How TO install Linux OS

Installing Linux is not a difficult job yet it requires some basic level knowwledge about computers and Linux.Once the computer satisfies all the hardware and the software requirements,the installation program can eventually start.
Mostly,you simply follow the instructions,scene by scene.You have to answer either yes or no(most cases) for most queries.Now lets see the hardware requirements

Hardware Requirements(minimal)

1. A 32-bit intel based or a compatible PC
2. A minimum 64MB RAM (few linux distros can run in 12 mb RAM )
3. A 2GB free hard disk space is suitable for most distros for standard installation.
4. Swap space is usually twice or same as that of RAM memory,that is,1GB swap space is allotted for 512 MB RAM.
5. CD-ROM drive and a 3 ½ floppy drive.(floppy drive is optional)

Other Requirements:

1.The drivers for every device has to be downloaded/acquired for the particular linux
Distro.
2. The drivers should be compatible with the distro.
3. The informations on ur mouse,CD-ROM,hard disk,video cards if any,monitors and
network configuration informations have to be known.
4. After knowing all the details,we can start the installation process.

Installing Linux

Linux distro comes in the form of CD/DVDs.They are mostly bootable.So,after inserting the CD/DVD,the system has to be restarted. The system must be enabled to boot from CD.If not,check ur BIOS settings and correct it accordingly.

You can install linux either in GUI or in text mode..The first step is to select partitions.These two partitions must be created i) / partition ii) swap partition
You can also create partitions like /home, /var etc..Another partition, /boot is usually created when / and swap partitions are created.You can create partitions even after installation but mainly these two partitions has to be created first.

Next comes the bootloader configuration screen.Here,the bootloader to be used is selected.You can also use the existing bootloader if u have multiple OS in ur system.
The most widely used bootloader for linux is GRUB bootloader.Then the required softwares has to be selected for installation..Informations like your country,time ,username and password has to be filled in..Network configuration and keyboard language selections have to be done..A final screen would request for reboot to clear all the selections made.If you press next button,then system starts formatting the partitions and installs the linux OS and the selected applications.

How To surf the net in Linux

Nowadays,most of the Linux Distros comes with the inbuilt ethernet configuration utility..But still,if the ethernet is configured improperly,it can be reconfigured using the tools like rp-pppoe and adsl rspectively.

Rp-pppoe software can be downloaded from roaringpenguin website..It can be opened either using applications menu or by typing,

#rp-pppoe in command mode.

The GUI interface opens up..The first tab consists of connection name,username and password associated with it. The second tab consists of ethernet device used,that is,eth0 or eth1..etc.Then details like dynamic ip or static ip has to be provided..If static ip is used,then ip address ,gateway ip has to be provided.After completing all the fields,the dial button is to be pressed to start the internet connection..Thus the internet connection can be established.

YELLOWDOG UPDATER MODIFIED (YUM)

Most of us would be familiar about RPM.The Redhat Package Manager installs the essential RPM files for LINUX OS distributions like RHEL,Redhat,Fedora,OpenSUSE..
But a more advanced version of installation manager is YUM.

The Yellow dog Updater, Modified (YUM) is a free software/open source command line package management utility for RPM-compatible Linux operating systems. It was developed by Seth Vidal and a group of volunteer programmers, and is currently maintained as part of Duke University's Linux@DUKE project.

Though yum is a command line utility, several other tools provide graphical user interfaces to yum, among them pup, pirut, and yumex. Seth Vidal now works for Red Hat and a number of other Red Hat programmers are involved in the development of yum.

Why YUM is gaining more popularity than RPM???
Any package to be installed is associated with different library files and .C files.(cant tell u all).If it is provided along with the distribution,then no worries..If not,it’s a hell a lot of time finding out all the dependant files…Trust me..

So to help us solve our worries,here comes YUM.,The best solution to install a package with all the necessary dependencies.
To configure YUM,
Createrepo command is used to create a repository.A repository contains many packages with complete dependencies(mostly).All it takes is to type a single command,after configuring YUM,

#yum install -y packagename

Everything gets installed..

Configuring YUM is still more easier if u download YUM configurations from websites like dag wieers and livna.org.They provide abundant packages..livna.org is mainly useful for Fedora users while dag wieers for Redhat,CentOS and RHEL..
http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/
http://rpm.livna.org/rlowiki/
Try this out too,http://www.google.com/linuxrepositories/yum.html
Have a pleasant Day..