Getting Started

[Temp]

OK, You've probably had this a million times but...

I want to put Linux on my PC, what is the best distribution to go with. I don't neccacerly want the easiest or most windows like, but rather the best all round version with the most reatures.

Here's my situation.

I have an Athlon 1.4, 512MB of DDR memory, 64mb GeForce2 mx-400 and the usual stuff.

I want to connect the PC to a TX100 network that is connectred to 2 Windows machines. One of wich is a proxy.

Can I share files with windows and linux?

Will I still be able to connect to the internet via WinProxy(on the other machine)?

Will my Microsoft USB keyboard and USB optical mouse still work and what about the extra buttons on them?

How much disk space will I need for the linux partition?

Will linux use FAT32 or NTFS?

I mainly use the PC for games and networking, I know Unreal Tornament Will run on linux, but will it be as fast?

Temp

[z0mbix]

Oh Ohh! :eek:

[thor420]

I have a pretty similar hardware setware (no windows boxes attached). So I could answer a few of your questions. Yes windows and Linux can share files. Yes the keyboard and mouse *should* work. As far as disk partition goes, that is up to you. There are accounts on the Introduction of linuxfromscratch.com of building an 8MB apache server, and with furthur stripping that can be reduced to 5MB apparently. Redhat 7.1 says 3 Gigs if installing every last thing on their distro. My Slackware 8.0 install was around 2.1 Gigs. But that is without my things like Quake 3 on there. My total linux partitions right now add up to 30 Gigs. As far as your games go, of course it'll run fast, real fast. You got a 64MB card! Have fun!

[X_console]

I want to put Linux on my PC, what is the best distribution to go with. I don't neccacerly want the easiest or most windows like, but rather the best all round version with the most reatures.
http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/distros/distronhf.html

Can I share files with windows and linux?

Yes: http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/network/samba/samba1.html

Will I still be able to connect to the internet via WinProxy(on the other machine)?

Yes.

Will my Microsoft USB keyboard and USB optical mouse still work and what about the extra buttons on them?

There is USB support in Linux. I've never tried those so I can't say if those will work.

How much disk space will I need for the linux partition?

Depends on what distribution you're using. On Slackware you can fit a working and fully functional Linux system in 1GB. Other distributions might require more.

Will linux use FAT32 or NTFS?
Linux doesn't use FAT32 or NTFS. We have a more reliable filesystem called ext2 and reiserfs. Linux can read or write to FAT32 though and read NTFS, so you can access your Windows partition.

I mainly use the PC for games and networking, I know Unreal Tornament Will run on linux, but will it be as fast?

I don't see why not. Speed is dependent on your RAM, processor and hard drive.

[TeRG]

slackware. for the most part i think all the answers are yes except for that linux can read NTFS and FAT32 but you install it on an EXT2 partition.

[Temp]

Thanks for the help guys!

One last thing. I understand that slackware comes with a linux fdisk and I already know how to use MS fdisk.

But how do I create linux and FAT32 partitions on the smae drive?

[bdg1983]

http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/installation/index.html

Your probably better off purchasing a retail distro that includes a limited version of Partition Magic.

[inkedmn]

Originally posted by Logon Name Gone:
<STRONG>http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/installation/index.html

Your probably better off purchasing a retail distro that includes a limited version of Partition Magic.</STRONG>

i definitely concur, partition magic saved my bacon more than once when i first tried installing linux...

[X_console]

You don't have to worry about creating the filesystem. The installer will do it for you. Just tell it what partitions you want, and what type they should be (Linux swap or Linux native).