UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Got some questions for you guys (please excuse my ignorance):

1. I do not think I should install Unix on my laptop. I would like to buy a dedicated Unix box. Where can I find some good deals for this?

2. I'm not 100% sure whether Unix and Linux use the same interface. I've never used either. Should I try learning Unix or Linux first?

Keep in mind that I've only used Windows OS's so far, and would like to try something new.

Thank you.

whether you are talking about a GUI or a CLI, there is no 'one' interface for linux or unix. supposedly BASH is suppost to be THE shell for linux, however it just comes down to your personal preference. KDE and GNOME, full desktop environments run on many unices, as well as many window managers.

people may disagree with me, but linux IS a unix. notice i say 'A' linux. as in there are many. you could go with one of the *BSD's or one of the many many linux distros, or you could shell out the money for a commercial unix distribution. it is all really up to you in the end. try a bunch.

if you are looking for a linux distro to learn with, suse is very easy to get up and running. suse is what got me started in linux, and i still use it today for my desktop.

when you ask people for what they think about which one to choose you will get many many different answers. look for one you like and try it out.

linux on the laptop will be my next project, when i get the money to buy a laptop.


oh one more thing,

no matter what you choose, DONT GIVE UP! dont be afraid to ask questions, the more people using linux or another unix-like OS the better. with a larger user base it only gets better. we will have larger vender hardware support, and the distros will just keep advancing faster and faster.

I would recommend building your own box rather than buying a commercial one from Dell or Gateway or others. You learn about the hardware which is a bonus when learning unix/linux.

The cool thing about Unix/Linux is that they can run on x86 platforms. You can build a pretty cheap Pentium/AMD system that should take care of your needs. I am currently using an AMD Duron 900 Mhz chip, 512 MB DDR 2100 RAM, NVidia TNT2 32 graphics card all on a ECS (Elitegroup) K7S5A board. I had piece mealed components from a couple of old PCs to finish it off.

The chip cost me 40 bucks, the ram 75, the video card 29 and the board 70. All purchased through a local wholesaler. Check out this site for low cost parts and bare bones systems Price Watch

Hi,

1) It's not necesary to buy a new box. It's just wether you want to spend money or not. If you never have been playing with it before I can imagine you choose to have a seperated box. It shouldn't be the most expensive one. Unix/Linux is not very demanding.

2) Unix == Linux. It's just that Linus Torvalds wanted to create a Unix variant for the home-user. So it was written for multiple processor types from multiple vendors. Intel was one of the processro-types it has been written for. That's why it got more popular that Sun Solaris or HP-ux f.e.. It was cheaper and you had free support.

Hope to have given you at least some info.

Regs David

If you want to try it out... You can get a cheep refurbished box from a local refurbisher...

Many you can find nowadays for $200-300 or less even... many of those are perfectly fine for LINUX as it doesnt need a ton of resources.