Where I agree on many accounts, I'm looking at it from someone that doesn't know Linux or Unix. So I try to break down the learning curve into smaller pieces.
With Partition Magic, I don't have to know Linux or how to do it, PM will just do it. A person can learn about how to do it the Linux way, later. Go with what you know. If you know REXX, don't spend the time learning Perl. Yes, eventually you will learn Perl as so many scripts are written in it. But using what you already know, allows you to make use of the system and have some reason for being on it. "resized a Windows 98 partition using FIPS which came with Red Hat Linux. I backed uo the whole drive first, using dd to copy it to a file across the LAN, gzip to compress the file and cdrecord (maybe mkiosfs too) to create a CD." For someone that didn't know Linux, the only words reconizable are "Windows 98 and CD". I would think it would be a challenge for someone that didn't know anything about Linux, and just installed Linux, to do what you just said, in 8 hours. At this stage of the game most don't know how to get help, much less to a How-To. After 4 hours, frustration tends to occur. The person stops working on this and goes to something they can handle. Classes on the other hand, tend to break things into hour increments. Things are broken down into small enough hunks that you learn and do something within the same hour. As far as suppliers go. My point was look at what distributions the suppliers are supporting on the mainframe. When the option is 6 of one or a half dozen of the other, why put a distribution on your laptop that you wouldn't use on the mainframe. When you are investing your time, invest wisely. It is worth more than money. Tom Duerbusch THD Consulting >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 06/20 1:53 PM >>> On Fri, 20 Jun 2003, Tom Duerbusch wrote: > Well, there are two approaches. Either one or both together works. > > 1. Install any distribution on your laptop. One that has panels to > make things easier, really helps in getting Linux up and possibly > usefull. (doesn't IBM have a mainframe that has Linux accounts? It may > be for developers, but even a developer has to get his feet wet > sometime.) Then start to branch out, away from the panels to understand > what actually goes on. I would have 2 copies installed on the laptop, > with Partition Magic used. Just because with PM, you can effectively > DDR one PC partition to another partition, I.E. create and refresh your > test system that you can bomb at will. You don't need pm to do backups. You _might_ need it to resize your partition, but as far as possible use Linux tools. I resized a Windows 98 partition using FIPS which came with Red Hat Linux. I backed uo the whole drive first, using dd to copy it to a file across the LAN, gzip to compress the file and cdrecord (maybe mkiosfs too) to create a CD. All standard Linux tools. > > 2. Determine what one you will want to do into prodution with, and > choose that one. So do the cost of the product, the maintenance costs > (and remember your time has a cost associated with it), what happens > when you get hit with a virus and your production system is down. You > may want to consider a vender that has (if purchased) 24X7 phone > support.) May not need it now or for a few years, but when that time In a few years the picture will be very different: different supplirs, possibly some of the current ones gone, maybe some new ones. Turbolinux was one of the first on S/390, but it hasn't had much mention here for ages now. > comes, it is easier than converting to a different distribution to get > it.) Also consider what applications you may want to run and the > distribuitions they support. Look at the Linux websites (especially > IBM's to see what distros are supported with DB2, Websphere, DB2 > Connect, etc). And also any application venders, PeopleSoft etc. There too the picture's changing rapidly. According to articles on The Register in the ast 24 hours, Oracle "just loves linux," PeopleSoft & J D Edwards are converting their apps to zLinux as fast as they can. > > You may find you don't really have any options. > > Perhaps do the first one, and trash it when the study on the second > option is completed. I think the full professional desktop version of > Linux 8.1 only cost me $79. There is not distribution of Linux called "Linux." Most preperly that term refers to the kernel, currently at 2.4.20. I imagine that term refers to SuSE Linux - there's no release 8.1 from Red Hat, and Debian's at 3.0. > If you are a REXX type, install Regina (the Rexx for non-IBM > platforms). At least then you have something you are familar with that > you can play and make use of while using Linux. I'm in two minds about REXX on Linux. I guess if you're using it on everything else, then using it on Linux is sensible. Otherwise, I prefer to use tools you can expect to find wherever you go on Linux, and that means bash (shell), perl and maybe python. Ruby seems to be becoming popular, and there's also TCL (with TK). > FWIW, I did the same thing. I picked Suse (with option 1), and as it > turned out, worked with the Option 2 concerns. But I really didn't get > to know/understand Linux until I was forced to put it to use. Indeed. You need a target, something to achieve. Maybe, a document to produce. btw There's an open source program called User Mode Linux, hosted at sf.net. Like VM it lets you run several Linux instances simultaneously on one box. AFAIK it's only available for IA32, though someone was porting it to PPC. I used it to run Red Hat Linux 7.0 on Red Hat Linux 6.x. -- Cheers John. Join the "Linux Support by Small Businesses" list at http://mail.computerdatasafe.com.au/mailman/listinfo/lssb
