Screw Windows for a joke, I am moving over the linux

[Harper]

Hasta la VISTA, Micro$oft!

After reading the new Windows Vista is going to be like, I am thinking that is about time I move over to Linux.

I pretty much use my computer for Games (EVE Online, UT2k4), Surfing the internet, Email. I would still like to be able to sync with my PDA (HP iPAQ 1910)

Any suggestions for what breed of linux I should be going for?

 

[jakec]

Firstly Harper,

Good to have you with us at last. Windows is the best for gaming so's I'd keep XP for gaming Purposes, dual booting would be the way to go but online gaming should be fine. just keep windows for installed Games...

there are many many games for Linux you can find a list here:
http://www.techist.com/showthread.php?threadid=112751

and there are many links to gaming sites in the useful list of linux websites post at the top of this forum

I don't know much about PDAs but any distro should work with some tweaking

as for which distro, Now your going to get baised opions here but tyr these 2 Linux distro choosers: http://eedok.voidofmind.com/linux/chooser.html
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

a few personal reccomendations:

Kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/

Mandriva
http://frontal2.mandriva.com/en/downloads/mirrors

PCLinuxOS
http://www.pclinuxos.com/page.php?7

This is the distro I use and recommend, Why because it works right out of the box. No need to configure Everything, everything just works. It also comes as a 1 CD install that is a live CD that you can install later if you wish.

OPENSUSE
http://www.opensuse.org/Download


Mephis
http://www.mepis.org/

Everything you will ever need on 1 CD. Hardware detection is exelent, as is the feel and look of the distro

hope this Helps,

Jake

 

[Harper]

Dual Booting....... Install Windows First, then Linux?

Is there any breed of Linux that is good for windows gaming. Like it's direct X that I just need to worry about right?

I am prolly going to play around with PC Linux tomorrow.
Torrenting is not a problem as I will still continue to use Asureus.

 

[Harper]

Doing a little more investigation. As any one used
Cedega

No matter what version of Linux you use, TransGamingÂ’s online distribution system ensures that you can download and install Cedega with ease. Cedega is available through TransGamingÂ’s subscription service or can be purchased through resellers globally. For those customers who subscribe to Cedega from transgaming.com, simply login to our website and download the appropriate Linux package. Packages for every variant of Linux are available. Best of all, being a TransGamer makes you futureproof: your subscription guarantees that you receive updates to support the hottest new games and patches as well as access to both email and web-based support.

 

[The General]

Harper, you're in luck. Your UT2k4 CD has a Linux installer on it.

I don't know about EVE online, is that a webbased game?

But yeah, Cedega works okay, Prey works great in it. Battlefield 2 kinda works... Half Life 2 works great.

If you are just starting, get Ubuntu. www.ubuntu.com, then when you get a feel for it, switch to Debian.

I wouldn't bother with SuSE or Fedora, definitely get a Debian-based distro.

 

[Harper]

If you are just starting, get Ubuntu. www.ubuntu.com, then when you get a feel for it, switch to Debian.

i am giving Ubuntu as I was having problem trying to mount my drive with PClinuxOS .

 

[Harper]

Okay, I can load into Ubuntu via the CD. Every thing is loaded to memory. But how to I got about getting my mouse and keyboard to work under the GUI interface?

At first I thought it had to with fact that I am using a cordless keyboard and mouse. But now i got a corded PS2 Keyboard and Mouse, and I am still having issues.

 

[macdude425]

Break yourself into a command line (Ctrl-Alt-F1) and cd to /etc/X11 then run
less xorg.conf

You're looking for a section like this:

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier  "Mouse0"
        Driver      "mouse"
        Option      "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
        Option      "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
        Option      "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Check what your mouse is assigned to (in this example, /dev/input/mice) and report back.

 

[Harper]

Okay, I can load into Ubuntu via the CD. Every thing is loaded to memory. But how to I got about getting my mouse and keyboard to work under the GUI interface?

At first I thought it had to with fact that I am using a cordless keyboard and mouse. But now i got a corded PS2 Keyboard and Mouse, and I am still having issues.

Turns out that PLUG'N'PLAY Bios was on turned on.

I now got ubuntu on my system. I will see about trying to get it to do some thing useful tonight

 

[guajiro]

Another option is installing the Linux of your choice as the base OS on your machine and installing VMWare for Linux and virtualize your Windows XP install. This way, you run Windows XP virtually within linux for your games and and other stuff without having to flip back and forth between the OS with dual booting.

VMWare Server is free for download now. I do the reverse. I run windows with Linux (Knoppix, Suse, etc) as the virtual OSes. (Yes, more than one). This helps me save electricity by not having to have a billion test boxes at home plus lets me task between Windows and Linux without having to reboot between the two.

HTH.

Mike