As soon as my computer is delivered (and I'm getting impatient over this but I guess it's only been a week since the order has been placed) I would like to set up a dual boot WinXP/Linux install. I know SuSe states that it can and does provide the tools (FAT file format only) to accomplish this task. Does RedHat allow for this also? Most I ever hear about is RedHat so I figure this is more main stream as far as Linux goes and I would rather stick to that for now.

Redhat can as well using either Lilo or Grub. Personally I have not managed to make Grub boot into a FAT32 system but I only tried once, weakly at that. I do have a couple of dual boot Rh7.3/Win2k sytems that use NTFS and had no problem getting Grub to work right. Ont he one that didn't work one of the drives was IDE, the other SCSI. That might have been my problem. Dunno. Didn't really spend any time thinking about it until now.

Install the Windows O/S first, then RedHat. I find it a lot easier that way. Usually lilo figures it out on it's own. I had to tinker with the grub.conf a lil. One small change and it was working fine.

[edited] Opps. forgot to answer this... never used SuSe.

Thanks for the information. I'm going to be setting up a dual boot so I can get my feet wet with Linux. The computer I ordered is a dual Duron system with raid. I'm not sure how easy it will be to get both OS's using the raid 0 settings. Guess I will find out though... lol

I have XP dual booting with Mandrake, and XP is using NTFS. lilo, grub..etc only writes info to the MBR, so it shouldn't matter whether or not your using fat or ntfs.

Granted, you won't be able to read your XP partition from linux using NTFS

Do think it's preferable to use NTFS for XP, in a dual boot situation like that?

I know that are certain advantages to NTFS over FAT. I was wondering if they outweigh the convenience of being able to read one partition when booted in the other partition.

I think there is some advantage with NTFS especialy when the computer is a shared one as the directories and files can be better protected. For me I intend on using FAT so I can read and write to both partitions from either OS. If NTFS will allow from both OS's then I'll be going that route then.

I have an old 200mhz machine that I have thought about setting up as a local webserver to test things on using Linux. This all is to get a feel for the OS before I go and set up a machine to colocate somewhere. (and to be able to test scripts locally too)

My thoughts too...If you're not worried about the added security of ntfs, I'd go with fat as to be able to read from both OSs.

Another alternative would be to set aside a small 2-3gig fat32 partition just for sharing between the OSs. (probably what I'm going to do in the next few days)

Thanks. Another decision to make

What are the actual advantages of NTFS over FAT32?

I don't plan on using my PC as a server, so I'm the only one who can access it. It's possible that I might hook it up an a LAN, but I would be the only one with access to the LAN.

These are some advantages of NTFS over FAT32 as far as I have heard mentioned:

NTFS scales to larger drives.
NTFS is more secure in a shared invironment.
NTFS is more efficient in disk space usage.
NTFS allows quicker access to the data.

This is only what I have heard. I haven't found anything documentation wise that supports these statements but I haven't looked for any either.

You might want to take a look at Debian for your Linux installation as well. I used to be a die-hard Redhat fanatic but after using Debian I wouldn't go back. No need to worry about dependencies when doing RPM installs. New version of PHP out, apt-get install php4. Or what I do is I just periodically run apt-get update and apt-get upgrade and it goes out and grabs all new versions of packages I am running and upgrades them. Makes maintaining my server soooo much easier.

Ooooo I like the sound of that... automatic updating. Ok I'm sold.

Wednesday I had to call the company that I ordered my custom pc from and they said they couldn't ship it because the motherboard/cpu makers no longer support the dual Duron setup. I thought this was kind of odd since they stated they had the parts on their shelves so a change as such should not have mattered. Oh well... after much conversation on what they could substitute to make me happy (they didn't want to credit the credit card, of course) I ended up with a better computer than I had ordered. (Dual Athlon MP 1500+ instead of Dual Duron 1.2) but lost the raid ability. Oh well... more cpu power can't hurt. Now if it would just get here!!! LoL kinda like waiting for Christmass day... arrrgggg...

If i were in the same situation, I would use gentoo linux with vmware workstation.

VMware alows you to run windows over your linux desktop.

But if you are new to linux, i would suggest debian linux

I went with Mandrake 9.0 since I feel they have done the most effort to bring linux to the desktop market not to mention that I believe they have the widest range of drivers to support my hardware. Redhat 8.0 is my second choice as they to have started some in-roads to the desktop market with this version. Graphical User Interfaces are key to many users that are used to the Windows environment. These two versions seem to be at the forefront as far as linux goes. I still think I may try SuSe in the future as I am saving my pennies for a x86-64 Opteron based server sometime next year. As of this time I have not heared anything definative about Redhat and Mandrake supporting this processor but I'm sure they will eventually.

Since I only have a dial up connection it wasn't an option to download the ISO's for Mandrake so I purchased copies of the CD's from UnixCD.com for about 15.00 dollars. They are redistributing linux in accordance with the Gnu Public License (GPL) which is great. There are other sites doing the same too. They are bringing linux to the masses at an affordable price.

My disks should arrive in 1 to 2 weeks but I'm sure they will get here sooner. I'll post back how things go. I'm looking forward to moving away from windows.

You're going to love 9.0! I have 8.2 on my one machine now, and like it a lot. Saw a friend of mine using 9.0 and its even better. I seriously found it easier to install mandrake than most windows installations, and all of my hardware worked right after the install.

That's good to hear. It's also nice to know someone else is using Mandrake too.

The only thing I know I'm going to miss about windows is dreamweaver. There isn't anything comparably close for linux that I can find.

But, I can always boot to windows and use it when needed.

The only thing I know I'm going to miss about windows is dreamweaver. There isn't anything comparably close for linux that I can find.

Why not just use vi or pico? You don't need no stinkin' WYSIWYG HTML editor.

Because I can design templated layouts (which are visual) so much quicker than otherwise.

pico is how I normally do editing at the telnet prompt but honestly it's DULL. lol

I played with vi also but am more used to pico.

The only thing that keeps me from going completely linux is the lack of high-end software. ie. dreamweaver, photoshop, autocad, arcview GIS, microstation.... etc. I need to use these on almost a daily basis, so its tough to be constantly switching OS on boot or have two computers

I plan on framiliarizing myself with the GIMP? as it looks to be all that I really need for graphics. As far as I can see my email/web browsing tasks are covered too. Since I do more coding than designing these days I wont need a WYSIWYG editor that often. Was Corel Draw ever released for linux? I used to have it for windows a few years back. It's not adobe photoshop but it's not chopped liver either... lol

Just use more than one box with a switchbox. That's what I do with my old machines instead of selling them off for pennies on the dollar for what I paid for them.

I don't care to have that much equipment laying around in my living room though. I had thought about setting up multiple boxes with a kvm switch before. I think the dual boot method will suit me best. That or a cable selected hard drive setup. One of my main reasons though for switching to linux is that I plan on colocating a server at some point and want to know as much as possible about linux before doing so.

Here is my setup right now. My monitor has a front second input.. so my linux box is on top and just plugs into that. I push a button and it switches. I also have the linux box keyboard under the black one on the slideout keyboard tray.

The only problem is the second monitor isn't long enough to reach when on the floor, which is why it is sitting up on top

[]http://www.michiganjeepers.com/photopost/data/3004/2ghetto1.jpg[/]

msula, what software are you using to interface with that lavalamp peripheral?

haha, I am using some custom software that constantly monitors the temp of the lava, and can be programmed to form differently depending on how bright the light is turned on. I used C++

Way to much effort for mood lighting... I'd prefer the "Plug-N-Forget" type... LoL

Dave.....
Can we expect a LavaPal for IIP 6.0 ? LOL

LoL well... using XML I think it's possible to control x-modules for an on/off setting of appliances...

LoL but I will have to research that as I read about it some where some time ago about such a use with XML.

OK, I got a Lava Lamp Pal beta running at my test site.

msula, I sure could use that software to interface it with.

lol, sorry I was joking about the software I had... but that lava lamp is sweet!! I could stare at it for hours.

Well.... at least bout 5 seconds before I get bored

LoL looks good. Now how about some ultraviolet lights for my neon posters?

I know you was joking, hehe

LOL

Thanks for the chuckle.

LoL yeah I think nobody took you serious.. (about the lava lamp)

Although the XML control for x-modules is real I believe. I read to many things in to many places to remember where it was that I seen that though. LoL

Well I have suse 7.3 pro , I have got to say it's sweet.
as for Mandrake well I had 8.x installed & well did not like it compaired to suse so I went back to suse & installed 8.0 very nice easy setup everything works great.

I'm looking forward to AMD's 36x64 bit processors and to SuSe's support for them. This is good news as I believe I'll be using SuSe somewhere down the road myself.