Another Help Post?

[Grimm15]

Hello Everyone, today i installed Linux for my very first time... I'm currently running Mandrake 8.2, and well... you guesed it im a so very pathetic noob and have a billion problems and questions. Before Linux i ran on ME so im majorly dumb when comes too Linux. I heard all these great things on how it was free so i decided id downlaod it and burn it, so I did. Now here are my questions and problems...

1.How do I keep Programmings from opening at start up? I know how too in windows but not in linux ???

2.How do i see what background programs are currently running and how too close them? In windows alt-ctrl-del did the trick ???

3.I have a few games that i want too run on it and what should i do too get them running "examples" (Counterstrike, Medal of Honor Allied Assault, Empire Earth, Age of Kings: conquerers.) ???

4.I hear people talking about entering text commands... where do you enter them and what are some important commands? ???

5.What is a good Reference book for Mandrake 8.2 Linux? I wasnt planning on buying one but i think i must until i learn it... ???

6.Now that im running linux what goese on with like Detonator drivers for video cards, and programs like excel, and word? what do i substitute for them? Or do they still work? ???

Well everyone ill really appreciate any feedback you can give me. sorry about the questions i knwo you probably have answered them all a hundered times. :

[cloverm]

Let me congratulate you on your decision to give Linux a try and welcome you to LJR.

I'm not using Mandrake 8.2, so I'm not sure how to answer all of your questions, but there are a lot of people here that will.

For 1. and 2. I suggest you download and install webmin from http://www.webmin.com unless it is already installed with Mandrake 8.2.

4. If you're using the KDE desktop, in K menu go to System -> Konsole. You can drag and drop it to your desktop or taskbar, you'll be using it a lot.

5. I don't think you'll find a reference book specifically for Mandrake 8.2 since it is rather new, but a generic Linux book will probaly work like "Linux administration, A Beginner's guide".

6. You can substitute Excel with KSpread, Word with Kword (both should be under Office in your K menu) or if you need something more advanced, download Openoffice.org from http://www.openoffice.org

[Grimm15]

WoW! thanks alot im sure thatll help me out... i was thinking that the reason my linux was running so slow was because i had alot of background programs open... and it booted slow as well.
As of now im not able too connect to the internet and i think its because i need too reinstall my orinoco wireless client manager, for linux.. so im gonna try that out and then do the stuff you suggested... the people one this forum are real nice, i havent read a single flame yet. thanks alot man, and thanks for the warm welcome

[coltrane]

1) Are you talking about programs that startup when you login to KDE? Or when you start Linux?

~/.kde2/Autostart

and the programs that startup when you log into KDE are there...
I cant remember the startup scheme for Mandy, I'll have to look that up in my pile of "papers o' Linux"

2) Background programs that are currently running......open a console and type :

ps -ef

you should see something like this:

UID    PID PPID C STIME TTY     TIME CMD
root     1   0 0 Feb21 ?    00:00:04 init [5]      
root     2   1 0 Feb21 ?    00:00:05 [keventd]
root     3   1 0 Feb21 ?    00:00:00 [kapm-idled]
root     4   0 0 Feb21 ?    00:00:00 [ksoftirqd_CPU0]
root     5   0 0 Feb21 ?    00:00:55 [kswapd]
moron   6   2 0 Feb21 ?    00:00:42 xmms

of course it wont be THAT short, but you get the idea. Notice the first 2 columns. you have your UID (user id) and PID (process id). To close a hung program (or process) such as Opera, Netscape, XMMS, etc. type this

kill -9 6

If you’re not sure what the process is or does, I don’t recommend killing it.

3) Ill send you a list of commands later this evening

4) I’m not a gamer, I just play alot. I’m sure one of the other geniuses will explain WINE later

[coltrane]

check out this site
http://tuxfiles.topcities.com/index.html

Created by one of the LJRs who is also the resident goddess.

Another vote for "Linux administration, A Beginner's guide" its in its second edition and written by Steve Shah.

Cost about 27 bucks

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...17#reader-link

[Grimm15]

Keep em comeing guys... i really appreciate these responses. and i have a few more problems too add too the list since ive been tinkering with all the little gadgets in linux :P

1.How do I install anything from cd too linux? I tried the exe. and setup and all but its not loading...

2.Where do i put in all these codes and commands? (yeah im that stupid) lol

3.I set my boot too Gnome thingy but i like KDE better, how do i change it too boot on KDE and not Gnome?

Once again thanks alot guys

[Grimm15]

bump

I need help :P

[TaeShadow]

Then wait for someone to help you. Please don't intentionally bump your help requests to the top.

[pbharris]

<snip>

1.How do I install anything from cd too linux? I tried the exe. and setup and all but its not loading...

there should be instructions, if not then if it is an RPM (a package ending in .rpm) use kpackage, browse to the and install.

2.Where do i put in all these codes and commands? (yeah im that stupid) lol

any old terminal will work, i think most of us don't use the gui tools, i do for some stuff.

3.I set my boot too Gnome thingy but i like KDE better, how do i change it too boot on KDE and not Gnome?

not sure for mandrake...

Once again thanks alot guys

no problem

[imported_Psycho]

Welcome to Linux.

It's cool, it's powerful, it's stable, it's free (as in speach), it's not Micro$oft, easy they're still working on

exes don't run in Linux. They are built for win32 platforms. You may be able to run some of them under wine. I don't use wine, so I can give no advice there.

Redhat has a desktop switcher(switchdesk), dunno about 'Drake. There is quite a bit of documentation in /usr/share/doc if you installed the docs.

My $0.02 would be

1. slow down you're not going to master it in a day
2. do a little searching, there's a pretty good search tool on this site. there's a good chance many of your questions can be answered by a few searches.
3. try the plain english tutorials.
4. don't ask half a dozen unrelated questions in one post, try to be specific, include the relevent hardware details if appropriate, what you've tried, etc.
5. try to remember, you're dealing with volunteers that may be varying degrees of newbie themselves. this is a help & help alike arrangement, there are no paid guru's. you're going to have to put some effort into it.

may the source be with you