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The Linux Open-Source Operating System: Linux Distributions and Free Linux Software - Page 2

Last updated on 23 July 2007

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Linux backup programs

There is an excellent program called BootIt Next Generation that can be used on any operating system, including Linux. It can create back-ups, create, delete, copy, move, and resize partitions, and create restorable master images of a system. It is also a boot manager. BootIt can image FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3 and ReiserFS file systems by writing the images to hard disk drives, or both CD-R and CD-RW disks, or DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM disks (discs), all of which are dealt with on this Disk Drives page on this site. Costing only $35, it's very good value.

How to back up a Linux computer [registration at the site is required]

http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/edu/l-dw-linuxbu-i.html

Kdar - http://kdar.sourceforge.net/ - Linux back-up program that produces full and differential backups, can write to multiple CDs, and check for corruption. Free open-source software.

To find your own links to backup programs, enter backup + linux in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled).

A Linux boot CD that can be used for partitioning a hard drive and resizing patitions

SystemRescueCd - http://www.sysresccd.org/ - Free - A Linux system on a bootable CD for repairing your system and your data after a crash. It also provides an easy way to carry out admininistration tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions on hard drives. You burn the bootable CD from an ISO image.

The safest way to upgrade RAM: Use the UK and US Crucial Memory Advisors

Paul Mullen, the highly-respected computer guru of the Helpfile at ComputerShopper.co.uk - "I have recently been buying my memory only from Crucial Technology. I would rather pay the extra cost than waste time trying to track down the obscure program faults that bad memory can cause."

The memory requirements of the versions of Windows Vista

Most of the versions of Windows Vista require more RAM memory to run optimally on a computer that doesn't use memory-hungry applications than Windows XP. A video-editing application is an example of memory-intensive software. Only Windows Vista Home Basic has a recommended minimum amount of memory of 512MB, which is the same amount recommended for Windows XP. Windows Vista Home Premium, the most popular version, and Windows Vista Ultimate require a recommended minimum of 1GB (1024MB) of memory, which is twice the amount of minimum memory recommended to run Windows XP. For more information on computer memory, read the RAM pages of this site.

For example, if your computer has an Asus motherboard, open the menu, scroll down to ASUS, and click GO. If, say, you have a Dell computer, scroll down to DELL, and do likewise. You will be taken to the relevant information on Crucial's website.

If you don't know the make and model of the motherboard installed in your computer, here is a good free utility - Belarc Advisor - that creates an analysis of the hardware and software on a personal computer. Look under FREE DOWNLOAD - http://www.belarc.com/. Another utility that also provides detailed information on the memory itself is CPU-Z.

Linux USB and FireWire

The latest Linux distributions support USB 1.1/2.0 and FireWire devices. See these sites for more information -

Linux USB - http://www.linux-usb.org/

Linux FireWire - http://www.linux1394.org/

Note that even though the system (operating system, motherboard's chipset, and BIOS) supports USB/FireWire it does not necessarily mean that a Linux device driver is available for a particular device.

If you require more information on the subject, use the Google search box at the top of this page to conduct a search for, say, usb + linux, or firewire + linux. Use the + sign to add terms that you want to include in the search. Using a minus sign in front of a word removes that word from the search, or a special term such as - waffle gets to the point by removing garbage (not the word "waffle") from the search. You could use the same method to search for Linux USB/FireWire support for a particular device.

Click here! to go directly to many useful links to Linux websites on this page. Use your browser's Back button to return to this point on the page.

Run a distribution of Linux from a CD

On The Fly: Boot Knoppix Linux; Keep your Windows Installation Unaffected

"Given Linux' growing use and acceptance, many users want to try Linux out, but want to keep Windows installed and unblemished on their PCs as a backup. So is there a way to play with Linux and still keep Windows intact without damaging your existing OS configuration?" The Knoppix Linux distribution was created a few years ago to solve that problem. Linux newbies can use Knoppix to play with Linux, without touching their precious hard drives. Hackers will find Knoppix extremely useful, because it contains awesome security auditing and system imaging/recovery tools. Knoppix is a great Linux tool for all skill levels, and can benefit all users.

"Knoppix can be downloaded for free from KNOPPIX, and is available in either English or German language versions. After you download the ISO image, just burn it with your favorite CD Burning program (such as Ahead [or] Nero). If you have a slow Internet connection, then you can order the CD from vendors (same link as above) for about $3 to $5 USD..." - Tom's Hardware Guide.

Knowing Knoppix - 134 pages - includes information on how to use Knoppix for the disaster-recovery of a Windows system.

http://www.pjls16812.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/knowing-knoppix/index.html

http://knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

Install Linux on a laptop/notebook computer

Sales of notebook / laptop computers represented the fastest-growing area of the computer market in 2003, and are they are expected to account for at least 25% of the PC market by 2005.

Unless you're installing Linux on an elderly notebook the hardware of which is fully supported, it is usually far more difficult to install on a notebook than on a desktop computer for two main reasons.

The first reason is the highly integrated nature of a notebook computer, and its non-standard hardware. As you should know, desktop PCs are modular and are usually built of standardised components. But this is not the case with notebook computers, which have to have tightly integrated components. The manufacturers therefore have to use purpose-built chipsets that are optimised for low power consumption in order to avoid overheating problems and draining the battery power too quickly.

The manufacturers of the chipsets used in notebook computers usually don't publish details of their products openly. The technical details are provided to Microsoft and other developers associated with Microsoft, because almost all laptop and notebook computers run a version of Windows. Device drivers for the versions of Windows still supported by Microsoft are developed in advance of their release, but the developers writing drivers for Linux either have to wait for the necessary chipset information to become published, or have to determine how to write the drivers by analysing the drivers created for Windows.

For instance, if the technical details of the video chipset used in a particular notebook computer haven't been disclosed to Linux developers and you install Linux on it, you'll have to run the computer in the slow, low-resolution VGA framebuffer mode until Linux video drivers are developed for it and are then made available for download or in a new or updated distribution of Linux.

A delay of about a year should currently be anticipated between the release of a new laptop chipset and support for it becoming available in the major distributions of Linux (SuSE, Mandriva, Debian, etc.)

The second reason that Linux is more difficult to install on a notebook is making the power management and the PCMCIA adapter-card support work as it should.

If you intend to use the notebook on battery power, power management is crucial for the longest battery life. The two power management systems currently in use are APM (Advanced Power Management) and the newer (1999) and more advanced ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface).

Visit http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Battery-Powered to read a good guide on how to save battery power.

APM and ACPI support is already compiled into the kernels of the major distributions of Linux, such as SuSE, Mandriva, Debian, etc. But note well that there are still some settings that you'll have to configure manually in order to maximise the use of battery power if you want to use the notebook that way for long periods.

Then there is PCMCIA (PC card ) support. At the moment, PCMCIA support in Linux is not cutting-edge, but you should be able to get standard devices, such as a hard-disk-drives, CompactFlash adapters, and network interface cards, in PCMCIA-card form, installed automatically. Cardbus and ZV support is problematic or absent, and PCMCIA sound cards are not supported, but many PCMCIA modem drivers and some PCMCIA SCSI controllers are currently available.

If you want to install Linux on a notebook PC, you should first visit a site such as the Linux on Laptops network at:

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

The site contains a knowledge-base of information written by people who impart information on their experiences of installing Linux on laptop computers.

Note that a range laptops computers made by a manufacturer are often given different names to reflect the different hardware they contain, such as the size of the hard drive installed, not because they are vastly different machines, so, if you can't find information on the precise model of laptop that you want to install Linux on, read the information for its closest relative.

In praise of Linux and the free OpenOffice office suite

Written by Gary Burton - "I believe that the free office suite for Linux, OpenOffice, not only rivals Microsoft Office, but betters it. It can open those blasted .doc documents that people insist on sending, as well as [MS] Excel and [MS] PowerPoint files.

"Thankfully, I have discovered SuSE Linux, and with OpenOffice I can produce PDFs [Portable Document Files that the free Adobe Acrobat reader can read]. That way I don't have to worry what OS [operating system] the person I am emailing runs. OpenOffice is available for Linux, Windows and Mac [Apple Macintosh].

"MS Office is around £400 [$650]; OpenOffice costs nothing. If you want printed manuals, Sun's StarOffice [Sun's version of OpenOffice] still costs only £50 [$80]. If you buy a Linux distribution such as SuSE Linux, OpenOffice and StarOffice are included along with hundreds of other applications - all for under £50 [$80]."

Alternatives to Windows and multi-boot options

If you want to try out an alternative operating system to Windows, the most user-friendly distributions are the latest versions of Mandriva Linux and SuSE Linux Professional. They cost less significantly less than upgrade version of Windows XP Home edition while providing similar functionality as Windows XP Professional edition, because the source code is free and the user only has to pay for the customisation of the code and the support. There is no need to uninstall Windows. You can run a dual-boot system that allows you to choose which operating system to run at start-up.

Several Linux distributions are now viable alternatives to Windows. Moreover, there is no Product Activation, as is the case with the Microsoft XP products. Unlike Windows XP that requires a separate licence for each computer it is run on, you can use Mandriva and SuSE Linux on as many computers as you like.

You don't need to use a Linux driver for a hardware modem (a modem that has its own signal processor), because Linux is already programmed to run any hardware modem, but finding a driver for a winmodem (a software-driven modem designed for use with Windows) used to be a problem. However, the situation is much improved now. SuSE Linux 9.0 and higher versions can recognise and install the drivers for many winmodems automatically. But if you still need to find a driver for a winmodem, visit this site - http://www.linmodems.org/.

Visit this Build a PC page on this site for more information on modems.

You can get even more in depth tutorials on dual-booting Windows and Linux by looking here. -

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=linux+boot.ini

Or you can conduct your own search by making use of the Google search box at the top of this page.

Linux sites

Linux Distributions - latest reviews - Anandtech: http://www.anandtech.com/linux/

Computer Shopper UK - Operating systems: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/os/ has a review of the latest version of SuSE Linux Professional edition.

International vendors that sell computers pre-loaded with Linux -

Go to http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/ for an international list of vendors that sell Linux computers.

Linmodems.org - You don't need to use a Linux driver for a hardware modem (a modem that has its own signal processor), because Linux is already programmed to run any hardware modem, but finding a driver for a winmodem (a software-driven modem designed for use with Windows) used to be a problem. However, the situation is much improved now. To find a driver for a winmodem, visit this site. -

http://www.linmodems.org/

Knoppix Linux - Installs itself from a compressed CD - http://www.knoppix.net/

Read this article on this site: Windows fails: Knoppix Linux on a bootable CD to the rescue.

Knowing Knoppix Linux - 134 pages - includes information on how to use Knoppix for the disaster-recovery of a Windows system. -

http://www.pjls16812.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/knowing-knoppix/index.html

http://knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

Learn the Linux versions of common MS DOS and Windows commands -

http://channels.lockergnome.com/news/archives/008537.phtml

USB/FireWire - The latest Linux distributions support USB 1.1/2.0 and FireWire devices - See these sites:

Linux USB - http://www.linux-usb.org/

Linux FireWire - http://www.linux1394.org/

Installing Linux on a particular laptop can be idiosyncratically problematic, therefore before you try doing so, find out if it has been successfully installed on that notebook by consulting the information on a site such as this one:

The Linux on Laptops network - http://www.linux-laptop.net/

Conserving battery power is another problematic issue when using Linux on a notebook computer.

Visit http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Battery-Powered to read a guide on how to use the APM and ACPI systems to save battery power.

User manuals and technical support are provided with the retail distribution, but not with the free download, or with an unsupported, cheap CD set.

Windows/Linux software modem - If you want to purchase an excellent V.92 software modem for $20, for which Linux drivers are available, click the following link. - Modemsite.com - http://www.modemsite.com/56k/subwv92.htm

Xpde - makes a Linux desktop look like the Windows XP desktop -

http://www.xpde.com/

Linux firewall - Smoothwall - http://www.smoothwall.org/

Visit the Newsgroups page on this site for some Linux newsgroup addresses.

A good Linux site to start off with - http://www.linux.com/

This free command-line utility for Windows XP only can be used to burn an ISO file to CD/DVD disks: http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

Linux Central - http://www.linuxcentral.com/

Tips For Linux - a tip site with, at present, 36 tips for new Linux users -

http://www.geocities.com/tipsforlinux/

eLinux.com Support - tutorials, HOWTOs, video instructions on Linux -

http://www.elinux.com/support/

Linux Printing - http://www.linuxprinting.org/

The http://www.linux.org/ site is good for Linux installation information. Here is a page on the site that deals with burning a CD - http://www.linux.org/docs/ldp/howto/CD-Writing-HOWTO.html.

Visit Sun's website for information about its Linux office suite - StarOffice - which was free but now has to be paid for. But it will still be far cheaper than Microsoft's Office Suite. The StarOffice office suite became available for general distribution on 14 October 2003.

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