Which distribution of Linux should I get?

[BlackRider]

so the install manager can partition the drive for me or is that only for a blank, unpartitioned drive? <p><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:red;font-size:large;">C</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:orange;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:green;font-size:large;">L</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:blue;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:indigo;font-size:large;">R</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:violet;font-size:large;">S</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:pink;font-size:xx-large;">!</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--></p><i></i>

[XMEN Ashaman DTM]

Yes<br> <p><br><img src=http://www.xmenclan.org/avatars/ashaman2.jpg width=150 align=left><br><left><a href=http://www.dragontalonmercs.com>Dragon Talon Mercenary</a><br><a href=http://www.xmenclan.org>Member of the XMEN</a><br>Have a Nice Day!<br><br></left></p><i></i>

[XMEN Gambit]

You should only use the partitioning proggy in a linux setup for a BLANK drive. Cause it WILL be blank when it gets done. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>Asha, RH and most other distros will allow you to set up a boot partition, and in some cases it will suggest a small boot partition like that, but they ALWAYS asks you about making partitions and how you want to define them. <p><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.xmenclan.org/xmengambit.gif"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>XMEN member<br>Card-carrying DTM<br>OKL Fish-napper<br><br>Though a program be but three lines long, someday it will have to be maintained.<br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> The Tao of Programming</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></p><i></i>

[BlackRider]

well... is there any free software that can repartition my drive? (I'm working on a laptop... so installing another drive may be a bit troublesome...)<br><br>what about DiskPart.exe? could that do the job? Windows help is doing worse than usual... links aren't working and I can't find anything out. <p><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:red;font-size:large;">C</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:orange;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:green;font-size:large;">L</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:blue;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:indigo;font-size:large;">R</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:violet;font-size:large;">S</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:pink;font-size:xx-large;">!</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--></p><i></i>

[XMEN Gambit]

If you want to save the data, <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/" target="top">PartitionMagic</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> is the best one I know of. Most other partitioning programs just partition the drive and to heck with the data. But it's not free.<br><br>Note that P.M. is not guaranteed to work properly in all cases, in which case you're still losing the data. Moral of this story:<br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Back up anything you don't want to lose!</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>You are playing a risky game with doing this, especially on a laptop. Before you do anything else, you need to make sure that someone else has got your model of laptop running with the distro you have in mind. RH is a good bet in this regard, as it's pretty popular. I'd start by doing a google search on the words "linux" and "<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>insert your model number here</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->". <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.xmenclan.org/xmengambit.gif"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>XMEN member<br>Card-carrying DTM<br>OKL Fish-napper<br><br>Though a program be but three lines long, someday it will have to be maintained.<br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> The Tao of Programming</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub141.ezboard.com/bxmenclan.sho ... ambit>XMEN Gambit</A>&nbsp; <IMG SRC="http://www.xmenclan.org/images/x.gif" BORDER=0> at: 4/1/03 10:40:50 pm<br></i>

[XMEN Ashaman DTM]

/me slaps forehead!<br><br>Good call on the laptop thing, Gambit!<br> <p><br><img src=http://www.xmenclan.org/avatars/ashaman2.jpg width=150 align=left><br><left><a href=http://www.dragontalonmercs.com>Dragon Talon Mercenary</a><br><a href=http://www.xmenclan.org>Member of the XMEN</a><br>Have a Nice Day!<br><br></left></p><i></i>

[BlackRider]

Its required that we have an XP-Linux dual boot laptop... so I bet I could find a hundred people on campus w/ Red Hat.<br><br>*edit*<br>K, well... I'm going to format my HD, partitioning it into 20 GB, 9.5 GB, and 0.5 GB partitions... sound good so far? Then I'll install XP on the 20 GB and put RH Linux on the 9.5 GB w/ the 0.5 GB swap drive... still good?<br><br>If I don't post again, then I screwed up. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:red;font-size:large;">C</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:orange;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:green;font-size:large;">L</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:blue;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:indigo;font-size:large;">R</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:violet;font-size:large;">S</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:pink;font-size:xx-large;">!</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub141.ezboard.com/bxmenclan.sho ... ckRider</A> at: 4/2/03 6:33:44 pm<br></i>

[XMEN Ashaman DTM]

Wait!<br><br><br>XP and Linux use different file systems! They won't be able to see each other's partitions!<br> <p><br><img src=http://www.xmenclan.org/avatars/ashaman2.jpg width=150 align=left><br><left><a href=http://www.dragontalonmercs.com>Dragon Talon Mercenary</a><br><a href=http://www.xmenclan.org>Member of the XMEN</a><br>Have a Nice Day!<br><br></left></p><i></i>

[BlackRider]

XP uses FAT and Linux uses NTFS or something... right? <p><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:red;font-size:large;">C</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:orange;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:green;font-size:large;">L</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:blue;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:indigo;font-size:large;">R</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:violet;font-size:large;">S</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:pink;font-size:xx-large;">!</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--></p><i></i>

[XMEN Ashaman DTM]

XP uses NTFS.<br><br>Linux/Unix uses NFS.<br><br>XP won't recognize the Linux partition... it means that you have to break the disk up into different partitions, each with different file systems. Need to use a program like what Gambit mentioned to do that with one disk.<br> <p><br><img src=http://www.xmenclan.org/avatars/ashaman2.jpg width=150 align=left><br><left><a href=http://www.dragontalonmercs.com>Dragon Talon Mercenary</a><br><a href=http://www.xmenclan.org>Member of the XMEN</a><br>Have a Nice Day!<br><br></left></p><i></i>

[BlackRider]

could the Red Hat install format the partitions for me?<br><br>I know I have to break it into different partitions... so, XP on NTFS and Linux on NFS then?<br><br>I was going to have the XP install partition the disk into the proper partitions... hrmm.... <p><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:red;font-size:large;">C</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:orange;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:green;font-size:large;">L</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:blue;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:indigo;font-size:large;">R</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:violet;font-size:large;">S</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:pink;font-size:xx-large;">!</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--></p><i></i>

[XMEN Ashaman DTM]

One thing that <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>might</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> work is to have XP partition a certain amount of space as NTFS and leave the rest as unpartitioned space.<br><br>Then, when you install RH, you partition the unpartitioned space as NFS. You'll still break the NFS partitions into a couple of partitions (just as Gambino said).<br><br>That <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>might</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> work for you.<br><br><br>If you already have a WinXP partition, then the program that Gambit mentioned is the better bet.<br><br><br>And before you do <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>anything</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> BACKUP YOUR DATA!<br> <p><br><img src=http://www.xmenclan.org/avatars/ashaman2.jpg width=150 align=left><br><left><a href=http://www.dragontalonmercs.com>Dragon Talon Mercenary</a><br><a href=http://www.xmenclan.org>Member of the XMEN</a><br>Have a Nice Day!<br><br></left></p><i></i>

[XMEN Gambit]

Don't forget to make a small boot partition, too - it has to be the first partition. Don't do anything with it in XP, let Linux mess with it. <p><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.xmenclan.org/xmengambit.gif"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>XMEN member<br>Card-carrying DTM<br>OKL Fish-napper<br><br>Though a program be but three lines long, someday it will have to be maintained.<br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> The Tao of Programming</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></p><i></i>

[BlackRider]

what data? <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :p --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>Hrmm... well, I can use the school copy of partition magic instead of reinstalling everything.<br><br>I dunno... <p><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:red;font-size:large;">C</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:orange;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:green;font-size:large;">L</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:blue;font-size:large;">O</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:indigo;font-size:large;">R</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:violet;font-size:large;">S</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--><!--EZCODE FONT START--><span style="color:pink;font-size:xx-large;">!</span><!--EZCODE FONT END--></p><i></i>

[Ambush Bug]

XP FileSystem Info:<br><br>XP can use both NTFS and FAT32. At my last recollection, Linux in general can read FAT32. NTFS is another thing entirely--there are modules out there that will let you <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>read</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> NTFS, but if you want to write to NTFS, you gotta pay some money for commercial software, I think.<br><br>Moreover, there's two versions of NTFS. There's what I call NTFS4, which is what came with NT4 originally, and then there's NTFS5, which is what shipped with Win2K and WinXP. NT4 has had updates recently that let it use NTFS5 as well.<br><br>As for NTFS vs. FAT32, it's really about security. If you run XP on FAT32, you'll miss out on the wonderful filesystem security and compression that NTFS gives you, plus you'll have to defrag more often. NTFS, on the other hand, supports all that wonderful goodness (its compression is damn handy at work, since I've got a chain of dinky hard drives in my workstation) plus you can lock out folders as you see fit. <br><br>While NTFS is resistant to fragmentation, it <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>does</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> fragment files every so often, and you'll have to give it what-for every month or two. If you like, I've got a small .vbs script that auto-defrags every attached drive when you execute it that I could send you. <p></p><i></i>