Left M$ Behind

LeftMS · n00b Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Posts: 1

Well, my New Years resolution is to leave Microsoft, and there Virus XP behind. I've been playing with Linux for about 6 mos., ran SUSE for a bit, and ran Mandrake 9.2 for a bit. They are what I am trying to leave behind though, the 'Pay or pray.' attitude of MS. :twisted:

Mandrake has plenty of programs, the RPM gig seems ok, but if it does not have the dependencies it just says "hey, your screwed and gives no tips on how to get over the hump. They'll help for a price, SUSE was the same, except with SUSE I seemed back to having no control over my system. I've always understood Linux to be 'by the people for the people, so us people lets unite'. Atleast that is how I've always pictured it. I've not jumped onboard before now because of the ease of MS, the companies I worked for all used MS, and let me be honest, I didn't think I was smart enough to run Linux. But in my trek of life, I've learned that the only easy task, is the one you already know. So here I am, jumping off my MS ship, and floating helpless as a baby in the Linux ocean. Anyway, I am 37, a Wintel vet of almost 20 years, broke my teeth on the 'ole DOS prompt. Looks like C:> incase you have not been to a computer museum lately. :wink:

I know about dependencies; well enough to tell when my machine does not have the right ones, and can MAYBE setup a box from a command prompt, but I am sure I'll need a tad bit of hand holding from the vets out there. I've read about 'trolling' here? The best I can figure it means to purposely piss someone off? Well, if I seem to do that, please remember I am new to Linux, and if you ask my wife she will let you know my communication skills suck. I am not an a$$, just sometimes I cant get out what I mean, and how I mean to get it out. Ive researched which distribution to commit to, and Gentoo seems to be where my heart has landed. I got the x86 distro over the New Years holiday; nobody said I was exciting, and am here at work where I am going to load it up on a test bed. Ive also the Athlon XP distro which Ill install on my box at home after I cut my teeth on it here, is just that the x86 will run on any test bed I happen to grab. I'll always have access to a working, internet capable machine, so I'll seek help 'on-the-fly' so to speak. Not that I expect instant answers though, that is unrealistic, but I can keep a close/quick eye on my posts. That way I can let whomever answers me know right away if it worked or not. Also please rest assured, as my knowledge grows my participation in the forum will grow, and where I can I will give back to which the community has given. This distro seems to be very helpful towards its members, and that is appealing to me. Anyway, thanks for reading my post, and am looking forward to leaving the M$ cow behind in the new year.
LeftMS

Kihaji · Apprentice Joined: 12 Sep 2002 Posts: 230

Just a few comments/points/hints (they aren't meant as personal attacks if they seem that way)

1. Good luck on your Linux venture. Learning something new is always fun.

2. No need to crap on MS, or even use the typical script kiddie speak when referring to them, you're 37, act adult. Everyone knows Linux users have a (ir)rational hatred of MS, it's doesn't need stating.

3. Paragraphs and whitespace are your friends when asking questions in the future, it makes finding information easier.

4. Google and/or the search here are your friends.

5 I suggest heading down to the local mega-bookstore and picking up Linux in a Nutshell, the Orielly horse book. It details all the commands and what they are, look them up as you encounter them and read about them.

6. Have fun.

ewan.paton · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2004 8:19 pm Post subject:

welcome to the club if you are just doing standard stuff on generic hardware the odds are the forums will already have covered it but if you want an instant response try the #gentoo irc channel that said the forums resonse times are nothing short of miraculus
_________________
Giay tay nam | Giay nam cao cap | Giay luoi

supenguin · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 28 Jul 2002 Posts: 95

Welcome to the Gentoo Forums. I think Kihaji said pretty much everything that needed to be said. Do you have Gentoo installed? One thing I've found to be really helpful when awaiting replies to posts - use the "Notify me when a reply is posted" button. Saves you having to abuse your browser's reload button.
_________________
We don't need no stinkin' signatures.

azcoder · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2004 10:44 pm Post subject:

LeftMS - Gentoo is a great choice. I have switched all my machines to Gentoo from RedHat (and I am a RedHat Certified Engineer!).

These forums are very active and help comes pretty easily.

Another tip: From the main forum page, there are a couple of useful links

1) All your posts
2) All unanswered posts
3) All posts in the last 24 hours

Good Luck and Welcome to Gentoo!

Cerement · Guru Joined: 14 Jun 2003 Posts: 404

Welcome to Gentoo and Good Luck.

1) Definately start by printing out the Gentoo Linux Installation Instructions and keep it handy -- Gentoo is relatively easy to install but its not straightforward and its not click-and-run
2) If you run into any problems, definately hit the forums, especially the Installing Gentoo forum
3) We're geeks, we can communicate with computers better than people. Period.
4) If you get stressed or need to blow off steam, head over to the Off the Wall forum - be prepared and take a thick skin! - we'll argue anything and everything from any point of view

Advantages of Gentoo
1) Some of the best written and most readable Linux documentation around, minimum of geekspeak
2) User forums are friendly and helpful, we actively abuse anyone who responds with "RTFM" or "use search n00b" :twisted:

3) We come from all over the world from all types of backgrounds with all types of installs and all types of window managers -- there will be someone who has had / is having the same problem and there will be someone who's found a solution or is willing to help you find a solution

a_iver · n00b Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Posts: 5

I can't wait. I am getting Gentoo too. Except I am running it on a mac. I'm a little afraid though. After you have a really user-friendly os for too long your brain turns to mush. You guys all seem like pretty good people like the mac community I know and love. I am starting to experiment with X11 and already know a little in UNIX. Wish me luck.

syko · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 9:38 am Post subject:

Good luck! I think everybody else has done a pretty good job of setting things up.

Bottom line: Don't be afraid to ask for help, and don't expect to go too far too fast (you have to crawl before you walk, as they say). Oh, and don't be afraid of the installation instructions. I know when I first started looking at Gentoo the installation scared the hell out of me.

Have fun, and welcome aboard!

Nick W · l33t Joined: 07 Dec 2003 Posts: 684

>>they aren't meant as personal attacks

Did you have your fingers crossed when you said that?

Welcome to Gentoo geezer, I've been using RH for a couple of years and was just dissapointed in the performance and wanted to learn more, Gentoo provided 30% (rough guess) better performance and I've learnt TONS of stuff about how a Linux system works

I havent had windows partition on either me or my wifes machine for about 6mts now, we are 100% MS free, except for Wine as I need to test websites in IE.

You're gonna have lots of fun, and these forums (read: this community) is great!

Best of luck

Nick

SubAtomic · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 12:13 pm Post subject:

Well done mate. Im sure after a steep learning curve you will LOVE gentoo. If you enjoy hacking together operating systems to your own specifications then you have definately made a very good choice of distro.

Oh, and if you thought RPM was ok then you will cream yourself over emerge and the portage system.

Goodluck.