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Linux installation made easy

Jeffrey G. Thomas Tech Republic

Published: 21 Nov 2005 18:00 GMT

Linux is not Windows and, although there are some similarities, you must realise that there may be a few "new ways of doing things" to learn before you can be comfortable in Linux. Linux is an open source clone of UNIX, a secure OS that predates DOS and Windows and is designed for multiple users. The items in the following list generally apply to any UNIX-based *nix system, such as Linux and the various BSD's. For the purposes of this article, assume that it's all Linux.

Here are the 10 things to know

1. File hierarchy
Unlike some other OS's that have a file tree for each drive, the Linux file system is one big tree. At the top you have / (Root) and every folder, file and drive branches off of this Root.

For example, say that you have two hard drives (named a and b), one floppy drive and one CD-ROM. Let's say that the first hard drive has two partitions (named a1 and a2). In Windows, it would look like this:
+ hard drive a, partition one (hda1): C Drive
+ hda2: D Drive
+ hdb1: E Drive
+ floppy: A drive
+ CD-ROM: F Drive

In Linux, you have one file system, not the five listed in the Windows example. Each drive is mounted onto the tree and acts just like a folder. The drives could be placed like this:
+ hda1: / (our Root)
+ hda2: /home
+ hdb1: /home/user/music
+ floppy: /mnt/floppy
+ CD-ROM: /mnt/cdrom

Our D Drive and E Drive are attached within our C Drive and there is no need to go to the top to switch drives — the switching happens seamlessly as we move from one folder to another. The same is true with our Floppy and CD-ROM: they are just attached under /mnt as part of the one file system. These drives, in reality, can be attached almost anywhere in a Linux system, depending on how the installation (or user) set up the /etc/fstab file, which tells the computer where things get attached and how to handle them.

2. Modular system
Think about the guts of Windows XP, Win2k, Win98, Win95, and Apple OS X. Each has different components inside and a different graphical look. What if you wanted the Media Player in XP, the File Manager in 98, the stability of Win2k and the look of OS X all in one unit? In Linux, each aspect of the system is independent, so you can mix and match parts to make your very own Frankenstein OS. You can choose from a variety of programs to run as your firewall, another to play media, yet another to run your File Manager.

Unlike the "tower" OS's from Microsoft, where everything is interconnected and depends on each aspect of the system, the Linux OS is spread out like a Market: everything works together...

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Its the applications and device drivers that run on windows that cement its dominance. How many people would fork out hundreds of pounds for Vista if Linux ran all the software and kit they wanted to use.