Migrating to UNIX from Windows 2000 4

[EdRev]

I recently purchased a laptop and I would like to install UNIX OS on my old desktop to play around with.
I read a book about UNIX running side by side with Windows OS. Does anybody know any similar book.

How do I go about installing UNIX OS? I thought these is a freeware I can download and install.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[columb]

For Unix read Linux which is very like Unix. If you ask which flavour you'll get a hundred different answers but may of them have 'live' CDs which allow you to boot into Linux from the CD without installing it on your hard drive. Then you can have a 'look see' before you commit yourself.

Columb Healy

 

[marsd]

You may alternatively want to try one of the BSD variants,
which are more or less direct descendents of the original
BSD implementations. I'd suggest FreeBSD.

http://www.freebsd.org/

For initial exposure to Linux I'd try Fedora or SuSE.

http://fedora.redhat.com/

http://www.novell.com/linux/suse/

 

[PHV]

Take a look here:

http://www.knoppix.org/

Hope This Helps, PH.
Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884 or FAQ222-2244

 

[spamly]

I'd also suggest Fedora.

A particularly good website for many flavors is:

http://www.linuxiso.org/

 

[telbIT]

I'm not an expert myself, but here's some basic info about Linux and whether it's "free".

The basic Linux OS was started by Lius Torvalds. The Linux kernel (core operating system needed to run the computer, recognize hardware, etc.) is free (you don't have to pay for it) and open-source (the source code is freely available for download and modification). Open-source software can best be described as:

"free as in speech, not as in beer".

Anyone can make changes and improvements to the source code, but it is covered under a GPL (general public liscence) which is just as legally binding as restrictive, proprietary privately-owned liscenses, such as Microsoft's...the terms are just a heck of a lot better! It allows changes and improvements at will, with the stipulation that you release the source code with your changes back to the worldwide community, either for free or a small fee covering the costs of distribution (the cost to make and mail a CD, for example).

The GPL also allows anyone to package any version of the Linux kernel with other software, such as a windowing system (controls where and how windows are opened), a desktop system (such as KDE or GNOME), internet browswers and basically any other software you can think of. It allows any person or company to charge for such a distribution, either downloadable and/or on CD, and to charge for support and other services, if one desires...with the stipulation that any changes to the source code of any software that is GPL'd (such as the Linux kernel) to be released back to the community. But you wouldn't have to release the source code of, for example, a financial application you wrote, which happens to be on the CD, which is not GPL'd.

Why go into into all this? Because you're used to the idea of proprietary software, made by 1 vendor and no one else (such as Microsoft), who does not make the source code available, with whatever software they choose to include. With Linux there are hundreds and possibly thousands of distributions out there (free-of-charge: Knoppix, Ubuntu, slackware, etc.; not-free-of-charge: Xandros OS, RedHat, etc.). Or you can download just the kernel and basic utilities needed to run the computer and configure the OS, then choose and download your own windowing system (such as X-Windows), your own desktop (such as KDE or GNOME), your own browser (such as Firebird, Konqueror, Galleon, Mozilla or Opera), your own graphical file browser, your own CD-burning software, your own email program, etc., etc. Or if you were an expert linux administrator and knew how to create your own programs/software, you could make all your own "extras". In other words, build exactly the system that you want.

As an added plus, some distributions, or "distros" or "flavors", come on a live CD (the best-known is Knoppix, pronounced "k-nohp-picks") meaning the entire OS can be run from a bootable CD and loaded into memory without actually installing the OS on the computer, so you can test-drive it or use its utilities to administer or troubleshoot other systems.

What this means is you should visit the websites of some major distributions and decide if you want a free-of-charge OS with no official support or a pay-for OS, whose subscription for support may have to be renewed every year to have continued support. Of course, there's always free community support, such as that here at tek-tips.com.

In short, there is not 1 OS called "UNIX OS"...there are, however, thousands of linux and Unix OSs (linux began as "minix" which was based on Unix). Linux and Unix are closely related, and there are open-source Unix OSs as well. I am assuming you are looking for Linux.

If you want the Knoppix live CD, you can download or order it from

http://www.knoppix.org

(click your country's flag to see the website in your language), or buy a book about Linux or Knoppix that happens to include the CD. (Kind of blows your mind that you can just pick up a book and get a free operating system with it, doesn't it?) By the way, the Knooppix live CD certainly allows you to actually install Knoppix on your computer if you so choose.