I am a Maths/Physics teacher at Sule College and I want to install Linux on my laptop.......
My purpose is to run mathematical & scientific software free. Of course office programs as well, but teaching software is my preference.
You will find lots of scientific stuff to drowl over. See
http://sal.kachinatech.com/
"SAL (Scientific Applications on Linux) is a collection of information and links to software that will be of interest to scientists and engineers. The broad coverage of Linux applications will also benefit the whole Linux/Unix community. There are currently 3,070 entries in SAL."
Also Software: Linux4Chemistry http://zeus.polsl.gliwice.pl/~nikodem/linux4chemistry.html
I have a few questions: 1. Which distribution will be the best for me
either Debian or RedHat or Mandrake will be fine. You will gets lots of help with any of those.
I have found that Debian is really easy to keep uptodate at uni with a fast connection and its easy to install things like extra libraries and compiler stuff as often scientific sofware might have to be compiled. It's usually not too difficult once you do a few. Any probs just post to SLUG :-)
2. If I select any of the distributions can I install any linux
application from the net? Or is there any restriction that an
application will only work on redhat and not slackware etc.
Most sci apps will come as source tarball which you will need to compile. Some will come as RPMs (ie RedHat format) and some as debs (Debina format). RPMs can be turned into debs. (prob other way around too)
3. Can I install multiple versions at the same time to test and
evaluate which version is best for me?
Usually yes.
4. If possible can I meet with anyone to do the installation process
together? I have fast internet and a burner. Can download anything.
Tell the list what suburb you are in. Also there are install fests and things that are help every now and then too. If you want to keep your existing OS and have a dual boot system having someone help you is useful. If its just going to be a single OS system i.e. Linux only then fire away and try an install yourself first as it doesnt matter if you make a mistake - nothing is lost.
Mike -- Mike Lake Caver, Linux enthusiast and interested in anything technical.
-- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
