a somewhat off-topic question about linux

[John Salerno]

Duncan Booth wrote:
> John Salerno wrote:
> 
>> I'm interested in trying out Linux, probably Ubuntu, but I was wondering 
>> which distribution you guys like to use (because it's a pain trying to 
>> decide!) and you guys are smart.
> 
> If you just want to try out Linux then a very easy way is to use VMWare 
> Player: download it from http://www.vmware.com/products/player/. You can 
> then run almost any Linux you wish directly on your windows system, no need 
> to reboot or anything. Start with Browser Appliance which is a cut-down 
> installation of Ubuntu (but it is configured so that things like the 
> clipboard interact properly with Windows clipboard, and you can share files 
> by sharing folders on windows and connecting to them from Ubuntu). Then you 
> can use the package manager (on the System menu) to install Python and 
> other packages (when it asks for a password use 'vmware' if you are using 
> the default 'vmware' user).
> 
> You need about 2Gb of free disk space to install and use VMWare and Browser 
> appliance: all of the Linux file system is stored in one file which expands 
> as required up to 9.5Gb maximum (it helps performance if you keep the file 
> defragmented: use contig.exe from www.sysinternals.com).
> 
> Once you have Vmware installed, as well as Ubuntu, you can also download 
> Linux images for Novell/Suse, RedHat and literally dozens of other versions 
> of Linux and Unix variants, some preconfigured for specific applications 
> try them out and then throw them away. The only limits are your disc space.
> 
>> And to keep it Python related, I'll also ask, is there anything special 
>> I need to know about using Python on Linux? Do any things change, or can 
>> it be used just as I use it on Windows?
>>
> The main difference is that it is much easier to install packages which are 
> part of the Ubuntu distribution: just run up the package manager, select 
> the ones to install and download and install happen automatically.
> 

Thanks!