* 16533406@bellsouth.net (16533406@bellsouth.net) [031126 10:21]: > I have always wanted to know if UNIX/LINUX is for me, and eventually > replace my windows OS. I want, very much, to install it on my old system > to give it a real feel/try...I have been told that DEBIAN has releases for > "older" UNIX/LINUX OS's [as well as the Pentium machines]. What is it? I'm sure you can find a good use for Linux, but to be fair, you should compare things on even footing. If your first (only?) impression of a debian system is a 3-year-old release on 7-year-old hardware, and you're comparing it to your latest-and-greatest windows box, I fear that you won't get a good perception of what a GNU/Linux system can do for you. Of course, it can do just about anything, and that old pentium machine of yours might make a fine firewall and/or fileserver, but that wouldn't really be a replacement for your windows box. So I just want to caution you that if your ultimate goal is something to replace your windows box, you should be looking at current software on decent hardware, to get a feel for what sort of a desktop system you can run on GNU/Linux. > ... My > old system does not have a CD on it...can I still put a release on it? I > can copy files to [3 1/2"] diskettes from my CD on my big system? Where > can I get a "disk" [3 1/2"] version of the software? Thanks for helping me > to get started! Surely, even the latest release of Debian is installable via floppies. Does the machine you'll be installing on have network access? A very popular installation method is a network install (that's how I've always done them, anyway). This way, you begin the installation with a couple of floppies -- enough to get your network card up and running, and then continue downloading the rest of the system from the Internet. The best place to start will be to read the installation manual [1]. It explains the different installation methods that are available to you and describes where to get floppy images. (You'll download floppy images -- 1440KB files -- which are written directly to the floppies with a program such as rawrite.) [1] http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual Please don't hesitate to continue to ask questions on this list as well. Each time someone wipes a windows partition for a debian install is a small victory towards a free world! good times, Vineet -- http://www.doorstop.net/ -- "If you can put it on a T-shirt, it's speech... To enjoin the T-shirts as a circumvention device is ludicrous." --Robin Gross, EFF staff attorney
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