Yesterday I went to one of my cousin's house.The aim was to install one special flavour of Ubuntu Linux called IT @ School.Basically I am a .Net developer and have a very limited experienced in Linux.My experiences had given me a understanding that installing Linux is difficult task and working with that is again another big task having limited knowledge in hand.But I took that as a challenge.
What is IT@School
This is a project by Kerala Govt to ensure the IT awareness in the schools.Kerala Govt already said good bye to Microsoft and welcomed Linux.Obviously it is not wise to buy Windows licenses for each schools.Even I have to learn basic Linux to talk with the next generation here.I strongly believe that all the establishments here will move to Linux in the future because cyber law is getting strength in India.According to the nature of the people here if something is free of cost which will satisfy their needs, they will definitely go for that.
How to install LinuxWhen I was in college I had tried installing RedHat Linux which was not in syllabus(Now most of the colleges moved to Linux).At that time I had to keep 2 OSs.Win98 and Linux.That was the painful task.The intallation order was Windows then Linux.When I play something in Linux and if that crashes I had to reinstall both.Very tough.At that time the resources were very limited too.(10GB HDD ,500Mhz Intel and 64MB RAM)
But now things are very much easier.The systems got enough or more than that in configuration.Running a Virtual PC machine is not a big deal.
Now you might have got the idea of running more than one OS without pain.Just create a virtual machine and install the Linux Distribution in it.No dual boot or MBR changes.Take a backup just after installing everything in case of any crash because it is Linux.Restore it whenever needed.
IT@School distribution has got a good documentation even step by step installation guide in Malayalam with screenshots.Even with that I had to install twice to get a working installation.Any way it is nice.
