Michael's ArchLinux Installation

[Gregory Nowak]

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On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 04:23:38PM -0400, JP Jamous wrote:
> 1. I have an ISO of core files and another large one, in case there is no
> internet access. My question is what is it going to pull down from the
> internet upon installation? Is it Linux files, drivers, or other?

I don't use archlinux, but I'd assume it will pull down software
packages, which would probably be a combination of all three of the above.

>  
> 2. I found an Inspiron 1300 with a Celeron D and 256 MB on board. Will
> ArchLinux find the audio drivers automatically or do I have to pull them
> down and somehow link them to it? I am assuming the latter.

My guess is it might find your sound hardware automatically, but that
ultimately depends on the sound hardware in that machine. If you don't
want to spend time researching that machine's sound hardware on the
net, and how linux does with that hardware, then I would just suggest
trying it, and seeing what happens.

>  
> I have a final question, which is broken down into 4 parts.
>  
> 3. If I run both Linux and XP Pro on the machine.
>  
> A. which one should I install first?

My suggestion would be to install xp first, followed by archlinux. If
you do it the other way round, xp will clobber the gnu/linux boot
loader, and leave you with a headache that even experienced gnu/linux
users don't relish dealing with if they can help it.

>  
> B. Can I use NTFS or do I need FAT32?
>  

If you're talking about your xp install, there's no reason for you to
use fat32, unless you know of a good reason for doing so. The linux
kernel has native read support for ntfs, and you can use ntfs-3g to
write to ntfs file systems under gnu/linux as well.

> C. Is there a specific order to install both operating systems?

Like I said in my answer to A above, I'd recommend installing xp
first, followed by archlinux.

>  
> D. Will there be a duel Operating system manager to choose, which operating
> system I want to load?

Yes, you can either use the windows boot manager for this, or a
gnu/linux boot manager, such as grub. Which one you want to use
depends on your preference, and on how you set things up.

Greg


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