Installing Linux... again

[redemption]

hey guys

i'm looking to install Linux on my home PC again after several previous installations of which i promptly got bored of or frightened away by... now, however, i'm trying my best to pick up some Linux skills because apparently they're very valuable skills to have in the job market and in uni as well...

i've some questions i hope the Linux gurus can help me out with:
- which vendor's Linux should i install and why?
- should i install LILO? the last time i did, when i removed the linux partition, i had problems starting up to windows
- do you think i can get my old ISA modem working with linux?

thanks for any advice

- Joel

[seanf]

I use MandrakeLinux from http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/ but Redhat seems to be the most popular choice

I use a BootLoader called BootMagic that comes with PartitionMagic. When I install Linux I set it up so that it does not change the MBR, this way it leaves Windows alone

This thread might help for the modem question:
http://www.sitepointforums.com/showt...threadid=47495

Sean

[Danrak]

I'm no guru, but I like Caldera the best. That seems to suit me the best for level of knowledge.

Have you tried looking at Linuxnewbie.org? They have a great article on picking a linux distro. It is a bit old, but you should be able to get a idea on which distro you will want to try.

[platinum]

I'm using mandrake linux as well (on a stand alone machine though -- so I don't reall know about dual booting with windows).

I installed red hat a while back on a computer at uni, both versions are pretty easy to install (you have to get your partitions right though).

You might be able to get your modem working, Aes was trying to a while back (search for the thread if you want) - not sure how he went..

[martm]

if you want a more bare-bones distro slackware is good. It hasn't got as many add-ons as something like redhat, and you'd have to spend more time configuring the setup (installing drivers, getting the sound to work, etc), but you'd probably learn quite a bit.

...also if you're using winNT, win2K or winXP there is a great little utility called bootpart that lets you easily add bootable partitions to the windows boot menu.

...and of course, if your hard disk is large enough there is no reason why you couldn't install more than one distro