Mabey U can help me!

[slave]

I know next to nothing about Linux. One of the things I do know is that I want it!

I have some questions:
[list=a]
Can I have my system run windows98, and run Linux only when I tell it too?
If the above question is a YES then, Is it possible to have both windows drivers and linux drivers for my hardware (eg. Videocards)
Where can I get Linux Software, does it cost anything
my friend told me only some linux programs are good, are there more than one types of linux, and if they are what are some of the best.
Where is the best place for me to learn linux commands, what webpages and what books are good to read?
Do I need my own Shell Account to run Linux?
[/list=a]

That is a apretty big list, I hope some of you can help me with these questions! I have heard of the benifits of linux, but still much reamins a mystery to me. http://discussions.linuxplanet.com/confused.gif


------------------
Cya L8r

[slave]

Do SGI (silicon graphics) have their own linux version?

If yes Is it any good?

[Dexter]

a. Yes. Lilo will prompt you after boot up. You either type dos for windows or just hit enter for linux.

b.Almost all video cards will work in linux, just not at optimal performance. Some hardware can be used, some can't. There are voodoo drivers and tnt2 drivers along with several others.

c.The easiest way is to have the cd, but you can download it from places such as cnet and the many linux domains out there.

d.There are sveral different flavors of linux. Still, they are all linux. Red Hat being the most popular and the one I use. Slackware is supposed to be for the linux guru. Debian is good as well as caldera. Corel's version is supposed to be the most user friendly.

e. http://www.linuxnewbie.org is an excellent site.

f.I don't know what a shell account is. I'm relatively new to linux myself.

SGI does not have a version that I know of.

Hope this helps.

[aladdin]

there is a linux for the sgi, but it is not produced by sgi, nor is it supported. however, my apologies, i don't know where you would get it. though i am sure it is a download off the internet.

[slave]

SGI uses red hat I believe!

MORE QUESTIONS

a. What is Lilo

a-2. Do all games that work in windows work in linux? or is it just the good ones? (eg. Quake,halflife,starcraft ect. games that are not really played in windows [windows as window not as in the OS]) I guess games like minesweeper wont work.


b. Is it possible to be able to run my ASUS AGP - v6800 Geforce card in linux and in windows?

b-2. Can I get my cards to run at optimal preformance?

new questions:
1. I heard some one say once that games run faster in linux, is that really true?
2. The same guy told me that games take up less hard drive space in linux. is this true?
3 I want peoples opinion on how much better linux is for windows,(better for games, internet, game development, ect.)


Thank you!

[This message has been edited by slave (edited 02-21-2000).]

[slave]

How is linux customizable? (I dont have it yet so I dont know what you can do ito it, to make it personaliezed, to my tastes!)

[pceric]

a) LILO is a boot loader. It lets you choose what OS you want to load at boot time.

a-2) There are many games that do and don't run in Linux. Quake 1,2,3 all run as well as Unreal Tournament. Half-Life does not run and either does StarCraft but I have heard rumours of a possible port of these two games. To find out what games run visit your game developer's website.

b) Newer versions of Linux do support the Geforce256 based cards. The Linux Mandrake version (www.linuxmandrake.com) distribution does I'm pretty sure.

b-2) Not untill XFree86 version 4.0 is released. Then most video cards will have performace equal or greater then windows.

1) Yes, that can be true. Linux has a lot less overhead then Windows which offers more processor time and RAM for your game.

2) Umm..I wouldn't say that. They're about the same.

3) Linux has a bunch of potential for games but currently video acceleration, sound support, and game controller devices aren't top notch. This could quickly change tho. It's a very powerfull intertnet OS. Probably more so then WinNT. Couldn't tell you a lot on the game development side other then that Linux is a very open source community and depend on devlopers sharing their knowledge to produce high quality software.

Linux is very customizable. You can alter Linux in anyway you feel fit. You can hack, crack, and tear the thing apart if you wish.

I hope this helps.

[slave]

What I meant was, Can I use my video card in windows for games like halflife, and programs like 3dsmax, then go into unix to play quake3, and quake2?
will mmy video card work in both windows and unix?
This is importaint because my family will continue to use windows, I will use unix, and I will use windows to do my work on 3ds max.


I was just reading up on mandrake, It looks very nice, I want to purchase the power pack, I will first look at other types of linux though. Mandrake is a gui OS, are all unix programs gui's?
where can I find information on the different types of linix (comparasons)
I want to learn about the different type of unix so I can decided witch type to get.
Since unix is open source I could eventually (when I learn more C++ and learn pearl) tweak any type of linux to be basically the same?
Does it really matter what type I get? or will I learn linux so well that in the futuer I'll be able to make what I wnt out of it?

Thank you, you have all been very helpfull.


[This message has been edited by slave (edited 02-22-2000).]

[Toby]

Worry not about Windows. It will never know about your Linux partition. Also Linux will not screw with any Windows config. As far as Windows goes, Linux isn't there. On the other hand, you can access your Windows partition, e.g. files in "My Documents" from Linux.

Linux is just the kernel. On top of it there are lots of programs and the GUI (whichever you choose) is only one of them. Think of it as DOS and Win 3.1 on top. Also, don't confuse Linux with Red Hat or Mandrake or any distro or app. The GNU and other projects make free software and the Linux kernel is also published under the GNU General Public License. Our systems are not, strictly speaking, Linux systems at all, but some kind of GNU-Linux-whathaveyou-boxes.