Linux Fedora Core 8

Finally a Linux system that doesn't require command line knowledge. After running Fedora Core 5 for a couple years, I downloaded and installed Fedora Core 8 on New Years day. Huge improvement. While core 5 had a decent GUI with a windows-like feel, but you still had to go back to the command prompt to switch users and launch startx in order to get to your own account. That's something most Linux techies would see as no big deal but sorry, the less technical members of my family, who are used to XP just aren't going to get on board with that. With Fedora 8 you can switch users without leaving the GUI, you can download and install programs without the command lines, it notifies you of updates without the need to run YUM from the command line, and it has an easy to use start menu similar to XP.

As was the case the first time, downloading and installing the operating system is never as seamless as it plays out in your head beforehand. Here are some observations:

1. Probably the most common mistake when downloading Linux is that, instead of burning the ISO to a CD/DVD, people simply write the ISO file to the CD. It's an easy mistake and I made it again even while knowing to watch out for it. If you're doing the download in Windows (which most people do) and you pop a CD in the burner, it's easy to drag it into the writable folder opened by the CD and click “write this file to the CD”. If you do this you will do nothing but bang your head on your keyboard as you try to boot your computer with it. You need to use CD burning software.

One problem I ran into is that not all CD/DVD burning software recognizes .iso files. I recommend downloading the burning software listed in the installation release notes. It was a 10 second download and it is geared specifically for burning ISOs. It takes about 10 seconds to uninstall it on the back end.

2. You can download Core 8 as a full install DVD or as a single CD “Live” version. I initially downloaded the DVD version which took almost 4 hours on a laptop with a 56k wireless connection and another 45 minutes to burn it to DVD. Unfortunately I made the mistake of thinking I would be able to boot my PC from my USB portable DVD burner. The DVD is really only useful if you have a DVD drive that is internal on your system. I'm sure with some BIOS changes, I could have figured out how to do it but I really couldn't find any documentation that I was confident enough with to start playing with it. The live CD took about an hour to download and burn. It is a really basic version and actually launches the operating system entirely from CD with the option of installing it to the hard drive. I found the combined time of downloading the “live” version, booting with it, installing it to the hard drive, and downloading and installing the programs I wanted took less time than the DVD download process alone.

3. There are a number of forums available where you can get answers to Linux questions. I took a semester of Linux shell scripting but even with that, I still find myself using forums for answers from people who are much more avid than I am. I recommend www.linuxforums.com. I found the moderators and posters to be very helpful and friendly. One thing you should realize before embarking on a Linux installation is the Linux forums are a hangout for the old school techies who still long for the days when end users knew nothing. Remember when you felt like you had to beg, grovel, self-insult, and shower the tech guy with compliments in order to get him to help you. Or when every time you asked a question you got only a very technical answer to only specifically what you asked even though you suspected he knew what you meant. Worse yet, remember when he leaned over your shoulder as told you what to do by describing the exact physical movement he wanted you make in a demeaning manner and he made miscellaneous exclamation inhale/exhale noises if you jumped the gun on a movement...well you get the picture. Just a word of warning. A lot of those guys are hanging out in the Linux forums taking out their frustrations for not having been able to take over the world in the 90s like they thought they would. It's not uncommon to post a question and get an answer that is part helpful and part designed to make you need to ask a another question. I've found very little of that on www.linuxforums.com.

4. I am running Fedora Core 8 on an eight year old PC that originally ran Windows 98. It has a Pentium 4 processor with only 384 MB or RAM and it is running decently. It doesn't take much. Something to remember before sending the old PC to the scrap heap.

5. I really am astounded by the number of free apps produced out in open source land. Between, MySQL, Java Compilers, Ruby, Apache web server, and Perl scipting tools, you can literally launch a Web enterprise for next to nothing. In addition, I am composing this post in Open Office “Writer”, another free feature full download.

At a bare minimum we have another legitimate CPU to divide family PC time demand which is great in our household.