Another reason to love linux.

That's good that you want to switch to Linux, it's alot of fun once you get to playing around with it, I recommend dual booting for the time being though (setting up a seperate partition for it instead of replacing windows) in case you don't like it. So yeah, lets make sure we're all on the same page here, the livecd that vibrokatana was telling you to try and see if you liked it was the Kororaa one, the gparted one is for when you've decided that you want to install ubuntu.

Actually, as it turns out, I don't think you need gparted at all, it seems that Ubuntu can resize things in it's installer. I recommend you download Kororaa and Ubuntu both. Try out Kororaa first just to play with the fun visuals, and then try Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a live CD too now, so you can play around with it before installing it.

And since you asked, I'll explain a bit more about this liveCD stuff and what the difference between Ubuntu and Kororaa and Debian and Knoppix and any other linux distribution is. Since linux is free and open source (meaning programmers can look at the source coding that was used to build the operating system and alot of it's programs) there are a LOT of different versions of it that people put together. These versions and configurations are called distros or distributions, you can see a good website that lists alot of them here. I'll admit, I'm not the most knowledgable Linux user in the world, I couldn't tell you the differences between Debian or say SUSE since I have only tried Debian and distributions based off it. I know that they use different packaging systems and (correct me if I'm wrong) sometimes none at all. Packages are the files that are used to easily download and install programs.

Now about LiveCDs: LiveCDs are distributions of linux that you can run directly off a CD by just restarting your computer with the CD in the drive (those kind of CDs are called bootable CDs, and are also used for other things like the Windows install CD). I am pretty sure that the first full featured Linux LiveCD was Knoppix, and I know that alot of distros Knoppix as a base OS to build off of.

I hope that was helpful to you, now about how to take the next step and burn Kororaa. Have you already tried to burn it (or any of these other things)? And if so, what files are on the burned disc? If the only thing on there is that .iso file then you didn't do it right and you need to use the Burn ISO Image (click that on the left side of that link I just gave you) option on a program like Deepburner or that one vibrokatana mentioned.

I should also mention that in most cases your games will NOT run on linux unless they have been ported to linux, or you're using something like wine or cedega. Wine is free, but Cedega is alot easier to use, and in your case I have to recommend Cedega. Anyway, I've gotta go now, hope I've been helpful.
 
Yeah, Killah and Vibrokatana, you have both been very helpful. I tried burning GParted to a disk, but nothing happened. I think I burned it wrong. I'll burn Kororaa tonight and maybe Ubunto as well.

I'll let you know how it goes.
 
I got Kororaa to work! It was so cool. I couldn't really do anything, but I love the interface enough to want to partition. I'm going to burn a livecd of Ubunto now. Thanks for all your help!
 
wine and cedega for the most part are more pain then they are worth... the unreal series, quake 4, doom3 and a few more run natively, and depending on the distro usually faster then in windows.
 
tjguitarz said:
I got Kororaa to work! It was so cool. I couldn't really do anything, but I love the interface enough to want to partition. I'm going to burn a livecd of Ubunto now. Thanks for all your help!
Click to expand...

i just fear he will blow up x one day and give up linux because he gets stuck in the cli.
 
In windowsspeak: He's afraid the GUI will crash and he'll get mad because he's stuck in DOS. ;)


I want to get more into Linux, too, but I need to find some good resources to help me with basics. Any suggestions? I already have a Linux for Dummies book and a couple other resources from my Unix classes.
 
i can write a short guide to the basics of the cli and how to navigate when you blow something to cinders... the best way to practice, ive found, are web hosting plans, the better companies have a full fleged cli, with all the commands you would see in your own install.

And no im not afraid of x going boom, ive written over 100 xorg configs, it becomes easy after the 20th or so times.

few tips to bash (linux command line, usually default)
First how to switch between cli "languages":
# csh
# bash
# sh
those are the most popular, red hat usually installs these 3. the one you really, really want to use is bash..

to change directories:
# cd <path>

quick guide to linux filesystem:

./ (current directory)
./.. (directory below) (commonly just ..)
/ (root directory)
you can be creative and do stuff like
# cd ./../www/backup/../

to view your current directory
# pwd

search for a file:
# locate <filename>

editors:
# nano (pray that you have this installed it pwns)
# vi (ewwww, it takes about a week to learn how to use this thing)
# edit (same thing as nano)

list current directory:
# ls
# ls -l (gives more info)
# ls -a (lists with hidden files)
alternatively dir can be used but it is just a symlink

search within results:
# locate www | grep -i images (searches for the word images in the www folder)
# locate www | less (allows you to scroll through a output)

watch data stream in realtime:
# cat /dev/input/mice

most commands will output most of their syntax by using --help after the base command, for instance,
# man --help
a more detailed manual is available with the man command:
# man nano

browse the internet on a command line:
# links <site/optional>
# links2 (usually works better but no always installed)
# elinks (sometimes installed instead of links)

copy data:
# cp <loc1> <loc2>
copy data recursively:
# cp -R <loc1> <loc2> (copys everything, including folders)

how to open tar files:
# tar zxf <file> (opens tar.gz)
# tar xjf <file> (opens tar.bz)

deleting files:
# rm <file>
recursively
# rm -r <file/folder>
forced (no annoying yes/no)
# rm -rf

advanced tree navigation:
# cd /etc/"with spaces"/folder
# cd /etc/with\ spaces/folder
wildcard selection:
# rm -r ./* (selects everything in current directory)

make directory:
# mkdir

remove directory (empty)
# rmdir

change password:
# passwd <optional/user>

eh, running out of things to type :(

output text to file:
# dmesg > /home/sakkaku/dmesgoutput

output to bottom of existing file
# dmesg >> /home/sakkaku/dmesgoutput

check kernel output (useful for debug)
# dmesg | less (less is recommended on this)

usually locations for binaries:
/bin/
/usr/bin/

usual location for config files
/etc/

user "home" directories:
/home/

disk usage:
# du

mounted filesystems
# less /etc/mtab (less makes a wonderful text reader :p)

network adapters:
# ifconfig

wireless card config (also needs to be configured with ifconfig)
# iwconfig

check your uptime:
# uptime
18:46:00 up 121 days, 1:59, 3 users, load average: 0.03, 0.02, 0.00
(from my webserver)

anyone want to edit this into something more organized :p
 
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Nice list. I'll have to mess around with it so I can maybe have an idea what you're talking about :p

I installed Ubuntu last night. It partitioned my PC perfectly, no problems yet. I didn't have any time to play with it tough. The anticipation is killing me. It's like getting a brand new Z06 and not being able to drive it! :-/
 
linux scales very well and you can actually multitask without fear of those annoying pop ups that says windows is dying lol.

dont ever get into the habit of making your primary user root, sure you may have full access to everything, but it takes all of 2 seconds to do that anyway.

switching to super user(eq root):
$ su
Enter Password:
# (notice the different sides for root and standard user)

there are a load of things you can mess around with in linux, after a few weeks you may want to try a different kernel, the only bad thing is that your os is package based and not "i dont care what you do to me" like mine :p, which means that if you install your own kernel it will probably require that certain packages be compiled by you.

if you need to install from source here is a simple way:
$ mkdir install
$ cd install (for the simple reason that some files like to populate the current directory)
$ wget <file to install> (wonderful downloader, even resumes :p)
$ tar zxf (for gz) tar xjf (for bz)
$ (cd until you get into the folder with makefile and hopefully configure)
(ive seen some strange source tarballs)
$ ./configure (wont execute without the ./)(not always included)
(if it gives a error on anything, look it up on google, usually it is a dependacy for the program or a incorrect configuration)
$ make (same with above for errors)
$ su
Enter Password:
# make install

the best bet as always is to install everything with the internal package handler, compiling your own software is neat and all, but there is no real point when someone else has already compiled it for your distro...

installing a kernel is even more fun :p
# ls -l /usr/src/ (notice the symlink between your kernel and the linux directory)
(some distros dont ship with the kernel source)
# rm /usr/src/linux (only if it is symlinked, doesnt destroy any data :p)
# ln -sf /usr/src/linux-<version> /usr/src/linux (a symlink!)
# cd /usr/src/linux
# make menuconfig (or make xconfig if x is started, i still like menuconfig tho)
(configure a boatload of options)(it will take some time to understand it)
# make && make modules install (makes the kernel and installs the modules)
# cp ./arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/<name you want for kernel>
(location for 64bit is ./arch/x86_64/boot/bzImage)

then you have to update your boot loader
(grub is much more user friendly in my opinion)

in all need you probably wont need to compile any thing, but it is best if you know how to, or know a nice place to look for a simple reference.
 
I'll let you know when I get into all of that.

But you popped a question into my mind that may or may not be on topic. Anyways... does Ubuntu have the same user interface like Kororaa XGL does? With the sweet graphics and whatnot. If not, is there a way to get those graphics into Ubuntu?

Thanks for all your help, TJ
 
Well thats awesome that you got it set up without messing up your Windows partition. I hope you have fun with that. One thing I would recommend you do is install Automatix, it's pretty helpful for setting up some essential stuff really quickly and easily. If you have any trouble let us know, I would also like to say that before asking us you should check out the documentation that comes with Ubuntu, the start guide is really quite helpful for people who are just starting out, and it's just a good reference. I'm not saying I don't want to help or anything, it's just always more fun to try and figure things out on your own and that's a good place to start. Also, the Ubuntu Wiki is really helpful too, and if I can't figure things out the people on the Ubuntu Forums are really helpful. Here's a guide to help you get Compiz (the shiny graphics) working. The user interface can be different and the shiny graphics will still be there (as far as I know the shiny graphics only work with 2 interfaces though). You can choose between Gnome, which is what I think Kororaa has by default, or KDE which is alot more like windows. I used to be a fan of KDE, but now I think I like Gnome more.
 
kde is bloatware, i hate when a program wants a kde library, it sucks to compile it...
its funny to compare kde compiled with and without -fvisibility-inlines-hidden , all the useless code in there that is never used...

according to what i read, it should work with any window manager, but the settings have to be set manually outside of gnome/kde
 
Meh, my computer can handle KDE just fine so I don't care if it's bloaty or not, it's still a very complete erm... gui?
 
i like a fast, lightweight environment and command lines. enlightenment looks great, is fast, and has one of the best systems of handling 50+ command lines :p
 
lol, 50+? You seriously use that many? I have maybe 2 open at the most, and they're always on desktop 4 so they don't get in my way. E17 rocks though, I can't wait till it's complete. It's really lightweight and still really shiny looking.
 
Hey guys, I made a booboo and I could use some help fixing it... just some simple copy and paste on your part.

Go to the terminal and type
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

And then copy and paste the entire "Module" section and let me know what it is.

I was loading Compiz and I misunderstood the directions. If you guys could help that'd be AWESOME. Thanks!
 
you can fix the error by doing
$ sudo edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

gedit is a graphical port of edit/nano

a quick [and dirty] way to auto generate a xorg.conf is
# Xorg -configure

this will output a config into /root/xorg.conf.new that you can copy the modules from.
 
You should also know that when people say things like "$ sudo edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf" the $ represents a user's terminal, and a # represents a root terminal. Either way, you don't type $ or #, it's just to show what kind of user you're supposed to be typing the command as. It took me a little bit to figure that one out.
 
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