Maximum PC

I have never used a Linux computer before and I am very interested in checking it out. I am downloading Fedora in an attempt to "get my feet wet."

So first let me ask, being completely inexperienced with Linux, what should I do? How do I install it, etc?

Thelostgm

Fedora is very easy to install. Just boot from the first CD, and at the prompt, type "linux".

There is a graphical tool to partition your hard drive, or you can let it do that automatically for you. After that, just pick the parts you want, and you're off!

Just burn the Fedora ISO into a CD (in Nero, make sure you burn a disc image). An ISO is an image of a CD, so you need to make sure you're burning a CD image to CD, and not the ISO itself.

Once you get the Fedora CD, insert into your CD-ROM drive and reboot, once you get the isolinux prompt (or something similar) just hit enter.

Now, a few caveats:

1) If you want to dual-boot (run Windows and Linux on the same machine), you have to set aside some space for Linux on your main drive. To do this, you need a drive partitioning software like Partition Magic. Linux and NTFS do not work well, so try to refrain from having Linux partition your NTFS drive, if you can do it yourself, do it.

2) I think Fedora has 4 CD's altogether, if you find that the file has SRC on it, then the CD contains source code and not binaries.

3) If you want Windows and Linux to be able to share files (i.e., audio files, video files) then set aside a third partition formatted with FAT32. Linux can read and write to FAT32 with no problems, it's NTFS read/writes I'm worried about. Don't want to hose your drive because you're trying to install Linux.

4) Have fun! I finally got serious about Linux this summer 2004, and I haven't turned back. I use Linux primarily on my laptop and on my server and it has served me well. I'm in the process of migrating my P4 desktop into Vidalinux (Gentoo with a pretty installer). Seriously, enjoy Linux, Open Source is beautiful.

5) Any problems, just come back here and we'll help.

Ok, next question. Is there anything that I need to do different if I want to instal on a reformatted drive?

Thelostgm

No you don't....the installer is pretty idiot proof considering if you can read.

There is an option there to keep what data you currently have and just use what free space is there.

There's only one choice for a bootloader, grub, so I would suggest sticking with that for now. The CDs to have a LILO rpm on there...but it's a little more involved installing that.

does fedora run under vmware, well i dont mean just run but, with Video, sound, and network support.

The latest version doesn't directly list fedora but I'm pretty sure it'll work just fine...

There linux options are:
Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
SUSE Linux
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Mandrake Linux
Turbolinux
Other Linux 2.4.x kernel
Other Linux 2.6.x kernel
Other Linux

installing fedora in vmware right now, installation GUI reminds me of Caldera. Im probably going to have trouble with video because i had to select, generic 1280x1024 for the monitor

ok, well....unsurpisingly it failed to actually get to the GUI. The error recieved is fatal server error : no screens found

i went into the xorg.conf file using nano and didnt find anything out of the ordinary. It has VMWARE listed for the video driver and generic 1280x1024 for video.

edit: i got it working using vesa for video driver

im in fedora right now using firefox....things are a little sluggish though, im using freaken vesa for video drivers....but i dont think vmware fully supports this distrib. so this is still better than i expected. Network, video, and sound are working.

There's a guest OS module you want to use instead of things like VESA

explain