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Setting up a new Linux machine
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Installing Linux® on your computer can be an easy task. This article
helps you to go through the installation quickly. If your computer is also
running Microsoft® Windows®, you won’t even have to
modify your current installation. When restarting your computer after
installing Linux, you will be prompted to boot to either your current Windows
system or the newly installed Linux one.
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Some background
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Linux (a.k.a. GNU/Linux) is a computer operating system that is considered one
of the most famous examples of open source development. The term Linux referred
initially to the Linux kernel, but is commonly used to describe an entire UNIX®-like
operating system based on the Linux kernel combined with libraries and tools
from the GNU project and a lot
of software generally called packages. The Linux kernel was initially developed
for one microprocessor only (Intel's i386), but now supports almost every
existing architecture, from watches to IBM mainframes. Linux was started by individual enthusiasts led by Linus
Torvalds, but large companies, such as IBM, quickly understood the value of
Linux and began to promote and enhance it.
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Distributions
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There are many Linux distributions – or distros – that contain the Linux
operating system and applications that include free software and sometimes also
proprietary commercial software. Major distributions are made by companies such
as Novell (the main sponsor
of the Mono™ project)
who distributes
SUSE Linux, and Red
Hat who distributes Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora. Other
popular distros include Mandriva
(nee Mandrake), Canonical's Ubuntu
Linux, and community projects such as
Debian and Gentoo.
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Packages
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Software included in the distributions are organized as packages and everything
is installed via the Package Manager . The main package formats are
RPM and
deb, and their respective Package Managers are
rpm and
dpkg. There are also utilities wrapping these basic Package Managers
that handle, detect and download dependencies;
yum and
apt are the most common ones.
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InstallCD versus live CD
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In order to install a Linux distribution, you generally need to download one or
more ISO images of your chosen Linux distribution and burn it onto a CD, then
reboot the computer with the (first) CD inserted. Some installCDs contains the
entire distribution, while others contain only the base system and download the
complement from online package repositories during the installation.
Recently, a new kind of CD appeared that was initiated by the
Knoppix distribution. The idea is that the whole operating system boots
and runs from a CD without requiring any permanent installation on your hard
drive. Some of these live CDs have the ability to store custom settings and/or
personal data on a USB device. This kind of distribution is also called “Demo
CD” and “System Rescue CD”.
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Side-by-side installation with Windows
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You can easily install and use Linux side-by-side with Windows. By default,
GNU GRUB is installed in the Master Boot Record (MBR) of your first
hard disk and an entry is automatically added for your Windows systems already
installed on the PC. You can also leave the Windows boot loader in the MBR and
follow these
Dual Booting Linux and Windows NT/2000/XP instructions to boot either
Linux or Windows.
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Installing SUSE Linux
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Almost every modern hardware configuration is supported by SUSE Linux, but you
can check specifically for your own hardware in the
SUSE Linux hardware database You can install SUSE Linux by following
these instructions. If you need any help and/or other information,
refer to the specific
OpenSUSE forum at Novell.
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Installing Ubuntu Linux
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You can download and install
CD from Ubuntu or you can
ask them to send you the CD at no charge. You will need to boot from
this CD and follow the instructions. If you have any questions, try the
wiki that includes extensive documentation and active
forums. There is also a good Unofficial
Ubuntu Starter Guide that may help you to install and get started.
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Installing Mandriva Linux
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You can download
an installCD set (or one DVD or a MiniCD that will download the distrubution
from the Web) from Mandriva.
You will need to boot from this CD and follow the
instructions.
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What's next?
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Once you have installed Linux on your computer, it's time to deploy your first
Visual MainWin® application to Linux. First you need to
configure
your Linux machine to deploy your Visual MainWin application
and then you are ready to go. To get started developing applications for Linux,
read this article.
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