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What is the easiest solution to install a Linux operating system, such as Fedora?

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  • so not programming related
    – Mauris
    Nov 2, 2009 at 9:41

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Today most distribiutions are very user friendly and easy to install. All you have to do is just pick a distro, download, burn and press next as asked. After that you'll have the desktop enviroment very easy :)

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    The problems begin when you actually want to use that environment, but that's a whole 'nother issue! ;)
    – Matthew Scharley
    Nov 2, 2009 at 9:47
  • Some distros also allow you to install them from in Windows (not terribly common) and any decent VM program can mount a physical disk and install there (again allowing an install from within an existing OS).
    – ssube
    Sep 4, 2011 at 1:20
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I agree with what sblair said.

I would do the following:

  1. Goto VirtualBox website and download VirtualBox, it will allow you to install linux without altering your Windows setup.
  2. Once you have installed VirtualBox, go download yourself a distro of Linux, personally I would recommend Ubuntu as it is very user friendly, but theres a whole load of distros located here.
  3. Download the ISO
  4. Mount that ISO in virtual box, start up the VB and follow the instructions

If you have any general questions I would point you to the newbie forum on LinuxQuestions.org, or the Ubuntu forums.

Hope this helps!

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    Also, if you decide that you don't like linux, or just don't like that distro, you can just delete the VBox image, then try another distro. No harm done to your windows installation
    – user155695
    Nov 2, 2009 at 10:24
  • and if you find vbox to be terribly slow (which it is), just grab a copy of VMWare. It also has significantly better support for most OSes, and provides some integration with linux ones; I run a good variety of VMWare Linux VMs on my desktop for various development tasks, and performance and integration are incredibly better than vbox.
    – ssube
    Sep 4, 2011 at 1:22
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Go to the site of a distributor, download the cd, burn the cd, and follow the on-screen steps...

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The easiest way to try a Linux distribution, without affecting your existing system, is probably to install VirtualBox and then download a pre-made VirtualBox image from here.

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    no way. easiest is to reboot into a LiveCD. but OP's not asking for easiest way "to try", he's asking for easiest way "to install".
    – quack quixote
    Nov 2, 2009 at 10:21
  • +1 Easy solution for beginners to install for the very first time
    – ukanth
    Nov 2, 2009 at 10:29
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    Ah yes, booting a Live CD is an option - and better if you plan on running the OS natively (no VM), to check hardware compatibility. But with the pre-made VirtualBox route, you don't need to burn an ISO or even restart your computer. In my experience, Live CDs are painfully slow and not very useful for actual work - until properly installed.
    – sblair
    Nov 2, 2009 at 13:17
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Do your research. Do you want a distro for a VM or a real system? Do you want to dualboot or singleboot if its a physical system?

For most newbies i'd suggest a fairly well supported, and common distribution to start with, and one that has a livecd or minimal install cd - I tend to suggest ubuntu (for people using newer systems) or debian, but there's plenty of good newbie centered distros.

Once that's done, look up your hardware or VM software to make sure there's no known issues with what you're using

While most VM distros have a partitioner, i suggest backing up your original system (or better yet, image it with something like clonezilla, and partitioning it before even starting to install. Test if everything works.

I like to partition my systems before i even start installing, unless its a fresh install on a system with no previous OS.Even if you don't, start planning for your partitions now, before you even do the install. In any case for a newbie 2 partitions for linux is enough - one 10-20 gig partition for system, and one partition about twice as much as your ram for swap

Once all that's done, download a CD and burn it or get a installation USB ready (unetbootin is great for this), get your computer online if need be. Pop it in, run the install process, cross your fingers, and you're good to go.

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