to install..

 

[ViolentJ]

Download the Live DVD first.

You can try openSUSE 10.2 WITHOUT installing it.

If you decide you like it then download the other DVD to install it.

 

[KDF]

One thing to mention about the live CD/DVD's are they will of course run slower than if they were actually installed ! so when the icons on the menu take a few seconds its only cause its waiting on your dvd drive spinning up

 

[Mells]

If you want to show yourself as a proper geek, they have a free DVD of Open Suse 10.2 (not live) with this months copy of 'Linux User' mag.

 

[Adams_16v]

good start as ever.

ubuntu boots to the boot screen then any options chosen it says it cant read from the disc. same on my pc and laptop, and with 2 different cd's!

 

[ViolentJ]

Checksum?

If that is ok then try burning it slow like 4x

 

[Adams_16v]

just checked....didnt match, downloading again lol.

 

[KDF]

ye if the checksum dont match then your download was corrupted.. can happen (hence the md5 checksum)

 

[Adams_16v]

think im destined for any kind of linux to never work for me!

 

[KDF]

Think you've already made your mind up its not for you

Which I cant accept and will hound you until you run nothing but linux.

 

[ViolentJ]

You'll go to hell if you don't use Linux.

This is the way forward, show them the way of the penguin whilst they are still young http://www.fbc.org.uk/fbcHome/fbcChildren/Penguins

 

[Mells]

did you download the 64 or 32 bit version?

 

[clio172cup20]

Linux is for newbs, OpenBSD!!!!

 

[disco]

Pclos