[Grey Wolf]

I'm thinking of trying a dual-boot with Linux and Windows XP and I was wondering if anyone knew of a good free version of Linux which would be bearable to download on a 56k modem (basically, 40MBs or less). Compatibility with NTFS would be a plus (even though I don't think any of them do), but FAT32 is all that it really needs to be compatible with. Anyone have a good suggestion?

[Kamikaze]

The linux kernel has ntfs read support options (it's not distro specific).

http://lwn.net/Distributions/index.php3#smalldisk

http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Distributions/Tiny/

[mikhael]

NTFS read is relatively common. NTFS write is SUSE only right now I think. Personally, though, I'd recommend against Linux and recommend for one of the BSDs.

[demon442]

Linux really hates sharing a drive with Windows.  Try getting a small 10 GB drive and slave it.  As for distro, pretty much any of the common names will do fine.  What do you plan to do with Linux?

[Setekh]

I typically use Debian.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Brown Hat...


Sorry

[Admiral LSD]

Gentoo is pretty happy dual-booting with Windows XP here. I even had a quad boot with 3 Linux's (Gentoo, Slackware and Debian) and Windows XP up until I reformatted the Debian partition a few hours ago.

And mikhael, NTFS write support has been in the kernel for at least the last 5 years but it's been *extremely* experimental that whole time and still isn't supposed to be 100% reliable. I don't know how SuSE gets away with it but I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it.

[kasperl]

Originally posted by Setekh
I typically use Debian.

i keep hearing good and bad things about this one, it is rumored to be a ***** to install, but it is also rumored to work really well.

i never used linux in my life, aside from Knoppix. i am installing linux in 2 weeks, tell me more about Debian.

[Razor]

I think that the most relevant question for me is: Is it usefull to install Linux and what benefits do I have from it?

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Admiral LSD
And mikhael, NTFS write support has been in the kernel for at least the last 5 years but it's been *extremely* experimental that whole time and still isn't supposed to be 100% reliable. I don't know how SuSE gets away with it but I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it.

NTFS write support was NOT in the kernel when I was adminning Red Hat boxen in 98-99. Heck, reads caused a kernel panic regularly. As of the last time I tried NTFS on a linux box, it still panicked. I don't touch Linux anymore, so I don't really know what's going on with it.

[Kamikaze]

Originally posted by kasperl


i keep hearing good and bad things about this one, it is rumored to be a ***** to install, but it is also rumored to work really well.

I can't give an objective analysis on this one (debian was the first distro I installed, but I wasn't exactly a n00b), but I never had any problems with installing it. I'm pretty sure you'll have a hard time figuring out how to run the X window system though. With using debian, it's love or hate. Some people swear by "the Debian way", others hate it.

By the way, I use Gentoo (dual-booting with win2k on my main PC, the laptop is on debian), it's a rather popular source-based distribution. Not for the impatient (It took me 20+ hours to compile everything I wanted on a 450mhz system).

I suggest you install a more n00b friendly linux like ark linux, libranet, redhat or mandrake.

Razor: A question like that isn't answered easily. It depends on what you want to do with your PC and what aspects you care about in an OS.

[mikhael]

Bah. If you're using Gentoo, you might as well just run a BSD and get the right OS to run under all that source based goodness.

Debian is user-hostile. N00bs need not apply. It will eat your brain. You have been warned.

[demon442]

Mandrake is an excelent n00b-friendly distro, and SuSE looks good as well.  With any distro, KBD is a must-have, and recently its been looking better and better.

Haven't tried any of the BSDs, hope to soon, though.  What's it like?

[Admiral LSD]

Originally posted by mikhael


NTFS write support was NOT in the kernel when I was adminning Red Hat boxen in 98-99. Heck, reads caused a kernel panic regularly. As of the last time I tried NTFS on a linux box, it still panicked. I don't touch Linux anymore, so I don't really know what's going on with it.

It was there, it just probably wasn't compiled in to stock distribution kernels. I just dug up my old copies of kernel 2.0.36 and the development kernel 2.1.131 and while I was positive I saw it in 2.0.36 it more likely I remember it from 2.1.131:

[mikhael]

We used heavily modified kernels and userland builds. The experimental support might have been there, but the write was just stubbed code and the read kernel panicked (as mentioned before).  There was nothing you could use in a production environment.

[Setekh]

Originally posted by mikhael
Debian is user-hostile. N00bs need not apply. It will eat your brain. You have been warned.

Just think of the power...

[mikhael]

The power of Debian is questionable, Steak. Once its running, its just like every other distro of the PenguinOS. Its "power" is in its package system.

It is not n00b friendly, to say the least. Definately, distinctly, deservedly: the worst distro (except maybe Slackware!) wtih which to start out learning about Linux. I mean come on: FreeBSD has a user-hostile installer. I know this and I love FreeBSD. But Debian's installer (if you can call it that) is actively user-homicidal. Its easily the worst I've ever seen and certainly the worst you could possibly inflict upon a n00b.

[Martinus]

[color=66ff00]On the same line of thought; why use a BSD over a linux distro?
[/color]

[Setekh]

Originally posted by mikhael
The power of Debian is questionable, Steak. Once its running, its just like every other distro of the PenguinOS. Its "power" is in its package system.

Yeah, I'll give you that. I was half-joking, I wouldn't be able to admin this box with my current knowledge - but I do enjoy using it, having become accustomed to the unfriendliness.

[Admiral LSD]

Originally posted by Maeglamor
[color=66ff00]On the same line of thought; why use a BSD over a linux distro?
[/color]

tbph I wouldn't, at least not on an nForce motherboard. You'll most likely have no LAN (proprietary driver modules), no sound (unless nvaudo, i810_audio or ALSA are available in BSD versions), piss-poor IDE performance (due to the kernel knowing you have an ATA controller but not being able to set DMA on it) and no hardware 3D acceleration on non-nVidia cards (due to a lack of AGPGART support). I spent over a week trying to make Debian work with all the stuff on my 8RDA+ (whereas Gentoo supported it all "out of the box" and Slackware provided a reasonable base to start with) and only partially succeeded (all the hardware worked eventually but due to the need to "sideload" it onto my HDD due to lack of support for my HDD controller (not the onboard nForce ports, an off-board Silicon Image controller) I was left having to install stuff like XFree86, GNOME and KDE by hand and apt refused to play ball), FreeBSD can only be worse than that. If you have another, preferably older, machine you can use as a guinea pig by all means go for it.