Linux

Linux Publications and news

Linux hardware

The Ultimate Linux Box 2001 (Linux Journal)
- Los Alamos Systems -- Linux box assemblers; these are the people to go with -- budget around $2,500
- Antec SX1200 case
- Tyan Thunder K7, model S2462
- C5685 DDS4 tape drive
- ATI Radeon 64MB -- get the ATI All-in-Wonder card instead
- Plextor PX W1210TS CDRW
- Pioneer 105S internal SCSI DVD-ROM
Duke of URL buyer's guide 13 (16 Oct 2001)
Linux Hardware Compatibility at UNC
linuxhardware.org
linux hardware database at zdnet
linux hardware database at datapower
IEEE 1394 for Linux
CPUs
- linux handles multiple CPUs -- and certifies AMD's 760MP
- Windows XP Pro handles dual CPUs
- Overclockerz store
- AMD Athlon-C 1.4 GHz (133 MHz FSB), Socket A-$154
- AMD's first 64-bit processor, Hammer, sometimes referred to as K8, will first be produced on an advanced 0.13 micron SOI process out of AMD's Dresden megafab. Unlike Intel's Itanium, Hammer chips will provide uncompromised performance on legacy 32-bit applications as well as open up the 64-bit computing "new frontier." In fact, Hammers are expected to be the fastest chips in the world at running 32-bit x86 code, while seriously challenging the fastest 64-bit processors on 64-bit code.
Motherboards:
- or get an ABIT, ASUS, GigaByte or MSI that uses NVIDIA’s nForce-420 chipset (still testing in mid-September -- more -- specs, manufacturer) for the "Palomino" enhanced desktop Athlon -- uses DDR SDRAM; this is the chipset to get for multimedia (mainly sound), but it doesn't so far come with a dual processor option, or SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processing) -- it should have support for Linux -- see NVIDIA's Linux drivers
- or get Tyan's K7 Thunder motherboard (manufacturer's specs), for AMD's 760 MP chipset for the dual Athlon MP (same as mobile Athlon, uses Palomino core) -- this will likely be cheaper than a single P4 -- review and 2cpu review. These boards will also support the dual cpus: MSI K7D Master-LR, Asus A7M266-D, Abit WA-2A, Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW -- -- check Pricewatch for a compatible motherboard and memory; the Athlon XP (Palomino) -- should be out in mid-October
- SOYO SY-K7VDRAGON -- see review 16 Aug 01 -- around $155 -- uses the VIA KT266A chipset (see full list of mobos) -- supports up to 4 GB DDR SDRAM (review)
Linux Buyer's Guide: power user 1 Aug 01
- AMD Athlon-C 1.4 GHz (133 MHz FSB), Socket A-$154
- Quiet heatsink/fan: Taisol Socket A 760092-$36
- Motherboard Gigabyte GA-7DXR-$162 (with Promise P20265D RAID, which works only with Red Hat 6.2-7.1)
- 2 - 256 MB Corsair PC2400 DDR SDRAM-$154
- VisionTek GeForce3 64 MB AGP-$309
- 2 - IBM Deskstar 60 GXP 60 GB - ATA-100, 7200 RPM-$296
- 3Ware Escalade 6200 - IDE RAID, PCI-$119
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Value Edition-$34
- Case: Antec SX840-$109
avoid Dell, Gateway, Compaq -- semi-proprietary parts
linux can be clustered to provide supercomputer power
ThinkGeek hardware news
For Linux on the iPaq, see hardware.

Distributions and instructions

Choosing Linux -- PC Magazine Oct 01
Linux Minibook -- instructions and help
Kernet panic links
Distribution watch -- "The distribution is just someone's idea as to what the directory structure should be, what software they think makes the most useful system, and a mechanism for tying it all together using the rc scripts. Package managers can be useful but you are never restricted to using them. On any of these systems you can always resort to the traditional .tgz source code and compile by hand. As far as that goes, you can get the kernel, pick the software you want, and create your own custom distribution. It is this kind of freedom and flexibility that makes Linux so unique." source
Librenix -- reviews of Linux; see Getting Started
Linux Novice -- instructions
ExtremeTech -- installation instructions
LWN -- expert advice
linuxdoc.org -- Linux documentation project
osdn.com -- open source development network
LinuzHQ -- official kernal patches, latest stable kernel, etc.
- RTL -- realtime Linux for a superfast kernel
Debian -- my installation guide
- Debian -- has a poor installer but the most convenient update manager -- if you want the later versions, just update your sources.list to point to the latest (but see note on removal)
  - news and review -- see also discussion
- Debian Multimedia Distribution -- official site (focused on audio only)
- Debian homenetwork documentation project
Slackware -- doesn't have an installation manager
SUSE
- If you reinstall 7.3, run the anti-aliasing (see LinuxPlanet tips)
FreeOS
VA Linux

Linux software

Linux at Tucows
SourceForge
freshmeat.net -- latest from the Linux world, links to 1000s of apps
Reader's Choice 2001 from Linux Journal
Digital Video for Linux (with lots of further links and useful discussion boards)
Linux-compatible DV camcorders
Midnight Commander -- a Norton Commander clone
Anywhere Desktop (formerly Applixware 5 -- native for Linux; see review)
StarOffice -- runs on Windows and Linux, OpenOffice is freeware version
USB for Linux -- see compatibile devices
Sound & MIDI Software For Linux
CDE -- Common Desktop Environment -- and DeXtop: see drivers
OpenSSH
LiLo -- the Linux dual-boot loader
Running Windows programs under Linux
- Wine -- a sandwich between Linux and Windows, may run Dreamweaver?
VM -- a full Windows emulator -- will likely run Dreamweaver
Conversions Plus
AbiWord will read Word and rtf files
Video for Linux
Quanta Plus web development in KDE
Virtual Network Computing (VNC) -- access another machine
KAFKA, a KDE wysiwyg web designer
IBM's ViaVoice on Linux
KDE -- K Desktop Environment
Getleft
Brother-HL-1450 drivers

Multimedia

Linux Multimedia Project
LinuxVideo
- video4linux capture support for ATI All-in-Wonder cards -- see Tom's Hardware review
XFree 4.1 and the ATI Radeon (Linux Journal article)
XMMS / WinAmp
Xmovie = mpg, vob
Xanim = mov, qt plus others
Aviplay = DivX avi, asx, asf
MTV to play cd's .dat files
Xmms = mp3

Patrick Goebel at CASBS recommends the Mandrake distribution; he has version 8.0. It comes with a package manager for easy install/uninstall of prgrams. Prepare a 2GB partition for the operating system. The latest release of Linux, version 2.4.3, is the first to support multiple processors; it also has RAID support. Use Lilo -- Linux dual boot operating system. VM-ware is a full Windows emulator; you could run Dreamweaver under it, but it might be slow -- the networking part should run fine. Wine allows you to run some Windows programs (such as Conversions Plus) under Linux, but not all. Conversions Plus will convert between all types of file formats. Open Office is an office package that was purchased by Sun, who then made it open source. Conclusion: you need XP for Dreamweaver and possibly for digital video, but you can set up a dual partition and start using Linux. Discuss this with George Bing, who is more experienced than Patrick. If you could find an ftp client that could compare files across several directories, that would also do the trick; ask George about this. Here's html editors at Tucows.

top

Maintained by Francis F. Steen, Communication Studies, University of California Los Angeles