Windows idiot..

I just built this computer, and my friend said "hey, why dont you install this suse linux here and turn it into a server" so i said, alrighty.. ill do that. installed Linux, and went... *drool.... duh george, what do i do.. *bangs head on keyboard*

Ive tried thing after thing, and read these forums.. and cant be anymore LOST. terminal windows? roots? no .exe files.. wtf???


how am i to even understand any of this let alone being able to read what you all have typed.. PLEASE HELP!


-Tora Fluffy

At least you could get Suse Linux to install - I never made it that far.

Hey, I'm a linux noob myself, but I got it working, it's described here: /263/02/102555/1.html

Terminal window is the Command screen under Windows (start, run.., cmd)
Root is Administrator

I tried Suse a few years ago. At that time Yast2 was the tool to install new programs.
If you have at least your Internet connection working, you can look for help. All Linuxes come with at least 1 webbrowser, so you can google around

Best way to get to grips to Linux it to tackle it one problem at a time. Ask a specific question and people will be able to give you specific answers

It's like a DOS box in Windows. Only better.




"root" is used in several senses in Linux. "root filesystem" is the partition (well, this isn't 100% exact, the filesystem is the data on the partition) you boot from. Something like C: in the Windows world. Only there aren't drive letters. The root is in /, my cdrom drive is in /cdrom, etc. Instead of having drive letters things like CD drives are just attached to a directory, and can attach anywhere in the tree.

"root" as an user is the administrator. Has privileges to do anything at all, including wrecking the machine, so it's a very good to use a normal user account unless you need root privileges. User accounts are much more functional in Linux than in Windows.



No .exe, whether a file is executable or not is determined by the presence of lack of an execute permission. Most executable files have no extension at all, but some do. It's optional. In the example below there's an executable .sh file (shell script, like a .bat file)

Quick introduction:

dale@gadget ~/bin $ ls -l start_secondlife.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 dale users 87 Apr 13 15:48 start_secondlife.sh

First line:
"dale" is the username
"gadget" is the computer's name
~ represents your home folder (something like "my documents"
/bin is a folder inside the home folder. The "$" simply indicates you're running as a normal user ("#" would be for root).
"ls" is the command to list files, similar to "dir" in the windows world.
"-l" requests an output format with some extra data.

Second line:
"-rwxr-xr-x" is the file's permissions, "r" for read, "w" for write, "x" for execute. The permissions apply to owner, group, and all others. In this case, owner can read, write and execute, group ("users" here) can read an execute, and everybody else can write an execute too.

"1" is the number of links to the file. Don't worry about that one for now.
"dale" is the user who owns the file
"users" is the group that owns the file
"87" is the file's size
then the modification date and filename follow.

Well, he should've said: if you think you like challenges, like to learn and read a bit, would like to know more about computers than 'it's something that has some Start button that does something', try out options, go ahead and try Linux.

BTW, I remember my first days in Second Life: I think I was at least as lost and confused than I was back then with Linux

I would've recommended you downloading or getting an Ubuntu Linux Live CD (that doesn't even have to be installed), but if you already have SuSE up and running, that's even better

Other than that, use the same tricks as with Windows: when I couldn't open a .CHM (help) file because of 'security permissions', I fired up a browser, and google'd for the solution. And got it pretty fast.

Also, two links: SuSE Linux 9.3 User and Admin guides (PDF):
http://www-uxsup.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/doc/suse/suse9.3/SuSE-Linux-Userguide-9.3.pdf
http://www-uxsup.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/doc/suse/suse9.3/SuSE-Linux-Adminguide-9.3.pdf

RTFM NOOB. DIRECT ALL QUESTIONS TO /DEV/NULL. THE DOCUMENTATION IS COMPLETE. PEBKAC. GO BACK TO FSCKIN' WINDOWS.


(i'm sorry. And not serious. But someone -had- to do it. It wouldn't be a Linux <-> newbie conversation without it. )

*giggle*

Not that it doesn't happen with Linux, but it happens with Windows too. I'd say "RTFM" comes mostly from the experts who got tired of this long ago. I remember that during the last Christmas we went to celebrate it to a friend's home, and one of the guests (professional musician) tried to ask another (who is a sysadmin at Cisco) about some problem she was having with Outlook. He made it pretty clear he didn't give a damn about Outlook, didn't know what the problem was and wasn't interested in finding out either. On the way home she mumbled something about lack of manners. Apparently she was thinking this would be a way of starting a conversation, something he definitely didn't agree with. Curiously, she has exactly the same reaction if you ask her a stupid question about music.

IMO, this isn't something restricted to Linux, you can find plenty people like that in the Windows world as well. My theory is that the new IT people are nice and helpful, gradually start seeing they're being used, and at about the same time many of them move to Linux. I can honestly say I never used XP, which allows me to refuse to help with people's personal problems at work. They seem to find it rather impolite, but it preserves my sanity (our ex-sysadmin had a big problem due to that)

This is not even limited to IT. In a past life I used to teach kids and adolecents how to use video as a means to express themselves rather than accept it to be just a passive medium. In the beginning it was fun when once again someone claimed there camera was broken just because they forgot to connect the power adapter or put a battery in the camera. I can assure you ... after a few years ... it's no longer funny and you need a lot of patience to friendly point out what the problem might be. And the real difference is that in the beginning you actually walk them through the process of determining what the problem might be .... after a few years you just point out they will need power for their camera.

Working in IT for a few years now I see the same happening. In the beginning you walk people through the steps of how to determin what the problem is and how to resolve it and if they are smart enough you'll never hear from them again unless they really get stuck. Later on you just resolve it for them and two weeks later they have the same problem again.

Guess it's the old story of teaching someone how to fish versus giving them a fish. I have to say I admire people who have the patience to keep on teaching others how to fish since it's more troublesome and time consuming then just tossing them a fish once in a while.

And now I deliberately forget that for some being able to fish is a real ego boost.... and why would you give up on that if you need your fix once in a while?

loki

While I agree that Linux can be a challenge... Suse is easier than Windows XP. Not saying that a newcomer to Linux won't have problems, but certainly no more than a Windows first-timer will. Of course, it does depend on whether you got a download version or a box full of cds, dvds and manuals. The manuals are what really makes the difference if you're starting.

This isn't the best place to learn about how to use Linux. There are plenty of Linux noob forums and websites that will help you learn the basics. I've got one, but it's not that good:
http://silenceisdefeat.org/~darkside/dstech
And I think linux-noob.com or some such has some forums.

Best way to learn Linux is by doing. I was essentially thrown into linux and it was sink or swim (long story that I might tell sometime). Fortunately, I started with something MUCH easier then SUSE (which I personally do not like).

As has already been suggest...Google and read. If you are not sure what something does...read some more...and if all else fails try it. Worst you can do is require a reformat....which is scary...but it is a learning experience.

You also might want to figure out how to get that machine of your dualbooting some form of windows too. It can be real frustrating to be up against a problem in linux you can't solve (GTK getting moved! WTF?) and have no way of using your machine.

Other then that...congrats on getting out from under Bill Gates's thumb. You are ready to join the realm of real computer users.

I FIND THAT OFENSIVE!!!! >.<


But seriously, i'm burning Ubuntu to a CD now so i can finally install Linix on my computers.

Rock out,
~Perttu
=^_^=