[NTLUG:Discuss] Beginner!!

[Greg Edwards]

Benjamin Long wrote:
> 
> I'm new to Linux and have heard that its great for hosting websites. Which
> Linux would you recommend to accomplish this and also which version. I'm
> thinking Red Hat but unsure whether the Standard or Professional edition.
> I'm running a Pentium II. Also is it possible to dual boot between Linux and
> Win 98. Win 98 is currently installed and thinking of getting an external
> harddrive to install Linux. Anycomments on that idea would be greatly
> appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ben
> 

Benjamin,

Generally I recommend Mandrake for Linux beginners.  Mandrake has a very
easy to follow and use installer.  You can take the default settings and
it will pretty much set you up with a usable desktop from the get-go. 
This way the frustration level is reduced for former Windows users. 
Linux is a very different animal from Windows and you'll need to plan on
doing bunches of reading to learn.

Dual boot options are pretty standard in the installers.  A 2nd drive is
(IMHO) the easiest way to go.  This will protect the other OS from nasty
little side effects.  When I setup dual boot systems I like to use
multiple drives and set each to contain a primary partition.  Set drive
#1 primary as Windows C: and drive #2, 3,... as primaries contianing
other OSes.  Put the boot manager in drive #1 (hda).  Windows can only
see 1 primary partition so it won't attempt to access your other OSes as
D:, E:, etc.  This saves on some headaches with Windows and non
recognized partition formats.  Its easy to access Windows partitions on
a dual boot system from Linux but not the other way around.

-- 
Greg Edwards
New Age Software, Inc.
http://www.nas-inet.com