Linux
Support Page

This web page is a supplement to the WorldU3A [support] list server. It will provide an ongoing source of discussion topics and links for all things Linux of interest to U3A members.

To comment on or contribute to this page use the support @ worldu3a.org list server

About this page

This page is the Linux and web support page of the World U3A Support web site. The aim of this page is to provide supplementary support information to and an archive for the World U3A [support] list server on Linux matters

My name is Peter Anderson; I am a member of Batemans Bay U3A (Batemans Bay is on the South Coast of NSW - approximately four hours drive from Sydney) where my involvement is presenting computing and Internet courses and managing the web site. From time-to-time I will write something specific for this page, but hopefully most of the content will come from interested 'support' list users.

Mouse Skeleton?My Linux experience

I will kick-off the page by talking a little about my Linux experience; basically its very limited. However, I am very attracted to the concept of open source software. Linux is an open source operating system - like Microsoft Windows but free. While I am attracted to the concept of Linux, I am not into 'Microsoft bashing'; it is my view that Linux still has some way to go before it is as good as Microsoft Windows XP for the average U3A user. That said, there is still a lot of good and interesting things about Linux and it is only a (short) matter of time before Linux closes the gap.

You might be interested to know what I use on my desk and how Linux fits into my scheme of things. I have two personal computers: a Toshiba Satellite A10 running Microsoft Windows XP Professional (this is 'Rocinante' and is my main work-horse connected to the Internet via ADSL) and a mini-tower PC put together by a Canberra based company called Cougar Computers (this is 'Sanchos' and is my R&D machine) which dual boots Microsoft Windows XP Home and Xandros Linux.

Peter

Snake Oil?Want to try Linux the easy way?

Linux comes in wants called distributions (or distros -- being interested in Linux means you need to start picking up these 'geeky terms') which are similar to the Windows XP boxed set. Where Linux differs from Windows is its open source (free) and anyone can make up their own version of Linux (see DistroWatch - link opposite); there are literally hundreds of versions. Like Windows, most require that you provide hard disk space to install Linux. This can be done by sharing existing disk space with your Windows installation (partitioning your hard disk drive) or adding a second disk drive just for Linux or having a totally separate computer just for Linux. All these are daunting and/or expensive for the Linux novice (but not too daunting - believe me). A much easier alternative is to use a 'live' distro; ie. a version of Linux that will boot from a CD. There are several versions of Linux that can do this, the best is probably Knoppix (see 'Links'). Knoppix will boot from the CD and requires absolutely NO installation or changes to your existing Windows installation. You can either download a CD image or purchase a pre-burned CD from organisations like LinuxCD.org. This is a very easy (and cheap) way to give Linux a try.

Fedora Core 3

Red Hat, the leading commercial distributor of Linux, has released the latest version of FREE Linux distro -- Fedora Core 3. Fedora is one of the more robust distro packages but you need to be aware that it is still an R&D effort for Red Hat's commercial Linux releases and that it is very 'Linux standards' compliant, so there are no proprietary drivers (WinModems for example will not work in Fedora). One of the nice things about Core 3 is the use of Mozilla's Firefox (as the default web browser) and Thunderbird (as the default e-mail client). See the links section for more on Fedora and keep a watch on OS News for reviews as readers install the new version.