Download fdisk linux

Who's afraid of a little Linux?

We all know men never stop and ask for directions when driving. That's why they buy a $300 portable global positioning satellite gadget that fits into the PCMCIA slot on their $2,000 laptop that $100 mapping program on a CD-ROM drive. The whole mess plugs into a converter that sticks out of their cigarette lighter socket. This saves them the expense of stopping the car and asking someone, "Is the turnoff to Morristown, N.J. left or right from Route 46 to I-286?"

Which brings us directly to the Linux operation system. If you're too proud to ask for help, Linux will kill you. There are actually mental institutions with "Linux Wards." They are filled with poor souls who either did not attain the state of Linux or are convinced that Linux is life; life is Linux.

Linux came originally from Finland. The Finns have a language not based on Japanese, German, Swahili or any of the other romance languages. There is very little in their written or spoken language the rest of us can relate to. For example, Pepsi is spelled "Knyttr" and pronounced "Burp." Or so I'm told.

This may explain why there are so many ways to pronounce Linux. People who grew up running Lionel trains say "Lye-nooks." More sophisticated users say "Lynne-necks." And really insufferable people call it "le new," as if speaking with a phony French accent. This is also a "double entendre" where they also mean that Linux is the new big thing. Le New Linux, eh? Qui? Qui?

Linux is supposed to be a rock-stable platform that never, never crashes. It's attractive because it's the result of an effort by clean thinking, clear-eyed visionaries who work hard to do an end-run around the taint and squabbles of all the big monopolistic companies who lack vision. It's also free. Actually, it's attractive because it's free. Forget the rest.

That's right, go to the 'Net and download all the Linux you need to get started. A few companies such as Caldera and Red Hat charge a small amount for it, but they enhance it and add many programs to the free stuff. Corel and others have converted their word processors and other items to Linux. Netscape also runs on Linux. So, if you don't want to give Bill Gates another red cent, this is the way to go especially if you can't afford an iMac.

With all the talk in the computer press, you'd think that Linux is the next big thing for your desktop. It's not. What they are talking about is using Linux for something called "servers," which I'm sure you know all about. Usually "server" is used with words like "the server crashed again," or words my editor won't let me print (how true). The latest version of Linux is giving the makers of expensive commercial server software time to reflect. Actually, it's giving them ulcers.

I don't have a server, so I don't need Linux. But fortune smiled upon me when a big bolt of lightning hit the local FM radio station. First, it temporarily reduced the number of stations playing country and western music by one. Second, the bolt sent a zillion volts to my new PC, which was declared brain dead by my insurance company who gave me the body for dissection.

Scrounging parts from several other hurt PCs, I had Mr. PC burnout in working order faster than you can say "Country's Greatest Hits!" It was time to give Caldera's version of Linux a try. I figured a free computer and free operating system were destined by some kind of silicone-based karma to be together. I had a working PC running at 120 MHz with 32MB of memory and a gigabyte of hard drive space. More than enough to run Linux.

Installation

The start of the installation was easy, I popped in the Caldera disk and turned on the PC. Soon the words L-I-N-U-X appeared on the screen and we were off and running. Since Linux works on the client-server principal, you can add modules. Caldera's disk was filled with everything from Web browsers to word processors to sound editors. It also had a lot of things I had never heard of, never knew that I needed, and all kinds of tools to modify these programs.

I was given a choice of a complete system, minimal system, recommended system or custom system. I chose recommended. Then I hit two snags.

First, Linux install told me that my "DOS Partitioned" hard drive could hold the files but could not boot from the drive. It could only boot from a diskette when used that way. Second, Linux could not find the second SCSI drive. It had to do with drivers. Drivers are bits of code that tell the computer what a piece of hardware is and how to use it. It's like the recipe cards delis give out when offering tripe and tongue. Just having five pounds of it is not enough. You have to be told what to do with it.

A call to Caldera gave me two bits of info. First, I needed to use the Linux version of FDISK to prep the hard drive and second, I needed a diskette of supplemental drivers to find the one that worked with the SCSI card. (The same card worked with DOS, Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/98.)

I was instructed to put the Linux distribution CD in another PC and copy a certain directory onto a diskette. Then Linux could read the drivers and install the right one for our SCSI card.

Once the formatting was done we started again. This time we had no problems with the hard drives.

The system took about an hour to install, then more time to setup.

Now the VGA card was the problem. In the text pages, the first letter of each line was on the extreme right hand side of the screen. Back to the tech and the discovery that the card may be "too old." This was odd, as my 1989 version of DOS worked fine with it, as did ALL versions of Windows.

A new card was found, and it was time to - GASP! - reinstall the system FROM THE BEGINNING! It was back to the boot disk and L-I-N-U-X.....

This time everything installed fine, and I supplied a name and password to log on. Actually it was TWO names and passwords, one for the "Super User" who had access to the main Linux files and one as a "simple user."

It was never explained why the letters "Col" HAD to be in front of my user name. So John became ColJohn. Imagine the confusion if Linux were used in the Pentagon. Would a Private named John be mistaken for a Colonel named John? Wars have been fought over lesser things.

When all was done I eagerly rebooted the machine, typed in ColJohn and my password. I was about to embark on a trip through the rock-solid, unflappable world of Linux and those free programs that give Bill Gates nightmares.

Then, all of a sudden "Invalid Password" popped up.

Huh? I am really good at passwords and user names, so I typed it again.

Again, "Invalid Password" appeared.

About this time, with three days of installation and hardware behind me, I realized I was out of my depth. To heck with Linux, I'll just put DOS programs on the darned PC. Cursing all things Finnish except my wife, I popped in a DOS disk, FDISKed the drives and reformatted them for DOS. Then I reinstalled DOS 6.22. I was back in familiar territory - or so I thought!

When I rebooted the PC, it began to spell out L-I-. Then it locked up. Despite what should have removed all traces of Linux, it was still on the drive in some damaged form! It was like some kind of athlete's foot that just wouldn't go away! Shaken, I called Caldera.

"Oh, yeah," said the tech. Boot from a DOS disk and type "FDISK/MBR." I did and Linux was exorcised from the machine. "FDISK/ MBR" is an undocumented DOS command, which means it doesn't officially exist.

Here's the kicker: Caldera's system is supposed to be the EASIEST of the Linux sets available. Imagine what the HARD ones are like.

I really want to use Linux. But unlike the lost motorist in New Jersey, I know when to pull over. Because of the modular approach, I am told that the installation of the "kernel" or base system is a nightmare that most system administrators only have to endure once or twice in their careers. Once installed, Linux is supposed to be so stable that it seldom has to be redone.

I know some Linux hot shots who owe me some favors. I'm going to bring my PC to them and let them set it up while I suck down their coffee. When you have to resort to using an arcane and undocumented DOS command to undo what you've done, you KNOW you are in deep water.

Maybe in a few months I'll have mastered Linux. Then I can look at you using Windows 98 and sniff, "Oh, well I don't use Microsoft products. I use Le New." Feel free to throttle me with your mouse at that time.