[ltp] which distro 4 a linux newbie T20?

[Richard Neill]

Dear Michael,

Michal Lisecki wrote:
> 
>>As for partitioning, since you are a "newbie" why not let the distro 
>>pick for you?
>>
> 
> Simply because I would like it to share 11GB HDD with W2K Prof. or XP and
> wouldn't want it to take much space.

Mandrake will do this automatically. It will (by default), create only 3 
partitions (/, swap, and /home). It also shrinks your windows partition 
automatically to a size that you specify, giving linux the rest.
(NB backup data first).


  This brings me to another question. I
> am about to reinstall W2k (or use XP instead). I've been wondering what
> would be the best solution for a dual boot:
> - let lilo handle it,

Best by far. (Or GRUB if you prefer).


> - let XP handle it (is there such an option?)

I don't *think* so (but I haven't tried).

> - use some extra boot manager (seems pointless).
> 
> Also:
> 1. Is it better to install linux first and then W2k or XP? 

Windows first, then Linux. Linux is expecting to be installed on a disc 
with another OS in most cases, and is well mannered. Windows usually 
isn't well mannered, and will at the very least clobber your Lilo 
bootloader.

> 2. Are there any precautions as to lilo starting from W2k NTFS partition?
> Is it possible in any way? (I've read it somewhere that a better solution
> would be setting up a small FAT partition for hibernation and booting
> purposes)

I'd install Lilo on your linux partition.
Personally, I don't find hibernation useful (suspend to ram is fine - if 
I really want to be powered down for long, I'll shut it down).


For what it's worth, here's my setup (on an A22p)

/dev/hda1 is my Windows98 partition. This used to be the entire 32GB 
disc, and I shrunk it (using Mdk's installer) to 14GB.

/dev/hda5 is / (reiserfs). It is 8GB, (which give plenty of space - 4GB 
would have been ample).

/dev/hda6 is swap and is 1GB (overkill, even with 512M of RAM!)

/dev/hda7 is /home (reiserfs) and is the remaining 8GB or so.

I deleted IBM's rescue partition (which was hda2) as I didn't think I'd 
ever need it and it was a waste of space.

I'm also using ReiserFS (journalling) since it is much more resilient 
(eg you can cut the power, and it won't even fsck ("scandisk") on reboot.)


Good luck

Richard

P.S. if you're really a newbie, these *might* save you effort:

1)Before you start, download modem drivers if you can find them.

2)Set your BIOS to enable everything like serial ports.

3)Set the hardware clock in the BIOS to GMT. (This is a subject for 
debate, of course - it's better for Linux, but worse for Windows).

4)Be aware of lm_sensors. Do NOT install it. (Mandrake won't by 
default). It can damage your motherboard!








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