Re: Linux, Jolt, and the meaning of the universe

Anand Kumria (wildfire@nospam.ftoomsh.socs.uts.edu.au)
Fri, 14 Jul 1995 01:43:13 +1000 (EST)

On Thu, 13 Jul 1995, James Richard Webster wrote:

> 2. I have heard in the past that Diamond cards are not supported, but I
> recently read in a book in the Co-op I was idly flicking through :), that
> Diamond has offered support for XFree86... is this true? Is it really
> that much of an issue anyway, considering that I (and anyone else) can
> run Windoze at 800*600*16 straight out of the box, i.e. before loading
> any special Windows driver. SHouldn't this be the same for
> Xwindows/Linux? I have a Diamond Stealth 32 PCI card if it helps.

I believe that Diamond cards which use an S3 chip are the ones
which are not currently supported by XFree. They plan to include such
support in 3.2, but I don't have any idea when that will be out.

> 3. I am considering purchasing a network card and CD-ROM drive sometime
> in the future (probably AFTER i install Linux), is it a pain to install
> new hardware once the OS is installed?

Nope. About as difficult as DOS. If you want "no hassles" with
your CD-ROM stuff, I'd suggest getting a SCSI card and CDROM drive. Most
of the SCSI drivers are more "mature" than their SB,IDE etc CDROM drivers.

> 5. What would be the best way to start with Linux. I suppose it would
> be purchasing a CD (I can borrow a CD-ROM drive), but which CD is the
> best. I have considered getting INfoMagic's Linux Developer Kit (4
> CD's), which maybe more than I need, but hopefully will keep me going. I
> have only seen retailers in Melbourne with this CD tho.

Check in aus.computers.linux, or ask there about distributors.
You will probably find the Slackware _distribution_ the easist to
install, the first time around. It comes on a variety of CDs (Infomagic,
Walnut Creek's Official Slakcware, Trans-Ameritech, etc.)
If it helps I have a spare copy of the Infomagic March set
(Slackware 2.2.0) for $20. But you might want to wait until August, when
the next release comes out.