[Antartic-Boy]

I am completly noob in Linux, so I wanted someone (if can) to explain me something more about this OS before I install it ..

1.Why are they giving us to download it for freeware???
2.What is the difference between ubuntu and kubuntu?
3.What are all those: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Suse, PCLinuxOS, etc.? -> I have read somewhere that all those are distro, but what is distro?
4.Which of all those is the best (newest, like in windows there are Win 95, Win 98, Win 2000, Win XP, Win vis. etc.)

Thanks

Edited by Antartic-Boy, 03 November 2005 - 12:58 PM.

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I've never used kubuntu or ubuntu before but I'll give the rest of the questions a go.

linux is an open source project, its free for anyone to use or change, if they wish to. over time it has become very robust, very versatile and very useful. if learned properly, linux is a very powerful tool. part of the reason for this usability is the fact that it's free for anyone to change and use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

a distro is a package that works around the kernel to make it more user friendly. all distributions have the same kernel, though version numbers may differ depending on release date. each distro comes with user interfaces, programs and packages that sometimes greatly extend the usability of the os itself. some are better than others in some features and sometimes its just what the user likes to have. different distros can behave in different ways, use different package management systems, etc. but almost all of them these days are designed for ease of use.

the open source nature of linux means that distros are updated frequently. the most recent version of fedora core is fedora core 4, slackware 10.1, etc. it's not really a matter of what's newest, but simply what you feel more comfortable using. ubuntu is a newbie friendly distro, as is fedora core.

to get a feel for linux, there are live-cd's available on the net to download so that you can boot linux over your windows install and try it without committing to the install. a good one is knoppix.

[Thef0rce]

I've never used kubuntu or ubuntu before but I'll give the rest of the questions a go.

linux is an open source project, its free for anyone to use or change, if they wish to. over time it has become very robust, very versatile and very useful. if learned properly, linux is a very powerful tool. part of the reason for this usability is the fact that it's free for anyone to change and use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

a distro is a package that works around the kernel to make it more user friendly. all distributions have the same kernel, though version numbers may differ depending on release date. each distro comes with user interfaces, programs and packages that sometimes greatly extend the usability of the os itself. some are better than others in some features and sometimes its just what the user likes to have. different distros can behave in different ways, use different package management systems, etc. but almost all of them these days are designed for ease of use.

the open source nature of linux means that distros are updated frequently. the most recent version of fedora core is fedora core 4, slackware 10.1, etc. it's not really a matter of what's newest, but simply what you feel more comfortable using. ubuntu is a newbie friendly distro, as is fedora core.

to get a feel for linux, there are live-cd's available on the net to download so that you can boot linux over your windows install and try it without committing to the install. a good one is knoppix.

[dsenette]

#1 i don't remember the dates but i will find them for you....some time early in the computer history...linus torvald (sp?) was in college and he wanted an os...the best one in his opinion was unix...which cost about 1000 dollars per license...being in college he couldnt afford that...so he wrote his own...and made it free so that no one else would have this problem...this started the GNU project (Gnu is Not Unix) which is the basic governing body for open source software....basically linux isn't freeware...it's open source...which means that anyone can have it and modify it as long as they don't sell it....and it's all because programers didn't want to pay for software....and they figured you wouldn't want to pay for it either...

#2.... not sure on the specific differences but they are different distros

#3...distro is short for distrobution...and basically those are all the different "flavors" of linux...different versions...like the difference between xp, 98, 2000...except that they aren't...upgrades...they are completely different os's... with different features

#4 that's the million dollar question....it all depends on personal preference

[Antartic-Boy]

Thanks alot Thef0rce and dsenette , this realy helped me

Edited by Antartic-Boy, 03 November 2005 - 01:16 PM.

[dsenette]

yeah....what the force said....(you sneaky bugger....i saw you typing...i knew you'd get all that out before i did....darned fat finers)

[Thef0rce]

har har I beat you.. lol

glad that I could help linux really is awesome

[dsenette]

linux is great....very fun....if you have the opportunity...i would try to get a seperate pc...just for learning linux...and try every distro for a few months..

[Antartic-Boy]

linux is great....very fun....if you have the opportunity...i would try to get a seperate pc...just for learning linux...and try every distro for a few months..

Well, I have not that opportunity , but it's enough for me VMachine for now..

[Pi rules]

2.What is the difference between ubuntu and kubuntu?

Kubuntu is based on KDE, while Ubuntu is based on Gnome. You could try downloading a LiveCD of each one to see which you like better. I personally have Ubuntu, and SUSE (KDE), which, if you have enough extra time and hard drive space, you may want to try (installing one Gnome-based distro and one KDE, not necessarily what I have).

As for which is best, that is entirely preference. See if some of them have LiveCDs that you can boot from to see what it will be like without actually installing.

[Antartic-Boy]

Well, because I have NTFS hard disc I could not install ubuntu , but I downloaded the Live CD and it works perfect .

Kubuntu is based on KDE, while Ubuntu is based on Gnome.

Maybe too many questions, but what is KDE and Gnome?

[DeathOutdone]

Ubuntu sounds like Ubantu which sounds sorta like an African language to me. Thats about all I know- I am willfully ignorant of Linux/Unix because it will complicate my life to learn about a different OS-Windows is complicated enough

[Thef0rce]

Well, because I have NTFS hard disc I could not install ubuntu , but I downloaded the Live CD and it works perfect .
Maybe too many questions, but what is KDE and Gnome?

you can install ubuntu by making a partition of a different format on your NTFS formatted drive. I think it lets you do that. kde and gnome are user interfaces. kde looks and behaves quite a lot like windows. gnome is more ugly looking. if you google you can find screenshots.

[Danny]

Well, because I have NTFS hard disc I could not install ubuntu

Why not? There is a partition manager in the install, intead of pressing enter, type "expert" where it says boot. Then Just partition your drive (About 3 gb for ubuntu) on the ext3 filesystem.

Edited by Danny, 04 November 2005 - 06:14 AM.

[Pi rules]

KDE
GNOME Desktop

I am pretty sure the Ubuntu/Kubuntu installer can shrink an existing NTFS partition, but I didn't try it. Back up your important data just in case.

Ubuntu sounds like Ubantu which sounds sorta like an African language to me.

Ubuntu means "humanity to others". And yes, it's African. The person who started Ubuntu is from South Africa.

Edited by Pi rules, 04 November 2005 - 11:35 AM.

[Antartic-Boy]

Why not? There is a partition manager in the install, intead of pressing enter, type "expert" where it says boot. Then Just partition your drive (About 3 gb for ubuntu) on the ext3 filesystem.

When I start partitioner it says:

No partitionable media were found.

Please check that a hard disc is attached on this computer.

<Go Back> <Continue>

Another question: are there infections in Linux OS, and is there Anti-Virus for this OS?

Edited by Antartic-Boy, 04 November 2005 - 12:31 PM.