Obligatory "Oh, Lord, not another Newbie!" post

[Florian Diesch]

"David Smith" <dbsmith at atbbs.dyndns.org> wrote:



> I have tried installing Linux in various incarnations at various times, 
> with little or no practical results, because I just didn't get it.  DOS, I 
> got, Linux was Different.  Don't mind commandlines, do mind not having an 
> Effing Clue what I'm doing.  But I'm not gonna do XP or Vista, and they 
> wouldn't work without me buying newer hardware I can't afford.  So I'm 
> gonna try Ubuntu.  Probably.
>
> What am I definitely gonna like?  What am I definitely gonna trip over?  

Moving from DOS/Windows to Linux is a little bit like moving from
Europe/USA  to China or something similar: Expect a lot of things to be
very different, and don't expect to feel at home after 2 weeks.


> Did that whole WINE business ever turn out to be anything?  Didn't that 
> DOS emulator thingie they used to have actually turn out to work?  Do I 
> get to keep playing with my decade-old DOS games, like F117A, Strike 
> Eagle, JNUG, Doom?

Games usually need direct hardware access or special driver
features. Chances are that they don't work right with Wine or DosEmu.
For some games (like Doom) there are native Linux ports.


> Is there a big three-inch-thick book that everybody gets but nobody thinks 
> to mention?  I used to like them books.

The Wiki at <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/> should be a good starting point
to find information. Maybe they list some books there too.

There's the "From DOS/Windows to Linux HOWTO" at
<http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/DOS-Win-to-Linux-HOWTO.html>. It's not
exactly up to date but may still be useful.


Ubuntu also has lots of docs to install. Two examples:

* "Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition": Activate multiverse (a part of
  Ubuntu, you'll find more about in in the wiki), install the package
  "rutebook" and have a look at /usr/share/doc/rutebook/html/rute.html
  It covers about all the not-distribution-specific basics and a lot
  more.

* "The Debian Reference": Activate universe (another part of Ubuntu),
  install the package "debian-reference-en" and see the file
  /usr/share/doc/Debian/reference/index.html Some parts of it are out of
  date and some parts a too Debian specific but it has all the
  distribution-specific details for a Debian based distribution like
  Ubuntu the book above is missing.

Together the should keep you busy for some weeks :-)


> Would I be crazy to install Ubuntu on my laptop?  Would it be likely to 
> recognize and handle my 32-bit NetGear wireless PCCard with no problems, 
> or do I end up with a laptop I can't use and can't fix cause I can't get 
> to the web?

Try it with the Live-CD



> I -really- don't want to have my life focused on getting my OS working 
> properly, rather than doing my email & such.  (Been there, done that, 
> repeatedly.)  I want this to Just Work.  

Most likely it will take some time until everything works really
smooth. And some things are different than they are on DOS/Windows so
you'll need some time to get used to it.

It's more like going from the BASIC-only machines to DOS than from DOS
to Win95.


> My desktop, well, that's for Mercury, and I don't necessarily have to have 
> a mailserver.  But I do need my laptop, I do need my mail, I do need my 
> webrowser to do my web-based Medical Transcription course.  And I'd like 
> my games.

> Maybe I should just do the desktop, and do the laptop only when I'm more 
> confident?

You can have Windows and Linux on your box (if you have enough disk space).


   Florian
-- 
<http://www.florian-diesch.de/>