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LINUX LESSONS

by George Martin

Start ý Booting Up ý Getting the Best Performance ý Final Deduction ý Sources and PDF

BOOTING UP

I started loading Linux from inside WIN95 and selected the dual boot option. After several different installations of different Linux products, I was able to crash the boot loader and then needed the boot-from-floppy option. Through my mistakes and omissions, I lost the boot to Windows capability. Caution: attempting a Linux installation on your main development system can result in lost data. But, I was also using WIN95 and could not reinstall it without erasing the existing data. WIN98 solved this issue.

The minimum system requirements are listed as Intel Pentium I, AMD K6, 16 MB required, 64 MB recommended, 500-MB disk minimum, and 1 GB recommended. I fall just short of these requirements with my 100-MHz 486 and 16 MB of RAM. But, letýs see what happens.

I followed the installation procedures contained in the various packages. In short, you select a keyboard and mouse, partition the hard disk, and select a graphics card. I opted for no network or modem. The only problem was in recognizing the graphics card. The installation procedure would not (or could not) discover the HP hardware and install an appropriate driver. Resolution was only 640 ý 480 with 16-bit color.

Not to worry, because the procedure lets you pick a different card type and then run a brief test. If you like the results, you can go on. If not, then you can back up and select another card type. It is a bit disconcerting because this usually takes you down the path of no return. But, all the packages are user-friendly, and even if you get the system completely installed, you can still change all the drivers and even add drivers you may have left out.

Also, I noticed a lot of hard disk activity during the install process. Upon closer observation, I realized that Linux was installing data from the drive while it was prompting me for particulars about the hardware. This was my first exposure to the multitasking nature of Linux. I could go forward in hardware selection and back up to partitioning the hard disk, changing my selections along the way.

After looking at both Mandrake and Caldera, I settled on Caldera. This is just personal preference, like Ford versus Chevy. I hope Ocean State Job Lot gets a Red Hat package soon.

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