I want to start using Linux a bit. I have used Unix a bit in the past and liked the control of processes and am not adverse to using a command line.

I don’t want to lose or upset Vista and don’t want to spend [much] money…can I use Virtual PC ?

I guess I need a guide / walk-through…and I know Google will find loads, but can anybody suggest a good one.
Which distribution would you suggest – I’m not looking for a ‘dummies’ version as I’m interested in playing with development tools…possibly Apache, MySQL, Mono, Java etc, Eclipse…

Get a 1gb usb stick, download http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/, install the Ubuntu 8.10 usb live image to it, and then boot of the usb stick. This will let you play about with it temporarily and see if you like it or let you try out other distros.

Alternatively, if you want it more permanent, install Virtualbox (http://www.virtualbox.org/) on vista and then install Ubuntu as a Virtual Machine. Once you’re happy with it/have chosen the right distro then you could look at installing it properly and dual booting.

Second that.

Virtualbox is a superb bit of free software that lets you run an Operating System within an Operating System – a sandbox if you like. You can run the two concurrently and switch between desktops freely.

Virtualbox Linky

I use Ubuntu which comes with the Gnome window manager as standard, but there’s also Kubuntu, which uses KDE. Ubuntu is the most downloaded distro (I think), and I have found it to be stable. the only thing that pi55es me off a bit is the need to preface su commads with sudo, so to CHOWN something you need to use SUDO CHOWN , then it prompts you for the root password. that said the Ubuntu community support is excellent. i would also recommend Hacking Ubuntu from O’reilly for a lot of info and howtos on it
Red Hat has been around forever in Linux terms, but comes with KDE, which i could never get head round, but I think that’s a matter of preference, as some people I know don’t like Gnome and swer by KDE.
Have a look at distrowatch for a bit more gen

or try this: colinux ubuntu for windows

If you’re used to using unix, & as you say you’re wanting to avoid a “dummies” version, i’d avoid Ubuntu. That’s much more tailored to people unused to Unix command line etc. & I suspect you’ll find Ubuntu a bit frustrating.

For what you say you’re wanting to do, the desktop is going to be less important than the developer toolset. I’d suggest looking at CentOS (basically Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) with the Red Hat branding removed), or Fedora. (disclaimer, I work for Red Hat so would say that wouldn’t I 😉

You’d also find the same developer toolsets on some of the other more Unix-like distro’s such as SuSE & Debian.

I can’t really offer any advice on running it on your Vista laptop. (I’ve never used a windows desktop). What i would suggest is avoiding using a Live image on a USB key. For dev. work you’ll be wanting something a bit more permanent, even starting out. If you can use some form of virtualisation & run it in that, go for that. Alternatively, look at using a USB drive to store the linux filesystems & create a bootable USB key that runs linux from the USB drive. That way your vista is left untouched.

As above, I recommend virtualbox. Great piece of software.

Then download a distro of choice. Ubuntu is not necessarily for dummies – easy to use doesn’t mean simple…

Fedora core would also be a good start though, or Gentoo if you’re feeling a bit more hardcore.

Why is Virtualbox better than Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 ?

Red Hat has been around forever in Linux terms, but comes with KDE, which i could never get head round

The default desktop for a graphical Red Hat install is Gnome. Always has been.

You’re probably thinking of SuSE.

Why is Virtualbox better than Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 ?

Interested in that as well…I assume you can put Linux on a Microsoft Virtual PC

and in answer to that question…

installing a Linux-based environment is possible, it is not seamless

and from http://www.linux.com/feature/60742:-

There’s no dearth of free-as-in-beer or open source and free software virtualization software. If you need to run Linux under Windows there’s QEMU, Bochs, Virtual Box, VMware Player and VMware server. As far as testing Linux on Windows hosts is concerned, Microsoft’s Virtual PC 2007 doesn’t even come close to being considered a viable alternative.

The default desktop for a graphical Red Hat install is Gnome. Always has been.

No, it was definately KDE, and I definately didn’t like it. I used RedHat in about 99/2000 and it had Gnome, which was why I tried it again when I went back to Linux – or maybe it was Fedora? Which is the free one now?

fubar: cool thanks. I’ve only ever tried using Virtual PC for doing Windows virtualisation. Quite comical that the supposedly all-powerful Linux doesn’t work properly on it. Oh well.

And in other news: Microsoft produces software that is less capable than community-based competitors …

If you’re used to using unix, & as you say you’re wanting to avoid a “dummies” version, i’d avoid Ubuntu. That’s much more tailored to people unused to Unix command line etc. & I suspect you’ll find Ubuntu a bit frustrating.

Sweeping statement that – and without foundation. I have been using various flavours of Unix/Linux for over 10 years and Ubuntu has finally got the balance right – it’s suitable or newbies and power users alike.

If you want a very simple starting point – you could try wubi – you can be up and running in minutes.

dual boot with ubuntu, i do it and it works fine.

And in other news: Microsoft produces software that is less capable than community-based competitors …

Or… Linux fanboy tries to install Linux on a Microsoft product which doesn’t support it. He only has partial success (partly due to problems in the Linux distros installers) and then rather predictably slags off Microsoft.

Ho hum.

Thanks all.
VirtalBox installed…Ubuntu downloading (very slowly)…

and a last minute thought. Solaris is a proper Unix, and is available as a free download for the Intel platforms. (GRUB version) http://www.sun.com, or something similar

Ubuntu up and running within Sandbox without any issues (well I can access the internet using Firefox on Ubuntu so that’s a start).

With Sandbox it is going to be easy to try different configurations…I’m already planning a KDE version.

What are the main differences between, for example, Solaris and Ubuntu…does software e.g. OpenOffice work equally well across versions ?
I assume there is a ‘standard’ that the various versions must implement?
I have a lot to discover.

Open Office has to be compiled for different versions of Linux, but the data files are interchangeable. As a project manager, I was using MS-Project at work, and OpenProj at home, emailing projects to myself. Gave up on that and installed the PC version of openProj at work, and files work completely well across platforms.

Or – I had two system partitions, running different Linuxea, and a data partition where docs, pics etc were stored. OpenOffice (and other apps) go on the system partition, as each implementation is unique to the flavour of Linux, but the data can be shared.
Make sense?

Yes, makes sense…I forgot that you had to compile the apps yourself for each platform

Yes, makes sense…I forgot that you had to compile the apps yourself for each platform

Have you used Synaptic Package manager yet? It’s a treasure trove at your fingertips…