[Nykc]

Ouch - www.ebay.com or check with computer surplus or resellers.

[spearfish]

Yeah, I'm going to eBay it. When I got on there was an auction for a pair of 128 mb sticks going for about $5 (including shipping), but there was only thirty seconds left and couldn't login etc. that fast.

[MorphiusFaydal]

Ye gods... How much RAM do you have?

http://www.xubuntu.org/ < Xubuntu.... Ubuntu Linux, using XFCE instead of GNOME. It's more lightweight, so it may work on your system.

[spearfish]

It sucks --- 192 mb. Hey, did I not say my computer was old?

It's running win98, and I'm pretty sure that was a major OS upgrade for it back in the day ;-)

And I looked into it, I should be able to grab some from my dad's computer, since XP only needs 64mb ram lol.

And I looked into Xubuntu - looks good, it's just like Ubuntu? Becaus I *can* run it, just not well, and I'll add more RAM when I get it.

This post has been edited by spearfish: 13 March 2008 - 10:10 AM

[MorphiusFaydal]

You really don't want to run XP on less than 256mb of RAM. 512mb is better.

And yes, Xubuntu is just like vanilla-Ubuntu. It's an official project of Canonical, so it gets all the same software and updates that regular Ubuntu does.

[musya]

no2pencil, on 12 Mar, 2008 - 01:28 PM, said:

spearfish, on 12 Mar, 2008 - 01:14 PM, said:

I was thinking, from the impression I was getting, that it was just like Windows except less stuff runs on it.

You have to look at the larger picture.

The operating system is what allows software to execute, & interact with the hardware. Windows does this, as does Linux, Unix, MacOS, & everything else inbetween.

Microsoft Windows is a graphical interface integrated with the Operating System. Linux offers the ability to launch a graphical interface. There is a difference. On Linux you have multiple choices of Windows Mangers to choose from, allowing you to change the way that the desktop looks. None of this has anything to do with the operating system. There are also different filesystems that you can run, ext2, ext3, file systems that offer journaling, as well as the ones that Microsoft uses (fat16, fat32, NTFS). This doesn't allow you to execute programs however, this is just storage. The operating system must load the executable code into system memory 1st.

This is all just information, but it might help you to better understand what an OS is, before you dive into all of this head 1st.

My 1st experience with Linux was running Slackware. I had to learn all I could about my existing hardware, in order to boot the correct loader to perform an installation. Once I had the base OS on my system, I could load Xwindows & the window manager of my choice, & then use a web browser to get onto the net. Then download more software... ect. This is how I got a better understanding of what Linux is, & I liked it, so I kept with it. I think if I Ubuntu was around when I got into Linux, I would not have kept with it. However, some people prefer using something a little more simple, out of the box - turn key, so to speak. This method saves a lot more time, & you are up & running by lunch time, rather than by the end of the month! No one can really tell you which method is better for you, because everyone has their own opinion, & everyone works independently. Some people don't have the time to fuss with details, while others want to learn more about what's going on at lower levels.

If you want to get a taste of Linux, & how it works, then try Ubuntu. If you want to learn about Linux & how it works with your PC, then I suggest trying Slackware or Debian.

Or Gentoo , but I like debian based because of apt. Windows has apt now too....

This post has been edited by musya: 13 March 2008 - 11:58 AM

[ccrasherdeb]

Another suggestion is to go buy a packaged version of a Linux release that includes a full user guide. I wanted to try Linux a few years ago and a freind of mine suggested this for me. He had been working with Linux for many years so I purchased Suse Linux Pro 9.2 from Novell. This came with the install and support CD's and a huge 1200 page manual. I then installed an additional HD in my system and installed Linux separate from any windows files. I could now boot either Windows or Linux when I started the system or disable the HD via bios with the OS that I did'nt want to show up at startup, this way I did'nt need to choose an OS when I started the system. The version that I bought also offered free updates and support forever I think. This version also helped me learn a lot faster what I could do and not do.

I could now boot either OS and when using Linux, and I also had access to any files on the windows HD that I wanted to manipulate with Linux. After finding the needed drivers from the web, this worked out fairly decent.

There is probably better free version on the web, I'm not familiar with Linux at this point so I won't tell anyone or argue which is the best version.

The main concern with Linux is to find out what programs will run on Linux. I needed to run Autocad and several other higher lvl programs and after painful research, found that this was not possible with Linux. I found a few Linux plugins but I found that it was better to keep winXP. I also spoke with ppl at Autodesk and others about any beta software for Linux and basicly found that it wasnt worth the time required to accomplish this. There are alternative programs to use on Linux but none of them come close to the main progs for windows. Check the web to find out what software is available to replace your windows software. This can help you decide whether Linux is better for you.

I would also watch security. Linux has been considered more secure than windows. From my experiance, this not because Linux is more secure than windows but because very few non buisness systems use Linux. Since windows is used on about 97% of pc's in the world, it has always been great for hackers to target windows. In the recent past with more ppl using Linux, I have seen more hacks on Linux machines. I would venture to say that in the future, if Linux starts to to take a percentage of the windows systems worldwide, security may become a big issue because a hacker might now get recognition for her work worldwide. When windows gets hacked (usually every few minutes, lol ) ppl notice but with Linux, it rarly makes the news since there isnt much fame in glory breaking a Linux machine.

One more interesting item that im starting to see is that several large companies are using Linux to program the controls in their products. They do not announce this to the public but have left this info for ppl to learn on their own. You can see this when ppl start to modify firmware etc. If a company really wanted to keep something proprietary, they would not use open source software to to control the inner workings of their products. For many reasons, these companys dont tell the public things like this. With that said, many problems can be fixed quickly by someone that understands or works with Linux. The only drawback is that a mistake can make an item completely useless or junk.

So anyways, the above method of using Linux worked quite well for me and gave me a chance to see how much I wanted to use Linux. This is only my opinion and in no way is the best way. Im sure there are other ways or better ways to find out if you like Linux.

[spearfish]

MorphiusFaydal, on 13 Mar, 2008 - 10:24 AM, said:

You really don't want to run XP on less than 256mb of RAM. 512mb is better.

And yes, Xubuntu is just like vanilla-Ubuntu. It's an official project of Canonical, so it gets all the same software and updates that regular Ubuntu does.

Yeah, we tried transferring 64 mb ram to me. His XP went: neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaa PHPPTPTT.

[MorphiusFaydal]

musya, on 13 Mar, 2008 - 01:57 PM, said:

Or Gentoo , but I like debian based because of apt. Windows has apt now too....

IMHO, Portage > apt.

[zombie_chan51]

Well for one thing, its an opensource, another, its free, and also its less targeted by viruses and hackers.

spearfish, on 11 Mar, 2008 - 07:03 PM, said:

I'm wondering --- what's the big deal about Linux? I know it's an OS, but nothing else.

Almost every webhost I see, along with my own, provide Linux hosting. So what are Linux's advantages and disadvantages? What type of work is it best for?

I'm also wondering, how should I decide if Linux is right for me, and how much it costs.

Thanks,
Spearfish

[Tom9729]

MorphiusFaydal, on 13 Mar, 2008 - 05:46 PM, said:

musya, on 13 Mar, 2008 - 01:57 PM, said:

Or Gentoo , but I like debian based because of apt. Windows has apt now too....

IMHO, Portage > apt.

I prefer Apt, but honestly they're both very good. I also like the FreeBSD ports system.

Yum and Yast need to die hard though.

[sf242]

whoah when did windows get apt? vista? anyways im running kubuntu and i like it most so far been running it for about 1 1/2 years. still trying to install directx though .

[MorphiusFaydal]

sf242, on 19 Mar, 2008 - 05:34 PM, said:

whoah when did windows get apt? vista? anyways im running kubuntu and i like it most so far been running it for about 1 1/2 years. still trying to install directx though .

There's been an apt port for Windows for a while. A couple years, at least. I'm not sure how big the repos are though...