Help with setting up Linux System

[CaptainJapan]

Ever since I got my computer years ago I have been using Windows 98 that my computer came with. A year and a half ago I thought I'd give Linux a try. Anyways I didn't know what I was doing, I messed my computer up and I had to pay $50 to get it fixed.

But now I want to give Linux a try again, however this time I want to be a little more educated on it. So I'm asking you for your advice.

My interests in computers are basicly graphic design (editing in Photoshop) and gaming. I'm currently taking a course in Communication Technology and although not required I would like to get some experience with OS other than Microsoft's.

My hardware is as follows:

Pentium II - 350 Mhz
128 mg's RAM
6 gig hard drive
3dfx Voodoo 3 2000 PCI
SoundBlaster 32
and a generic network card

So which version of Linux would you recommend?

Also, will I be able to use any of my Windows software (applications and games) on Linux. And other things I use my PC for are things like burning CD's, listening to MP3's, watching DVD's and/or DiVX, downloading music off of Morpheus (are there any linux alternatives?) and talking on ICQ, so the question is will I still be able to do all of that in Linux.

Thank you.

[ February 13, 2002: Message edited by: CaptainJapan ]

[voidmain]

Captain Japan, I'm sure everyone would agree with me that we would be more than happy to help you out but I suggest reading through just the last weeks posts.  All of your questions have been asked several times and answered.  You are going to find that everyone has different preferences so it's not the easiest question to answer.  You are probably going to get a lot of people suggesting for what you want to do, you should buy a MAC with OSX. I personally have no experience with MAC but have used Linux from nearly the beginning and love it but now that OSX is *NIX based you can have all of your familiar graphics apps, and have a good OS under the hood. You can get familiar with *NIX on the MAC and if you want to really try out Linux again you could install it on another machine and get a more complete *NIX system.  

Having said that, I prefer RedHat, the majority of the users here prefer Mandrake, some prefer SuSe, and Debian is good.  You really can't go wrong with any of those distros but for someone just starting out, Mandrake or SuSe might be the better choice.

[Calum]

Well, you can't run MacOSX on your current machine, so if you get a Linux distro, get a current one, pick one that somebody here has recommended, or go to the linuxiso site that's in VoidMain's tagline.
When i asked not long ago about supported file types et c, the general consensus was that you can use different applications in Linux to do the same job as, say, Morpheus, Photoshop, MP3 player, whatever, you can get programs to do all that stuff, probably for free in Linux. Everybody says it's more stable and usually faster than whatever equivalent is in windows too.
As i understand it though, while some programs have been written for both windows and Linux, and often other OSs too (OSX, SunOS et c), a lot haven't, so to edit yr premiere and photoshop files, you might have to learn how to use a new program.
No hass to you if you're already thinking of ditching yr entire operating system.
I haven't changed to Linux yet, but i thought i'd just put in my $0.02 worth since i asked some of those questions myself, and got very good answers from the good folks here.

[Sadjied]

How To Set Up VHOSTS on a Linux Redhat System^???

Please help me!

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[creedon]

Hi captian Japan;  It sounds to me like you have the equipment to setup a Linux distro, but if you want to keep Win98 on your box, I'd reccomend a bigger hard drive.  Something in the vicinity of 20Gb. would be much better- I've got 2 HDs- a 15Gb and an 8.4 Gb.  I'm triple-booting 2 Linux distros and Win98, and I have no problem.  Btw, if you're into graphics, you're gonna LOVE the GIMP.  It's as capable as Adobe Photoshop, but it's free.  It comes with most Linux distributions.

[CaptainJapan]

I actually have a 40 gig and a 6 gig, I'm going to give it a try on the 6 gig and see if I want to continue using it, if not I'll just format and continue using it as a backup drive for my Win98.

Anyways, I'm downloading Mandrake 8.1 right now, and I'll probably install it on the weekend.

And one more thing, will I be able to install programs on Linux meant for Windows? Do I need to get patches for all of those software so that they'll run on Linux? And if so, where can I find them?

[voidmain]

quote:Originally posted by Sadjied:
How To Set Up VHOSTS on a Linux Redhat System^???

Are you asking how to set up a VHOST in Apache running under RedHat?  That's what I will assume.  VHOSTS are actually very easy to set up by editing the httpd.conf file directly but I would suggest that if you are new to Linux then download the latest copy of "webmin" from www.webmin.com.  Log in to webmin (using your browser) and click on "Servers", then click "Apache", then you should see the section for virtual hosts and there will be a button to add the virtual host.  

If you want instructions for the simple additions necessary in "httpd.conf" I can give those to you as well.  I don't want to waste too much breath though if Apache is not what you are really wanting help with.  And besides there is plenty of documentation on how to do that at www.apache.org (and many other places since Apache is the most used web server on the internet).

[ February 14, 2002: Message edited by: VoidMain ]

[creedon]

quote:Originally posted by CaptainJapan:


And one more thing, will I be able to install programs on Linux meant for Windows? Do I need to get patches for all of those software so that they'll run on Linux? And if so, where can I find them?

That's pretty much a big "NO", but it doesn't matter.  Linux has eqivalent programs available for about 95% of Windows stuff- you'll probably have to do some searching, but you will find a Linux program that does the same thing as a Windows program, like I said about the GIMP being the Linux equivalent of Photoshop, the difference is you don't have to pony up $500+ for the GIMP- you just download it.