[SC.LUG] For Roger Gibson Re: Linux Plus WinXP

[Frank Mitchell]

I'm in a similar position to Roger Gibson, so here are my thoughts:

I don't think there's any way round the need to run two machines in
parallel, at least for a while until you've got your Dual Booting Windows
Plus Linux setup configured the way you want. It's going to involve some
experimentation, particularly when setting your Hard Disk partitions to t=
he
optimal proportions for your needs. You may want to start with a simple
option, like always booting Linux from a Floppy, then reconfigure for pro=
per
Dual Booting with LILO or GRUB in your final configuration. I don't see w=
hy
you would need two Hard Disks. I suspect Windows XP is bigger than my
Windows Me, but surely a 40 Gigabyte disk would be adequate. My Debian Li=
nux
documentation says a maximum Debian install would occupy 6 Gigabytes. May=
be
you were thinking of the BIOS Limitation which requires a Boot Partition =
to
lie within the first 1024 Cylinders? I don't believe that's a problem
nowadays. You just need to expect alot of fiddling around with partitions.

This implies creating temporary Desktop Space. Surely you just need a dec=
ent
sized table. I noticed that some stores like Asda and Morrisons are now
selling cheap Garden Furniture, including tables which should be okay for=
 a
while. Some of these are pure plastic, and you'd need to verify that they
wouldn't collapse when leaned against, or revert to their original Flat-P=
ack
form under load. But there should be something suitable.

Another issue is the need to safeguard your Data while you repartition yo=
ur
Hard Disk as desired. To me this implies backing up to CDR, and Linux com=
es
with two Console Programs for this: mkisofs which creates an ISO Image, a=
nd
cdrecord which writes it to CDR. So you need sufficient Disk Space for yo=
ur
ISO Image within some partition. Also these utilities aren't particularly
User Friendly, and there have been reports of bugs when using them to cre=
ate
Multi-Session Disks. I can see you wanting to use Windows CD Writing
Software until something more convenient arrives. There is a Windows
Emulator named WINE, but it wouldn't work for me when I tried it with MS
Works, and I'm sure it won't run Hardware-Oriented stuff. You'll need a D=
ual
Boot configuration with Windows.

So CD Archiving is an issue to watch. I'm attempting to develop a CD Writ=
ing
Utility myself, and I discovered why there isn't a One-Step program yet.
Until recently the sg driver for SCSI-type devices had a very inadequate
interface. Joerg Schilling, the author of cdrecord, said it provided so
little feedback that it was virtually impossible to develop CD Writers un=
der
Linux. But this problem was fixed in Linux Kernel 2.4. And Jens Axboe is
modifying the Default CDROM Driver to enable it for CD Writing too. So we
should soon be able to forget about ide-scsi, the module which interfaces
SCSI Drivers to ATAPI CDRW Devices.

For available Linux Distros, see the Web Page of Linux Emporium (Hilliard
House, Lester Way, Wallingford OX10 9TA). They'll happily send you a Barg=
ain
Pack including several Distros to try. But as you're planning to get a
high-level machine, you probably want one of the big well-known
distributions. Find them using www.google.com, and check their Hardware
Support.

This narrows down the choice, and even then you could try several at Linu=
x
Emporium prices. My Debian "Woody" was around =A315 plus postage, and
currently this seems best value. I tried SuSE 7.0, but it seemed rather
disorganised, and the free E-Books were all in German. Also it had
difficulty configuring my very ordinary ATI Video Card. And I understand
Slackware is not for beginners.

To me, Debian has other advantages: the Debian Website features good
downloadable manuals, including Installation Manuals which you can read i=
n
advance and plan your approach, long before attempting any actual install.
Debian "Woody" gives you 7 CDs, and though you'll need the Binary set,
you'll find this includes many back issues of Linux Gazette, besides the
Kernel Sources if you want them. And one Debian Package is the SLATEC
Library, a collection of Fortran 77 routines for Scientific Programming,
which may interest you. Incidentally, Fortran 77 shouldn't be a problem
using the gcc Compiler, but I'm not sure about Fortran 90 Support. And I
don't know about Graphics. The only difficulty I had with Debian was some
mystifying terminology (to me) during the Install Process. But you're les=
s
likely to have a problem with this.

For books, try downloading PDFs and zipped HTMLs from the Linux
Documentation Project. For instance:
Linux Cookbook: Michael Stutz
Linux System Administrator's Guide: Lars Wirzenius
Linux Installation & Getting Started: Matt Walsh
Introduction To Linux: Machtelt Garrels
Linux Newbie Guide: Peter & Stan Klimas

And I see they recommend 7-Zip, a Freeware Windows Archiving utility. Not
only will 7-Zip expand .zip, .tar.gz, cab, and many other archives, it wi=
ll
allow you to look inside .rpm (Red Hat Package Manager) and .deb (Debian)
packages. So you can plan your Linux setup from your Windows environment.

Faictz ce que vouldras: Frank Mitchell (mitchell.frank@bigwig.net)
Phone: 01477-534177 (though be prepared for an Answerphone)