The Linux Distro Thread (maybe)

[ej-solutions]

Thought I'd start this one off, rather than continue on another thread.

As a quick catch up for others:

Have a look at Unetbootin, as a means to try out different versions of Linux, without producing numerous coasters (unwanted CDs).
I haven't tried the method of installing to hard drive, only the USB flash drive method (so far).

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[otherego]

#38 - latest toy is Slitaz. Odd name, but it makes Puppy look huge. (Less than a 50mb download.)

Too late in the evening to figure out how to make the wireless set-up work - I think it'll involve some trawling for drivers, and the set-up is more "manual" than some. The ethernet set up took only slightly more than plugging it in.Still impressive on a distro of this size

Its internet browser positively flies on a mighty 256mb of RAM. I think the highest memory use I've seen on it is 100mb.The browser is Firefox, slightly oddly re-named "Minefield."

It would probably install to a computer with 64mb of RAM plus some swap space, at a guess. I see it includes a package manager, so presumably one could build up the distro with decent office apps etc once it's safely ensconsed on a hard drive.

Great fun.

[ej-solutions]

Otherego: Hook, line and sinker, is it?:|
I'm getting worried that you're enjoying Linux too much :-p

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[otherego]

Aaaargh! It's after 2 am.

Sign of a good distro - even I can get the wireless working. So much for openSUSE, alas!

May have another go (much) later in the day...

[ej-solutions]

I like the menus in Suse 🙂 A 'robust' distro for server use.

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[ej-solutions]

Otherego: You may have seen this already...
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=246026#246026

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[ej-solutions]

It seems the thread jumped to a different one:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=31453

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[otherego]

Thanks, ej. Definitely worth a look.

I finally got fed up with Dreamlinux's refusal to make sounds or fit onto the screen nicely, and installed simplyMEPIS. Getting wireless working proved simplyHORRIBLE but other than that, very nice so far - and on a 256mb RAM machine, too.

If anyone'd told me a year ago that I was going to take an interest in this, much less become addicted, I would have told them not to be silly...

[ej-solutions]

:8}

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[ej-solutions]

Otherego:
http://www.jonramvi.com/easy-peasy-11-finally-released/

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[otherego]

Ah, a new toy! Thanks - I'll give that a look in the next couple of days. One is rapidly wearing out one's USB flash drives! But that's what they're there for.

[grumpy-cook]

Talking of new toys, these two are interesting, I may have a look when I get some time.

http://portableubuntu.demonccc.com.ar/

http://www.andlinux.org/

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[ej-solutions]

Oh oh, don't really have the time for this but andLinux sure does seem interesting...
I've seen various emulators in the past (some ran great in Unix), though I haven't been too impressed by Virtual Machines (for front-end applications). This is certainly worth a look, hmmm. :-)

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[ej-solutions]

In looking into the background for AndLinux, I came across this site:
http://www.bordeauxgroup.com/documentation/install-guide
What's interesting is there is a screenshot indicating that Photoshop CS2 can be installed.
[Now where did d-p-c go?:|]

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[grumpy-cook]

Looks interesting EJ, more to play with - wish I had the time :-(

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[ej-solutions]

Actually likewise, G_C, a brief look will be my only involvement for the time being with regards to Bordeaux. I'm more taken with the AndLinux (though not without issues at the moment).

I run XP with Firefox 3.1beta3 but can't easily run it alongside a HDD installed 3.0.9/11, for example. Using AndLinux means I can run two different versions at the same time and simply copy & paste links back & forth. Handy for comparisons.

Impressive, given that one is running in XP, the other in Linux. The Linux applications run on the XP screen just like a native Windows application.

I've allocated Linux 256Mb RAM (above the minimum) on a 1Gb machine and can start/stop Linux at any time (not running as an XP service). Performance is reasonable.
I've installed using the 'lightest' package but think that most people will/would benefit from the KDE interface/menus.

I'll try to make time to look into this further, as with a small guide, this could really be an excellent introduction to Linux for many.
You can run Linux applications alongside Windows ones without any rebooting (apart from during the install).

Before diving in to try this out, if inclined, I recommend to have a good read of the website and understand some of the limitations. Areas in particular include sharing Windows files, Vista and 64-bit systems.

Any helpers, feel free to jump ahead of me. ;-)

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[grumpy-cook]

Good stuff EJ. I will try to check it out over the weekend.

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[otherego]

#54 - looking forward to the small guide. That lot looks way over my head, but interesting...

I decided to spend an economical evening in exploring the dark arts of disk cloning (blew the pub budget on a hard drive enclosure and hoping an ancient HDD off eBay lasts the course.)

This is a totally new area for me.http://www.clonezilla.org/
gives some guidance regarding Clonezilla, which I've downloaded and burned to CD. I can' find a really simple, FULL step by step guide elsewhere. Any suggestions?

Easeus ( http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/help/welcome.htm
) looks as though it might be more newbie-friendly, but again, I can find surprisingly little about it - and lots of WOT's little red circles on the Google pages on which I'm searching for it. I realise the free software concept does generate a few dodgy sites and that this app is probably fine - and they give quite a nice guide at the URL bracketed above. Again, any suggestions or opinions?

Should have sought help earlier, I know, as I'm now just about ready to give it a try - I'll take a chance on Easeus being safe and download it, which will take a while.Any opinions on these two bits of software, or pointers to any really good guides respecting their use, would be very welcome should anyone stumble across this!

Haven't decided EXACTLY what I want to do - either a)on the Dell GX260 - install the 80 GB HDD as a second drive and transfer one of the Linux systems currently dual-booting on the existing 40 GB drive to it, OR,b) using the one-drive-space only compaq D310 desktop, which also a 40 GB drive at the moment, transfer its distro to the 80 GB drive and then install that for a while.

Don't mock the equipment - it's teaching me lots!

So - opinions and pointers re Clonezilla and Easus Disk Copy would be most welcome!

[otherego]

Goodness but that lot was muddled - sorry! THINK the basic intention is discernible...

[grumpy-cook]

HDClone Free is very straightforward for simple cloning - http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html

You might also consider XXClone - http://www.xxclone.com/

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[otherego]

Thank you for those, g-c - I'll certainly take a look.

Eventually got the disk sort-of cloned (I think) with Clonezilla, but it wouldn't boot when transferred back to the (wiped) hard-drive. Clonezilla did warn me about some problem towards the end of the process; I continued when I should have quit (mea culpa, hit the Enter key without thinking!) I find a lot of the instructions tricky to follow, and even ambivalent, but will keep playing for a while.