ajb123 Posted May 16, 2006 Report Share Posted May 16, 2006 Hi everyone, I guess you get this all the time.....i've never used Linux before but am really keen to get started. I've done a little reaserch and like the look of the new Mandriva software. I'm really just wanting to know if i've made the right choice and to gather as much info as posible. Any help, advice, coments or anything really would be hugely appriciated! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jboy Posted May 16, 2006 Report Share Posted May 16, 2006 If you want to try Linux, you can't go wrong starting with Mandriva. It's a great distro. Here are a few web links with tips to get it installed and configured: http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/configuration2006.html http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_mandriva_2006 http://devries.mandrivausers.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php http://easylinux.info/wiki/Mandriva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 I love Mandriva, I use 6 machines with it on, compared to the number of distros I've tried and tested, but always gone back to Mandriva. At the end of the day it's personal preference. Mandriva is good, because it's not completely simplistic like some distros, so you have a good distro to learn with. But it's also not too hard either, which means a newbie could easily learn from using this distro. Easy distros would probably classify Ubuntu from what everyone mentions, as it's mostly for newbies. But I feel if you want to learn, try something a bit harder, but not too hard. I wouldn't recommend Gentoo to you because that will be too hard. But maybe later when you have the confidence, you'll try other distros. And, you have this forum for help too, which is really cool :P And welcome to the board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilia_kr Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 Welcome! I'm using linux for about a year, so i might be considered a noob and i prefere Mandriva. Tried Debian, Fedora - gread distros but Mandriva takes tham all by its simplicity and hardware recognition. Plus - you got this forum, exellent place to ask questions and get really good answers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb123 Posted May 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 Thanks for your replies. It's good to know that there are other users out there prepeared to offer there time to support other Linux users. As a newcomer to this whole thing i'm just dead keen to get a linux distrabution on my pc. At the same time though i want to know a little bit more about how my os works and learn more about pcs in the process. I've ordered my 6 disk limited edition version of mandriva 2006 now. s i'm sure i'll be here again very shortly. I think i've got alot to learn so best go and start reading up. Hopefully one day i'll be able to offr someone else advice about Linux. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 If you're thinking about purchasing a book "Linux in a Nutshell" is a really good one. I have this, and quite a few people here recommend this book. There are others too, of which I'm sure are just as good. Mostly though, you can google for a lot of information, and ask questions here. We're only happy to help you on your way to a Windows free environment. My whole environment is Mandriva Linux at home, with the exception of a laptop with dual boot to Windows, because I have to support my Dad's systems. Otherwise, that would be gone as well :P My work laptop dual boots Windows should I have to use it, but I mostly use vmware workstations if I ever need to use Windows (saves me a reboot :D ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 Welcome! I'm using linux for about a year, so i might be considered a noob and i prefere Mandriva. Tried Debian, Fedora - gread distros but Mandriva takes tham all by its simplicity and hardware recognition. Plus - you got this forum, exellent place to ask questions and get really good answers! Distro choice is very much personal but the best thing about Mandriva is this forum (and I really mean it)... I don't particuarly like mandriva, leastways last time I tried it in 10.1 but for a noobie the most imortant thing is where to turn to ask what you think are dumb questions.... and the good thing here is there are no dumb questions! Linux is fundamentally different to Windows not just the underlying OS but also the philosophy and how things work from a user perspective and getting used to it is a big part of acceptance and fun. You have shown initiative by checking it all out first and finding this forum and you will receive as much help here as anyone could expect. Some distro's have forums which tend to only address technical issues and not noobie issues and others forums that only seem to address cosmetic issues ... and technical questions seem to be ignored whereas here you will find both are equally dealt with here and we all have fun as well. Wecome to the board and I hope a new fun life of linux.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb123 Posted May 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 I'll be installing Mandriva on my laptop for a start and will run windows on it aswell. Is the partioning straight forward? Is it easy to swap between the two os's? Also i do some programing at work with plc's (Allen Bradley, Telemechanique zelio 2). Can Linux do this kind of stuff? So many questions......................you'll get sick of me! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 I'll be installing Mandriva on my laptop for a start and will run windows on it aswell. Is the partioning straight forward? Is it easy to swap between the two os's?Partitioning is very easy and straightforward. Just make sure that you defrag your windows before you start partitioning your drive. The already mentioned site from aRTee ( http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/configuration2006.html ) has a walkthrough that will show you how to partition your drive. Once all is done, a dual-boot will be set up automatically, so you can boot whatever you want. No idea about your second question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakish Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 (edited) Hi.. for the partitioning, a 3rd party partioner/boot manager is also helpful ;) Else, coming to your subject, i was a totally new linux user too when i started some months ago...and from that point of view i can tell you that Mandriva 2006 and this forum is the BEST for linux new-comers! Do not hesitate to ask questions that you may have, these people here are really as nice as Gowator has mentioned above. A side note: If you are going to use both windows and mandriva, do make a "common" partition which you can use/see from both mandriva and windows..this will be very needy! (make that partition FAT32) Enjoy! Edited May 20, 2006 by wakish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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