Fedora (and Linux in whole) Newbie Questions

Pythagoris · #1 28th June 2005, 03:58 PM

Ok. This is the deal.

1. If I am going to buy a book on RHFL 3, should I get the "For Dummies" (which I am not) series or the "Fedora 3 Bible"?? Both seem to have the full distro, but I am just curious which book is better.

2. My comp is a HP Media Center m1170n. I went through the compatability list and didnt find this particular model as a supported HP system. Should I be more concerned with the individual hardware than the system as a whole??

3. I intend to get the book as soon as I get some useable feedback from this post, so when I install, I will need to partition. What are some better (and cheeper) partition programs out there, or should I just use what comes with the distro??

Thanks for all your advice in advance!!!

tejas · #2 28th June 2005, 04:20 PM

Use the partition program that comes with the dirstro

Can't find anything cheaper, as it is free!!!

I think dummies is an easier book, good for learning, and those bibles are incredibly fat, fairly dry, kinda hard to read books.

If you are like me, and need a few pathetic attempts at humor, go for dummies

Oh, and all comps are supported by fedora. However, it is easier if you have the following:
a) 256Mb RAM
b) nVidia or generic graphics card. ATi seems to sometimes give headaches, but is usually usable

Anything else to be particularly concerned about?

Welcome to fedora

Pythagoris · #3 28th June 2005, 04:40 PM

Ive got plenty of RAM, but I am running a ATI (RADEON X300 PCIX), so will that be a major problem, or do you suppose there is a Linux driver available from them. I suppose I can look it up myself. Also, my HD is SATA. Will that be any problem??

Edit: Furthermore, I was just reading how fast stand-alone FC systems are, but I was wondering what the performance will be if I am setting up a dual boot?? Also, something just dawned on me. Should I just DL the FC4 discs and scrap the book idea or install FC3 and learn it before going to FC4??

Lastly, when I read Core 'X', what does that refer too.....

tejas · #4 28th June 2005, 05:09 PM

Well, you'd save a lot of money by getting FC4

Not too much difference from the beginners point of view, as the core and commands of linux doesn't change too much

You could look at online manuals, or get a book wich doesn't have any CDs, and save some money.

I don't think SATA will be too much of a problem

Go ahead and dual boot. However, install Linux last (but remember to save space for it)

mellis95 · #5 28th June 2005, 05:21 PM

I have an older ATI Rage 128 that was installed automatically with no trouble whatsoever. Also, I would skip the books. There is plenty of online documentation. This forum is an excellent resource and will save you some money. I would start out in FC4 instead of FC3 if it was me.

bitrain · #6 28th June 2005, 07:05 PM

Go for FC4

The learning only works when you use FC. I found this one very interesting: http://cs.boisestate.edu/~amit/teach...nux/node1.html
It helps you getting started with the terminal.

Pythagoris · #7 29th June 2005, 08:57 PM

[B]New question. I have only ever set up partitions from a clean drive. I want to dual-boot this system and am not sure of the safest way to go about doing this. I already intend to use the FC partitioner, but I dont want to have to totally wope my drive to do it....

What can I do??

jombeewoof · #8 29th June 2005, 09:09 PM

you're going to have to resize your partition if you are currently using all of it for windows, partition magic will let you resize your current partition, I'm sure there are other programs available that do the same thing but I've never used anything but PM
download.com has a few that you can try out without buying but I'm not sure how much you can actually do with the trial versions

zeos · #9 29th June 2005, 09:12 PM

honestly you dont need a book unless you are without internet, i have in the past bought some linux books and i rarely used them then and now a publisher would have to pay me to read one of those books. in short google is your friend for linux problems. almost every problem/question can be solved through a quick browse of forums, search engines, etc.

jombeewoof · #10 29th June 2005, 09:15 PM

the books do make good toilet reading though, I don't think I'd want to drag my pc in there with me
but that's what libraries are for

CuCullin · #11 29th June 2005, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jombeewoof

the books do make good toilet reading though, I don't think I'd want to drag my pc in there with me
but that's what libraries are for

NYPL + ebooks + Zaurus you mean?

(Train for me... now that i bought a new battery for my Z, I can use it as an ebook reader during my train ride, and avoid having to carry a book with the gobs of other crap i cart back and forth with me)

sgtbob · #12 29th June 2005, 11:38 PM

Can someone help me figure out how to run the .wmv and .eml attachments I get from my non-enlightened friends who insist on remaing with Windoze? I've just installed FC4, but can't figure out how to view/read those files with any of the previous FC versions either. I hate to kep having to run ovew to Windows XP just to view a file.

Pythagoris · #13 29th June 2005, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtbob

Can someone help me figure out how to run the .wmv and .eml attachments I get from my non-enlightened friends who insist on remaing with Windoze? I've just installed FC4, but can't figure out how to view/read those files with any of the previous FC versions either. I hate to kep having to run ovew to Windows XP just to view a file.

Thanks for bringing a completely non-related topic to my thread!!!

Will the partitioner in FC4 let me resize my partitions??