yellotang

I am a long term Windows user here. In fact I love about 95% of windows. I just hate the serious slow bulky part about it. I do a lot of video editing and graphic stuff and was told that I would want to do linux instead of running windows xp. I have three computers. One that is really old a 500 meg HP computer.
a 2.8 gig HP dual thread machine
and a brand new Dell Inspiron 6000

I downloaded the knoppix cd live 3.8 and tried running it on all three of my machines just to take a gander at linux and it would not even work because of video problems.

I did a search on the internet and the places I have been lead me to believe that linux is way too confusing for the average joe and requires a reeducation in computer programming to install on most machines.

Is this true? Is there anyway to find a linux program that doesn't require me to spend more then an hour or two on to install?

Sorry if I sound stupid or selfish but I work 3 jobs and have three teenagers who are all computer illiterate and a wife that works full time. I would love to try something new that works as great as people say Linux does and would be a great supporter of Linux if I could just find some not so difficult help.

BTW. I would set up my machines with dual boot XP/Linux because I will still need to have XP to do everyday stuff until Linux can take over everything.

Bman

Linux does take alot of practice and learning. If you still want to try it, play around with it. I'd recommend Redhat. I found that to be a nice one. If you search on google I'm sure there are many very good tutorials on using Linux.

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Bman

This site might help you out.
http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/

but only install linux if your using the computer for graphics and that stuff. Linux is not very compatible with many games and windows programs. The programs that might replace those programs might be more comfusing to someone (teenager).

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Shamus MacNoob

Mandrake and Ubuntu installs are very easy, Linux is like anything you dont know , its just different thats all , but now that it has many programs that have installers and GUi's that are very much like any other program you will learn thats all, somethings are tricky on Linux wireless internet comes to mind, but you should be able to install it and get online and to the forums with not too many problems, if not pop back the windows cd and come back to windows.

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Bman

If you have 3 computers, just install it on one computer. That way you can communicate back and forth with us if there are problems.

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LeeJend

Here is the game plan:
1) Install Linux (Redhat or Mandrake should be the most hardware compatible) on the old 500 meg computer to experiment with. Make sure you back up any data first. Over writing windows to put linux on will destroy all data.
Linux is less demanding than Windows so the oldest computer is the obvious choice. Also the older the hardware the more likely an off the shelf Linux DIstro will have hardware drivers built in. Play around with Redhat or Mandrake, (Linspire if you can get a free copy). If you need a specific program type post back here and ask. There will multiple responses (each person claiming and defending his favorite as the best ).

2) If you like Linux or find a Linux editing program you like then go to the TechTV article on the link below and see how to make one of your faster computers Dual Boot. (Have Linux and Windows on seperate partitions on one computer.)

Some noob Comments About Linux
-There is not ONE Linux. Any distribution you install will offer 2-3 different email, word processing programs. etc at time of install. This can be confusing. When in doubt pick the default one. You can always change (for free) latter.

-If hardware drivers are not included in the Distro go to the website for the hardware that is acting up and search for Linux driver versions. This may be a problem with HP. If you can't find drivers you need to find out the type of hardware (chipset number, version etc and you can then likely find drivers on a Linux website). If you can't find a driver post whatever info you have back here and we will go dig one up for you if it exists.

I attached a few Linux links.
There are places to buy CDs for a few bucks so you don't have to do immense downloads, links to sites where you can do the downloads and a link to an article on setting up dual boot (Linux and Windows on seperate partitions all on one computer.

http://www.g4tv.com/screensavers/fea...d_Windows.html

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

http://www.software602.com/
http://linuxcentral.com/catalog/inde...&page=1&page=2
http://www.redhat.com/

http://linuxcentral.com/catalog/inde...&page=1&page=2

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Bman

Well then, nice job done!

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apu95

Yeah, I'd go with Ubuntu or Mandrake to start off with. Hell, if you go to Ubuntu's site, you can even order cds for free, no shipping charges or ANYTHING.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

On my desktop I went through Mandrake and Fedora Core 4, on my laptop I still have Ubuntu. For a very first time user I'd recommend Ubuntu, they try to make everything as friendly as possible, offering everything with helpful tips and their forums are really helpful if those tips aren't quite doing their job.

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sean.ferguson

Ok, Im going to talk to you a little from my own experience. I have used windows for the past 14-years. I have used Linux based systems for the past 6-years during which time I dropped windows completely and build myself a Linux box which ran a sole installation of Slackware Linux for 1 year and 2 months before it emerged back into a Windows machine.

Windows, if given the correct hardware can run very well. It is also a bit more hungry on RAM than people care to own up to. Linux, will run on much lower end hardware with alot more ease. However getting the system to that state can involve alot of tweaking with system configuration files.

In my own opinion this is rubbish. If you are a high end user and this is your occupancy, then the option to buy a Mac may be the correct one. The iMac is a powerful yet inexpensive example of a good system which would be ideal in a video editing environment under a tight budget. Windows, has the following of many software developers and as such has a high flexibility when it comes to software choice.

For Linux to be any good at video editing / graphic design applications whether it be professional or recreational, the hardware would need to be researched and researched thoroughly to ensure 100% compatibility. This coupled with a relative high specification such as a 3GHz processor, 1.5GB of RAM and some large storage devices would then only be suitable as a base for a Linux machine. You then need to consider your software options, if you are new to Linux then a more user friendly distribution is going to seem like the most justified. However a more flexible and customised distribution will more than likely be most suited. This would mean configuration of the kernel, and individual applications via some command line utilities.

To bring this reply to a close, video editing and graphic design should remain with Windows and MacIntosh based systems. Linux holds up fairly well as a Desktop operating environment, however when more specialised applications are thrown into the equation Linux is just as picky as any other OS.

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yellotang

Wow, the response was great!!! Thank you. I have a lot to think about and research. Thank you again very much. I will take this next week and go over what was posted and see what I can come up with.

I will probable load this on my older machine.

As far as the Mac comment. I have seen the stuff that can be done with it. Amazing.

X-Istence

Linux for video editing is for use in big clusters to do the 3d animation computations, which is what some places use em for. For example, Pixar uses thousands of G5's in parallel to render all it's graphics for all it's movies.

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yellotang

I doubt my 3 computers could match that.