[GRLUG] New member looking for install
Jerry Neal
jerrydneal at sbcglobal.net
Wed Oct 10 21:49:23 EDT 2007
Which one is best depends on what you want to do. The degree of your knowledge of Windows (and computers in general) is relevant, because you'll most likely end up with a distro that hits that level. If you just want to surf the net and do email, ANY distro will do. I personally am running openSUSE 10.3 at the moment, but I've installed and run probably 80-100 distros in the last 8 years, and the truth is there are about a dozen that are really, really good, and most of them are at the top of the list on DistroWatch. I have a friend who just wants to do surf the net and do email who's very happy using Damn Small Linux. My brother just wants to K3B and GnuCash--pretty much any distro would do there, too, so I let him use a bunch of live CDs. Puppy Linux is good, but it's chooses oddball applications. I would say Ubuntu (I prefer Kubuntu) would be just fine for a complete beginner, and so would the new version of Freespire, and, in my judgement, MEPIS. They're also easy to
install. openSUSE, Fedora, Mandriva, and Debian are considered more difficult, but still new brand new users have successfully installed and learned to use them. I would say that installation of these is slightly more difficult, but not much more difficult than installing Windows. I would make two recommendations. One, as a newcomer to Linux, completely avoid Slackware and Gentoo. They're not bad distros, but they do require more knowledge to install. Second, grab a live CD or DVD and try them all out before you decide which one to install. You don't have to install a thing this way--it runs from the CD. Ubuntu/Kubuntu, PCLinuxOS, SimplyMEPIS, KNOPPIX, openSUSE, Fedora, Debian, and Mandriva all have live CD/DVD versions you can try without partitioning your hard drive. Underneath the hood, all distros run the same kernel and use pretty much the same applications (and can add pretty much the same ones). The main differences are eye-candy and package managing methods. So if
you've learned to really handle one distro (leaving Slackware and Gentoo and the package management issue out of the loop here), you've pretty much learned them all. There's no right or wrong here. The question is: what do you want to do? What works for YOU?
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Today's Topics:
1. New member looking for install. (Jeff Nyman)
2. Re: New member looking for install. (Michael Mol)
3. Re: New member looking for install. (Jeff Nyman)
4. Re: Moving MySQL Data Dir (Godwin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:31:49 -0400
From: "Jeff Nyman"
Subject: [GRLUG] New member looking for install.
To: grlug at grlug.org
Message-ID: <32097e230710101631l49a22eq99adfeef98b6755 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi just found this website, so just a quick hello to all before getting to a
request. My windows based pc got a corrupted install and my discs are long
gone and I know no one with a disk I can use to repair, so I've decided to
switch to a linux os since I've been considering it a while. But I was
wondering which one is the best for a starter, and if possible if I could
get a copy of it from someone since I'm without convenient access to a cd
burner. Thanks.
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:04:07 -0400
From: "Michael Mol"
Subject: Re: [GRLUG] New member looking for install.
To: grlug at grlug.org
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Sounds like the precursor to a "Which is best" flamewar. :-)
As a beginner, I'd suggest you try Ubuntu. It has the advantage of a
good combination of usability and community support. As in, if you
want to know how to do something in Ubuntu, chances are that a forum
somewhere has already answered your question.
As for getting a copy I could physically mail you one; meeting people
face-to-face is somewhat difficult for me.
A question: What kind/speed is your Internet connection? A new version
of Ubuntu comes out next week, and your system would update over your
Internet connection, if possible. If you've got at least DSL, you
shouldn't have any problem with the update.
On 10/10/07, Jeff Nyman wrote:
> Hi just found this website, so just a quick hello to all before getting to a
> request. My windows based pc got a corrupted install and my discs are long
> gone and I know no one with a disk I can use to repair, so I've decided to
> switch to a linux os since I've been considering it a while. But I was
> wondering which one is the best for a starter, and if possible if I could
> get a copy of it from someone since I'm without convenient access to a cd
> burner. Thanks.
>
> _______________________________________________
> grlug mailing list
> grlug at grlug.org
> http://shinobu.grlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/grlug
>
--
:wq
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:20:22 -0400
From: "Jeff Nyman"
Subject: Re: [GRLUG] New member looking for install.
To: grlug at grlug.org
Message-ID:
<32097e230710101720n210c8fb9o65415dde84622b2b at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I got cable so updates are no problem, I did some looking around and ubuntu
sounds like a good choice. I'll let you know if I do need one mailed, seems
like I can use my brothers computer tomorrow, though it'll be a bit of a
drive.
On 10/10/07, Michael Mol wrote:
>
> Sounds like the precursor to a "Which is best" flamewar. :-)
>
> As a beginner, I'd suggest you try Ubuntu. It has the advantage of a
> good combination of usability and community support. As in, if you
> want to know how to do something in Ubuntu, chances are that a forum
> somewhere has already answered your question.
>
> As for getting a copy I could physically mail you one; meeting people
> face-to-face is somewhat difficult for me.
>
> A question: What kind/speed is your Internet connection? A new version
> of Ubuntu comes out next week, and your system would update over your
> Internet connection, if possible. If you've got at least DSL, you
> shouldn't have any problem with the update.
>
> On 10/10/07, Jeff Nyman wrote:
> > Hi just found this website, so just a quick hello to all before getting
> to a
> > request. My windows based pc got a corrupted install and my discs are
> long
> > gone and I know no one with a disk I can use to repair, so I've decided
> to
> > switch to a linux os since I've been considering it a while. But I was
> > wondering which one is the best for a starter, and if possible if I
> could
> > get a copy of it from someone since I'm without convenient access to a
> cd
> > burner. Thanks.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > grlug mailing list
> > grlug at grlug.org
> > http://shinobu.grlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/grlug
> >
>
>
> --
> :wq
> _______________________________________________
> grlug mailing list
> grlug at grlug.org
> http://shinobu.grlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/grlug
>
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:36:48 -0400
From: Godwin
Subject: Re: [GRLUG] Moving MySQL Data Dir
To: grlug at grlug.org
Message-ID:
<8b72b8d10710101736l163e133eqdefdd63196cfe506 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Ownership/Permissions are generally the killer. Check the
"/var/lib/mysql" directory and copy exactly ( cp -a /var/lib/mysql
/db/ && mv /var/lib/mysql /var/lib/mysql-bak ). After you check
those, make a symbolic link from the old dir to the new ( ln -s
/db/mysql /var/lib/ ). If it's just a matter of something not finding
stuff, that should tell ya.
G-
On 10/9/07, Roberto Villarreal wrote:
> On Tuesday 09 October 2007, Olding, Jim wrote:
> > I'm trying to move the data dir for MySQL on CentOS from the
> > default (/var/lib/mysql) to a 2nd drive (/db/mysql). Here's the
> > process I'm following:
> >
> > Stop the running MySQLd service
> > Copy everything in /var/lib/mysql to /db/mysql
> > Update /etc/my.cnf to point datadir to /db/mysql
> > Start MySQLd
> >
> > Here's the output from trying to start the service back up after
> > the move:
> > [root at lct-linux mysql]# service mysqld start
> > Timeout error occurred trying to start MySQL Daemon.
> > Starting MySQL: [FAILED]
> > [root at lct-linux mysql]# service mysqld status
> > mysqld (pid 5851) is running...
> >
> > And here's mysqld.log:
> > 071009 10:17:41 mysqld started
> > 071009 10:17:41 InnoDB: Started; log sequence number 0 2650890
> > /usr/libexec/mysqld: ready for connections.
> > Version: '4.1.20' socket: '/db/mysql/mysql.sock' port: 3306
> > Source distribution
> >
> > I can see the mysqld process running, and it is listening on port
> > 3306, but nothing can seem to connect to it. If I point datadir
> > back to /var/lib/mysql, everything works beautifully. Ideas?
> > _______________________________________________
> > grlug mailing list
> > grlug at grlug.org
> > http://shinobu.grlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/grlug
>
> Shot in the dark, but verify the socket is actually created (i.e.
> permissions). By default, if you are trying to connect to a local
> DB, it will use the socket. So just because the port is open doesn't
> really mean anything. You could probably try starting the client
> forcing the use of the port (or accessing the DB from another host,
> if you have proper permissions), and I'm guessing it might work.
> Hopefully this gives you a starting point at least...
>
> Roberto
> _______________________________________________
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> grlug at grlug.org
> http://shinobu.grlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/grlug
>
--
Ubber::Geek
http://grlug.org/
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