Which Linux

Since April 2006 I have tried a dozen or so flavors of Linux. The two I use the most are Ubuntu for the day to day stuff and Puppy when I need a live CD for rescue and other stuff. Check out DistroWatch here you will find information on hundreds of Linux Distributions.

Overwhelmed? Check out Frozen Tech. It sells CDs and DVD's containing the most popular Linux distributions. It is a good way to get your first Linux CD. If you order from them be sure to include the Knoppix Live CD.

Burning a ISO File to CD

Ok you could not wait for the postman, so you downloaded a Linux ISO file whatever that is. An ISO file is a CD image. The only way it is useful is to burn it on a CD as an image not a file.

For you windows users, if your not sure how to burn the file then I suggest you get a copy of BURNCDCC.

For more info check the Ubuntu Burning ISO How to.

GParted

While on the subject of downloading and burning a Linux ISO. The GParted Live CD is a partitioning tool that I think you will find handy. Why don't you download and burn it to a CD now.

Recommended minimum hardware configuration

Did I mention there is a learning curve involved?

Booting a Linux CD

For the would be Linux hobbyist this is the step that shows Linux is NOT Windows. If your lucky you put the Linux CD into the drive, restart the PC, Linux loads and your off and running.

Here are the common reasons why a computer does not boot to a Linux live/install CD.

  1. The iso file is corrupted. Not much you can do but download it again. Check the MD5SUM how to from OpenOffice.org.
  2. The CD is corrupted scratched, cracked, toasted. Again not much you can do but burn or buy another one.
  3. The iso file was copied to the CD as a file, not as an an image. You can tell when you browse the CD and all you see is a single file named whatever.iso. (If you burned it as an image you should see a bunch of different files and folders. If your not sure how to burn the file then I suggest you get a copy of BURNCDCC.
  4. The computers boot order is to boot to the hard drive and then the CD drive. The computer should be set to boot to CD drive first. When the computer boots up there is a period of time that if you press a certain key (del or esc are common) the BIOS setup menu is displayed. Somewhere in the BIOS menu (where depends on the computer and BIOS manufacturer) is place to specify the boot order.