UNSW Compsoc Installfest April 9 (1 Viewer)

[anti]

Hey guys,

I'm advertising (!!!) here because I know a few of you are Linux fans, and geek stuff isn't everybody's cup of tea.

The UNSW Computing Society is holding a Linux Installfest this Saturday April 9, from 10:30am to 4:30pm. The idea of an Installfest is that n00bs (like me) can get Linux (a distro of your choice!) installed on your computer (or laptop) by a trained professional (okay.. a volunteer from the Society). It's good for those of you who've always wanted Linux but don't have the time or knowledge or blind courage required to work your way through the sometimes painful installs.

If you'd like to come along and help that's great - you'll be able to meet some friendly folks from SLUG (Sydney Linux Users Group) and CompSoc, the UNSW Computing Society. If you'd like to come along to get Linux installed you're welcome too (but current students will get preferences). Distros we commonly install are Debian, Fedora, Mandrake and this year, Ubuntu!

The Installfest is at UNSW Oboe lab, which is the lab closest to the gigantic sphere at the top of the University walk. If you'd like to come, reply to this thread or email me directly - any queries you have can also be resolved thru email (phoebegoh at gmail dot com)

 

[santaslayer]

I told a friend about it. Whether she goes or not I dunno. My names Chris.

 

[sladehk]

Do we just bring the hard-disk or the whole PC only?

 

[anti]

Entire PC.

 

[sladehk]

I was just wondering, would they be able to configure the installation so that my XP still works even though i will have linux installed?

 

[anti]

Yup for sure. A lot of people ask about dual-booting since nobody wants to lose their games (except quake)

It helps if you can partition your drive in advance - back up things you want to keep including install files (or have them available on CD) and reformat. Sometimes it's possible to repartition without formatting but if you're using a computer like mine (ie. 40gigs unpartitioned which has been in use for several years) it's usually wisest to throw it all in and start with a fresh hd.

The guys 'n' girls there are smart cookies though so they should be able to help you to do that if you have no clue.

 

[inasero]

i have a external 3.5" USB HDD. Can i install linux on it separately and use it as a portable computer by plugging it into other computers wherever i go?

 

[snapperhead]

i have a external 3.5" USB HDD. Can i install linux on it separately and use it as a portable computer by plugging it into other computers wherever i go?

permissions etc aside
would usb be quick enough? I would say yes to firewire but maybe to usb

 

[inasero]

great! hmm...its USB 2.0...i dont mind waiting for it...should be worth it hehe
problem is im in melbourne

 

[anti]

You could always use a linux-on-a-cd such as Knoppix.. is that what you're asking?

(and Hellven - keep the spam out of this thread please.)

 

[snapperhead]

You could always use a linux-on-a-cd such as Knoppix.. is that what you're asking?

(and Hellven - keep the spam out of this thread please.)

is that the one where it boots etc off a dvd?

hmmm...interesting.
I think Ina was asking though could you run a linux distro off an external USB drive to save having to install it on your main HD

 

[withoutaface]

If you can't work your way through a Fedora Core or Suse install how are you going to be able to make any sense of the operating system itself?

 

[poloktim]

Yup for sure. A lot of people ask about dual-booting since nobody wants to lose their games (except quake)

It helps if you can partition your drive in advance - back up things you want to keep including install files (or have them available on CD) and reformat. Sometimes it's possible to repartition without formatting but if you're using a computer like mine (ie. 40gigs unpartitioned which has been in use for several years) it's usually wisest to throw it all in and start with a fresh hd.

The guys 'n' girls there are smart cookies though so they should be able to help you to do that if you have no clue.

What installer of Debian are they using?

If they're using the pre-Sarge installer, that can actually partition hard-drives on the fly. It's really very good. We used it for the South Coast Linux Users' Group and the UOW School of Information Technology and Computer Science Student Society (SITACS Student Society, or S3), and it worked a dream. It operates by having the user tell the installer how big they want the already existing partition to be.

For example, you've used thirty gigabytes of a one hundred and twenty gigabye harddrive. You can enter a number between thirty and one hundred and twenty, and the existing partition (be it FAT32, NTFS, or the filesystem that MacOS uses, which I think is ReiserFS or HFS). If you enter seventy, the existing partition will be given seventy gigabytes of free space, and Linux will be set up on the remaining fifty gigabytes (you wouldn't want to have that much space dedicated unless you know you're going to be a power user, like I am).

Just a question, would those who go to have Linux installed need to bring monitors/keyboards and mice with them? Or is it in a computer lab where students have access to that sort of equipment (and so only need to cart their boxes)?