linux?

hi i a thinking about installing linux on an old computer of mine, i heard it was free and thought id give it a go just get familiar with using it. there seem to be loads of different versions and stuff. ive gone to linuxiso.org and someone told me to download the "red hat" distributer. im unsure what verson to download now. shrike, Valhalla, 7.2 or zoot?

also i just burn this to cd then install dont i?

im not planning on doing anything advances at this moment in time so i just want something basic so i can get used to the commands n stuff. thers about 7 different disks for each one and i dont know what ones to get either.

just need guidence

also it has to be free

thanks

 

Here is a pretty good thread, just for some info, http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=87036&highlight=install+ubuntu

I think right now Ubuntu seems to be the most popular if you are just learning, like me.

Steve

 

How old of a computer? There are so many different distros, and there are quite a few that will run great on older computers.

 

comps 2 years old that i will be running linux on:
celeron 2800
256Mb RAM 2700
64Mb onboard Graphics

OK?

so im be gettin ubumtu. ive been looking on their website but there is a list of loads of things to download. i cant possible need them all, can i? yes i am familliar with torrents

take a look and tell me your thoughts

http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/releases.ubuntu.com/5.10/

 

Maybe just using this link to download the installCD would be good enough.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GettingUbuntu

I don't think you usually need all of the cd's listed. I downloaded a SUSE distro once consisting of many cd's and only needed two really. You can update and add things later.

Your computer sounds like it would be a good one to use for linux.

I had good luck with Fedora Core 4 on a much older computer. It detected all of my hardware with no glitches.

Maybe try several at the same time with a boot manager to boot the one you want. If that is your only computer (doesn't sound like it is) you might still need Windows to get on line.

Get as much info as you can find about your hardware before you start.

I used to use the md5chksum program but don't bother with it any more. If you have to be absolutely sure your downloaded files are not corrupted you might want to use that. You probably don't need to though. SUSE 10 (I think) would automatically check the media for you during the install if you wanted it to.

Try the Gentoo install cd sometime. You won't have a graphical desktop without a huge amount of work but you might find it interesting and learn some new stuff. Usually the install for that is text based. The good part is learning how to compile the kernel. I think a graphical installer may be in the works or even available for it.

 

http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/releases.ubuntu.com/5.10/ubuntu-5.10-install-i386.iso That should be the file you need. Good luck with Linux. I really enjoy using it.

I'd also recommend Vector Linux. It's fast, stable, and runs great on older hardware.