Noob who needs help

Vonshin · #1 8th April 2004, 02:40 PM

Im going to install linux on an old windows. I was considering Fedora. Doesn't it download programs from redhat that you test on your machine. So if it is in testing do many errors occur? i don't want to loose all the work i have done if it had an error. So i guess my question is do the programs have that many errors and is there a big risk of me loosing all of my work?

Oh ya if i do choose it does someone know of a good tutorial on how to install and I have anothe question how do you run the whole update thing?

kel · #2 8th April 2004, 04:15 PM

Last question first, look through the HOWTOs at the Liunx Documentation Project (http://www.tldp.org) for a wide ranger of tutorials on how to do all sorts of things with Linux; particularly installation and simple administration tasks. Look through the installation HOWTO if you're wondering what to expect.

Now the first issue, it seems that you're refering to the updating process and it's testing of dependencies. As the system compares what you have installed with those updated packages available, it performs checks to see if you have to upgrade or install any other packages to ensure the correct operation of the updated packages select. While I won't say there will be never an error, I will say that in the past two years that I have been using up2date I have never had a configuration file overwritten or deleted. Most often, the existing configuration file is maintained and the default file that comes with the installation is installed with a .rpmnew suffix (for you to compare). In the few instances in which the upgrade has required a new format for the existing configuration file, the old configuration file is renamed to have a suffix such as .rpmsaved (I can't quite recall, but it is obvious).

Prometheus · #3 8th April 2004, 04:17 PM

Fedora only installs test programs and drivers etc if you tell it to. So basically, no, if you dont tell it to download the tests, it wont. Also, even with the tests, the errors that do occur rarely cause a system crash (good thing about linux, about 10 ways to get back to where you were without rebooting). If you install FC1, youll be pretty much good to go, with almost now errors.

As for the install, its pretty much self explanitory. The easiest way is to do a dual boot with 2 hdds (if you still want to use windows at all), have the windows one formatted as Fat 32 (install windows first on primary drive). Then on second drive install Fedora, which will set up its own filesystem and then install Grub in the MBR (master boot record). This is the easiest way. During the install, just follow the prompts and you should be just fine.

If you want to have just a linux system, just pop in the discs, let Fedora wipe the drive and do its thing. Easy as pie.

To update the whole thing you run up2date. Just BE CAREFUL... if you select the wrong thing you could end up downloading a test or two which you dont want. just be sure to read what it is that you are downloading and updating.

Fedora isnt really all that hard to set up and get running. In my opinion, it is probably the easiest to do of any distro. Any more questions just post em. Good luck.

Prometheus

Jman · #4 8th April 2004, 10:40 PM

Ever since Fedora split off of Red Hat Linux people have been wondering whether Fedora is just a test for Red Hat Enterprise. It's not. Yes, there is a test release, but that's only for beta testers who want the lastest features, complete with bugs. The rest of us use the stable releases, 1 at the moment. (And I mean stable. You can leave your Fedora machine on as long as you want.) Businesses and those who want support use Red Hat Enterprise. Features from Fedora do get into Enterprise, but later on.

So Fedora releases are stable, they just change faster and don't have a support policy. I recommend always backing up data, however.

Fedora is in some ways similar to XP. XP is Microsoft's latest offering that many individuals use. However, 2000 has been proven to be stable for businesses too. It has been around long enough that it is rock solid. That's Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I'm not sure if you can compare the Fedora test releases to Longhorn. Longhorn's a long way off, and Fedora Core 2 comes out in May.

That's a long answer to a short question, but I hope it helps.