Linux for Windows 9X

Home page: http://www.monmouth.com/user_pages/patv/
Download: ftp://opensourcedepot.com/linux/WinLin9X/v0.2/setup.exe
Author: Pat Villani (http://www.monmouth.com/user_pages/patv)
Mailing list: lin4win@opensourcedepot.com

What's this all about?

In late 1997, after following linux for about three years, I became convinced that it was about to grow quickly.  I decided to demonstrate it to a few folks, and the comments were all the same: it's too complicated to install.  This was true of the distributions I tried, Slackware and Red Hat.  Other distributions existed, but reports were the same.  So, I set out to make a simpler distribution. 

I tried to get some commercial backing for the project, but failed.  I spent a lot of time trying to convince people that there was room to compete against Microsoft.  Had I had more money, I would have tried to go it alone.  Oh well, better luck next time. 

After some discussions, I decided to release the prototype version of my distribution.  I used "Monkey linux" as the foundation for it and adapted it to load using InstallShield.  Personally, I've found it quite useful to load onto systems where I could not get rid of Windows.  Hopefully, you'll find it useful too. 

The current version no longer uses InstallShield.  It still loads under Windows 95 and Windows 98.

This distribution only runs on Windows 95 and Windows 98.  You will have to wait for the next release to run from all versions of Windows.
 

How do I install it?

You will find the distribution at  ftp://opensourcedepot.com/linux/WinLin9X/v0.2/ and download setup.exe and run it.  You can also download setup.exe directly and run it  (NOTE: some users may need to hold down the shift key while clicking on the setup.exe link).  It will install Linux for Windows 9X.  It's that simple.  Once installed, you can launch it by simply running it from the Start Bar at Start->Programs->Linux for Windows 9X->Boot linux.  It shuts down windows and loads linux.

Logging in

Once you run linux, the initial installation has a single user, root.  To log in, simply type root at the login and enter return at the password.  You should see something similar to the following:

login: root
password:

From this point on, you're running linux.  It's now time to buy a good intro book to linux and learn how to use it.

Adding Applications

This distribution is still based on Monkey Linux.  This means that installing an application requires a little work.  First, you'll find a number of applications at ftp://opensourcedepot.com/linux/WinLin9X/v0.2/.  They are the files with the .tgz extension.

To install:

    1. Download the package
    2. Place package in /install when running linux.
    3. Reboot linux.

I liked/hated it!

Either way, tell me about it.  Give me your thoughts.  Send me email at patv@monmouth.com and share your thoughts.  If I get enough feedback, I'll continue development.  If not, it ends here. 

This distribution has an old 2.0.30 kernel and xfree86 where not all display cards are currently supported. 

This is the only documentation for the moment.  I will expand it if there's demand for it.  Again, send feedback if you want more.