A few newb questions about Linux.

I was installing once ubuntu 7.10 on computer vith 128 MB RAM and i saw that minimum requirement for it was 64 MB of RAM awesome :S. i usually use centOS now beacuse i felt more convenient with it. i found some trouble on ubuntu with a lot dependencies so i thought why should i bother and reinstall centOS xD. but its ok i guess no linux is the same also
oh yeah and about that external HDD of yours chain87. you need to format it to some file system that linux can read. linux uses ext i think, but you can format it to fat and fat32 also so windows can read it too and also a few more file systems if im not wrong.
i think there are few programs that allows you to change file system of your HDD without losing data on it. dont take my word try google .

 

This should be easy enough to follow..

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=217009

As with everything linux the best place to find information is google and/or the appropriate forums

 

Will firefox render things faster than Konqueror? I sure hope it does because Konqueror is extremely slow! I am still trying to figure out how to install thing but I'll read other forums to find out.

 

I can't stand konq.. it renders very badly on my system (I tried it to see if flashplayer sound would work with it, but all the popups and ads did my head in)
You may find that installing adblock plus firefox plugin improves page loading times. It just stops all those annoying (and cpu sucking) flashing garbage things from arriving and making everything wait.
FF and opera are the linux standard browsers these days, if you want lean and fast you can try galeon epiphany and kazehakase

Now about installing software..

Here are the main ways to install software in order of ease (easiest to hardest):

1. apt-get/Synaptic/Adept
Ubuntu/kubuntu/all_debian_based_distros have something called apt-get, which allows you to draw from a set of online repositories (stored in the /etc/apt/sources.list file) that house packages (i.e., programs/software). You can enable extra Ubuntu repositories by following these instructions—extra repositories means more software available to install. The aptitude command does several things at once—it downloads the appropriate files, downloads all their dependencies, and installs all of them. A single command installs the software. You don't have to download a separate installer file or unzip or go through a wizard or reboot. For example, if I wanted to install Thunderbird, I'd type these commands in a terminal:

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mozilla-thunderbird

The first command looks both at what I have installed and what's available in the repositories. The second command downloads the packages needed for Thunderbird and installs them.

Another great thing about apt-get is the ability to install several different packages at once. For example, if I wanted to install not only Thunderbird but Firefox, GIMP, Inkscape, Juk, and Wine, I could type in these commands:

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mozilla-thunderbird firefox gimp inkscape juk wine

and all of those packages would download and install themselves.

On the Ubuntu Forums and in many of the Wiki and other guides, you'll often see instructions to sudo apt-get install some package or other. People will give you commands because it's easier than describing what to click in a graphical user interface, and you can just copy and paste the command.

However, there is a graphical version of the package manager that acts similarly to apt-get. For Ubuntu, it's Synaptic Package Manager. For Kubuntu, it's Adept Package Manager. In both, you're essentially doing the same thing. There's also a nice "browsing" environment in which you can search for packages by name and/or description. You can browse by categories of software or look at what's installed versus what's not installed. It's a lot like an ecommerce model of "shopping" for software, except you don't have to pay when you "check out." The graphical equivalent of sudo apt-get update is clicking the Reload button. The sudo apt-get install command, however, is broken into different steps. Instead of listing a bunch of applications you want to install, you mark each one for installation (or removal), and then click Apply Changes or Commit Changes and then everything's downloaded and installed (or uninstalled). Here's a guide on how to use Synaptic Package Manager (complete with screenshots), in case you need pictures to see what it's all about.

2. Manual installation of a .deb
While the Ubuntu repositories are quite extensive (especially if you add extra repositories), they don't cover everything. Sometimes (for the Opera web browser, for example), you have to install a separate file. If you must do so, then try to get ahold of a .deb file. .deb is the native file format for Debian-based distributions like Ubuntu. In fact, if you actually visit the online repositories, you'll notice that the files there are mostly stored as .deb files.

The only difference between manually installing a .deb file and using apt-get to install a .deb file is that apt-get will resolve dependencies for you (if one package needs another to be installed, aptitude will install that "pre-requisite" package). If you manually install a .deb file, you will also have to manually install its dependencies. Don't worry, though—if you try to manually install a .deb file and it has dependencies, you'll soon find out what those dependencies are.

Here's what you should do.

Download the .deb file to your desktop.(or somewhere else.. your choice) For this example, let's use Opera. Now, the Opera file that's currently available for Ubuntu has a quite ugly name: opera_9.10-20061214.6-shared-qt_en_i386.deb. There are several ways to deal with this ugly name, seeing as how you have to type in the exact name of the .deb file in order to install it. You can rename it to something simpler (say, opera.deb), you can copy and paste the name, you can begin typing the name and then hit the Tab key to have the terminal autocomplete the name of the file, or you can just suck it up and retype it exactly as is. Let's assume, though, that you're going to do it the ugly way. You'd open up a terminal and type these commands:

Code:

cd Desktop
sudo dpkg -i opera_9.10-20061214.6-shared-qt_en_i386.deb

That's it... well, as long as there are no dependencies. And if you prefer pointing and clicking and if you're using Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake) or newer, you can also just double-click the .deb file to install it.

3. Manual installation of a .rpm
Occasionally, for a program, you're just not able to find a .deb. There may seem to be, however, a plethora of .rpm files for the program. If you must use an .rpm (not native to Debian-based distros), then use an .rpm. It's a very similar procedure to the .deb one described above, just using a different command (one that converts the "alien" format of .rpm):

One-time deal, just to get alien:

Code:

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install alien

Now you can actually use alien:

Code:

cd Desktop
sudo alien -i opera_9.10-20061214.6-shared-qt_en_i386.rpm

Again, no dependencies will be resolved.

4. Installing from source (to be avoided unless there is no choice)
Some people prefer to install from source, but I listed it last because it's what usually scares people off from Linux and makes them think "Why is it so difficult to install software in Linux?" However, it's still an option, and unfortunately it's sometimes the only option, depending on how obscure the software is you're trying to install.

The first thing you'll have to do in Ubuntu is install a meta-package called build-essential (a meta-package isn't a real package—it's a pointer that tells Synaptic/Adept/aptitude to install a bunch of other real packages):

Code:

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install build-essential 

I can't think of a program off the top of my head that I ever needed to install from source, so I'm just going to make something up—let's call it obscure-1.0. Most likely, it'll come as zipped file called obscure-1.0.tar.gz. Download this to your desktop. Then type this in a terminal:

Code:

tar -xvzf obscure-1.0.tar.gz
cd obscure-1.0
./configure
make
sudo make install 

Installing from source, like the previous two methods, also does not resolve dependencies—you'll have to install those separately. The ./configure command may indeed tell you what dependencies you need but in a rather peculiar way; for example, it will often return with, say, a rather cryptic gtk not found, in spite of the fact that the user has gtk installed! In fact, what is actually missing is the gtk development files, libgtkx.y-dev. In general, when it says can't find library blah and libary blah is already installed, it usually means that it can't find the blah development files, which can almost invariably be found and installed by searching synaptic for blah dev. [Most of this paragraph was contributed by GeneralZod from the Ubuntu Forums—thanks, GeneralZod!]

There's also Checkinstall: Once checkinstall is installed, instead of typing

Code:

sudo make install

you type

Code:

sudo checkinstall -D

and the program creates a .deb file which is then installed. This makes removing any program compiled from source extremely easy. For more details see the Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CheckInstall. [Most of this paragraph from gingermark, ubuntu forums.. thanks)

Note: in both Ubuntu and Kubuntu, you can "un-tar" (or unzip) a .tar.gz graphically. I've never had to use the tar terminal command. To un-tar a .tar.gz graphically, just open it (double-click usually does this), then click on Extract.

Other .tar.gz
Those are the major ways to install software in Ubuntu. Please note that not all .tar.gz files contain source code. Some are precompiled binaries. If you come across these, please ask for help on the forums. You may also find on the Ubuntu forums some great self-installer scripts and other helper programs.

 

I realize that google has a lot of answers on Linux but of course with out some help from people directly at first I can't learn anything now that I have tried it myself I think that some of those forums will make sense now. But I like the way Linux works. So what software do you think I should use for adware, spyware, malware, and blah blah?

 

Different strategy here. I try to be secure like a server from setup, by never doing a stock install..

I run rkhunter and tripwire

This is about as far as a virus normally gets

 

Yeah I remember reading about how linux does get as much crap as windows. It doesn't take long to install Kubuntu on my system (it was only 35 minutes-ish) I won't worry about it for now. Thanks now I have Firefox and wine installed on my comp next I am going to configure the NTFS thing I believe I can do that with ntfs-3g (i think that is what it is called.)

 

Should do the trick.. but a big warning about wine. I never even install it.. any malware that targets windows through your browser etc. can exploit your machine through wine, infecting not only your fake_windows directory, but any ntfs drives also connected.. Don't make a huge security hole. I have samples of malware that is deliberately made to target linux systems by exploiting the wine directory and system access.

I don't allow any windows executables anywhere near my machines. For phone software I have a live windows boot disk that runs on a blank machine.. because the idiots refuse to use sensible practice and release either binaries or source.

Windows apps run crap with wine anyway.. you don't have directx or any of that crap that they all rely on.

If you want to run windows programs then use windows for them.

 

I plan on keeping windows on my smaller HD and I'll probably just install 2000 on it just for the few windows programs I ever actually use.

 

another quick question! Where did you get those signature bars or how do you make one?

 

I just dicovered two more reason to take worry off of my shoulders!

Tuxguitar = Guitar Pro for Linux! (no need for wine)
KMess = MSN Messanger for KDE (w00t now I can talk to my friends!)

I'm sure I'll find even more stuff!!

 

You may find gaim is a better IM client.. It will do irc as well, though I prefer xchat for that.

Also pidgin is an im client which seems to work pretty well.

Told you lots of great free applications for linux.

 

Flash doesn't work with Opera for some reason. Anybody know how to fix it?

 

Have you installed java and flashplayer?

 

i haven't installed Java yet as far as I know but I did install flashplayer but I'll get right on Java.

 

man i have been reading every post and im just a little confused I have a Dell Inspiron 1721 Laptop w/ AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-56 with 136 gigs , Windows Vista Home Premium 1918 Mb of RAM , 1.80 GHz

thats what i am looking at, and i am thinking about buying a external HD to put all my windows crap on to that, because I have come accustome to things like word, McAfee and programs like that.

First off, what would be the ideal Linux model for me and also
( i am a newb so dont judge) will i be able to carry programs from windows onto Linux?