UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Right guys and gals,

Im totally new to UNIX, i want to start learning but i need a few things answering first.

I currently have a Dell Latitude laptop with Windows XP, i want to learn UNIX on this.

1. Where and how do i get and install UNIX?
2. Will this work on my laptop or would i have to remove windows first?
3. If in question 2 you can do both which would be the better option?
4. Does anyone know of some good sources for learning UNIX?
5. Is there anything else i should know before starting?

Cheers!

billett05,

Welcome to the world of unix and to the forums! To answer your questions,

1. You can get Linux, a Unix like OS for free from the net. Check this site for download info.
2. You can have a dual boot - both Linux and Windows will co-exist peacefully on your laptop; as long as you have enough disk space and remember to install Windows first.
3. I didnt get this question.
4. This site is a wonderful source for learning Unix. You can start by searching for whatever you want in the search section of the forums.
5. Be open to using different ways to do one thing.

yeah sorry about question 3 lol

Ok so looking at that site you stated.

What would you recommend as the best version of Linux?

Each to his/her own when it comes to flavors of Linux. A good way to get your feet wet is to get Knoppix, which you can run off a CD, so you don't need to install anything.

Once you get familiar with that, I would suggest installing a different flavor. Some of the popular Unix/Linux ones are Fedora Core, Debian, Gentoo, Solaris, the BSD series, and more.

Right im currently downloading SUSE 9.1

any good for me you recon?

Yes, SuSE is a good choice, not because it has any huge differences from other distros, but because it is the second largest distro in terms of user numbers. Which means that when you go looking for an application you can usually get a precompiled version in rpm format.

One suggestion I would have however is to get 9.2, not 9.1 for one very simple reason. 9.1 uses the Linux 2.4 kernel, 9.2 uses the 2.6 kernel, there were some quite substantial changes between the two and I have noticed some quite important improvements in the 2.6 version.