[NBLUG/talk] Which distro is best for a newbie?

[Dean A. Roman]

Also, http://www.linuxiso.org/ is a good resource to download iso's for
many of the popular distros.
Thanks,
   --Dean.


-- 
Dean A. Roman
Roman Computer Systems
E-mail: droman at romansys.com
Web   : http://www.romansys.com



> Dean A. Roman
>
>
>  I've seen this problem quite a bit...the most difficult item is your X
>  windows and desktop setup.  This never seems to transfer between two
>  different sytems cleanly when you boot between the two.  Debian uses a
>  different setup than RedHat and so does Suse.  This is probably caused
>  by version differences, but that doesn't help the situation and
>  keeping the two desktop X setups in sync is problematic.  If you can
>  help it, I would keep the home directories seperate if your going to
>  use X.  It can be done, but not for the faint of heart.
>  The easiest way I've found, if you want to transfer files, etc.
>  between the dual boot systems is to just create a seperate data
>  partition and mount it in both systems.
>  Dual booting is easy..just load Debian on a different partition, then
>  tell grub about the other install by adding a line to the grub.conf
>  file.  One thing to remember is that you can use the same swap partion
>  for both systems as you'll never have both systems running at the same
>  time...this saves a little disk space if that's an issue.  Also, try
>  to keep the /boot partitions set as the first primary partitions
>  taking up no more than about 200MB(some hardware may have issues
>  finding it on boot otherwise).
>  Hope that helped...
>
> Thanks,
>   ---Dean.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> Bill Kendrick
>> On Thu, Jun 23, 2005 at 09:39:45AM -0700, E Frank Ball wrote:
>>> On Thu, Jun 23, 2005 at 09:03:51AM -0700, Edward wrote:
>>> }
>>> } Later I can switch. But do I have to erase an old distro from the
>>> harddrive  } if I switch to Debian?
>>>
>>> Yes an installation of Debian will wipe out the previous SuSE
>>> installation, but if you partition your hard drive right you can
>>> retain your personal files.
>>
>> Well, he could always dual boot, just like one might do if they had
>> Windows already, and wanted to add Linux to the mix.
>>
>>
>>> Create a /home partition, this is where your
>>> account will be and all your personal files and configuration
>>> settings. When you switch or upgrade do not reformat /home, just tell
>>> the new installation to use it.
>>
>> One thing to keep in mind is version compatibility between the two
>> distros. If Distro1 has version 1.2.3 of an app, and Distro2 has
>> version 1.3.9, and they're very different in terms of the "~/.XYZrc"
>> file in your home directory, you might have troubles.  (Esp. when
>> going back to the distro with the older version of the app.)
>>
>> Not that I have first hand experience with that, but it comes to mind.
>>
>> -bill!
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Dean A. Roman
> Roman Computer Systems
> Office: 707-237-6798
> Fax   : 707-237-2649
> E-mail: droman at romansys.com
> Web   : http://www.romansys.com
>
>
>
>
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