Garratt Campton wrote: > Google should be able to provide you with most info and tutorial pdf guides > etc. > > Ubuntu one of the most popular Linux operating systems includes a very > extensive help manual with search features. Much like the windows help panel. > > > [...] > > 4. Using windows combined with virtual machines. Or linux combined with > virtual machines. > Installing virtualbox or any of the other virtual software(vmare etc) will > allow you to install different operating systems and learn how they work, > over the top of another operating system, these virtual machines just open up > in a window and you can make the size of the window any size you like. A good > setup would include: > a) OpenSolaris, b) ms windows, c) ubuntu/debian d) freeBSD e) others. > Personally I find this to be the best option as a newbie. As if you make a > huge mistake it doesn't matter too much because you can just delete the VM, > and make a new one. > > 5. Dual boot. > Setting up your system to dual boot may seem a bit daunting, and it is when > you are unfamiliar with gparted and other partition applications. > What you do is partition you hardrive say into 4 sections. lets say we have a > 200gb hardrive and want to install MS windows on the first partition, Linux > Mint on the second partition and OpenSolaris on the 3rd and the forth will be > a very small partition for swap. most linux distrobutions include a swap > partition which pretends to be extra ram, so say you only have 1gb ram in > your system you can make a 2gb partition on the hdd which will act as ram, > the linux OS will read and write to this partition as ram. > Starting up a parition editor LiveCD such as gParted. Or any LiveCD linux OS, > such as linux Mint will have gparted included. Setting up your partitions as > an example: > 1 40gb primary partition, 100gb extended partition with 2 x40gb on each end > of the extended parition and 1 swap partition at the end, the rest can remain > freespace. Then installing the various operating systems on these partitions. > windows if included should go first as it's bootloader isn't good at > dual/trple/quad booting :P > > > [...]
I would agree with Garatt here that using OpenSol on it's own may not be the best choice currently; mainly due to hardware support and limited packages that means it will be difficult to maintain an 'all round' system. If you really wanted to go developer route then go OpenBSD, OpenSolaris devel edition, Gentoo or other devel based Linux distro. Since I am really a network engineer and dabble in developing in spare time I have a 5 boot system which also uses VM's (virtual machines) for things like VoIP gateway and Solaris based DNS servers etc. This is purely as template to try out different configs: [code] ~# fdisk -l Disk /dev/sda: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x34f7742e Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 1 19453 156256191 bf Solaris /dev/sda2 19454 23709 34186320 83 Linux /dev/sda3 * 23710 25534 14659312+ 83 Linux /dev/sda4 25535 38913 107466817+ 5 Extended /dev/sda5 25535 38665 105474726 83 Linux /dev/sda6 38666 38913 1992028+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x80d2f3ee Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdb1 1 19457 156288321 83 Linux Disk /dev/sdc: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24321 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x426ab999 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdc1 1 24321 195358401 83 Linux [/code] For an idea on how I set my system up. I mean, I started with Linux back in 2k5 as first HD install which at the time was Debian Sarge. I think Debian is a great distro to learn (at least it was for me) but Ubuntu or KUbuntu maybe better for pure Win users as is more graphically friendly. To be honest though I think once you start learning and experiencing the different options available you will know what suites your style of working best and will be able to identify precisely what you need. As example, at home I have 9 backend servers and 3 laptops currently in my network based around a Cisco 857W router. http://www.optiplex-networks.com/lab/lab.html -- if interested! It is slightly OTT for what 'normal' people have but then my work depends on all of it :-) and as such I have got rid of Windows all together and purely use a Linux/Solaris based environment. Virtualization though is really the place to go with Sun's Vbox you can really learn and checkout stuff without mangling your own machine!! --again like Garatt pointed out :-) Regards, Kaya
