Demand For A Linux-installing Tutorial?

[ugenn]

I guess it would be useful for others that want to use Linux but I don't want to use it anymore because I couldn't play many games on it. All I do on my computer is play games, listen to music, and watch pr0n. Windows XP will suffice for those basic activities. Unless Linux can enhance those activities (specifically the pr0n) then I must pass. 

Actually, Linux DOES enhance the p0rn XPrience because it supports more media formats out of the box than Windows.

[OverlordMondo]

I'd use one. I'm about sick of windows. I could just find one on google...but that would take a few seconds, better to just get a good guide from someone I know.

 

EDIT: Wait...I can't play Diablo II? That's most of what I do! Oh well, I'd use it on my other computer at least...

Get D2 working! For me!

Edited June 3, 2004 by LordKanti

[alexis]

i am just asking but isn´t there any way to get linux to run directx games in other way than using wine, i know it isn´t easy but couldn´t it be developed a set of llibraries that did the work on linux? i know you would still have to emulate the game under wine but it may be a gr8 help for making games for linux

[ugenn]

i am just asking but isn´t there any way to get linux to run directx games in other way than using wine, i know it isn´t easy but couldn´t it be developed a set of llibraries that did the work on linux? i know you would still have to emulate the game under wine but it may be a gr8 help for making games for linux

I don't think libraries are going to anything. Unless the game source is available, and it can be compiled as a native Linux binary against those libs, which is how winelib works.

[nezumi]

Using WineX with Point2Play is pretty easy... of course, Point2Play requires a small subscription fee, but it's worth every penny (not joking).

 

The only other way to get WineX is to grab the source from CVS and then compile it. It works, but it's understandably daunting for new users.

 

Of course, someone went and put WineX/Point2Play out on some P2P networks (slsk, bittorrent, DC++ for sure), so you could grab a package that way. problem with doing that is, you'll be stuck with the binary compile of WineX that you downloaded then, unless you grab extra versions from CVS (which is supposedly easy, now that some guy has some shell scripts to automatically grab it and compile it, multiple versions too, co-existing side by side without interfering with one another).

 

And don't panic about D2... It's quite playable, just not incredibly enjoyable ATM. Several people are playing it fine, they're just using an earlier version of WineX than I am (and I'll probably grab it right about now).

 

LordKanti: Just wait a little while, man. I've got some work to do for someone, and once it settle down I'll get started on... wait a sec, what should I title this thing? suggestions, please? Bonus points for funny.

[taratata]

Using WineX with Point2Play is pretty easy... of course, Point2Play requires a small subscription fee, but it's worth every penny (not joking).

Kind of defeats the whole point of free software (not only open-source) like Linux, don't you think?

I don't understand why a mentally sane person would pay to emulate Windows on a free OS.

Apart from that, WineX is probably a very good software; I've only tried Wine.

Just in case: yeah I know Wine and WineX is not really emulation.

 

Back to the topic: a linux installing tutorial is in itself a good idea, but there are plenty already. It could be of some interest if you include details specific to games and emulation (emulators available for Linux, MAME compile on Linux, Wine/WineX install and use, etc...).

[nezumi]

Using WineX with Point2Play is pretty easy... of course, Point2Play requires a small subscription fee, but it's worth every penny (not joking).

Kind of defeats the whole point of free software (not only open-source) like Linux, don't you think?

I don't understand why a mentally sane person would pay to emulate Windows on a free OS.

Apart from that, WineX is probably a very good software; I've only tried Wine.

Just in case: yeah I know Wine and WineX is not really emulation.

 

Back to the topic: a linux installing tutorial is in itself a good idea, but there are plenty already. It could be of some interest if you include details specific to games and emulation (emulators available for Linux, MAME compile on Linux, Wine/WineX install and use, etc...).

You misunderstand the concept of "free" software. Linus didn't start the free/open-source movement, he simply made it easier for it to gain ground by releasing Linux (which is just a kernel, not an entire OS. I'll touch on this in the tutorial/HOWTO.) under the GNU GPL.

 

GNU (GNU's Not Unix. gotta love recursive acronyms.) was founded in the early 80's by Richard M. Stallman. He was sick and tired of crappy printer drivers, so he decided to start an open/free (libre, not gratis) software development model where people could write software, and distribute the source code. Then, others could view the code and contribute to the project. A contribution may or may not be worked into the main branch. If some in the project don't like where it's headed, the project can fork. Good Example: XFree86.

 

XFree86 is the version of X11 (the core architecture underneath all the pretty *nix desktops) that has been shipped with GNU/Linux and *BSD up until recently. For the past two years or so, developement has stagnated, and it hasn't really moved anywhere. 2 Forks resulted from this: freedesktop.org and xouvert. Xouvert is now defunct.

 

Lately, XFree86 had a license change that many felt was not compatible with the GPL, so a fork was started using the XFree86 4.3.99 source code. This fork is called X.org, and it's rapidly gaining ground. There's even rumour of freedesktop.org merging with x.org, which would be freaking awesome.

 

This is what free software is about: Freedom, not $0.00. If a GPL-compatible project is going in a sour direction, expect a fork. When you see a fork, you see the open source machine working the way it should.

 

The reason WineX with Point2Play costs $5 (it's either monthly or yearly, either way it's worth every penny) is that it contain's some non-GPL-compatible libraries and software, and it's pretty well supported. The teams working on this software do an excellent job as well. Also, be aware that there's another Wine-based project, CrossoverOffice, which costs some money (don't know how much off the top of my head, don't care to know. People who insist on running MSOffice under Linux when OpenOffice.org is available ought to turn off their computer and pursue an MBA if they don't already have one.)

 

Also, Oracle is proprietary, pay-for-it software, and it runs on Linux. and it runs VERY well. Oracle makes a killer product, and if you need the king of SQL databases for your large business, shell out some $$$ for Oracle.

 

When you hear me say "Free Software" I'm talking about freedom, not saving bucks. It just happens that the freedom part brings the saving of many bucks.

 

Touching on your last paragraph, allow me to re-iterate: this is not going to be simply "Installing Linux for teh n00bz." It's going to cover Installation, Learning how some things work (as best as I can explain them), Quick and dirty kernel compiles, package management, keeping important packages up to date (OpenSSH and OpenSSL come to mind), and of course office/schoolwork/gaming/multimedia. It's going to be a big project, and it's going to take me a while to put it all together. Heck, if it gets good enough, I might try to get it published. It'd be a good way to get my foot in the door for some science fiction.

[Wizard]

you know, a best choice on which GUI or Non-GUI versions of Linux to use would be greatful, since i'm actually thinking of reinstalling it, I just want to get some 2cents on it.

[Fatal Rose]

I really don't care but thats just me.

[nezumi]

you know, a best choice on which GUI or Non-GUI versions of Linux to use would be greatful, since i'm actually thinking of reinstalling it, I just want to get some 2cents on it.

This also will be covered... Right off though, I'll mention my personal "Big Three":

 

1 - KDE http://kde.org

KDE is a complete desktop environment. It looks great, works great, and the development is FAST. These guys make major changes like, every 4 or 5 months. The look is highly customizable. It includes just about everything you need to get started on a Linux desktop, and a web browser/file manager called Konqueror. Konqueror is one of the best things about KDE... It's got the tabs, the popup-blocking... it's also got tabs with multiple panes, and support for browsing a metric truckload of filesystems. If you run a windows box, you have to download FileZilla for an FTP program. With KDE, you've got all the FTP you need right in Konqueror. KDE is the reason I don't know too much about fluxbox or xfce or gnome. I like it too much to try/learn something else.

 

2 - XFCE http://xfce.org

This gem here is small, fast, and light. It uses GTK, and everything looks very consistant. It's not as "complete-feeling" as KDE, but it's not intended to be. It's very customizable and all that good stuff.

 

3 - Fluxbox. http://fluxbox.sf.net

When resources are limited, or you simply don't want to be burdened by stuff that looks needlessly pretty, you go with Fluxbox. It's small, lightweight, and very zippy. It's even less "complete-feeling" than XFCE though, and by that I mean that you've got to add shortcuts to menus for almost everything. The look is as customizable as it can be, for something so lightweight. Customizability is limited mainly to window borders and colors and font sizes.

[Gryph]

A friend of fine uses Gentoo and he loves it. He also has this nice GUI thing but I forgot what its called.