Linux

[Piemaster]

Question for the experts out there.
I've got an old laptop and have been mulling over installing Linux on it. Picked up a magazine today with a copy of ubuntu on it, any reason I couldn't install it onto a usb hard drive and boot run it off there if I have a fiddle with bios boot device sequence settings?
ie. boot Linux off usb if it's plugged in and off hard drive to windows if it isn't?

usb drive is 40gb. Was actually the c: drive up to me installing a bigger 120Gb drive in the laptop about a year ago and then sticking it in a caddy so the data on it was still available, never needed it so could easily reformat it.

 

[tyred]

The first thing to check is whether the BIOS allows you set it to boot from a USB device. If so, I see no reason why not. I highly recommend it. I switched to Linux (Xandros) about two years ago and would never go back to using Microshite's inferior products.

 

[barq]

I also think that should be fine. I'm not sure which CD you have, but normally they boot into a 'live' Ubuntu environment that you can try out without installing anything. (The install option is a program that runs from the desktop.) With an old laptop you may find you don't have sufficient RAM to use the live environment because it creates a virtual disk in memory. In that case you'll have to download an Ubuntu Alternate CD - this installs the same system but the installer itself isn't as pretty.

Edit: I've just checked - you need 256MB RAM to do use the graphical installer, less than that and you'll need the alternate CD.

 

[Mr Pig]

My son can boot his mac into about three different operating systems, works fine.

 

[yello]

Yep, if you can alter your boot sequence in the bios then go for it. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

I have 4 laptops all running Ubuntu. The oldest being an HP Omnibook with 256 of memory. Runs linux a darn site faster than it did windows 95!

 

[jonesy]

So is Ubuntu the best Linux installation for non experts?

 

[Carwash]

So is Ubuntu the best Linux installation for non experts?

Well best and best... it's all subjective. But it's certainly a good one to start with if you're new to Linux and want something not *too* alien.

 

[MrGrumpy]

try Kubuntu or possibly SuSe linux both good starter editions, and the desktop will not look too alien coming from windows. Linux has come on leeps and bounds since I first used it in 2000/2001.

 

[levad]

I love Ubuntu, i gives me everything I need and it just works. I had it running on a 10 year old Sony Vaio, I have recently "upgraded" to a 5 year old HP/Compaq Tablet PC.

 

[barq]

So is Ubuntu the best Linux installation for non experts?

It is essentially a 'religious' issue. But there is something to be said for using a popular linux distribution because if you need help you'll find a lot more written about Ubuntu/Fedora/SUSE than (say) Slackware or for that matter the various BSD unix-like systems. So yes, Ubuntu is a good bet.

 

[Shaun]

Well if we're wandering down memory lane ... I got my first taste using a Tandy TRS-80 (with twin 8" floppy drives) running SCO Unix - sorry can't remember the version, but it was 1986!!!

Oh, and I've just remembered it had 2 x SCSI 8MB hard drives ... 8MB (not GB) ... and they were both the size of a desktop PC!!!

"Them was the days ..."

 

[papercorn2000]

This is something that I have considered as well with my old PC. How would a complete beginner go about such a thing?

 

[yello]

How would a complete beginner go about such a thing?

Download it, burn to CD, boot up on it and try it out. Install if you like it. It really is that simple. PCs are usually a trouble free installation. It's laptops that get difficulties, if there is to be any, imo experience that is.

Or, if your PC has no CD burner (older ones don't) either search the bookshelves in a mag shop for Unix mags, they sometimes have install CDs... OR ask for an install CD to be posted to you. Some flavours of Linux (Ubuntu for instance) offer that service. Look at the websites.

 

[tyred]

If a lack of memory is a problem trying to run a live CD, there a number of compact Linux distros out there such as DSL and Puppy Linux. I've happily used Puppy Linux for a while on an ancient desktop and it works very, comes with most of the common software that you need, boots and runs faster and much more stable than something like Win98. DSL is good too but nowhere near as usuer friendly as puppy linux.

 

[barq]

Well if we're wandering down memory lane ... I got my first taste using a Tandy TRS-80 (with twin 8" floppy drives) running SCO Unix - sorry can't remember the version, but it was 1986!!!

Oh that's old school! I didn't come to linux for years because I was using IBM OS/2.

This is something that I have considered as well with my old PC. How would a complete beginner go about such a thing?

The only thing I'd add to yello's advice is about making the CD. You download a linux disk image (a ".iso" file) which will be quite large (e.g. 700MB). The important thing is to use CD burning software that understands what a .iso file is and can unpack and copy it to a CD. Then you can boot from the CD and try it out.