hi im in need of information

right now i really want to get linux but i dont know which one to get
or what happens to my files when i get it

i have about 5k songs on itunes and i cant misplaceany of them but i really want to use amaroK

but if i get linux would all my folders with the mp3s still be there and would it be easy to convert them to amaroK

I would be very grateful for any help
and maybe also a link to a site to help with troubleshooting for whichever version of linux is the best

Ty

You have two options:

a) remove windows completely and install a linux distribution
b) install a linux distro as a dual boot setup.


a) This would require you to back up every thing which you value to be important. Also, this is a rather risky procedure since you could inadvertantly lose data which you either forgot to backup or did so improperly. As a fresh convert, I would opt for option b.

b) This requires having enough free disk space to install a full linux distribution. Expect a couple of gigabytes if you install a distro which is oriented for the newcomer. I would recommend either PCLinuxOS, SuSE or Mandriva, both of which are freely downloadable from various mirrors.

Dual booting allows you to access any of files located in your windows filesystem from linux. A word of warning - i would still recommend a backup since playing with the filesystem could be dangerous.


With regards to amaroK, there is no need for any conversion. As long as they are mp3\'s, you\'ll be fine - as long as your distribution sets you up fine. If not, join us on irc at #amarok irc.freenode.net

For which distro you should choose, do a little bit of research, search google and ask questions on forums, such as www.linuxquestions.org

Hth, and hope to see you around
sebr

Mandriva is extremely good Suse is also very good

Mandriva 2005 is the latest

SuSe 9.3 is the latest.

help!
www.linuxquestions.org
Linux Isos by Bittorrent (best option to avoid corruptions FTP may bring)
www.openbits.org



Linux in any flavour DOES NOT!! support Writiting to NTFS filesystems the default for windows 2000+..


When i first moved i had everything on NTFS file systems.
i kept it there for a while / i just cant give up perfect file safety in a readonly state

But over time i moved everything to DVD-rs/ hard drives anything i could etc.

so that i could delete each NTFS partition one at a time.

It is always a good idea to have a harddrive divided into slices,
If one partition fails damage is contained, and a process like this is easier.


Once you have cleared NTFS or made your self some space. about 10 - 20gig is good for a permanent linux install.

Mandriva is by far the easiest to install it will give a quick wizard to set up your harddrive, and to install what you want. Suse will too but once installed Mandriva is still the easiest to configure.



There are 3 important partitions
/
equivilant to c:\\ and it should be no lesss than 10 gig just like windows.

swap partition preferably 1 gig (basically a seperate hdd used similar to pagefile.sys is windows)


/home partition is personal preference but suggest it to be big as possible.
as this is where all your settings/desktop/documents/user cache are stored.


I also added extra partitions
mount points are usually under /mnt/ you find devices you have here
extra hdd , cd dvdroms USB storage etc.

/mnt/downloads this is 1where i point my Bittorrent client files for fragmentation reasons.

/mnt/music
made this 80gig and i rip all my music library here.


enjoy



once finished
visit here
http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/index.php?lan ... fix=#third

and you have a lot more packages to play with.
Urpmi adds new software to the software database for what you have access to.

captiva is what you need. works pretty decent. best solution, though: just delete all that ntfs / fat ****

...muesli