Hudson landing reanimated

Country life

Hat tip

The War is Over

No, not that one. The one over the OS in the server market. As this article points out, recent developments (Novell and Oracle) show that Linux has won out over Microsoft Windows.

As far as the desktop goes, well, as my experience points out, the F/OSS still has a way to go.

I will check in with one of the Novell hosted NG’s later to see if anyone has responded to my query about YaST and my inability to install dual boot on a system with Windows pre-existing.

So I am still in the preparation stage, and while I don’t feel impatient, I do find myself wondering about support. There is a lot in favor of Windows:

1. Large installed user base
2. Friends and family (and neighbors) familiarity with Windows
3. One Windows, lots to Google; x versions of Linux, more to sort through

And since it comes pre-installed, there’s little to prevent you from getting off the ground once you switch it on.

I have a small confession to make: in the 20+ years I’ve been involved with PC’s, I’ve never installed Windows.

What would it be like if everyone had to install Windows themselves?

You Might Ask Yourself

“He can’t properly burn an .iso?

“He’s doomed.”

Hey, I’m in the room!

That’s okay, I can forgive you. I feel a bit of a numpty from time to time, as I am sure you do. Take the piss if you please. We’re all too human, and erm, ‘challenged’ from time to time.

But I have an explanation/excuse. Do you wanna hear it? Can I plead my case, guv’nor?

Surely you are someone who has found occasionally yerself $.05 short of a dollar, no? Hell, Maybe you can benefit from my experience.

Last week, if you recall, I had dl-ed the DVD.iso from Novell, using Opera’s download manager. This came with it’s own set of issues. I had to restart the transfer more than once. Unlike a torrent, which picks up where it left off, this entire file would have start from zero again.

Agonizing, as it put back my plans several hours each time.

Finally though, the dl finished and all indications were, it was a done deal.

I opened the folder, and right off noticed, it wasn’t the requisite length. Hmmm. I viewed the contents using WinRAR which indicated all was well, I could see the files, and since it indicated to me it was a compressed .iso, that seemed m’kay to me.

In hindsight, this is where I went wrong.

Houston, We Have Issues

This weekend’s lesson: When attempting something like installing Linux, especially when being a first-timer, expect to encounter unexpected delays.

The previous weekend I had dl-ed the Novell Suse 10 dvd.iso. I burned it, and all seemed fine, although I didn’t at that time go beyond simply checking if the Suse boot screen would work- which it did :^)

I was attempting my first install on my old IBM P3. I though this was a good choice, as then I will have one test case under my belt. I felt it important to feel confident before risking my main pc. I could potentially lose everything. Others will want to know that this is something they too could accomplish, without risking injury to one’s property and in many cases, livelihood.

Well… when attempting installation on the old workhorse, I got as far as YaST screen which presents you with ‘reasonable’ settings (page 17 in the startup guide – see the margin for a link if you want to follow along). You can then accept, or modify the setting to suit. Sort of.

I got a bit concerned that at this stage as it only gave me the choice to format the entire hard disk drive. Not what I want, nor what I was expecting to see. In the manual pdf, this appears different from what I saw on my screen. Crikey.

Speaking of Forging Ahead

This weekend, I’ll be making my very first ever attempt to install Suse as a dual boot system.

Before I try installing this on my primary machine, a Sony rc110g (P4, Dual Core, 1064 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD Windows XP MCE), I will utilize a guinea pig: my old IBM PIII (P3, 1064 RAM, 40 GB HDD, Windows 2000 Pro).

This old workhorse should still be functional, but I haven’t switched it on in some time. After it passes that first test, next will be to look for files that I want to keep and archive to DVD. I should already have enough disk space to install Suse, but just in case something goes haywire, since I do not have first hand experience with YaST, I want to be sure I don’t wipe out files. (I have already archived once before, but it’s been some time, but I think it’s a good idea now to reacquaint myself with the contents of the HDD.)

I’ll start prepping tonight. First, will it even turn on? Will my 19″ LCD monitor be able to operate, having only on-board graphic display adapter? Failing that, I’ll borrow wifey’s 17″ (I wish now I hadn’t donated our auld crt’s), as that used to be mine. Enter the BIOS to make sure it’ll boot from the cd, and Bob’s your uncle <fingers crossed>.

I’ve read the suse10_start.pdf document through once, and will review it prior to install.