[Wlug] Information for Linux newbies?

[William Smith]

On Nov 18, 2007 12:14 AM, Andy Stewart <andystewart at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hi Kevin,
>
> When I was a newbie, Linux live CDs didn't yet exist, but they do now!
>
> I find the Knoppix CD/DVD useful for testing a new piece of hardware
> (like a laptop) to see if all of the pieces work with Linux.  I believe
> that the Ubuntu CDs can also boot up in a live mode.  In this way, you
> can try Linux without messing with your hard drive, and also see if your
> hardware works with that distribution.

With Fedora 8, there's also a Fedora Live CD.  I tried it on my
laptop.  Works nicely, though it (like Ubuntu, when I had it
installed) didn't see my built-in webcam at all.  :(

All else aside, I'm actually pleased to see the LiveCD for Fedora.
I've been using Red Hat variants since the early 1990s, and I like to
know what things look like before I install it.  (For those that might
be new to the term, Live CDs are handy for using Linux on systems that
you can't install Linux on otherwise.)

> Note that if something doesn't work with the live CD, that doesn't
> necessarily mean it won't work with Linux at all, but demonstrating that
> something *does* work is a good thing.

Even then, many of the things that don't work out-of-the-box will work
with a little research and poking.  My webcam just isn't one of them,
as far as i can tell.  :\

-- 
Bill Smith
Fall River, MA
Charter Member of LOPSA