So you want us Window$ to convert to Linux? Tell me how......

[croxis]

....for free, of cource.
I wanna play FreeCiv!

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"Only dead fish follow the stream."

[Thue]

Well; it is easy but not quite free to buy a linux mandrake CD from www.cheapbytes.com . The install itself should be relatively simple, and include a partition resizeing tool. If you are moderately computer competent I think it should be possible to just insert the CD-ROM and follow the instructions as they come.
(the CD-ROM is bootable, so if your computer is not very old you won't need to make boot floppies, but can just insert the CD-ROM and reboot)

It is also possible to
-install directly over the internet (see instructions on the linux distribution owners homepage, I haven't tried this)
-download an ISO image and burn your own CD
-borrow a CD from someone else, or borrow it from the local librery like me , qhich is perfectly legal
[This message has been edited by Thue (edited May 09, 2000).]

[Kumiorava]

There is a whole bunch of more or less easy Linux distros out there, Mandrake, SuSE, Redhat, Slackware, Debian just to name some.
Goto for example linux.org to find out which one best fits your needs, and what do you need to run it. Linux will run smoothly from the same hard drive as Windows without too much trouble, so you don't have to dispose of your old OS. Look at the specs of different distros to find out how much drive space you'll require.

SuSE, Mandrake and Redhat commercial versions, at least, all come with bootable CDs. If you are running a box config, you'll propably have to change your bios settings a bit to boot from the CD-ROM drive. Hit when your system boots up, and change the boot-up sequence in the BIOS so that CD-ROM is the first drive to check for a boot image. See the BIOS help to figure out how to do that. Then save and exit BIOS, and put in your Linux distro CD before the system looks for a boot image. If you did it right, the system will boot from the CD.

Most distros you ca also download for free. You might miss out some commercial software though, and since SuSE, for example, is packed on 6 CDs (if you install EVERYTHING ,including available sources, it all rounds off to around 11 gigabytes after installation), I don't see anyone downloading it, even with a T1 or a cable modem. =)

[Thue]

Thanks for making a more readable introduction than mine, Kumiorava .

[Kumiorava]

*takes a bow*

[rp]

To return to the subject: you don't need Linux to play Freeciv, any Unix variant will do, and ports exist for non-Unix platforms such as Windows. If you're stuck with Windows, maybe you can help with the Windows port.

[Jing]

It's certainly true that you don't need Linux to play Freeciv. But for a reasonably computer savvy Windows user, getting into Linux is not such a bad idea, and through dualboot you can keep Windows as well. Of course, for an "average" user, a native Windows port would be much nicer. It would be great if someone could help with that.

[Kumiorava]

The supported platforms list from freeciv.org:

GNU/Linux
OpenBSD
NetBSD
FreeBSD
BSDI 4
Amiga
MS Windows 95/98/NT (with X window system, that is)
Sun Solaris
SunOS
SGI Irix
IBM OS/2
IBM AIX
HP HP-UX

[croxis]

I would love to help on the windows project, but I don't know anything about programing
Can I help with something else?

[CapTVK]

quote: Originally posted by croxis on 05-13-2000 12:31 AM I would love to help on the windows project, but I don't know anything about programing Can I help with something else?

There's the FreeCiv documentation project...

[Thue]

You can maintain a freeciv translation, ie Danish etc...

[Kumiorava]

If you can get your hands on some sound effects licensed under GPL, or if you can make some good ones of your own, Freeciv could deffenitely use them. Check out the guidelines at the development section of freeciv.org.
[This message has been edited by Kumiorava (edited May 13, 2000).]