[techtalk] Other OSes on a Linux box

[Caitlyn Martin]

> You may have driver problems.  Win9X and NT are both intended to be
> installed only by OEMs -- and as such, they do a poor job of properly
> configuring vendor-specific hardware.  If you have any "nongeneric"
> hardware expect problems.

Yikes!  OK, I hate to defend Microsoft at any time, but this is just
blatantly wrong.  Both are sold retail, and both are relatively easy to
install if you know what you are doing and have the right drivers up
front.

NT wants to be in control, and will rewrite your master boot record.  The
best way to do what you are proposing is to install Linux first, format a
suitably sized primary partition to old-fashioned DOS FAT format.
Install NT there and convert to NTFS.  You can use something like System
Commander (if you have DOS/Win9x as well) or the Boot Manager from
Partition Magic to choose your OS at boot time.  Both of these products
play nicely with both Linux and NT.

Unless VA or Penguin are using some really proprietary or odd parts, my
conclusion is exactly the opposite of Kelly's:  you shouldn't have too
much of a problem doing this.  I've had a system with Solaris x86, BSDI,
OS/2, NT, and Linux on it, and it all worked.

Regards,
Caity




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