Please recommend free Linux MS-Comp. OS

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Zeke

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Apr 19, 2003
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I got windows XP Professional SP2. I need a recommendation on a free, downloable, xp-compatible Linux OS to run as a subsystem in windows, thanks :) As user-friendly as possible would be nice, thanks in advance guys
 
Zeke said:
I got windows XP Professional SP2. I need a recommendation on a free, downloable, xp-compatible Linux OS to run as a subsystem in windows, thanks :) As user-friendly as possible would be nice, thanks in advance guys
Click to expand...

To run in a subsytem IN windows? No go. The closest you can get is getting virtual PC and then install ANY linux in that.
 
is it possible to have both and choose which one I wanna boot from? If so, how would I do that? Keep in mind my nerdyness is about a 7.8/10.... The thing is, I want to be able to use linux, but i need to keep windows XP as well, how would the dual boot config work?

P.S. What the hell is virtual PC?
 
Setting up a dual (or triple, or quadruple, etc.) boot is simple. You install each OS in a separate partition [1], and add a boot loader to select which one to boot. Many linux installers will set it up for you, so you get a menu to select Linux or Windows when you turn on the computer without having to set it up yourself.

VirtualPC and VMWare are programs you run in windows (or linux) that emulate a computer. You can install linux (or windows) inside it, and run it in a window (or fullscreen) without leaving the host OS. You can tell the program to use a file to emulate a harddrive, so you don't have to touch your partition layout.
The disadvantage is that it's much slower than a real installation.

[1] You'll have to use something like Partition magic to shrink an existing partition to make room for the linux partitions if you haven't got any unpartitioned space on your disk(s). Some linux installers might have tools for shrinking NTFS-partitions, but I'm not sure.
 
There's always Co-Linux, a variant of the Linux kernel that runs as a Windows program. It's Not Quite Ready For Prime-Time, tho.

Another thing to look into would be Cygwin - it's not Linux, but gives you a pretty solid unix environment that runs inside of Windows.

Then you have knoppix, the Linux that runs entirely from a CD, so you don't need to put it on your HDD at all.

Finally, you can get around to actually repartitioning your drives & installing a full Linux. This topic's been written about countless times (hell, I wrote a paper on it for a tech writing class back in college). If you want to go this way, a few seconds with google will find you more info than you ever wanted, so there's not much to say unless you have any specific questions after doing some reading.
 
man you guys have been helpfu, I"m just blown away...

Umm, I guess..... I dont' really have any yet, what I need to do than is shrinkt eh partition for an installation of linux, oly question is, how big of a partition should I make? My HDD is a 74GB Raptor, I'm using about 15 GB or so, would like a 10 GB partition be good for the installation of the linux OS?
 
Dude! CoLinux looks pretty sweet, if you're into that sort of thing!

10GB is more than enough. I have a 40GB root partition, but I'm only using 11GB of that for linux stuff, and I have a LOT of stuff nobody will ever use installed. On the other end of the scale, I have several machines with no disks at all, just boot over network. You probably don't need to go that far. :D

I'd try Knoppix first, and see how you like it. Then you can do a HD install from that, or try Fedora Core. FC is the easiest to install, IMNSHO.
 
If you've never used Linux before i highly recommend downloading Knoppix first. Burn it on a CD and just boot from it. That way you can try Linux without any big fuss. Just don't judge it's speed by using knoppix since it's CD based and therefore not as speedy as a hdd installed linux.

But certainly the easiest way to "try" Linux without tinkering around.
 
ScYcS said:
If you've never used Linux before i highly recommend downloading Knoppix first. Burn it on a CD and just boot from it. That way you can try Linux without any big fuss. Just don't judge it's speed by using knoppix since it's CD based and therefore not as speedy as a hdd installed linux.

But certainly the easiest way to "try" Linux without tinkering around.
Click to expand...
seconded.

to reinforce what ScYcS said, this runs of a cd into virtual memory so that you can tinker and get an idea if that's what you want. if you do like it, there's guides out there to actually install from the knoppix disc so that you can retain settings and such.
 
ya, I was about to ask if there was a way of using linux like that, thanks guys :) I do certainly want to make sure that I would want linxus on a premanent basis before i repartition and whatnot, thanks a million guyS! :)
 
alright, well I can't get Knoppix to work, it's a POS. I get to the stage where it says "INIT KNOPPIX v. 2.78" or whatever, and it's supposed to be loading the OS, but it just stalls there. I tried 2 different CD-R/W's of ISO's I made of different versions and neither work, any suggestions?
 
Zeke said:
alright, well I can't get Knoppix to work, it's a POS. I get to the stage where it says "INIT KNOPPIX v. 2.78" or whatever, and it's supposed to be loading the OS, but it just stalls there. I tried 2 different CD-R/W's of ISO's I made of different versions and neither work, any suggestions?
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DO NOT EVER SAY THAT KNOPPIX IS A POS!

anyways, what are the specs of the system? did you check out the compatable hardware list?
 
it's a checksum problem I think, I use NIT CD-maker to burn stuff, what's the most reliable program for burning things? I heard Nero sucks even worse than NIT. Oh, and sorry for blaspheming against Knoppix, I just can't get it to boot, so I"m techincally the POS. Well, I got a Intel porc on a 478 mobo with a 9800 and WD SATA drive, it looks like it matches the compatibility chart, but dont trip, I"m just gonna install Fedora Core instead. But i do need someone to recommend the most reliable program for burning ISO"s to CD's
 
Zeke said:
it's a checksum problem I think, I use NIT CD-maker to burn stuff, what's the most reliable program for burning things? I heard Nero sucks even worse than NIT. Oh, and sorry for blaspheming against Knoppix, I just can't get it to boot, so I"m techincally the POS. Well, I got a Intel porc on a 478 mobo with a 9800 and WD SATA drive, it looks like it matches the compatibility chart, but dont trip, I"m just gonna install Fedora Core instead. But i do need someone to recommend the most reliable program for burning ISO"s to CD's
Click to expand...


Well, first off, Nero is one of the best burning programs out there. Period.

Second, having a SATA drive doesn't make the situation any better. SATA is still in it's early stages, even more so for linux. Try the SuSe Live! CD (similar to knoppix), i think they have SATA support out of the box. Otherwise, if you don't have a Linux driver disk for your SATA controller, you might be out of luck completely. It's just like installing Windows on a SATA harddrive, you need a driver for it while installing. Most manufacturers give you Windows drivers but usually none of them gives you Linux drivers.
 
<plug>FreeBSD has solid SATA-support right now</plug>
(It's not what I'd call a beginners unix, though.)

But honestly, it shouldn't hang even if it doesn't like SATA. Your CD-ROM is still plain ATA, right?

I haven't played with knoppix for a while, but can one disable ACPI without too much tinkering? It think it still has some quirks with certain new MBs. Like, say, not working at all.
 
Any non-broken burning software should be able burn an ISO & give you something working. If you think it's a checksum problem, did you actually check the checksum of the ISO before you burned it?
 
yup, and I just realized it didn't match, thats the problem, but I'm gonna use Fedora Core now anyway, I tried it at my friend's house and I"m diggin it
 
All's well that ends well, as they say. Fedora is probably more suited for a HD install anyway.
 
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