Linux Q & A

Cam42 · 06-23-2008, 10:27 AM

Which distro is most similar to/easy to learn if your familiar with, XP?

Andrew · 06-23-2008, 11:44 AM

www.ubuntu.com

MountainDew · 07-14-2008, 10:09 AM

Okay, heres the problem. I recently downloaded the Fedora 8 install dvd, and I want to install it onto our external hard drive. I already have Win XP installed on the external hard drive, and we have a 500gb Seagate external hard drive. I want to keep XP as the default OS, but I have no clue how to work all the partitions. I hope It's clear on what I want to do. Thanks in advance.

Cam42 · 07-15-2008, 07:10 PM

^ I take it you like mountain dew??

+SEAL+ · 07-27-2008, 03:36 AM

Okay...

So I've got a LiveCD for Ubuntu now, tried it out, and found that it recognized my hard drive as a separate media device. Thus, I was able to open files from my hard drive, in Ubuntu. Would I be able to do a similar thing if I installed Ubuntu and partitioned the hard drive? It would make file transfer really, really easy.

tht00 · 07-28-2008, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by +SEAL+

Okay...

So I've got a LiveCD for Ubuntu now, tried it out, and found that it recognized my hard drive as a separate media device. Thus, I was able to open files from my hard drive, in Ubuntu. Would I be able to do a similar thing if I installed Ubuntu and partitioned the hard drive? It would make file transfer really, really easy.

Yes.

+SEAL+ · 07-28-2008, 04:11 AM

Cool, thanks.

Cam42 · 08-18-2008, 01:40 PM

is there anyplace to demo linux?

tht00 · 08-18-2008, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

is there anyplace to demo linux?

Try a liveCD?

They boot up the OS from a CD without changing anything on the hard drive (unless explicitly told to).

The standard Ubuntu CD is a liveCD.

Cam42 · 08-18-2008, 04:19 PM

hmm... I might do that.
I really need to learn linux. what's so much different between each distro??

dtaylorl · 09-12-2008, 01:15 PM

I'm just wondering if others have had any luck getting suspend/hibernate to work on Ubuntu? I'm running Hardy, and it will hibernate using the built in packages and also with uswsusp, but I can't get it to suspend with either the built-in packages, s2ram or s2both.

tht00 · 09-12-2008, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtaylorl

I'm just wondering if others have had any luck getting suspend/hibernate to work on Ubuntu? I'm running Hardy, and it will hibernate using the built in packages and also with uswsusp, but I can't get it to suspend with either the built-in packages, s2ram or s2both.

What hardware are you running? Sometimes there are known issues with particular pieces of hardware and using suspend/hibernate.

Also, do you have enough swap space? It's used during hibernation to allow for the power to be shut off. I think a common recommendation is 1.5x the amount of RAM.

tht00 · 09-12-2008, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

hmm... I might do that.
I really need to learn linux. what's so much different between each distro??

(Sorry, I missed your post)

Distros are often very similar and you can often get them to do the same things.

Take Gentoo and Ubuntu, for instance. They are incredibly different in how they are built and maintained -- Gentoo is source based, so nearly all software on the machine is downloaded as source code and compiled on the spot. Ubuntu is binary-based (like Windows) in that compressed files are downloaded, extracted, and installation is complete.

Now, Gentoo, being source-based, has a lot of strength in configuration. It can be used to create a very specific system -- to be incredibly small or fast by stripping out the 'extras', but it takes a lot of time and knowledge to be able to create said system (such as a specialized server).

Ubuntu, on the other hand, has its strength in being easy to install, learn, and use. It can't be tweaked in the same way that Gentoo can, but its users don't often need that.

Now, the whole reasons that there are multiple distros is that they often have different goals as I demonstrated above. If one needs specialization or wants the ability to do vast configuration, they aren't going to pick Ubuntu to start with. On the other hand, if one wants something easy to use, they aren't going to pick Gentoo.

This idea of diversity gives Linux strength in that users can pick what's best for them or best for the task they need it for -- whether technically or ideologically. (the biggest differences now between Ubuntu and Debian are ideological rather than technical).

So, more often than not, the biggest difference between distros comes down to one (or more) of these things:
1) Package manager -- how software is installed.
2) Configuration -- there will often be subtle differences in the placement and operation of configuration files, and support of software
3) Initial package set (and default look)-- most notable difference whether they pick Gnome or KDE as the default desktop environment. This is often just aesthetic.
4) Ideology -- distros strive for different goals. Some strive to be completely open-source. Others, easy to use. Others, flexibility.

In the case of a new user, Ubuntu is great (and what I started on). Others that you may want to look up: Debian, Mint, Fedora, and PCLinuxOS.

dtaylorl · 09-12-2008, 07:25 PM

Okay here is what my system profile gives for hardware:

Code:

description: Notebook
    product: CF-51LCRDLBM
    vendor: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.,Ltd.
    version: 002
    serial: 6BTSA81171
    width: 32 bits
    capabilities: smbios-2.3 dmi-2.3
    configuration: boot=normal chassis=notebook uuid=00000000-0000-1000-8000-000B97A08570
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: CF51-2L
       vendor: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.,Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       version: 001
       serial: None
       slot: Modem
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: Phoenix Technologies K.K.
          physical id: 0
          version: V2.50L11 (12/12/2005)
          size: 107KiB
          capacity: 960KiB
          capabilities: pci pcmcia pnp upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect edd int13floppy720 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb biosbootspecification netboot
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1.73GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 4
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: 6.13.8
          slot: CN1
          size: 1729MHz
          capacity: 1733MHz
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 533MHz
          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss tm pbe nx up bts est tm2 cpufreq
        *-cache:0
             description: L1 cache
             physical id: 8
             slot: L1 Cache
             size: 32KiB
             capacity: 32KiB
             capabilities: internal write-back data
        *-cache:1
             description: L2 cache
             physical id: 9
             slot: L2 Cache
             size: 2MiB
             capacity: 2MiB
             capabilities: burst internal write-back
     *-memory:0
          description: System Memory
          physical id: 1d
          slot: System board or motherboard
          capacity: 2GiB
        *-bank:0
             description: DIMM Synchronous
             physical id: 0
             slot: DIMM 1
             size: 512MiB
             width: 64 bits
        *-bank:1
             description: DIMM Synchronous
             physical id: 1
             slot: DIMM 2
             size: 1GiB
             width: 64 bits
     *-memory:1 UNCLAIMED
          description: Flash Memory
          physical id: 1e
          slot: System board or motherboard
          capacity: 1MiB
        *-bank UNCLAIMED
             description: TSOP FLASH Non-volatile
             physical id: 0
             slot: Flash ROM
             size: 1MiB
             width: 8 bits
     *-memory:2 UNCLAIMED
          physical id: 1
     *-memory:3 UNCLAIMED
          physical id: 2
     *-pci
          description: Host bridge
          product: Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Processor to DRAM Controller
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 03
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
          configuration: driver=agpgart-intel module=intel_agp
        *-display:0 UNCLAIMED
             description: VGA compatible controller
             product: Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
        *-display:1 UNCLAIMED
             description: Display controller
             product: Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport-driver
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
                vendor: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
                logical name: eth0
                version: 19
                serial: 00:0b:97:a0:85:70
                capacity: 1GB/s
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm vpd msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=sky2 driverversion=1.20 firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no module=sky2 multicast=yes port=twisted pair
        *-usb:0
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
        *-usb:1
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.1
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
        *-usb:2
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.2
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
        *-usb:3
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.7
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.7
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0 module=ehci_hcd
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1e
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
             version: d4
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master cap_list
           *-pcmcia:0
                description: CardBus bridge
                product: RL5c476 II
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:06:00.0
                version: aa
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pcmcia bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=yenta_cardbus latency=176 maxlatency=5 mingnt=128 module=yenta_socket
                resources: iomemory:b00707060-b0070705f
           *-pcmcia:1
                description: CardBus bridge
                product: RL5c476 II
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 0.1
                bus info: pci@0000:06:00.1
                version: aa
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz

                capabilities: pcmcia bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=yenta_cardbus latency=176 maxlatency=5 mingnt=128 module=yenta_socket
                resources: iomemory:b00b08060-b00b0805f
           *-firewire
                description: FireWire (IEEE 1394)
                product: R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 0.2
                bus info: pci@0000:06:00.2
                version: 02
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm ohci bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=ohci1394 latency=32 maxlatency=4 mingnt=2 module=ohci1394
           *-network
                description: Wireless interface
                product: PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Network Connection
                vendor: Intel Corporation
                physical id: 4
                bus info: pci@0000:06:04.0
                logical name: eth1
                version: 05
                serial: 00:16:6f:2e:34:fa
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ipw2200 driverversion=1.2.2kmprq firmware=ABG:9.0.2.6 (Mar 22 2005) ip=10.0.2.10 latency=32 link=yes maxlatency=24 mingnt=3 module=ipw2200 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g
        *-multimedia
             description: Multimedia audio controller
             product: 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1e.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.2
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=Intel ICH latency=0 module=snd_intel8x0
        *-communication UNCLAIMED
             description: Modem
             product: 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Modem Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1e.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.3
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm generic cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master
             configuration: latency=0
        *-ide
             description: IDE interface
             product: 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
             logical name: scsi0
             logical name: scsi1
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: ide pm bus_master cap_list emulated
             configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0 module=ata_piix
           *-disk
                description: ATA Disk
                product: HTS541080G9AT00
                vendor: Hitachi
                physical id: 0
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/sda
                version: MB4W
                serial: MP28MBXBGATXWH
                size: 74GiB (80GB)
                capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
                configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=2bb22ba2
              *-volume:0
                   description: EXT3 volume
                   vendor: Linux
                   physical id: 1
                   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
                   logical name: /dev/sda1
                   logical name: /
                   logical name: /dev/.static/dev
                   version: 1.0
                   serial: 97c8cfb7-7b54-4df1-951e-d0a6ae671e4b
                   size: 71GiB
                   capacity: 71GiB
                   capabilities: primary bootable journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files recover ext3 ext2 initialized
                   configuration: created=2008-09-02 15:45:52 filesystem=ext3 modified=2008-09-12 14:54:30 mount.fstype=ext3 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered mounted=2008-09-12 11:57:17 state=mounted
              *-volume:1
                   description: Extended partition
                   physical id: 2
                   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
                   logical name: /dev/sda2
                   size: 3153MiB
                   capacity: 3153MiB
                   capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
                 *-logicalvolume
                      description: Linux swap / Solaris partition
                      physical id: 5
                      logical name: /dev/sda5
                      capacity: 3153MiB
                      capabilities: nofs
           *-cdrom
                description: DVD reader
                product: UJDA760 DVD/CDRW
                vendor: MATSHITA
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/cdrom
                logical name: /dev/dvd
                logical name: /dev/scd0
                logical name: /dev/sr0
                version: 1.00
                capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd
                configuration: ansiversion=5 status=open
        *-serial UNCLAIMED
             description: SMBus
             product: 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
             version: 04
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             configuration: latency=0
  *-battery:0
       description: Lithium Ion Battery
       product: CF-VZSU29A
       vendor: Panasonic
       physical id: 1
       slot: in the front,right-hand side
       capacity: 84910mWh
       configuration: voltage=11.1V
  *-battery:1
       description: Lithium Ion Battery
       vendor: Panasonic
       physical id: 2
       slot: in MP

I must admit I know very little about how swap space is set up, but it looks like I have 3GB for my 2GB of RAM.

Another question: Is there such thing as an easy way to have dual monitors that aren't cloned. I can get cloned, but any other configuration seems to freeze X and/or give a black screen on both monitors.

Neck-Snapped · 09-27-2008, 12:10 PM

Hey, I need some info on how to create my own linux live CD. I don't live in the states, so none of the computer stores here have linux CDs.
Some links to some ISO image burning programs would be helpful, along with a correct linux live download link.