Hey all i am pretty damn new to linux and i would have to say for the most part i have been loving it. its new and exciting for me but there is ALOT to learn really.

I would have to say that i am picking up quicker than most people i have heard of but still some things puzzle me. I have a copy of RH9 and Mandrake 9.1 as soon as i break on i wipe and go on to the next lol. now that i broke RH again i am back to my 3rd install on Mandrake and so far i like Mandrake signifcantly better. the 2 times i broke MD have been time when i get stuck to every time i boot up that i am in the text based login and the DM fails (::shrug:

The thing i have found the hardest to get the hang of is the installation of software. I finally figured out the RPMS but sometimes it works sometimes i doesn't do anything i never know where in the hell any of it goes when its done not sure if i am even doing it right. I have been able to instal AOL instant manager and a few other apps. But i am having trouble with others.

Namely i Downloaded WineX 3.1 so that hopefully i will be able to play Everquest (according to the webpage it does work) but i have no clue where the hell it installed it self to and i have no clue how to use it is there anyone out there that could posibly help me out with this? reply here or you can IM me @ XJohnQuiX on aol/aim or Yahoo messenger is JohnQuix PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

I need a mentor!!

Thanks in advance!!

Enoxx,
I am a linux n00b as well. I did a
and saw there was a -v option (for verbose)

have you tried this yet?

hmmmm i am not even sure i know what that means

go to a regular old console window and type
man rpm

man is the *nix manual command. The command name following man says what you want instructions on.

Regards
Jo

ahhhhh i am so lost lol

well, tell us at what point you are lost. I have no idea what to tell you to do next coz I don't know where you are up to

how are you doing your rpm's?

Regards
Jo

well i am running Gnome at the monment and i just go to the file and right click and install package

Enoxx, have you tried any of the local lugs. Last year when I decided to switch to linux i contacted the local Linux Users Group. I find that it's a good place to meet people with a wide range of expertise and they can be very helpful with installs and at times even some hands on fixes if you can take your system in for a meeting.

Try this link! Maybe one of these lugs is in your area?

hmmm that might be a good idea!!!

for the time being anyone know anything about WineX 3.1? i do use Gnome atm and sometimes i use KDE. if anyone knows how to get it all set up let me know!

Ennox,
I think (and others may (and probably will) disagree with me) that to be comfortable in Linux, you need to have some familiarity with the CLI (or command line interface) of Linux. Typically this will be some kinda shell program (e.g. bash).

Try holding down ctrl-alt-f1 and see if this brings up a text window.

at this point, I suggest you buy a book on using linux. There is lots to learn about using shells and command lines (most of which I have no clue about!)

Good luck out there

Jo
Disclaimer: I am a newbie and know nothing about linux

thanks i am gonna try and do that.

Usually, doing: "rpm -Uvh filename.rpm" is recomended when installing.
U is for upgrade, will work as install if there are no previous version of the package installed.

v -> verbose (more info to screen, use vv for excessive amounts of progress info)
h -> just makes it look nicer

A book would probably be a good idea. Also, find a basic list of unix/linux commands.

Best book I have ever found for linux is O'Reilly's Linux in a Nutshell. It covers all linux commands w/options and what it does. plus shells gnome, kde, gawk, vi etc. etc. etc.

my favorite book so far is "linux complete" made by "sybex" it contains large excerpts from about 10 of their books. my favorite few chapters come from "linux for windows NT/2000 administrators" (despite the name it doesnt take any knowledge about windows 2000 at all) at least not in the modified excerpt version.

"Linux Complete" is mainly redhat centric, but it still helps me alot with slackware seeing as it covers the command line in great detail. (and helps with samba, apache, Xwindows, most types of networking) (it is 1000 pages after all)

but check your local library, dont buy a book off the bat, see what you like and then buy it. thats how i found my book.


just though I'd throw in my

From any of the Red Hat mirrors or RedHat itself there is an ISO file labelled "Docs".

Download that and install them.

You should find:

The Linux Installation Guide
The Linux Customization Guide
Maximum RPM
Linux Administration Guides.

Start there. Buy nothing until you understand all of the Free Docs that come with RedHat. [Even though I have read them, I really need to review them, as much of what they cover is exactly the stuff I have forgotten.]

Any documentation from SuSE if you can download it--get it. I ended up using their printed manuals for Admin. classes more often than the text-books.

Mandrake, SuSE, RedHat, and others are pretty close to POSIX. Meaning, most of the files reside in the same places and do the same things. [This means that most everything you learn is transferable to any version of Linux. The specific "distro" is pretty unimportant. The different installers can be a pain--but they pretty much follow the same process.]

Guides are for learning, other stuff is for reference. The reason I still have problems with linux from time to time is because I didn't start at page one of the Linux Installation Guide. I jumped around and learned everything half-assed. So, I'm kind of stuck there. I fill it all in when I have the time, but in many cases I have to unlearn something I learned by "skimming" documentation. Context is important. Read the damn Guides--from page one. {Write down notes to yourself as you read--look stuff up as you go along if you don't understand it. If you do this, you end up with a manual written in your own words for you, and you will have a tendancy to remember it in an organized way--which means you will be able to apply the stuff you are trying to learn. Do these things, and I guarantee you will be "A Linux God" in a year. Then you can teach me.}

Until you get really familiar with regular expressions, Man pages and Info pages may cause mild-to-severe drain bramage. The man pages are primarily reminders for people who are familiar to the commands in Linux/Unices. [They still can leave me having to write it all down on paper to figure it out.]

After reviewing all of the Guides from RedHat, Mandrake and SuSE. Check for additional Guides at the Linux Documentation Project.

Rusty's Unreliable Guides--on anything he cares to write about--are next.

For command references on paper, Get O'REILLY--LINUX IN A NUTSHELL--and --RUNNING LINUX.