Case Study: How to Install Linux on a Laptop or Desktop Computer

This is a case study of installing OpenSuSE 10. It's intended for the professional Linux developer and assumes you know how to use commands like "make". If you are interesting in how to set up a server, follow the Read More link at the bottom of the page.

Clean Install versus Upgrading

If you already have a Microsoft Windows product on your computer and you want to keep it, use a partitioning program like PartitionMagic to free up disk space for Linux.

Windows XP users: Windows XP is very sensitive to changes in your hard drive layout. If you already have XP installed, make sure it remains your first partition. If you haven't installed XP, make sure you install Windows XP after Linux and then re-run the Linux boot loader. Windows 98 works fine with Linux and doesn't have these issues.

If you are upgrading your copy of Linux to a new version, be aware that, although most version of Linux have an upgrade option, upgrading is not the same as performing a fresh install. The best way to handle upgrades is to create separate /home and /usr/local partitions to protect your personal data from getting clobbered, backup /etc and then do a fresh installation. Upgrading from SuSE 9.3 to OpenSuSE 10 will upgrade your existing components but new features (like PHP5) or development files (needed to compile software) may not be available to you. In fact, they simply won't appear in Yast.

Performing the Basic Installation

Insert the first CD and start the computer. Older computers may require a boot floppy, usually available from the web.

The instructions are usually straight-forward. Be prepared to answer questions about the computer name, networking setup and account names. Don't assume the defaults are correct. OpenSuSE 10 incorrectly identifies the size of LCD displays on laptops: make sure the resolution is set to something your display can handle (in my case, 1024x768x60 Hz).

Partitioning Strategy

For a peronsal computer, a good partitioning strategy is

• /boot - if you have large hard drives and have Linux and another operating system, you'll need to create a /boot partition somewhere toward the beginning of your hard drive.
• / - this is the root of your file system. This is where everything goes unless you specify otherwise.
• /home - to keep your personal files seaprate. This makes it easier to upgrade or install new versions of Linux while keeping your personal files safe. If you install a lot of custom software, you may also want /usr/local on its own partition.
• RAID 0 - if you have two large hard drive and are concerned about performance, you can create software RAID 0 partitions. This will roughly double the loading speed.

Choosing a Desktop

OpenSuSE 10 supports both Gnome and KDE desktop managers. If you haven't used either, the default is KDE. Chose Gnome if you prefer that desktop style--either way, KDE and Gnome applications don't require a particular desktop. I installed Gnome on my laptop and KDE on my desktop.

Congratulations! You're done the basic install.

NTFS Support

If your are running a computer with NTFS (that is, Windows XP), some versions of Linux don't have NTFS built-in. You can add read-only NTFS support from http://www.linux-ntfs.org. Use fdisk -l and edit /etc/fstab to add the NT partitions with umask=222 for general user access.

Installling Additional Software

There are third-party installation sources that include software not found on the basic install discs. For OpenSuSE, configure Yast, the OpenSuSE installation tool, to use the following Yast installation sources:

ftp  - mirrors.kernel.org   - /opensuse/distribution/SL-10.0-OSS/inst-source-java
ftp  - mirrors.kernel.org   - /opensuse/distribution/SL-10.0-OSS/inst-source
ftp  - mirrors.kernel.org   - /suse/i386/10.0/SUSE-Linux10.0-GM-Extra

Optionally, get files from your install discs off the Internet using this site or a mirror:

http - packman.rsync.zmi.at - /suse/10.0

Novell also maintains a set of unsupported software for people wanting to try the latest versions of things such as the desktop software. The repository is located at ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse.

If you are running Fedora Linux, you can add third-party installation sources by editing /etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources and creating additional .repo files in /etc/yum.repos.d

Firefox

Firefox was installed by OpenSuSE 10. To create your own launcher, the Firefox icon is in /usr/share/pixmaps. Using the Firefox menus, I added the web developer toolbar and the Noia 2.0 theme.

Use Yast to search for w32codec-all, flash, realplayer, mplayer and kaffeine-mozilla. Install these to get basic web browser plug-ins.

Thunderbird

Use Yast to search for MozillaThunderbird. To create your own launcher, the icons in /usr/share/pixmaps and the executable is /opt/MozillaThunderbird/bin/thunderbird.sh.

Acrobat Reader

Use Yast to search for acroread.

GCC Ada

OpenSuSE 10 doesn't come with GCC Ada or GCC Java (most other Linux distributions include these languages). Use Yast to search for Ada.

Sun Java

Use Yast to search for Sun. Install java-1_5_0-sun, java-1_5_0-sun-alsa, java-1_5_0-sun-jdbc, and java-1_5_0-sun-plugin.

Development Interfaces

OpenSuSE 10 doesn't install most development interfaces for writing or building software. Use Yast to search for devel and install interfaces that you think you will use. For example, gtk-devel for building Gnome software, postgres-devel/libpgxx for PostgreSQL database development, mysql-devel for MySQL database development, wx-devel with wx-widget applications, gd-devel for GD drawing applications and so on.

Rebuild XMMS Music Player

Download the sources from XMMS.org. libmikmod looks old but OpenSuSE actually has the wrong version number in the file name. xmms will error on a source code bug in ir.c/h (the infrared plug-in. Just comment out the offending extern declarations in ir.h. make install will overwrite /usr/bin/xmms. To create a launcher, the XMMS icon is in /usr/share/pixmaps.

Gnome Desktop Configuration Programs

Some of the Gnome Desktop setup tools are missing from the menus. In particular, the screensaver. They are all available under /opt/gnome/bin. The Gnome screen saver configuration program is /opt/gnome/bin/gnome-screensaver-preferences. Setup lauchers for any of these that you might want to run such as the screensaver, gnome-sound-properties, and gnome-theme-manager.

Hostname

Go to Yast / Network Services /DNS and Hostname. Just change hostname, not DNS, unless you know what you are doing.

Secure Shell

Only do this after you setup the hostname. If you don't have a set of SSH keys, create a new set under your personal account using ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048

Unison (File Synchronization Tool)

Get the GTK version from the unison website and rename it as /usr/local/bin/unison.

Audacity (Sound Editor)

Use Yast to search for audacity. To create a launcher, the icon is in /usr/local/share/pixmaps.

Amule (P2P File Share Client)

Download the Amule sources. You will need the development interfaces for wx and gd, if you have not already installed them. When you build amule, it will complain about the version (even though it is OK). To create a launcher, the icon is in /usr/local/share/pixmaps.

Azureus (BitTorrent Client)

Azureus is a Java application. Download the program from the web site and unpack it in /usr/local/. To create a laucher, the icon is /usr/local/azureus/Azureus.png.

Mame (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator)

If you are a MAME user, download and build xmame (a long process). Download gxmame from freshmeat.net and build it. Run gxmame and configure all the paths you'll need. The launcher is in /usr/local/share/gxmame.

VIM (Text Editor)

OpenSuSE has syntax hilighting disabled. As a developer, I want this feature. Create a .vimrc file to enable this feature:

" have syntax highlighting in terminals which can display colours:
if has('syntax') && (&t_Co > 2)
  syntax on
endif

APM Support (Power Management)

My Thinkpad Pentium 3 laptop requires APM not APCI power management. APM is available under SuSE if you download and install the APM daemon and turn ACPI off. Unless you install APM, your laptop will not shut down properly.

1. Turn off the ACPI daemon in the Yast system services.
2. Turn off the ACPI kernel support. You can make the shutdown work by entering "acpi=off" with F2 when booting or by adding this option to the kernel line in /boot/grub/menu.lst. This will fix the problem that SuSE doesn't shut down properly.
3. APM must be downloaded using the Jem Report modified Yast. Turn it on in the Yast system services. This will automatically install the APM kernel module when you start your computer. This will let you suspend your laptop.

If you're not using SUSE, be aware that older Thinkpads have a problem with their BIOS and you may need a custom kernel with Power Management Options > APM Bios Support > "Use real mode APM Bios call to power off" to YES. Then rebuild/install the kernel.

Apache 2 Configuration

mod_include is disabled by default but it's used for the PegaSoft web site.

1. Add "Option +Include" in default-server.conf.
2. Uncomment "AddType text/html .shtml" in mod_mime-defaults.conf
3. Uncomment "AddOutputFilter INCLUDES .shtml" in mod_mime-defaults.conf
4. Change .shtml to .html in these two statements since all .html files are to be processed by mod_include
5. Discus will have to be reinstalled because the directory layout is different under SuSE from Red Hat. The discussion groups are safe in the linux_cafe directory...use this for the html directory in the Discus setup. Run 1st_setup.pl to install discus.