# To be, or not to be...Linux.



## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

I am considering expanding my horizons and trying out Linux and its many flavors. Only, I'm not quite sure where to begin.

Anyone have any tips for a newbie Linux user?


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Ubuntu -

I think its the best distro for newbains - like myself. you have to learn basic command lines, but not too much and its not as stressful as you might think, and means you are not kept hidden by too many GUI's like in SuSe.

Late,


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## lynch (Aug 3, 2002)

Try the liveCDs first, like Knoppix, MandrivaMove( or MandrakeMove) SuSE's Live CD or Ubuntu.


> you have to learn basic command lines, but not too much and its not as stressful as you might think, and means you are not kept hidden by too many GUI's like in SuSe.


Huh?  
lynch


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

I find SuSe has a GUI for EVERYTHING and never motivated me to use the command line. In Ubuntu it requires a little more effort, and makes things a lot easier.

Just my personal opinion from my experience with the two.

Late,


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## CouchMaster (May 26, 2003)

Simply Mepis 3.3.1. It's a live CD and an installation CD all in one.


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

my windows 2000 had so many problems i was ready to format my hard drive and try out a linux flavor. so i did a lot of research and read into Ubuntu and a few others. i decided Ubuntu is my solid choice and now im writting this message in Ubuntu.

thanks for the tips guys. i can already tell i like this change


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## CouchMaster (May 26, 2003)

zerokills said:


> my windows 2000 had so many problems i was ready to format my hard drive and try out a linux flavor. so i did a lot of research and read into Ubuntu and a few others. i decided Ubuntu is my solid choice and now im writting this message in Ubuntu.
> 
> thanks for the tips guys. i can already tell i like this change


Good job


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

umm... as a newbie to linux, im going to have a lot of questions.

how do i use .exe files, can i?


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Linux doesn't use .exe files natively. You can use Wine to emulate some windows programs though. If you are using Ubuntu, I suggest you go through ubuntuguide.org , it is the bees knees in what you need to do to get yourself up and running a Ubuntu system. 

One of the most confusing things I found when moving to linux was "how the heck do I install programs!?!?!", as it turns out you don't "install" programs like you do in Windows. Instead everything is just in a compressed format - .zip (as u may be familiar with), but linux uses .tar and .tar.bz which are very similar. Anyhow, when you download a program as .tar all you need to do is unzip it to a folder and run it!

Ubuntuguide.org gives clear instructions to do this - all via command line so it gives you the chance to learn some basic commands.

Good luck - Ubuntu pwns.

Late,


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## Big-K (Nov 22, 2003)

Other times you can have what are called binaries, essentially the exe's of linux. Different distro's have different types. Debian has .deb files, mandrake/redhat have .rpm, slackware has .tgz, etc.

Everything else for the most part(with some exceptions like firefox) has to be compiled, which is pretty easy.


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

thanks avvy, im looking at the starter guide right now. already found some helpful info

thanks big-k


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## tdi_veedub (Jan 29, 2004)

Definately Ubuntu. I have tried many a distro in the past, but always found them bloated and unstable so I never strayed from Slackware. Recently, I have tried Fedora, Gentoo, and Ubuntu. Fedora is simply garbage (as with any RPM based distro), Gentoo takes forever to get working the way you want (only slashdotters use Gentoo  ). Ubuntu for the most part just works, and that's what a desktop linux distro should do.

Also, their wiki page has step-by-step details on how to get restricted formats like MP3, Real Audio/Video, DVD playback, etc working the way they should.


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

speaking of restricted formats, is it possible to play .wmv files, cause so far i havent been able to


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

also, how do i know what and what not to install in the Synaptic Package Manager? i want to work with some programming software, but i dont know what is what...


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## tdi_veedub (Jan 29, 2004)

.wmv can be played. You need to install the w32codecs package in synaptec:

win32 binary codecs
This package contain video codecs for popular proprietary formats not
natively supported by mplayer.

ATI VCR-2 video codec.
Cinepak video codec
DivX ;-) video codec, ver. 3.11
DivX ;-) video codec, ver. 4.x
Indeo Video 3.2/4.1/5.0/4.1 quick/5.0 quick codecs.
Intel 263 video codec.
Microsoft MPEG-4 video codec, beta version 3.0.0.2700
Morgan Multimedia Motion JPEG video codec.
QuickTime
RealAudio
RealVideo 8
RealVideo 9
Windows Media Video 9

And more...


BTW, you don't "need" mplayer per se, Xine is much easier to get going, and it also supports the w32codecs package


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## tdi_veedub (Jan 29, 2004)

Instead of going into synaptec go Applications->System Tools->Add/Remove Programs. Then look in the programming section.

With synaptec, you need to know what you want to install. Just browse freshmeat, or sourcforge or something. When you see what you like, check synaptec and see if there is a package for it. Debian packages also work in Ubuntu.


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

k, thanks. where do i find w32codecs?


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## Big-K (Nov 22, 2003)

I havn't used ubuntu in a while, but I remember that you can also use other package formats. It includes a program called Alien(a command line program) that can convert binaries to .deb format.


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

damnit, i can't seem to get anything to work. how do i install Wine... ...this is driving me nuts


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

i have read the 'readme' file and it says to run 'wineinstall', which i have tried and it does nothing. what am i doing wrong?


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

okay, maybe i figured it out, it should be downloading right now. i hope this works (crosses fingers)


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

What problems did you have? The instructions for getting the win32codecs is on Ubuntuguide.org.

Late,


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## debunkcia (May 26, 2005)

hey i don't mean to hijack anyones log, but i've been trying to decide which distro to choose because i use a wireless card. any advise. i'm a newbie too


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## tdi_veedub (Jan 29, 2004)

Doesn't matter, as long as your card is supported by the kernel. It will take a bit of work though. just google "your card linux" and see what pops up ...


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## debunkcia (May 26, 2005)

thanks. i was just on ubantulinux.org and they have a whole bunch of howto's and software to get you up and running. i think i've made the decision to use ubantu to get started. for a while i was going to try redhat because i got my hands on the book linux unleashed and just reading it stopped making sense after the first two chapters but i've heard nothing but bad stuff about red hat. where can i go to learn how to hack linux? Ubantu?


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## CouchMaster (May 26, 2003)

And apt-get update.


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

"hack linux"?

Not sure exactly what you have planned. If you can be a tad more specific I should be able to help out.

Late,


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## debunkcia (May 26, 2005)

"hack linux" i don't mean that in a derogatory way, i just meant to master linux


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Oh, I get ya. Well, I too am a linux newbian, but I have learnt a fair bit, and thats through how I always learn stuff, and that is through application - as in, just get in there and start using the thing and sooner or later you will get the hang of it and the force will grow strong with you as you cross into the dakrside....

*Just fixed GRUB so I can finally boot into Ubuntu and not be stuck on WinXP*

Late,


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## tdi_veedub (Jan 29, 2004)

Once you start using Linux, you are hacking it in one way or another. Doesn't matter whether you are a newbie or not 

Ubuntu is definately a good choice. There are alot of walkthroughs to get the newbie started instead of overwhelming them to the point where they just give up. Also, their forums are alot of help if you get stuck.

Yes Redhat is bad. But not just Redhat, ANY RPM based linux distro is bad. This includes Fedora, redhat, Mandrake etc. I've seen for too many broken systems caused by a very bad package management system (RPM).


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

I liked Fedora. I would have kept using it but I had all sorts of problems - unrelated to it tho, I always have problems with GRUB and what not. Anyhow, I am looking forward to FC4 when it is released.

Although I do like Ubuntu and the Debian base.

Late,


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## Big-K (Nov 22, 2003)

I dunno, I thought mandrake was fine. RPM's themselves are fine really. At least they are when using them on slackware(which supports them through both it's own package management system and command line).


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## HenryVI (May 27, 2005)

What are some commands for Feodra 3? I don't use any, all I do on FC3 is play the games.


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## johnny_frog (Mar 27, 2005)

all of the linux distros are based on unix... 
the biggest (not the only) difference between all of them is the installation and the packet management system...(RPM vs apt-get vs portage vs etc.) 
experiment with what's out there and find something that suits what you want to do.....

The command line in linux is the same idea as the command prompt in windows... it provides a way of giving typed commands directly to the system rather than going through a GUI.
have a look at bash and other shells in general on the link below

http://www.tldp.org/


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

i have looked for the w32codecs in ubuntuguide.org and havent found what im looking for.. i will look harder.. in the mean time, i have successfully installed Wine, but it cant support the setup program for Half-Life 2. so i may have to invest in Cedega, is Cedega worth the 15 bucks?


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Sneaky... I just checked Ubuntuguide.org and they have changed a few things. To get the win32codecs this is the command line you want:


> sudo apt-get install w32codecs


I'd also get all the gstreamer codecs as well if your wanting to play MP3's and the like all listed here: http://www.ubuntuguide.org/#codecs

Just make sure you have the extra repositories fixed up http://www.ubuntuguide.org/#extrarepositories

*AvvY finally has his Ubuntu system running again... ahh Ubuntu...*

Late,


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## HenryVI (May 27, 2005)

How u find the command line in FC3?


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

You should be able to find "Terminal" in the programs listing menu... what ever it is, it will be called something like "Teminal" "Shell" or something...

Late,


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## lynch (Aug 3, 2002)

gconsole (Gnome)
konsole ( KDE )


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## Big-K (Nov 22, 2003)

I myself prefer the universal xterm. It's the terminal that comes with X-Windows, which is what powers all the gui's. I absolutely hate Konsole though.

If you are using bash, the most complete listing I've found for commands is http://www.ss64.com/bash/


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

I think Ubuntu uses Bash my default. I like it, I don't know what more you need out of a command line program...

Late,


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## lynch (Aug 3, 2002)

Bash is the actual CLI shell. Konsole, xterm etc are the gui terminal programs for acsessing bash or csh or ksh, etc.
Why would someone hate konsole? 
it has a lot more features than xterm.
But I'm dont want to start a flame....
lynch


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

What ever gets the job done is what I say.

Late,


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## exmortis (Jun 8, 2005)

mplayer is one the most hard package to install, but it's divine  once it's working, as for porgramming tools, name it, you got!...what kind of programming tool you need?


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## exmortis (Jun 8, 2005)

i suggest you to download and install MPlayer , you'll learn alot on how software gets installed, there's a complete documentation on the website too!! it's frustrating in the beginning, but a great leap forward.
hope it helps


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## exmortis (Jun 8, 2005)

rxvt has more features than the standard xterm and uses less ressources than konsole. it's what i use.


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

yea i dinked around with mplayer a bit, couldnt get it to work right.

Ubuntu pwns the world. ive tried a few other distros (GoblinX, h3knix, Kubuntu) and Ubuntu is absolutely the best out of them. Ubuntu is even better than its brother Kubuntu.

Ubuntu is supreme number one


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## tdi_veedub (Jan 29, 2004)

The ubuntu-mplayer package is broken and never will work right. If you really want mplayer, you need to add the marillat repositories and download the sarge package. But you still run the risk of breaking the system. I would just stick with xine.


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

what if you cant even get xine to work?


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

zerokills aka xero: i agree, ubuntu does pwn!

I never saw any problems with either m-player or xine... Tiz odd to me.

There is also VLC which plays everything.

Late,


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## exmortis (Jun 8, 2005)

i use slackware, i've tried several other distro (redhat, debian, mandrake, corel linux...etc) but i've always came back to slackware..i won't switch to any other distro...maybe i'll give LFS a try when time and HD space allows. slackware lets you learn linux the UNIX way. that's my opinion after all.


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## Big-K (Nov 22, 2003)

exmortis said:


> i use slackware, i've tried several other distro (redhat, debian, mandrake, corel linux...etc) but i've always came back to slackware..i won't switch to any other distro...maybe i'll give LFS a try when time and HD space allows. slackware lets you learn linux the UNIX way. that's my opinion after all.


More power to ya!

The reason I prefer xterm over konsole is because I DONT want features. I just want it to work. xterm is easier to look at for me for one, I just don't like toolbars and such all over my terminal.


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## exmortis (Jun 8, 2005)

Big-K said:


> More power to ya!
> 
> The reason I prefer xterm over konsole is because I DONT want features. I just want it to work. xterm is easier to look at for me for one, I just don't like toolbars and such all over my terminal.


yep!
xterm is the universal console term, it's shipped with every linux distro.


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

the Terminal supplied with Ubuntu is nice, its real basic and not flashy like Konsole

i likey


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

i installed Cedega and now im installing Half-Life 2, hope this works =)


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

How much did you pay for Cadega?

Late,


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## zerokills (Jun 8, 2005)

15.50 for a 3 month subscription


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## michael863 (Apr 13, 2004)

ever get that .wmv playing?

i use mplayer, its the best, but you have to install those codecs before mplayer is installed...found that out the hard way.

also, the mplayer website is hard to surf, but the win32codecs and instructions are all in there


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