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<H4>"The Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"</H4>
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<H4>By James T. Dennis,
<a href="mailto:answerguy@ssc.com">answerguy@ssc.com</a><BR>
LinuxCare,
<A HREF="http://www.linuxcare.com/">http://www.linuxcare.com/</A>
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Best Place to "Download Linux"</H3>
<p><strong>From Dan Gibson on Mon, 29 Mar 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Best Place to "Download Linux"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Hi:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BlockQuote>
I'm looknig for the best place to download Linux from the net. And
also any accompanying documentation. Can you point me in the right
direction? Thanks
</BlockQuote></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Dan Gibson
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
The best place to download Linux (the kernel) is
<A HREF="http://www.kernel.org"
>http://www.kernel.org</A> or if you are in the U.S. try
<A HREF="ftp://ftp.us.kernel.org"
>ftp://ftp.us.kernel.org</A>. The latter of these will connect
you to one of over a dozen U.S. mirrors of the kernel
archives. There are numerous other regional sets of mirrors
so you can connect using <A HREF="ftp://ftp.XX.kernel.org"
>ftp://ftp.XX.kernel.org</A> where XX is
your country's two letter ISO code.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I realize that this answer might be considered
disingenuous. You probably meant to ask where you can
download a full Linux distribution. This includes <EM>much</EM>
more than the kernel --- and involves getting dozens of
FSF GNU packages, XFree86 and other packages.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
A typical Linux distribution fills a full CD, or several.
So it's often not practical to "download" Linux. It's
generally much cheaper, quicker and easier to buy a set
of Linux CDs (<A HREF="http://www.cheapbytes"
>http://www.cheapbytes</A> offers them for as
low as three or four bucks, U.$.)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It's also possible to download a <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> boot diskette
and install the entire distribution over the Internet.
Basically you boot it up, configure it for your Internet
connection, and point the install script at a suitable
mirror of the Red Hat FTP site. I won't describe that
in great detail (search the LG archives, I think I didn't
go into more detail a few months ago). However, I don't
recommend this method. It is slow and unreliable (and will
keep your modem busy for a couple of days if it works).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Using the <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A> GNU/Linux distribution you download a
base set of about 6 diskettes, install those (one of them
is a boot diskette, naturally). That base distribution is
sufficient to install the rest. It's still a pretty
geeky process and NOT recommended for newbies.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
As for "accompanying documentation" --- all of the
"official" documentation for Linux is linked off of the
LDP (Linux Documentation Project) web site:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><DL><DT>
LDP
<DD><A HREF="http://www.metalab.unc.edu/LDP"
>http://www.metalab.unc.edu/LDP</A>
</DL></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... that's the best source of info on the subject.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, in summary, you need to pick a distribution first.
Take a look at the Linux Online list of
distributions (<A HREF="http://www.linux.org/dist/index.html"
>http://www.linux.org/dist/index.html</A>)
for starters. For those that can be "downloaded"
look at their FTP Sites (<A HREF="http://www.linux.org/dist/ftp.html"
>http://www.linux.org/dist/ftp.html</A>).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
That should get you going.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
></H3>
<p><strong>From Dan Gibson on Thu, 01 Apr 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Dear Jim:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BlockQuote>
Thanks for all your advice. I checked out the sites, and then
looked around locally. I am in the Middle East, so it is hard to
find things, but I did find a pirated copy of <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> 5.1 CD that
I had to pay $20 for, but I am ready to get up and
running. Installing this thing is rather hard! I hear Corel is
going to produce a more friendly version! I hope that once it is
installed it will be easier to run than the installation process
is!
</BlockQuote></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks again for your help.
<br>Dan Gibson
<br>Jordan
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
I wouldn't worry about its being "pirated" --- it's
perfectly legal to duplicate most Red Hat CDs (according to
their license). There are companies besides Red Hat that
distribute the Red Hat Linux distribution (including
Cheapbytes <A HREF="http://www.cheapbytes.com"
>http://www.cheapbytes.com</A>) and there are
derivatives of Red Hat, like Mandrake. These start with the
Red Hat distribution and add their own packages
(like <A HREF="http://www.kde.org/">KDE</A>
which Red Hat Inc refuses to ship with their distribution
for their own reasons).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
For now Red Hat is probably the easiest to install on
most PCs. I don't know how long it will take Corel to come
up with their OS offering.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P> <hr> <P>
<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/ssc.copying.html"
>Copyright ©</a> 1999, James T. Dennis
<BR>Published in <I>The Linux Gazette</I> Issue 41 May 1999</H5>
<P> <hr> <P>
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