I remember the first time I installed Linux, I had never seen Linux on a system before, didn't want to use a virtual machine and I was going to install it on my new laptop. On top of all these, I downloaded Ubuntu 8.04 Alternate CD image, which has no live-booting feature or even a graphic user interface for the installation, everything was console configuration. I spent hours doing the installation, there were over 10 steps (I strongly think) and I knew less than nothing about ext, ext2, ext3, swap space, grub and root. I got terribly stuck at the mount point, swap file and home partition configuration, I wasn't allowed to get to the next step until I had tried nearly all the options. I was sweating inside and couldn't wait to finish and see if the laptop will recognize its power button. Fortunately, God answered my Jonah modelled prayer, the laptop responded when I pressed the power button. It spent so much time on the VAIO logo display, my heart did a short sprint. Finally, it moved on and into the Ubuntu and my feelings were so mixed I couldn't breathe steady. I was extremely happy I had installed a Linux OS and also miserable that I had wiped off my Windows Vista before making a recovery disc.

That was about 3 years ago, though it's not a long time but in computer world it's like half a century. I, definately, have moved ahead and even installed Linux (several distros) over 30 times on over 10 laptops (most probably). So in this post I will share with your two vital Linux tips, or should I say keyboard shortcuts that I have been overusing.


TIP 1
Arguably the best feature of Linux (for enthusiasts) is that you can can install tens of full feature softwares on a disk space size Windows will use to install just one of those softwares. Take me for instance, my Fedora is installed on a 4GB partition (inclusive of swap space and Home) and yet I run out of space on my 50GB Windows XP partition nearly every month without ever running out of space on my Fedora (please, don't take this literally). In the end I get to have all the applications I want on my Linux, so it is often a task (medium size one) to search out the the application I want to run. This is where the Tip 1 comes to the rescue.
I just press the ALT and F2 key (on the keyboard) at the same time, then a small box come on screen and I type the name of the application I want to run. The best part of this is that it guesses the application as I provide the characters of the name, making it more than easy when I'm not sure of the application's name.

TIP 2
When we first get to know about Linux, we strongly believe it is all keyboard and blackscreen, no mouse pointer or GUI. Actually it used to be, and can still be (if you make it be). So the easiest (or cheapest) way to make it be is by installing a fancy GUI linux distro and booting into the dummy's galaxy of no more, then go further by using the key combination --


CTRL + ALT + F1

CTRL + ALT + F2

CTRL + ALT + F3

CTRL + ALT + F4

CTRL + ALT + F5

CTRL + ALT + F6

CTRL + ALT + F7

On some distros (like Fedora), the GUI is on F1 not F7.



Thanks for reading my blog, if you have any comment feel free to use the comment box. Have a great day.

Step 1
Download or copy from someone who has, the Linux OS image (always in .iso format)
Step 2
If you do not have a software that can burn CD or DVD image, then download active@ ISO Burner, it is free. (Most CD burning utilities can burn images, I know of Nero and Roxio)
To make USB flash images, dowload liveusb-creator-3.7 free utility.
Step 3
Install these softwares and run them. The liveusb-creator-3.7 does not need installation, just extract the zip file and run the application

From Drop Box

Step 4
Insert the empty CDor DVD into your drive and set the parameters on the active ISO burner to that shown below

But if your CD or DVD drive is not very strong, set the Speed to 10x for CD and 4x for DVD. In fact, those settings are recommended even if your drive is new. This prevents error in the data burned since you will end up burning till the edge of the CD or DVD considering the size of the images which nearly equals the total capacity of the CD or DVD.
Then browse to the directory of the Linux OS image file and select it in the source box below.

From Drop Box

For the USB flash image,

click the browse button and select the image file. Indicate the Target Device and create live USB.
Step 5
Reboot your computer and set the boot sequence to use DVD/CD drive and USB drive before Hard Disk.
Voila! Your computer will boot into the Linux OS, just make sure you do not install the Linux yet, and choose 'Boot without installing' or 'Run without any changes to your computer'. Now you can tryout the Linux OS without installing it on your hard disk.