RH6--A Detailed Look From a Linux Newbie
Written: Feb 08 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A great learning experience for newbies, easier than most Linux distrobutions, great satisfaction in solving problems, and free!
Cons: Frustrating at times (especially getting hardware working), potential to mess system up if you're not experienced, limited software compatibility, Win2k may be better alternative for current Win98 power users
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| rahulm's Full Review: Red Hat Linux |
This summer, as a project to challenge myself, I bought a copy of RH6 to install. I chose RH6 after reading from various sources that it was a reliable, and well supported distribution of Linux, and was a good starting point for newbie Linux users. The following review includes some of my observations after using RH6 for several months.
First off, what's Linux?
Linux is a free operating system that has become a popular alternative to Windows. Probably the single most important benefit of running Linux is that it’s extremely stable and almost never crashes. This has been coupled with "X-Windows," popular GUI software that now comes with most distributions of Linux. Many people choose to download Linux for free (legally done, too) from company’s websites. Even the latest Red Hat distribution can be downloaded completely free of charge from Redhat's FTP server. However, I chose to purchase a copy to support the Linux community as well as to gain additional support benefits.
Is it easy? Is it hard? I've heard too many things about it!
If you've never used Linux before, the level of ease that you will encounter with RH6 is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend: a) preparing to install it, and b) learning the basics. If you have used Linux before, you're probably sitting in your chair laughing at my review right now ;), but its ok--I don't mind. I found that some of the hardest steps were actually getting the program successfully installed (despite RH's efforts to simplify the installation process) and picking up the basics of a completely different operating system.
My Experiences From Start To Finish (Yes, There Was an End to RH6 For Me)
Installation - I found that preparing my hard drive to install RH6 was pretty simple, with the help of Powerquest's Partition Magic 5.0 (which I've posted a review on at http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-5F3A-5996336-389F92D8-prod2). Basically, regardless of whether you're using hard drive management software or not, you must create Linux-format partition on your hard drive, as well as a Linux Swap format partition. To do so, I strongly recommend using software such as Partition Magic, however if you don't wanna shell out the extra dough, there is a pretty easy to use program that you will encounter during the RH6 installation process. Once my partitions were all set, installing the files was a breeze. I just chose which programs I wanted and which I didn't. This portion of the installation was very simple.
Configuring hardware - Configuring my hardware was not quite as simple as copying the necessary files to my hard drive. Though RH6 has attempted to implement wizard-type programs to detect your hardware, they did not work 100% of the time. I had to download special sound and video drivers (and this was after I got my network card working). The network card was also pretty hard (for me, a newbie) to configure and get working. However, through installing all of my hardware myself, I familiarized myself with various important Linux programs, such as LinuxConf.
Learning how to use Linux and Installing New Programs - Learning how to use Linux was a bit challenging. I'd suggest printing out some tutorials on the basic commands associated with Linux, or better yet buying a book on RH6. Either way should work fine, though printing out a simple tutorial is far more cost effective (and what I did). The key in learning how to use the basic features of Linux through tutorials is to follow each step very carefully and not to skip any like I tried to (each step is there for a reason). You'll find that Linux can initially be extremely frustrating, and things that you did in Windows with relative ease are difficult to do in Linux. However, if you stick with it and continue learning basics, you'll eventually get the hang of it. Installing new files (programs you download etc.) is a breeze, especially using Gnome (a GUI "X-Windows" type shell for Linux). Gnome adds a GUI tar extractor, which utilizes a simple point-and-click interface to extract and install files. If you're not lucky enough to have Gnome or any GUI, I'd suggest reading some more tutorials (there are tons of the sites on the net that will be able to help you).
Performance and usability - Linux seems to perform at about the same speed in operations as Win98 on my relatively fast computer. However, the major difference between the two OS's is that Linux hardly ever crashes! It truly is a pleasant change from Win98. After using Linux for several months of summer, I decided to go back to Win98 (and recently switched to Win2k). Though I got everything to work in Linux that I tried to, I simply did not get accustomed to it in 2 months (and needed an OS that I was used to for the beginning of the school year). I even downloaded a office suite (StarOffice), which was just as good (if not better) than MS Office! However, again, the adjustment was not quick enough for me.
Overall
Overall, my experience with RH6 was very good. I learned so much about a great OS, and I simply cannot describe to you how good it feels to solve problems in Linux. Aside from a few frustrations installing hardware (which took me a while to get working correctly), things were pretty easy to learn with the correct documentation. I would NOT recommend RH6 to anyone who has advanced Win98 experience, but has not used any other OS's or worked with many other systems than their own. This is simply because you will become frustrated with RH, and will likely end up messing your system up. If you've used previous versions of Linux, thanks for reading this far ;) Please feel free to add any comments to this review if I've missed huge parts of RH6.
Where To Buy Cheap?
If you're interested in just messing around with RH6, the best option for getting it is through Redhat's FTP. I'd suggest downloading the ISO and then using WinImage to extract it to your hard drive. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of RH6, I would suggest using Pricewatch(www.pricewatch.com), as I was able to find it for as low as $60.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
rahulm
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Member: Anujit Mukherjee
Location: Pittsford, NY
Reviews written: 44
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