Linux Question

[Edi]

I'm going to shift to using Linux at least partially and to get familiar with it in any case, and I'm going to pick Mandrake from the available distros.

The question: I can get the Powerpack edition of Mandrake 8.2 for very cheap, but it's quite a bit behind on the most current version, 9.1, which costs twice as much (which is too expensive on my budget), so should I get that one for the apps CDs and then download and burn copies of the 9.1 basic distro? Or should I just install 8.2 and then upgrade that? What is the most sensible option, in your opinion? Advice would be appreciated, I need it by early Friday morning EST. I know little enough about Linux (totally clueless), so spell it out like talking to a complete newbie, because that's exactly what I am.

Thanks in advance.

Edi

[Darth Wong]

I'm going to shift to using Linux at least partially and to get familiar with it in any case, and I'm going to pick Mandrake from the available distros.

The question: I can get the Powerpack edition of Mandrake 8.2 for very cheap, but it's quite a bit behind on the most current version, 9.1, which costs twice as much (which is too expensive on my budget), so should I get that one for the apps CDs and then download and burn copies of the 9.1 basic distro? Or should I just install 8.2 and then upgrade that? What is the most sensible option, in your opinion? Advice would be appreciated, I need it by early Friday morning EST. I know little enough about Linux (totally clueless), so spell it out like talking to a complete newbie, because that's exactly what I am.

Thanks in advance.

Edi

The 9.x versions are significantly better than 8.2 in terms of features, but 9.1 is a bit buggier than 9.0 (although it's got better features, and the bugs are of the "minor annoyance" variety, not the show-stopper variety). However, either will do if you're just out to learn. You'll need a free partition on your HD. The install usually goes fairly smoothly, being all menu-driven, but people can run into more trouble trying to set it up the way they like it afterwards.

PS. Get the download version, assuming you have broadband. If you're just investigating, there's no point spending money quite yet.

[Edi]

Thanks.

The urgency problem is that I can get the PP version of the 8.2 version for something like €40 as opposed to ~€100 for the 9.1 PP, because one of the best software and IT resource shops around here is selling out old stock, and they've only got one copy left, so no telling whether it's still there next week if I want it.

I suppose I'm not enough of a Linux poweruser to actually need the PP with those four extra CDs of stuff, so I think I'll take your advice and save those €40 and get the downloaded version. I can borrow manuals from the library anyway, and figure things out on my own. I don't have broadband, but a friend of mine can dl the distro from the net and burn it on a CD at work, so it isn't a problem.

As for the partition, I know, I'm not going to start mucking around with the install features that allow splitting empty space off of existing Windows partitions, that's just asking for grief, and why I left 10 GB of my hard drive unpartitioned in the first place.

Another question: Does Mandrake have the capability to lift files off a Win98 FAT32 partition without needing to burn things to a CD first? Because it'd be nice to be able to just lift my Mozilla profile, inbox and all and plunk that into Linux, so I don't have to worry about needing to laboriously back up everything every time Windows goes belly-up. It's a fucking pain in the ass, even though I've several partitions on the Windows side just for this purpose.

Again, I'll be in debt to those willing to help me out, thanks in advance.

Edi

[phongn]

Linux can read/write FAT32 and read (and write dangerously) NTFS.