No fun installing Linux

[cowdog]

I tried installing 3 different Linux distros (Fedora Core2, Gentoo 2004.2, and Mandrake 10.0) with limited success. Driver issues were a challenge with Fedora and Mandrake, and the gui installs left me really wondering just what I was ultimately getting. I love the idea of Gentoo and enjoyed trying a stage 1 install but ran into either eth0 configuration issues (Linux doesn't play well with my nvidia motherboards, I am thinking) or errors during emerge system (e.g., Java). It seems crazy that I have to look through the driver library and guess which driver to modprobe. Forcedeth didn't work, btw. I put the most time into Gentoo and felt I learned a fair bit from their excellent documentation. All of my gentoo errors were documented by others, and some had workarounds -- others I never found anything that worked.

Although I never finished a Gentoo install, I did get Fedora nd Mandrake working. Video drivers and X issues were the final hurdles. Still, the process was anything but simple in some ways and too simple in others. In the end I didn't feel like I had robust installs of Linux with the features I wanted. And how in the heck does one figure out all the things one needs for a Linux install? I want a lean install (just what I need and no more), but feel like I am choosing too many options because I can't fully figure out just what everything does. (might need a and b and c and ...).

Fedora and Mandrake were installed on an XP2100+/epox 8rda+/GeoForce 5500 box. I tried Gentoo on that box and on an A64 3200+/epox 8kda3j/GeoForce 6800 box.

I am making a commitment to learn Linux (beyond my ability to use 50 or so commands) and want to have a functional, up-to-date, and robust distro. I think I would like a distro that has the customizatin/optimization features of Gentoo (but working) and the latest, greatest features of Mandrake. Am I dreaming? Do I simply need to get back in the trenches and work through my install/setup issues?

 

[n0cmonkey]

nVidia doesn't play well with Linux. Get a better NIC, you'll be fine. I recommend an Intel card.

The way to figure out what you need is to use it. I personally don't mind installing a bit more than I need. Disk space is cheap.

 

[drag]

I definately recommend a full install for when your starting out. If your worried about the bloat then just disable the services you don't want running once you figure out how to do that. Have extra stuff installed won't slow you down if they are not running, the only thing you could possibly waste is disk space.

 

[Sunner]

nVidia mobos are a royal PITA under Linux thanks to nVidia's refusal to provide documentation.

 

[cowdog]

Thanks for the feedback. Maybe I'll stick it out with Mandrake until Gentoo 2004.3 hits the "shelves" or I try something else ... I admit it is fun to have all these options to explore.

BTW, this box will eventually become a very simple file server (behind a firewall) for a small university research group (5-8 people max). Would any of you recommend against Mandrake for that purpose? We currently have Fedora Core 1 running on an old P2 box with Samba, and that works OK for now. My plan is to play with this "new" box for awhile (3-6 months) until I feel good about the distro and setup and have a better working knowledge of Linux, in general. My experiences with installation so far, however, haven't been nearly as "easy" as people tend to imply.

At home I will build up a little Linux box too (before the end of this year), and on that computer I want to explore using Linux as my primary desktop OS.

 

[artemedes]

If you end up redoing your linux install you may want to try suse 9.1. Of all the linux distros I have tried over the years I immediatley felt that the base install was the best desktop and "workstation" of all of them. Their personal edition is free and is a great way to get your feet wet with linux and still enjoy the experience.

I am also happy with YAST, although I havn't tried it on a nforce motherboard.

It will install abit faster than windows too (on most computers anyway).

Just as a reference Fedora seemed like a royal pain after playing with debian, knoppix, and suse. But that is just a personal opinion.

 

[cowdog]

Update: Well, thanks artemedes (and everyone else too). I gave SUSE 9.1 personal a try this morning. From an install standpoint, SUSE was the easiest and smoothest install of all the distros I tried. It was far faster than the XP install I did on Friday. Only one .iso CD image is nice too. I still had trouble with the nForce3 lan, but since the install didn't require internet access I simply installed the nVidia driver from a CD. From now on I will use a cheap nic for installs. For what I need at this point, SUSE looks like the ticket. Providing file server access via SAMBA for 1 Mac and about 5 XP boxes is my next task.

Graphics card drivers need some work, but SUSE gives me a generic driver that works well enough. The nVidia Linux driver install on SUSE has not worked for me yet. I saw a help item from SUSE, and it looks like there is a working install method. I just need to give it a shot when I get some time.