>Hi Guys,
Hello.
>I have never worked on Linux but want to install it. I am presently using Win98/2000 dual boot option. Can I install linux on a new partition?
NO, but if you have free, unpartitioned space will be required to install Linux. You'll also need a swap Partition. Linux uses the idea of "Swap Partition" as it can be on another drive (unlike Windows Swap file).
A few gigs will be plenty, depending what you want to do.
>I heard that Linux is FREE and can be downloaded. Please suggest from where to download it and which one to download?
If you dont want to touch your drives untill you're 100% sure you want Linux, I'd go get Knoppix Linux. It's a boot-cd based Linux that does everything in RAM. It's a bit slow, as it has to read everything off the CD, but in terms of checking hardware (whether it works with it) it does wonders ;-).
There's Red Hat. It's a fine distro, but they seem to want you to upgrade every so often (pay for a new version). There's a decent package upgrade path, but I find it lacking.
I prefer Debian in terms of using and maintaining my machines. The Debian software kits are 7 cd's in length and it's dead-simple to download updates daily. There's also 3 different branches of packages.
Stable - for servers and other "I dont want this to crash" machines.
Testing - "This is nice, oops a program crashed" kind of system. You get a lot of new stuff in here, but isnt as stable.
Unstable - uptime 4 minutKERNEL PANIC
This branch is extremly UNSTABLE. It's fun to play with occaisionally. Expect tons of megs of updates/changes per day.
A BIG problem with Debian is its installer. You have to know your hardware and the name of the modules to install to do this one. All other packages can scan for hardware and correctly load the driver for it. However, if you can brave the installer, it's well worth it, as Debian is fairly polished.
Packages are nicely maintained so that it's easy to install from the 7 package CD's or, if you dont have it, auto-get from the internet servers. I've seen a t-1 max out from downloading from those servers (so their bandwidth is high too).
>What benefits will I get with Linux as compared to other OS.
The biggest benefit is that darn near everything for Linux (in terms of software) is free. Network stuff is extremly advanced when compared to Windows. There's also a bunch of powerful server/clients that can run only on Linux/Unix machines. Another biggie is if you program. You get a full development suite called GCC. If I'm correct, it can compile to 20+ different chip architechures. It can also do quite a few languages (C, C++ for starters).
All of this for free - as in open source, give to anybody free. Overall Linux isnt as polished as Windows, but everything is seperated so you can figure what section takes care of "this" action (unlike Windows, where everything is hidden from you).
>Thanks
Not a problem ;-) Please let Tek-Tips members know if their posts were helpful.
