[AuckLUG] Installing Linux

[Nevyn]

On 4/25/07, Richard Innes <unclerichard at clear.net.nz> wrote:
> Folks: I am new to this list but not completely new to Linux.
>
> I hope to get a new box soon and wondered if Linux it has matured enough
> for me to retain WindowsXP on my old box and put a Linux desktop in my
> new box. (Some years back when I had two boxes I experimented with Linux
> on my older box.)
>
> To this end I partition my hard drive and started my great Linux
> adventure. This is my sad tale to date, perhaps some more experienced
> Linux user can offer me advice/suggestions how I might pursue.
>
> 1. First distro Ubuntu 6.10. First big mistake used the manual option in
> the installer. Result back to square one and a revamp of my hard drive.
> Second attempt got Ubuntu sort of on my hard drive, no install options,
> no option to create user and super-user passwords with a result that
> though a sudo password was asked for I had no way of knowing what it
> might be. Also, the device manager did nothing but waste CP cycles. It
> couldn't activate or deactivate anything and listed most of my devices
> and peripherals as 'unknown' and 'working' whether the latter was true
> or not. Worse still, though I could configure pppd I couldn't call up
> the dialer. Sadly, when I checked at the Ubunbtu website I learn Ubuntu
> do not support dial up connections. Perhaps when broadband gets
> cheaper/quicker I might go back to Ubuntu.
>
> 2. Second distro Sabayon which wouldn't mount any of my drives, serial
> ports. cdrom.Cd. etc. This I find on checking the rather funky Sabayon
> forum is not an uncommon happening and as yet no one has managed a work
> around.
>
> 3. So I move on to another distro; SUSE (free) 10.2, the 'ultra
> versatile distro'. Didn't get much further with that than I got with
> Sabayon. This time  it couldn't copy certain files during the
> installation (the temp file). This I feel may be related to my having my
> DVD drive on the same channel as my hard drive. I don't believe this
> this is responsible for the Sabayon fiasco.
>
> 4. Fourth try I get lucky, try a CD of Mepis 6.5 and actually get it
> installed, I mean fully install but then my luck ran out. Modem trouble
> again. First time around it said it couldn't open my modem which is a
> hardware Dynalink running through a serial port (connected and fired
> up). Second time around it simply froze. here I am talking about the
> graphical configuration for the connection and using the query modem option.
>
> The annoying thing is my trusty old Mandrake 9 and 10 and Koppix (and
> even my old Red Hat 7.1) work perfectly except for the sound card
> (Creative SB Live 5.1). All detect and allow me the not just to
> configure my modem but use it to connect to the internet. The Koppix
> though is a live disc and doesn't seem to offer any install option.
>
> The Ubuntu looked interesting and I would have loved to have had the
> opportunity to explore it further and will do so if circumstances
> change. I found Mephis rather fiddly to configure, being slightly
> visually impaired I need a font larger than the standard offering, but
> not unreasonably large. Also configuration seem to be scattered over
> various files and not centralized.I like the old Mandrake configuration
> center where you can adjust all your setting in one place, even more so
> the ability during the install to check all your peripherals like modem,
> printer, and sound.
>
> So I am hoping some of you Linux gurus out there can give me a pointer
> or two. I've used Linux in the past and would like to try some of newer
> distros before I turn to dust.
>
> Richard Innes

Getting back to the topic on hand...

Back when I was using dial up, Redhat was my preference. It just
seemed to work for me - no modem specific tools. The modem was just
seen as a network interface and things like dialing were the
equivalent of obtaining an IP address.

Of course those days are gone so you might want to try Fedora although
I haven't looked into this in anyway whatsoever in the last couple of
years.

I guess this is kind of a symptom of progress. Dial up becomes old and
support of it starts waning. However, there must be a guide somewhere
to get dial up in Ubuntu? Surely?!?

OT: Hiya Denise. Long time no see. (Don't think I've seen a posting
from you in the last year or so).