Linux-Noob Forums

Hello:

 

I am going to install CentOS at home today on an old IBM Thinkpad 570E. I am a Windows user so please do not pounce on my very basic questions below. Just had a few questions for gurus here:

 

1. The installation *.iso files -- do I just copy the file as is to a CD, or should I unzip (or un-rar) this file first, and copy the files inside?

 

2. During install, will my wireless card be detected automatically? It did get recognized when I had Windows XP before, but it failed on FreeBSD. (I was trying to be cool, installing FreeBSD, but the system is for engineering dweebs with thick glasses!)

 

3. If I install KDE during the installation, can I skip X-Windows (X.org)? I wonder if it will install some useful things, or can I leave it out?

 

4. I want to use my computer ONLY for CentOS. Given this, how should I partition the system. There doesn't seem to be any screenshot which shows an options for noobs like me, something like, "Use recommended default partitions to use whole machine for Linux". Would appreciate some recommended partition guide. I am new to this.

 

5. Will the default CentOS firewall be enough, or will I need something like SmoothWall -- [/url][url=http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=5897]http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=5897 ?

 

6. I want to use my CentOS laptop as a webserver with Apache, PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, sendmail, and such. And I want to access it from my Windows XP machine to develop stuff. I use a DSL and I already have a NAT-type setup (accessing 192.x.x. domains). I would appreciate any ideas of how I can connect the two machines, wirelessly. Thanks!

 

.ep

 

Also, one additional question: how do I see CDs in CentOS? Will they show up in a file explorer type format?

welcome to the forums

 

Quote:1. The installation *.iso files -- do I just copy the file as is to a CD, or should I unzip (or un-rar) this file first, and copy the files inside?

double click on the ISO and use your cdburning software (hint: NERO) to burn the iso to cd. 

Quote:2. During install, will my wireless card be detected automatically? It did get recognized when I had Windows XP before, but it failed on FreeBSD. (I was trying to be cool, installing FreeBSD, but the system is for engineering dweebs with thick glasses!)

 

what wireless card is it ? if it's intel then check [/url][url=<___base_url___>/index.php?showtopic=2001][/url][url=<___base_url___>/index.php?showtopic=2001]https://www.linux-noob.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2001 if its not supported by linux then you'll have to use ndiswrapper.

 

Quote:3. If I install KDE during the installation, can I skip X-Windows (X.org)? I wonder if it will install some useful things, or can I leave it out?

no, KDE and GNOME both require Xorg. 

4

Quote:. I want to use my computer ONLY for CentOS. Given this, how should I partition the system. There doesn't seem to be any screenshot which shows an options for noobs like me, something like, "Use recommended default partitions to use whole machine for Linux". Would appreciate some recommended partition guide. I am new to this.

 

i really don't know why you are using CentOS, there are much better alternatives out there for noobs like fedora/suse/ubuntu. Let the os partition for you during installation.

 

Quote:5. Will the default CentOS firewall be enough, or will I need something like SmoothWall -- [/url][url=http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=5897]http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=5897 ?

 

funny that, I wrote that review !, but yes iptables (the firewall) in CentOS should be enough, if you are paranoid and have many machines to protect you can setup a separate computer as a firewall (smoothwall).

 

Quote:6. I want to use my CentOS laptop as a webserver with Apache, PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, sendmail, and such. And I want to access it from my Windows XP machine to develop stuff. I use a DSL and I already have a NAT-type setup (accessing 192.x.x. domains). I would appreciate any ideas of how I can connect the two machines, wirelessly. Thanks!

 

checkout these forums for detailed guides for setting up apache/php/mysql

 

linux will give you lots of power but you need to be patient when moving from windows

 

join us for live support on IRC on the EFNET server, join #linux-noob

 

cheers

 

anyweb

anyweb, thank you so much! I am going for CentOS because I have that on my hosting server (most hosts seem to prefer it) and would like to replicate as similar an environment for development as I can. Is Fedora simpler than CentOS? How about performance etc? My laptop is a dead old one (from 1999!) and has 256 MB memory etc, so I want something that is fast and minimal, but yes I do want KDE. Would you still recommend Fedora?

i would definetly recommend fedora over Centos,

 

linux-noob.com runs on fedora and a lot of regular users here use fedora,

 

for more info on Fedora go here

 

[/url]http://fedora.redhat.com

 

screenshots here >

 

[url=https://www.linux-noob.com/screenshots/fedora/4/install/]https://www.linux-noob.com/screenshots/fedora/4/install/

 

I use fedora daily as my distro of choice, and i've used it since the first release (Fedora Core Release 1)

 

I think it's very suitable for noobs and is also well supported and documented,

 

not only that, but it's powerful enough to do all the things you want

 

cheers

anyweb