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Answer» TL;DR at the bottom.
I've used Linux on and off for ~2 years now and want to get the most out of it.
Firstly, I would like to know if anyone here has a good distribution for a Dell Inspiron Mini 10.1v, as listed in my specs. I'd like to dual boot so preferably an OS with an installation that can SET up GRUB to do this automatically, as I use XP right now and want to be able to carry on using it. I put Ubuntu on it before, but it ran quite slowly (and videos on things like YouTube ran awfully, XP runs that all fine). If Ubuntu has ways of dealing with less-endowed set-ups that would appreciate the simple right to YouTube videos, then that would be great because I'm familiar with Ubuntu and as far as I can tell it's a good distro. When I turned off desktop effects, the desktop ran reasonably well. I'm still concerned, however, that Ubuntu as it is now isn't ideal for a 1GB RAM system...
Secondly, I am comfortable with Win32, etc.. I know how to develop slightly useful programs in Windows with C++; a language I know quite well now. As you could imagine, I'm finding it hard to love Linux development considering what I'm used to. Actually, I haven't the faintest idea how to develop for Linux in C++; any links would be great for that because I understand Linux software has a great set of communities and would rather get involved with that (and learn more about Linux, too) than get too involved with Windows. As for my difficulty in transferring, it's not that I FEEL Linux development is in any way inferior, I just prefer Visual Studio to Code::Blocks (so if there's an alternative that most Linux developers use I would like to hear about it) and it's hard searching for help in programming for a Linux API, if such a thing exists.
I've also had trouble installing before (yes I know, the list of my issues with an OS I should've learnt better in 2 years carries on) and I really don't know much about:
* How Linux works underneath (or if there is a huge number of differences between distros, then how Ubuntu at the very least operates).
* How applications are installed and where their binaries are kept.
* How and where user data is kept.
* How desktops are managed (attempted and failed to move over to Awesome after it was recommended).
* How to get a command working in the terminal (in Windows, you would put the executable in System32 or maybe do something less dangerous and more intelligent to get the Command Prompt to recognise the name).
And just general OS tasks, like installing programs (I'm given .tar.gz2's instead of installers and I have no idea how to use them, and there is a lot of talk about packages, repositories and libraries that's going over my head), and anything else that could be useful, since I basically know nothing.
I'd like to add that I may come across frustrated, but I have been nothing but impressed by Linux while I've been using it so far. Out of ignorance I expected laggy, poorly maintained software and incredible complexity, and actually the performance is more than decent, software is amazingly maintained, and it's not quite as complicated as I expected (but still hard, as any new set of OSs would be).
Many thanks are in ORDER to anybody who would help me with any of these problems!
TL;DR:
* Can I get Ubuntu to run well on my netbook listed in my specs, or is there a more suitable distro for 1GB RAM and a video accelerator?
* How do I get started with development on Linux using C++?
* Would like to know basics++ of managing Linux.
* Also how to manage desktops.
* And how installation works.
* Also how to get the terminal to automatically use certain binaries when entering the appropriate name.BUMPOh, and I just installed Ubuntu on my netbook in the end, is running alright and I don't mind putting up with a little laggyness.In case you are still looking, I use Mint 13 "Cinnamon" on my Toshiba Netbook with dual-core Atom CPU dual boot with XP Home and 1GB Ram and it runs well. I also have a 90GB OCZ Agility SSD in it to make it snappy in regards to boots and application launches.
Quote from: Veltas on September 08, 2012, 02:09:11 PM TL;DR at the bottom.
Very sensible.
Quote from: Veltas on September 08, 2012, 02:09:11 PM* Can I get Ubuntu to run well on my netbook listed in my specs, or is there a more suitable distro for 1GB RAM and a video accelerator?
If you're concerned about performance, install Xubuntu instead, which uses a more lightweight window manager (used to be Fluxbox, I think - not sure what they're using now - possibly Enlightenment or one of the other low resource WMs).
If you're really REALLY concerned about resource problems, use VectorLinux or to be extreme, *censored* Small Linux.
Quote from: Veltas on September 08, 2012, 02:09:11 PM* How do I get started with development on Linux using C++?
Here's a pretty good starting point, if you're looking for a decent IDE: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24109/c-ide-for-linux#24119
And as for programming, try this: http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/C++Programming-HOWTO.html
Quote from: Veltas on September 08, 2012, 02:09:11 PM* Would like to know basics++ of managing Linux.
BASH primer: http://pensivepenguin.com/2011/10/29/bash-primer/
Read the documentation for your distribution of choice. E.g. https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/serverguide/index.html
Quote from: Veltas on September 08, 2012, 02:09:11 PM* Also how to manage desktops.
https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/ubuntu-help/index.html plus the above
Quote from: Veltas on September 08, 2012, 02:09:11 PM* And how installation works.
https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/installation-guide/index.html
Quote from: Veltas on September 08, 2012, 02:09:11 PM* Also how to get the terminal to automatically use certain binaries when entering the appropriate name.
You'll be interested in the command "alias". Read about that in the BASH documentation. Also read about the .bashrc file.
Quote from: Rob Pomeroy on September 25, 2012, 10:13:17 AMVery sensible.
What can I say? I know how to keep people's attention.
Quote from: Rob Pomeroy on September 25, 2012, 10:13:17 AMhttps://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/installation-guide/index.html
By installation I actually mean program installation, not OS installation. I may not have made that clear enough in my TL;DR.
On Windows, for example, I know that programs are installed to directories with their company name in the Program Files / Program Files (x86) folders and user data goes to the APPDATA folder, etc.. On Ubuntu I don't really know where programs get installed to in a typical installation, but I know it's something to do with a 'Debian' package manager or thereabouts. I think user data gets installed in the folder with your username as its name in files that start with a period mark and then have the name of the program they're storing data for, but for all I know they do something else. For example:
.firefox
As for all the other links, thanks! They all look very helpful and I'll be sure to get started developing if I get some free time.On Linux and Unix, programs are generally installed into a bin or sbin directory. These are usually located at the file system root / and the /usr directory. Programs have many choices of where to store data or preferences, but ~/.appname is a common choice. Also sometimes used are the usr, share, lib, and var folders located in various locations throughout the disk.
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