I would like to view the internet on my computer. I have taken the plunge and installed slackware on my laptop, and so far, I don't have any sound, and I can't see the internet. AND every thing I find while searching for some answers seem to want to tell me how to set up a web server. I don't want to make a web server right now, I just wanna browse the internet. Can somebody help me out here, I can't seem to find anything that will explain stuff without assuming a prior level of knowledge about linux. Please explain as if you were talking to a 5 year old! lol

Thanks for letting me vent a little, and please help me out.

Scott

Maybe you should start with an easier distribution like SuSE or Ubuntu?

Agreed, Slackware is definitely one of the more complicated distros out there.

Look, there must be somebody out there who knows how to make linux work. I am not asking anybody to hold my hand, just point me in the right direction. Man, I feel like an expert mechanic, and I have come across a car that doesn't seem to have a hood. How do I work on the engine? Can someone tell me how to open the hood? I knoe how to work on the engine, but I can't seem to get the hood open, that's all. Is there a book, like linux for dummies, or something?

Scott

linux DOES work, but you're making this hard on yourself. If you tried ubuntu or fedora or suse you'd probably find all your stuff 'just works', but slackware is not an easy distribution to start with, it has no graphical tools to configure things and uses a very old kernel that doesn't have drivers for some recent hardware. You don't need linux for dummies, you need a more recent distribution.

You're going to have to ask for more specific help than just saying "I can't get things to work". What isn't working? What error messages do you get?

I was quite serious when I said Slackware was a bad choice. Don't get me wrong, it has some very good features, it's what I run on my web server, but I wouldn't want to run it on the desktop. It's just too much of a pain to set up and keep up to date compared with other distros with fancier package management systems. If you're new to Linux, I suggest you try Ubuntu. It should be up and running in about 20 mins, it will need tweaking but in my experience it is one of the easiest to get online with quickly.

You can always try a different distro once you've gained a little more familiarity. I'm not trying to make comments about distribution X being better than distribution Y. All I can say is in my experience of running various distributions over the last couple of years, Ubuntu has been the one I found easiest to get working. When I started with Linux, Slackware was one of the first distros I tried and I found it far too difficult. It makes a lot more sense now I know more about how Linux works, but it's still a lot of effort to manage.

If you are still determined to use Slackware, I suggest that you may find more help in the Slackware forum. They're a very helpful and knowledgeable bunch. Make sure you tell them the details of what you're having trouble with!

(edit: beaten to it...)

Get thee to the Slackbook Happy reading

My first Linux distro I tried was Gentoo... UGH !! unless you have ALOT of time this wasn't the distro for me. Next I tried Suse.... works great !!! found all my hardware, easy to set up... After about 6 months I tried Slack and found it to be perfect... FOR ME. Slack isn't for everyone and as another user pointed out it uses an older kernel so it's picky about running on certain laptops...

Take everyones advice and try an "easier" distro... noone is telling you that cause they think your stupid, but a 5 year old would have a much better Linux experience with Suse or Ubuntu.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but if you just want to browse the internet and not get into the nitty-gritty of the operating system, Slackware really is the worst possible choice of distributions. And I say this as someone who spent his first five years with Linux using Slackware. I've since switched to Kubuntu, which is much more user-friendly, especially in terms of hardware configuration. I still have a soft spot for Slackware, but it really is not for anyone who wants things to "just work".

With regard to sound not working, that's no surprise. Last I knew, Slackware didn't even try to automatically configure your sound card. You had to do it by hand by running alsaconf.

As for the internet, how are you connecting? Ethernet card connected to cable modem? Cable modem connected via USB? Wireless connection? Dial-up? Without more information, it's impossible to even tell where to start looking for problems.

Well, OK, all of you folk's advise isn't what I wanted to hear, but I guess it is what needed to know, if ya know what I mean. I will smoke this system and install this Ubuntu or something. I guess I was overconfident 'cuz I work in the IT field, and I seem to think I kinda know what I'm doing. I guess when it comes to linux, I don't, and will just have to learn. Although, my only computer with a cd burner now has slack on it. I guess I'll have to install windows on it again, download and burn the ISOs, and install. Oh, well, my problem, not yours, Thanks for the advice, and I'll see ya later when I have questions about my next try ( which I'm sure I will...heheh)

Scott

a far easier course would be togo buy a linux magazine from yout local bookstore, most of them come with a disribution and a small walk through. that is if you feel like saving yourself the troubleand parting with some small amount of cash

It's rare that someone will tell you just what you want to hear unless it's to patronize a troll. They gave you honest advice - Slackware is great if you want to learn, or need a lightweight BSD-like distribution, but if you want a plug&play experience it's one of the worst (not the worst as someone else said) possible distributions for your purpose. (Gentoo and DSL would both be worse from your perspective).

ubuntu/kubuntu is great, so is SuSE, and Mandriva. If you want extremely easy with wizard-like guidance through software selections, perhaps you might want to try out Linspire.

FWIW, I *heart* SuSE, even with all of its faults. I used to like Mandrake (Mandriva) but not so much any more. If I had to change distributions and not use SuSE any more, I'll be switching to kubuntu (basically, ubuntu with a KDE/kwin desktop). I have a box at the office with kubuntu on it and it's darn nice, but not quite as polished as SuSE.

What DID you want to hear??---That the diffuse worldwide blob that makes Linux happen somehow re-created the we-do-all-the-thinking-for-you monstrosity that is Microsoft Windows???

Linux gives you the total range of options imaginable: You can buy computers with it pre-installed, or you can compile it all yourself and install it on a custom-built computer. You can also now get it on "live CD"--free with several magazines.

I hope you stick with it---you will eventually discover that the power and freedom completely outweigh the real or imagined complexity.

If you are wanting a Slackware distro that bad then may I suggest Zenwalk. It has a nice interface and has a little more graphical configuration than slackware. But I do have one question which may have been answered but how long have you been using linux? Also how new is that laptop?

If you are relativly new to linux then I highly suggest using another distro and then once you learn more about linux and don't mind the frustration of manually editing and hacking away to get hardware and software to work come back to slackware.

Ok, if you want to use Slack (and who wouldn't? ) I'd suggest asking specific questions about specific problems and we will help you with them. It really isn't that complicated.

For your sound, most likely you just need to run alsaconf

FOr the network, that's going to depend on what network card you're using and how you're connected. Knock off the drama and ask specific questions with good information.