Just installed Red Hat 9

Draupnir

Hey everybody, Im a Software Engineering student so I guessed it was about time I started getting to know how to use a Unix operating system.

I downloaded the ISO's yesterday and I have Red Hat 9 running right now. My first impression is that everything is a hell of a lot prettier here than in Windows.

My only problem is, it all seems the same as Windows to me, how can I go about learning the ins and outs of the operating system and actually use this as more than just a Windows replacement.

Basically i feel like I have a prettier version of Windows.

zAbbo

You`re referring to gnome which is just a Desktop Manager, the best way to get to grips with Linux i found is to do a lot of stuff via the command line or at least have a log window showing what the command equivlent of what the GUI is doing.

Red Alert

If you run a headless box like i do, you'll actually find that you'll learn more of the OS, simply from having to configure it.

Only thing left for me to do is start up the Serial Console access thing.

Draupnir

headless box? bah?

slartibardfast

If you want the linux 'experience', grab the minimal gentoo iso and start from stage one.

Read the handbook via links or if your soft print it off. Gentoo docs are really excellent.

Even skilled users of linux will learn stuff doing as much by hand as gentoo requires. I know its not linux from scratch, but gentoo ebuild just make mantainace easier

I rather framebuffered console at 1280x1024 myself Red Alert!

dicey

Originally posted by Draupnir

I downloaded the ISO's yesterday and I have Red Hat 9 running right now.

Redhat 9 probably isn't the best choice seeing as its end of life is the end of April - probably better to go with Fedora or debian unstable (although that said, rh9 will do the job if you don't mind the lack of updates).

nadir

ok ill second the gentoo idea if you really want to get straight into it.
Also you could try to get different services running, configure your hardware properly.etc, consult tldp.org for docs.

Paulw

Originally posted by dicey
Redhat 9 probably isn't the best choice seeing as its end of life is the end of April - probably better to go with Fedora or debian unstable (although that said, rh9 will do the job if you don't mind the lack of updates).

What's the difference between RH9 and Fedora ?

I also just installed RH9, just to mess around with, since I used RH before. Need to get my fingers back in to Linux.

dicey

Originally posted by Paulw
What's the difference between RH9 and Fedora ?

Fedora is basicly the next version of the free redhat distribution after redhat 9, but is an open source effort with Redhat input rather than being totally controlled by them.

The only new distributions with the Redhat name are the payed-for products, e.g. Redhat Enterprise Linux 3 in its different varieties.

I haven't actually gone to Fedora yet myself (using Redhat9 and Debian Unstable), but I've heard good things about it.

Paulw

I think I'll wait a little while before upgrading to Fedora. There seems to be an upgrade option from RH9.