To take your questions one by one:
Originally posted by Vehementi
I just got reading that gargantuan 81 reply post about Linux...
Now my question is, should I install Linux?
I recommend that anyone interested in how computers work install Linux. Its a Hacker's operating system (Hacker in the sense of a techie who likes to take things part, not break into other people's computers which is cracking....) and as such you will learn a lot about programming, kernels, scripts, compiling, how operating systems and programs are made up, etc, when you install Linux. Its a lot easier to install these days than it used to be.
I've heard so much about it, and so many possibilities exist, but should I or shouldn't I?
Plus there's the whole Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, Caldera, Turbolinux, Gnome, Lycoris, Debian and Slackware versions....Ugh! Which one?
Well, all Linux heads tend to have their favourate (mine being Red Hat) but the best thing I can say generally is just pick one and get started. Probably that one will wind up being your fav. The industry standards are probably closer to Red Hat and Mandrake. My posted instructions (
http://www.3dspotlight.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=214 ) refer to Red Hat install, but could be adapted for others as well.
What are it's advantages over Windows? (I'm running ME right now.)
Well, that's something that we could go on about all night (its late here already) but let's just say firstly that its free (more or less), other users can be VERY friendly and supportive, it has a LOT of powerful tools bundled with it and it has some very powerful capabilities. Windows limits the user in many ways (which again we could go on about all night) but Linux does not have such limitations. You can make it look like whatever you want. You can make it behave in a whole variety of ways that you can't with Windows. And it has some VERY powerful commands that Windows just doesn't even touch on.
For example, there are built in capabilities in Linux to burn CDs from the command line, write your hard drive with zeros, and so forth, all expressable in UNIX commands and executables. Any good Linux distro comes loaded with programs for doing just about anything that you can imagine, without the need to buy any more. And it does not suffer from the Microsoft syndrome (i.e. make the browser and the media player part of the operating system just to stick the foot into the groin of the competition.....)
I have 2 hard drives, one is 20 GB and the other is 10. I can install Linux on the 10 GB.
Yes. It would be best if the drive you install it on is on the primary IDE controller (either master or slave) and not the secondary, again for reasons I can't be bothered going into right now.
Also, how big is the download? I have dial up :dead:
In that case, you can forget about downloading Linux pretty much, if you want the real experience. Redhat is 2 full CDs and Mandrake is 3 if I remember. But you can buy it for a fraction of the cost of Windows (any version) from any good computing store. The money you are paying mainly goes into the cost of the media itself, the printed manuals and the technical support you will be entitled to if you buy a boxed copy.
Your best bet is to take the plunge and see where it leads you. Maybe Linux is not for you. On the other hand, maybe you will unlock a door that will change your computing experience. I would not be ready to adandon Windows completely albeit for games at this early stage, but certainly an installation of it on some free hard disk space will do no harm. If you decide you think its rubbish, too hard to get into, or too hard to work with then you can dump it. If you are the sort of person who likes to click buttons a lot then you are going to have to get into editing some scripts here and there to do things, which is NOT to everyone's liking.
As I said, I would recommend that any computer enthusiast, either amateur or professional to look into Linux. I know computing people who WORSHIP it. I also know Windows gurus who call it the work of the Devil.
Either way, politically, economically and morally its a much nicer place to be than MS land, which is all about profit and money. The Linux world is more about sharing, helping each other and giving things to others for the sake of helping them, a bit like the way some people post here to help others expecting nothing in return.
I typically run anywhere between 5 and 10 different operating systems on my computer, which include both Microsoft and Linux operating systems. I use all of them for different tasks (even if that task is playing about) and each has its strengths and its weaknesses. Often I am in Windows trying to do something and think "I should be in Linux right now" whereas other times I have rebooted Linux in disgust about how totally hard its been to accomplish something that should be really easy and is in Windows. Windows main strength is its user friendliness and in the Linux world, at least at the moment, you will sacrifice a little of that in order to be able to do things that are very powerful.
Its a very different world. Installing software in Linux is accomplished in a variety of different ways.... its not just like double clicking on some setup.exe file and having some wizard do everything for you. In Linux, sometimes you have to download the source code and compile the application yourself, and if there is something wrong then there may be a very technical reason why, which you shall have to solve with or without the help of others.
And as its a different world, its very interesting. Its like the OS equivalent of going on holiday to a foreign country. There are things that are so similar (i.e. its still got the internet, zip files, etc, etc....) but there are also many things that will be alien to you at first. But that makes it interesting. I'd say you are in for some fun, but also some frustration. But then nothing that is worthwhile in this life does not contain some element of frustration, otherwise it would not be worth doing.
I'd say, all in all, go for it. All you have to loose is a few $$$ and a couple of afternoons to start. If you hate it you can wipe the partition, give the disks away to someone else and forget all about it. Or, as I said, you can open a rather interesting door.