Installing Linux is easy, really!

I'VE HAD A REQUEST to write a series of articles about installing Linux and building one's own PC. Although I don't regard myself as a real expert in either field, I have done both a few times. So here it is.

Hopefully some helpful readers will email me with corrections and added information when I go astray, fail to explain something well enough, or otherwise fall short in knowledge regarding Linux and/or PC hardware.

Installing Linux is easy
Really. It is dead easy. Just place the coaster (Linux distro CD1) in the cup-holder (CDROM tray), and away you go. For many people this is literally about all they need to do... well, that and answer a few easy questions, get coffee, eject the CD.

But okay, it can be a little more complicated than that, I admit. What if you don't have your PC set up to boot from your CDROM drive? Do you not have a CDROM drive? That is alright: other ways work well, too.

Hardware Requirements
But "What kind of PC must I configure to run Linux?" you might ask. The answer is: practically anything. IBM has put Linux on a wristwatch, and they run it on their largest zSeries mainframes and everything in between. Yet most Linux PCs are normal.

What do you have? An ancient Intel 386 with 16MB RAM and a 400MB disk? There's a minimal Linux that will run on it, albeit a primitive version. A Pentium with 32-64MB RAM and a 1GB disk? That will run modern Linux, but don't try to run a GUI like KDE or Gnome on it -- stick to the shell and text-only applications like Lynx for web-browsing. Do you have some Intel P2 or AMD K6-2 or higher system, 128MB RAM, and 2GB or more disk?

Realistically, this is about the minimum required -- what you'll need to run any current Linux distribution with some GUI window manager and some of the modern applications available under Linux. Of course, you can do it with less (which is not true for Microsoft's latest OS's)... but some fairly capable hardware helps, if you want a Linux system that rocks.

So what's ideal? There's a wide range of fairly recent (3-5 years old) systems that will run Linux pretty well. Processor speed isn't really important -- anything above say... 300 Mhz should be bearable. Memory's more important: you need at least 128MB RAM. 256MB works better... but more is great if you can afford it, up to 512MB: higher are servers.

Disks are important, too. You'll need at least 1GB of disk storage (but you can live with less if that's all you have). Most people start Linux by dual-booting (this is easy, too), so subtract your Windows partition used space to estimate what's available for Linux. Leave 10-20% of free disk for Windows: if there's 1-2GB remaining, you can install Linux.

Of course, the more free disk space you have, the better. 1GB is just a minimum, but more -- much more -- is better. Linux can use 6GB disk, if you load everything including the kitchen sink and all of the source.

It will be helpful if you have a floppy disk drive. A CDROM drive comes in handy, too. Better that you have some CD-R or CD-R/W drive onboard, too. You'll need a floppy, CDROM, or both to install Linux, pilgrim.

But, what if I can't boot from CDROM?
If you have a CDROM drive, it's highly likely that you can boot from it. You just need to depress the "Del" key on boot at the BIOS screen, and you will get into the BIOS configuration. In there, you'll be able to set the boot sequence to use floppy, CDROM, and HD. That's all there is to it: save, exit, boot.

But I don't have a CDROM drive
Not to worry. Got an Internet connection? If so, and a floppy drive, you can download and install Linux real easy. I might get into this later, assuming there is any interest, naturally.

More to follow. Suggestions, comments, additions, and/or questions are welcome. Linux is nothing if not a big community of helpful people. µ