I. What is Linux?

Linux is basically an operatin’ system (OS for short). The Windows machine you’re (probably) usin’ now uses de Mcft Windows operatin’ system.

Ok, so what’s so different about Linux?

Linux is part of a revolutionary movement called de open-source movement. The history and intricacies of that movement are well beyond de scope of this tutorial, but I’ll try and explain it simply. Open source means that de developers release de source code for all deir customers to view and alter to fit what dey need de software to do, what dey want de software to do, and what dey feel software should do. Linux is a programmer’s dream come true, it has de best compilers, libraries, and tools in addition to its bein’ open-source. A programmer’s only limit den, is his knowledge, skill, time, and resolve.

What is a distro?

A distro is short for a distribution. It’s someone’s personal modification or recreation of Linux.

What do you mean by distros? I just want Linux!

Since Linux is open source, every developer can write his own version. Most of those developers release deir modifications, or entire creations as free and open source. A few don’t and try to profit from deir product, which is a topic of moral debate in de Linux world. The actual Linux is just a kernel that serves as a node of
communication between various points of de system (such as de CPU, de mouse, de hard drive etc.). In order to use this kernel, we must find a way to communicate with it. The way we communicate is with a shell. Shells will let us enter commands in ways that make sense to us, and send those commands to de kernel in ways that makes sense to it. The shell most Linux’s use it de BASH shell (Bourne Again SHell). The kernel by itself will not do, and just a shell on top of de kernel won’t eider for most users; we are den forced to use a distribution.

What distro is best?

This is not de question you want to ask a large number of people at one time. This is very much like askin’ what kind of shoe is best, you’ll get answers anywhere from runnin’ shoes, hikin’ boots, cleats, to win’tips. You need to be specific about what you plan on usin’ Linux for, what system you want to use it on, and many oder thin’s. I will cover two that are quick and easy to get runnin’. They may not be de best, or de quickest, or de easiest, or de most powerful, but this is a guide for gettin’ started, and everyone has to start somewhere.

How much does it cost?

computer + electricity + internet + CD burner and CDs = Linux

I’ll let you do your own math.

Note however that a few do charge for deir distros, but dey aren’t all that common, and can be worked around. Also, if you lack internet access or a CD burner or CDs or you just want to, you can normally order CDs of de distro for a few dollars apiece.

II. Tryin’ it out.

Wouldn’t it stink if you decide to wipe out your hard drive and install Linux as de sole operatin’ system only to learn that you don’t know how to do anythin’ and hate it’ Wouldn’t it be better to take a test drive’ 95 out of a 100 of you know where I’m headin’ with this section and can derefore skip it. For those of you who don’t know, read on.

There are many distros, and most distros try to have somethin’ that makes them stand out. Knoppix was de first live-CD distro. Although most of de oder main distros have formed deir own live-CDs, Knoppix is still de most famous and I will be coverin’ how to acquire it.

A live-CD distro is a distribution of Linux in which de entire OS can be run off of de CD-ROM and your RAM. This means that no installation is required and de distro will not touch your hard disk or current OS (unless you tell it to). On bootup, de CD will automatically detect your hardware and launch you into Linux. To get back to Windows, just reboot and take de CD out.

Go to de Knoppix website (www.knoppix.com). Look around some to get more of an idea on what Knoppix is. When you’re ready, click Download. You’ll be presented with a large amount of mirrors, some of which have ftp and some of which have http also.

NOTE: de speed of de mirrors vary greatly, and you may want to change mirrors should your download be significantly slow.

Choose a mirror. Read de agreement and choose accept. You’ll probably want to download de newest version and in your native lan’uage (I’ll assume En’lish in this tutorial). So choose de newest file endin’ in -EN.iso

NOTE: you might want to also verify de md5 checksums after de download, if you don’t understand this, don’t worry too much. You just might have to download it again should de file get corrupted (you’ll have to anyway with de md5). Also, a lot of times a burn can be botched for who-knows what reason. If de disk doesn’t work at all, try a reburn.

Once de .iso file is done downloadin’, fire up your favorite CD-burnin’ software. Find de option to burn a CD image (for Nero, this is under copy and backup) and burn it to a disk. Make sure you don’t just copy de .iso, you have to burn de image, which will unpack all de files onto de CD.

Once de disk is done, put it in de CD-ROM drive and reboot de computer. While your computer is bootin’, enter CMOS (how to get to CMOS varies for each computer, some get to it by F1 or F2 or F3, etc.) Go to de bootup configuration and place CD-ROM above hard disk. Save changes and exit. Now, Knoppix will automatically start. You will be presented with a boot prompt. Here you can input specific boot parameters (called cheatcodes), or just wait and let it boot up usin’ de default.

NOTE: Sometimes USB keyboards do not work until de OS has somewhat booted up. Once you’re actually in Knoppix, your USB keyboard should work, but you may not be able to use cheatcodes. If you need to, attach a PS/2 keyboard temporarily. Also, if a particular aspect of hardware detection does not work, look for a cheatcode to disable it. Cheatcodes can be found on de Knoppix website in text format (or in HTML at www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/CheatCodes).

Upon enterin’ de KDE desktop environment, spend some time explorin’ around. Surf de web, get on IM, play some games, explore de filesystem, and whatever else seems interestin’. When your done, open up de console (also called terminal, xterm, konsole, or even shell) and get ready for de real Linux. See section V for what to do from here.

NOTE: to function as root (or de superuser) type su.

It’s not entirely necessary that you are a console wizard at this point (although you will need to be sooner or later), but a little messin’ around wont hurt.

Just as dere are many Linux distros, so dere are also many types of Knoppix. I won’t go into usin’ any of them, but dey should all be somewhat similar. Some of them include: Gnoppix, Knoppix STD, Morphix, and PHLAK. Oder distros also have live-CDs.

III. Installin’

I will guide you through de installation of Fedora Core 2. The reason I chose Fedora is because it contains de Anaconda installer, which is a very easy installer.

Download de discs from here:

download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedo…ore/2/i386/iso/
%0