Where can I download Linux?

[Mo_Moosa]

Hi, thanks for reading...

Anyhow, where can I download a free version of Linux? Which is easyy to install? I had Knoppix but that ran off a CD, so I couldn't install anything (ejecting the CD would result in restarting the PC on windows.

Also, is it possible to use both Operating systems? Because I used to have a PC which had both Windows XP and windows 2000 installed. I just had to choose between the two when the PC was booting up.
Can I do this with Linux?

[s7p9a2m4]

I would say go with Mandrake 9.2. It can be downloaded for free from Mandrake and mirror sites. It is 3 cds. The install is as easy as windows. Check the website for hardware compatibility. The dual boot with your windows operating system is all done for you. Here is a good spot to look at all popular linux distros.
http://www.distrowatch.com/

[Mo_Moosa]

Thanks.

And this is all in three downloads? Coz I was searching round and on most Dload pages I saw about 30 files...all very similar...

[s7p9a2m4]

You will want "Mandrake Linux 9.2 ISO images mirrors for i586 and higher". They give you a large list of sites you can download from. Try to find one close to you with decent speed. There will be cd 1 iso, cd 2 iso, and cd 3 iso. You will need to download the checksums for each iso image. You can check each iso image for integrity with the checksums. You will need to burn the iso image with a program like Easy Cd Creator or Nero. There may even be a free program that will burn iso. You will also need a program to run the checksum - I will give a link at the bottom.
http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3#iso
http://www.md5summer.org/about.html
http://hem.bredband.net/cdburnerxp/

[mmills]

you can select your distro and download at http://linuxiso.org
if you have a cdr problem you can ftp suse 9.0 at ftp install you have to make the install cd though. so have a friend burn it off, I prefer suse 9.0 pro, you can buy linux on ebay for around 3-9 dollars, just go to ebay and search, mandrake, suse, debian and so on, word to the wise RedHat 9.0 is going to be unsupported this year, soon.

for questions on linux try information technology

[nuri]

Another great resource for downloading Linux distributions is from the ibiblio ftp site:

ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/

Everyone has their own preference for distros, and so do I... Different distros have been likened to flavours. Imagine a coffee store with a dozen flavours of coffee. Some may vary from others in taste mildly, some drastically, but it's all coffee in the end.

I'm an old Slackware fan. I've been using slackware since version 3.4 (sometime in 1998), and I prefer it hands down.

You'll slowly find yourself not going into M$ Windows as much as you did before... most of the great games have been ported to run on linux, there's a desktop productivity suite that looks JUST like Microsoft Office, there's Netscape, Mozilla, and Konqueror (great browsers), AIM clients (gAIM), IRC Clients (BitchX), MP3 players, etc. There really aren't many advantages any more to M$ Windows (were there ever?)

Good Luck!

Oh yeah, you wanted to know if you could concurrently have a M$ and a Linux OS on the same machine. This can be accomplished with a program called LILO, which ships default with all current versions of Linux. It can either create a boot disk or install to your MBR. It will give you a selection of which OS to boot from.

"In a world without fences and walls, who needs Windows and Gates?"

[danny_beta_read]

Ok, if you really want good linux ISOs, go to linuxiso.org. It has ISOs for every version of linux I can think of, and even some I cannot. And for a good version, start out keeping your current OS, and get the Vector Linux live CD, or a similar live CD from the above site. Then you can boot the linux distro without having to add any files to your hard drive, and find the one that suits you best!

[braindead]

I hope you have a decent internet connection. If you use a modem you're most likely will run into problems and it will take about 24 hours to download. If you have a hi-speed connection and a decent program such as Nero to burn it then you'll be in good shape. I use Mandrake 9.2 and am very happy with it. Make sure you download the MD5 file to verify your download and when you burn it do so at a slow speed so you get a good copy. It'll be 3 disk at about 665mb each. Good Luck and enjoy.