So how does a new-to-Linux user decide? With so many choices, how is it possible to start off on the right path? Without help, it’s not easy. My first Linux distribution was Caldera Open Linux 1. It was rough and nearly pushed me back to Windows. It wasn’t until I found Red Hat (4.2 at the time) that I found the right distribution for the right purpose. That was ten years ago and the choices were much more limited.

Because the new year is here, and I am always one to want to help people make the move to Linux, I thought I would create a flow chart to help Linux users make the right choice. Is it perfect? Probably not. Do I include every possible choice? No way. The distributions I have included are:

• Ubuntu
• Ubuntu Server
• Ubuntu Studio
• Slackware
• Fedora
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
• SuSE Enterprise Linux Server
• SuSE Enterprise Linux
• Gentoo
• Mandriva Power Pack
• CentOS
• PCLinuxOS
• Linux Mint
• Debian

It’s still a healthy list of distributions, but not everyone. And I’m sure there will be those that disagree with my approach. That is understandable. So much so, that I am (in the spirit of open source) including my .dia file for the flowchart. NOTE: The .dia file is hosted on my domain (outside of ghacks). I would love to see how readers change my flowchart to better fit their opinions/experiences.

Figure 1

But for those that do not want to bother messing with editing the flowchart, and just want to see it in all its scattered “glory”, take a look at Figure 1.

One of the first things you might notice is the predestination paradox (temporal causality loop) I created for those unsure of their purpose for choosing Linux.

There might also be some initial confusion as to why I have included, in some choices, distributions that are rather similar. For example: The difference between Mandriva and PCLinuxOS might not be that great, but notice I have included the Mandriva Power Pack which includes pre-installed flash, various codecs, and Mandriva support.

Final thoughts

I hope this flowchart makes your choice of Linux an easier one. Even more, I hope this flow chart helps you to start your new year off on an open source foot, and that you find this path a rewarding one.

What exactly is a Live CD? A Live CD is a CD (or flash drive) that contains a complete and bootable operating system that is run directly from the CD and not the hard drive. There are many types of Live CDs that serve different purposes. There are live distributions for repairing Windows or Linux systems (such as SystemRescueCD). There are live cds for nearly every Linux distribution that allow you to test and/or install the distribution (Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuSE, Mandriva, ELive). You can even do stress testing and benchmarking with Live CDs like Inquisitor. Or what about a complete, embedded firewall distribution m0n0wall.

Why Use a Live CD?

The main purpose of a Live CD is to test drive Linux. A Live CD runs directly from the CD and the PCs RAM and does not even need a hard disk to run. Because of this, you can rest assure that a Live CD is not going to alter your hard disk unless you actually choose to install the Live CD onto your drive.

There are many reasons why a Live CD would be preferred. For instance, hardware diagnostics. I have employed Puppy Linux on numerous occassions in order to get information on a piece of hardware or test to see if a piece of hardware is working. I have also used that same Live distribution to run older machines where only certain functions are necessary. Live CDs are also great choices for cafes where you want to start with a clean slate every day. Another great use for a Live CD is when a machine has no mutable storage (a hard drive) and you want to run the computer as a pseudo “dumb terminal” or “thin client”. This would allow users to execute certain tasks so long as they didn’t need to save any work.

But what if you want to save information? For that you can use the flash drive-based Live distributions. With a large enough flash drive the user can also save data as well as run the operating system. If you’re looking for a pre-installed solution Mandriva has the Mandriva Flash Drive which has 6 gigs of free space for data.

One of the best reasons for using a Live distribution, in my opinion, is testing to see if that distribution works well with the hardware you have. I have one particular laptop that, when it comes time to upgrade operating systems, I wind up burning numerous distributions onto CD and running each one of them until one of them can work with the finicky hardware on that machine.

Drawbacks

One of the biggest drawbacks of using a Live CD is the speed. Remember, you are running this from RAM so the amount of RAM the machine has (as well as the speed of the CD drive) will determine how fast your Live CD distribution will run. So a machine with low RAM will run poorly. This isn’t such an issue if you are planning on installing immediately. But using the Live CD on a low-RAM machine will be painfully slow.

The other drawback was already mentioned, unless you are using a flash drive-based Live distribution, you can not save data. If you are only testing the distribution out to see if you like it, that’s not a problem.

Final Thoughts

Live CDs are here to stay. They have many uses and few drawbacks. If you are hesitant to use a Live CD because you don’t want to lose data, you shouldn’t worry about that (unless you accidentally click the installation button and accidentally click through all of the steps to install the operating system.)

First things first, you’ll need to download the Linux binary of Floola from the Floola download page. Once you have the tar file downloaded unpack it with the command tar xvzf Floola-linux.tar.gz which will create a new directory called Floola-linux. Move into that new directory and, as the root user, issue the command cp Floola /usr/bin/. Copying the Floola binary into /usr/bin will allow Floola to be run globally.

Now you will need to mount your iPod. You can refer to my article Connect your iPod to gtkpod for instructions on the mounting procedure.

Once your iPod is mounted you can start up Floola. You will first have to configure the make of iPod you have connected. After you have the iPod type configured Floola will see the iPod and list all of data. Now on to the video download. Well, almost. Before you can actually get the video to your iPod you will need fmpeg installed in order to handle the conversion. Fmpeg can be installed by either doing a search for fmpeg in your Add/Remove Software utility or you can issue a command similar to urpmi fmpeg (for Mandriva) or apt-get install fmpeg (for Ubuntu.)

With fmpeg installed NOW it’s time for the video madness to start. With Floola open go to the Item menu and select Add From Web. A new window will open with a button for Add URL. Click that and a smaller window will open to copy and paste the Youtube video url and click OK.

Floola Add Video

When you see your Video listed in the Add From Web window select the video and click OK. This will start the process. Now it’s time to sit back and watch as the video downloads and then is converted. Depending upon the speed of your machine, this could take quite a while.

Once the video is converted a new window will open where you will need to click the Add button so the video is actually added to the iPod.

Adding File

Once you click the Add button your video will be transferred. But you’re not done yet. In order for your iPod to be in sync you will first close Floola and then unmount your iPod. With your iPod unmounted you are ready to enjoy your new video! You will be amazed at the quality of video transferred, it’s quite good.

And that’s it! Now you can have plenty of video goodness on your iPod with next to no effort.

Oh, and since Floola is freeware, you might consider donating to the author. If you do you will get rid of a 4-second nag screen upon closing.

Little do the unwashed masses know that installing Linux is actually a very simple process. In fact, installing Linux is far easier than installing any flavor of Windows. Let me walk you through the typical Linux installation from a LiveCD disk. There might be some minor variation on the order, depending upon which distribution you use.

NOTE: A LiveCD is a version of a Linux distribution that allows you to run the operating system from CD and RAM. No changes are made to your computer unless you start the installation process.

• Insert CD of Linux distribution
• Reboot Computer
• Let the LiveCD boot to the desktop
• Double click the Install icon
• Enter the basic information (location, time zone, keyboard layout, etc)
• Select how to appropriate space on disk (If you are not dual-booting you can select Use Entire Disk)
• Enter user information and password
• Read the installation summary and then, if all is correct, move on with the actual installation.

At this point the installation will be completely automatic. When the installation is complete you will want to reboot your computer (remember, you are running from the LiveCD still). When the reboot is finished you will be at the log in screen. Enter the username/password you supplied during install and your desktop will start up. Congratulations, you have successfully installed Linux!

But will all of my hardware work?

This is often one of the more often asked questions regarding Linux. Generally speaking, the answer is “yes”. There are, of course, some hardware that might have trouble. One area that can give you problems is your video card. Linux does a great job of detecting hardware, and most likely your video card will be detected. There are, unfortunately, cards that simply aren’t supported. For a good list of supported video cards take a look at this page for a fairly comprehensive listing. The next piece of hardware that can cause problems is wireless networking. I have found most modern distributions are outstanding at finding wireless cards. But just in case you need to know for sure, here is an extensive listing of how wireless cards fare with Linux support.

Most other hardware shouldn’t give you problems. But in case you have one particular piece that doesn’t work “out of the box” you can always try a different distribution. As far as I have discovered Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, and Mandriva are the best as discovering and automatically configuring hardware.

Final Thoughts

Installing Linux is a piece of cake. Seriously. If youc an install a piece of software on a Windows machine, you can install Linux. It’s that easy.