Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

Linux:
System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager
Settings -> Repositories
Select Proprietary drivers for devices (restricted) and close the Repositories menu
Edit Menu -> Reload Package Information
Edit Menu -> Mark All Upgrades... -> Default Upgrade
Edit Menu -> Apply Marked Changes
Edit Menu -> Search nvidia
Select nvidia-glx, nvidia-kernel-common
Package Menu -> Mark for Installation
Edit Menu -> Apply Marked Changes
Exit Synaptic
Run gksudo nvidia-xconfig from the run dialog (alt-F2) or terminal (Applications -> Accesories -> Terminal)
Restart Gnome (Press 'Ctrl + Alt + Backspace' or sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart from a terminal or System -> Quit -> Reboot)

Windows:
Open nvidia.com in your browser.
Goto DOWNLOAD DRIVERS.
Select Graphics Driver -> Hope you know what your hardware is -> Windows XP/2000 -> Go!
Select a mirror and download to somewhere
Turn off AV (God knows where to do this its different for each one).
Start Menu > Windows Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and search for "NVIDIA Windows Display Drivers" or "NVIDIA Display Drivers" and select remove.
Select the driver if you remembered where you downloaded it you impulsive fool.
Walk though the install (select next and accept a bunch of times).
Start -> Turn Off Computer -> Restart
Turn on AV.

I don't see one being much easier then the other.

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

From what I've read about them, XP and Vista both include a number of "features" and deliberate design decisions which IMO are Bad Ideas. (Mostly involving security and DRM issues, which I'd rather not get into a lengthy discussion of.)

I'm hoping to buy a used system in the near future, which is probably going to have XP already installed. I don't intend to connect it to the net until I've done some research on what settings I have to change to ameliorate the security problems.

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

OK, now that you've struggled through a Linux install maybe you can answer some questions. I am about to buy some new HDs and try to setup a dual boot system. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Does Linux still need a dedicated 'swap partition'? I'd like to know before I put the install disk in whether I should have reserved a few gigs for swap. And did you need to reconfigure and recompile the kernel to make it work or is this just an option? (How much of the stuff on the disk comes with source code? Basically everything? Or just the kernel and the little Gnu utilities?)

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

Yes you want a swap partition. How large depends on how much ram you got and how much processing power. You usually want twice your ram.
You usually don't need to recompile the kernel though adding non-free graphics modules is pretty normal (aka nvidia driver).
Almost none of a debian (ubuntu) install is source though all the packages have source available in the repositories. Other distributions are called source based and install/compile everything from source like Gentoo.

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

Yeah, I'm still up in the air about which distro to use. Novell is in trouble with the OSS community, or I'd go with their very 'Windows friendly' package. Fedora is another possibility. I've heard both good and bad things about Ubuntu. The effort to make it 'easy' like Windows has apparently cut some corners.

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

bah @ fedora. If you are concerned about Ubuntu, you could always go with Debian. Don't think you have to pick a distro and be stuck with it; play around for a while, see if it is for you, then decide whether to keep it or install something else. You can keep your /home partition separate so you don't lose some settings and such.

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

Yeah, if you have the bandwidth download a few livecds and see which ones you like. Out of the ones you like do some research on their installer and package manager.

Also keep in mind what the distribution has installed by default isn't set in stone. I'm still running Ubuntu when I am using very little of gnome. If I was to reinstall I would probably do a custom net install from the Debian unstable repositories but my environment is far from user friendly or commonly preferd.

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

And keep in mind that Fedora/Red Hat has a really lousy package management system. Not even a decent Debian-like central repository. :-\

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

Hmm, isn't Novell using SUSE Linux? What's the difference between Novell's branded version and SUSE 10.2 (which is the latest, I believe)? Being on dialup, I'm not going to download a bunch of .ISO images. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I'll be going to a good source like cheapbytes.com and ordering CDs.

Re: OT: Windows is too expensive
 

SLE is aimed for businesses (lots of server support), openSUSE is aimed for everybody else. They both use YAST Package Manager which uses RPM (RedHat Package Managment) which most people agree stinks (certainly Debian users). They also can use Debian's APT (Advanced Package Tool - built off of dpkg) but don't do so for the default install.