Having previously examined what Linux is and why we would want to try it out, the next step on our alt. Operating System odyssey is the installation. But which one?
Unlike other proprietary systems such as Windows or Apple, Linux comes in a variety of different colours. Because Linux is open source what has evolved are a number of subtly disparate rival versions such as Red Hat, Debian, SuSe and Mandriva to name but four. Predictably perhaps, asking which Linux distribution is the user-friendliest harvests a trailer-full of differing answers.
The least painful – except financially - is to purchase a machine with it pre-installed. There’s not, however, that many to choose from. The ASUS Eee PC notebook is probably the best known, but there are others being produced by Dell and Pioneer.
Next, you could try testing out Linux by having the system run from a CD. These are available from LiveCD and Knoppix. These bootable Linux CDs contain a variety of software to let users experiment with email, document creation etc. While a good introduction that leaves your hard disk untouched, they will be slower than running the operating system on your own machine. Keep this in mind if you opt for this type of Linux evaluation.
Another halfway house approach is installing software that enables Linux to operate as an application. Microsoft’s Virtual PC or VMWare runs Linux as a virtual operating system alongside Windows. The advantage is that you don’t need to uninstall Windows and documents created in Linux can be saved. The downsides are that the experience is less intense than that of a bootable CD or a full-blown installation, and running Linux in a virtual environment requires a fairly powerful machine.
If you have a test machine, one Linux distribution widely praised as being user-friendly to install is ubuntu. This is a desktop machine focussed distribution that’s aimed at the Linux newcomer. It has a reputation for being stable and reliable, and is a good starting point for getting to know the Linux system before investigating more enterprise oriented versions like Red Hat.
But even if you do decide to go for the full installation, it is not necessary to burn all your bridges with Windows, so to speak. It is perfectly possible to partition the hard disk and install Linux as a “dual boot”. At start up, you will be presented with the option of booting up Linux or your existing operating system. As a rule, Windows won’t allow access to Linux files, but it’s generally two-way traffic if you boot up Linux and need to work on a Windows document.
With ubuntu, for instance, creating the space for the two operating systems is usually the most difficult part of the operation. Fortunately, ubuntu takes care of this itself. (As an aside, it is worth noting here that Windows will overwrite Linux were you to install Linux first then Windows. For our purposes, the assumption is that Windows is already present.)
After the partitioning business is sorted out, the installation is fairly routine point and click. Just take your time and read each screen carefully before proceeding. Taking the phone off the hook might be an idea.
Hardware and internet connections are detected automatically. The most time consuming part of the process is actually ubuntu checking and installing system updates for itself and all the other software that comes with it. This took a wee bit of time but is par for the course with any operating system being installed for the first time.
Some of the pre-installed software is likely to be familiar already – OpenOffice and Mozilla Firefox. The other packages include an image editing suite, media players, Voice over IP, CD burner and email.
Any gaps in the pre-installed goodies are easily cured…and for free. At the last count there was something in the order of 23,000 software applications residing in ubuntu’s product range. Any other software requirements such as drivers and codecs are flagged up by ubuntu with a prompt to download and install in much the same way as the Windows or Apple operating systems. Ditto with ongoing system updates and patches.
Although ubuntu may not be perfect or to everyone’s taste, it is a strong contender to Windows and Apple. Best of all it’s free and supported by a friendly community of ubuntu forums where an answer to most problems you’re likely to encounter can be easily found.
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