[Lancaster] lancasterlug.org.uk: Advice needed

[Ken Hough]

Hi Charlie,

Someone else who's fed up with Microsoft?  :-)

I think that you will enjoy Linux and the freedom that it allows to do what 
YOU want rather than what Microsoft decides will be done.

Wayne's suggestion of Ubuntu Linux is good, especially for a newbie. Before 
doing a full installation, you might get yourself an Ubuntu CD/DVD to play 
with. By default, this will boot to run a 'live' version of Ubuntu. Provided 
that you don't click on the 'Install' icon, this will run from RAM and will 
not write to your hard drive. It should give you a flavour of what Ubuntu is 
about. Just bear in mind that this will not boot/run as fast as a full 
installation will.

I've been using Linux now for well over 10 years and now run Windows XP only 
when I need to run specialised software that cannot be run under wine/Linux. 
Even then I can usually do this via VirtualBox running under Linux. I began 
with using SUSE Linux. Back then it was SuSE -- version 5.2! And it ran on a 
486 box!

Nowadays I run 64 bit Debian Linux (Lenny, but with an updated kernel) on a 
quad core processor! Much more fun! Debian is the distro that Ubuntu is built 
on.

If/when you come to install to your hard drive, you might like to consider a 
couple of points:

1. If you are going for a Linux only setup, that's quite simple, but it can 
make things easier in future if you partition your drive so that at least 
your /home directory (containing all of your personal files) resides in a 
separate partition. By default, everything will be set up in a single 
partition (except for a Linux swap partition).

2. If, as many people do to start with, you decide to go for a dual booting 
setup with Windows and Linux, I strongly recommend one change from the 
default setup that Ubuntu and other Linux distros provide.

During the default setup procedure Ubuntu will place the dual boot info in the 
master boot sector of the hard drive. Should this ever get screwed up you may 
well loose access to your Microsoft system.

Better to place the dual boot info on the boot record of a primary Linux 
partition and then set that partition as the active partition. If you later 
decide that you wish to remove Linux, or that system should become corrupted, 
it will be necessary only to reset the Windows partition to be the 
active/boot partition. I learned the value of doing this some years ago as 
the result of practical/disasterous experiences.

This can be done under the 'Advanced' options provided during installation of 
Ubuntu. I'm sure that Wayne and others can explain/demonstrate this.

There's nothing like real hands on experience.  ;-)

Good luck Charlie!

BTW guys, I won't be attending any LUG meetings for some time. I've recently 
had an operation on my back which means that I won't be able to drive for a 
month or two. A real drag!

Regards

Ken Hough

On Sunday 18 July 2010 21:06:57 Wayne Ward wrote:
> Yes thats fine if you would like to bring a laptop and your distro choise
> on the 1st wednesday of next month we can show you the way also answer any
> questions you might like to ask
>
> maybe worth taking a look at ubuntu...
>
> Wayne
>
> On 18 Jul 2010, at 12:38, Charlie Little wrote:
> > This is an enquiry e-mail via http://lancasterlug.org.uk/ from:
> > Charlie Little <charlielittle1 at googlemail.com>
> >
> > Hiya, I'm contacting you as I'm local and I wish to move from Windows to
> > Linux on my desktop- but I'm a complete novice when it comes to
> > computers. I'm wondering if you help people install Linux onto their
> > computers..?
> >
> > Charlie Little
>
> Regards,
> Wayne ward
>
> 07957448652
> Lancaster Computers
>
> www.lancastercomputers.co.uk
> wayne at lancastercomputers.co.uk
>
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