A brief guide to installing Linux

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A brief guide to installing Linux

This section provides a roadmap to the rest of this chapter, which is a brief guide to preparing your computer for Linux. I'll explain the basic first steps of the installation process here, but I won't cover actual software installation until Chapter 2, "Installing Linux as a File Server." When you install Linux, you should follow these basic steps:

1. 
   

   Check your hardware. While I've never had any problems with basic components, not all hardware works with Linux. (For that matter, not all hardware works with Microsoft Windows XP/2003, either.)

   
   


2. 
   

   Plan your partitions, the areas of your hard drives where Linux will be installed. I provide some typical scenarios in this chapter.

   
   


3. 
   

   Make sure your partitions work within the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS).

   
   


4. 
   

   Select an appropriate format for each partition. Later in this chapter I'll explain how this works with Disk Druid, the Red Hat installation partition-management tool.

   
   
   


5. 
   

   If you're planning to dual-boot with Microsoft Windows, split your existing partitions as needed.

   
   


6. 
   

   Learn the basic steps associated with installing Red Hat Linux.

   
   


7. 
   

   Continue the installation using Chapter 2 as a guide.