How in the hell do I get stuff to work on here? I think my main problem is I know NOTHING about Linux. Not to mention I've used Windows my whole life. I've tried reading all of the getting started documentation, and I still struggle with how to install stuff. For example, Kajongg doesn't work so I was trying to maybe use that as a learning opportunity in fixing the game.

My question/questions are:

-How do files and programs work on Linux? I mean I'm so used to .exe's that I have no clue where to start. I download .tar.gz files, extract them, then stare at the terminal like an dumbass. I tried searching online for stuff, but I don't know. Maybe I need to start with an easier distro? I just don't want to give up on this distro if I can at least get started with basic stuff like installing add-ons.

-What is the process in adding more things to Slackware? Let's say VLC Media Player for example. What is the process in adding that to Slackware?

-What fundamentals do I need to understand about Slackware that can help me not come back to these forums for while? I really don't like asking for help, but I need to give it a shot. Sorry for the desperate post, but I won't give up on learning Linux. I have to master this for networking, and Linux is taking over the world (in a good way).

Thanks for any feedback. I donated like $15 to Pat, I'm sure he needs as much support as anybody in these communities. I hope one day I can help carry the torch in a different way. Thanks again all!

Software is added to Slackware by compiling it from source. The SlackBuilds site provides build scripts for a lot of software including VLC.

Two caveats: the SlackBuild scripts are for Slackware 14.2 while you are better off running -current, and VLC has a long list of dependencies that you will need to install first. This is not an easy task.

An easier way to learn is to run the build script for a program that is already included in Slackware. You can find these in the source directory on the distribution disk.

If you prefer an OS that installs software with a mouse click, Debian would be a good choice.
Ed

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Which version of Slackware you are using? Try to use Slackbuilds to install stuff. It is recommended to look at Slackbuilds already provided and modify them to install new programs to keep track of them. The process of installing VLC is to install all the requisites and their requisites from left to right: https://slackbuilds.org/repository/14.2/multimedia/vlc/

Or you can use Alien Bob's repository and get a tricked out VLC that he packaged himself for Slackware users which would be easiest. You can install slackpkg+ and use it to keep the VLC package he provides up to date. http://www.slakfinder.org/slackpkg+.html

You can use a program like sbopkg to manage the packages at slackbuilds.org.
https://sbopkg.org/

you can use installpkg, upgradepkg, and removepkg to install, upgrade (removes installed package and upgrades it with the new package) or remove packages.

Learn the Linux file system: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/linux-...chy-structure/

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You should start reading here: https://docs.slackware.com/start - there's a lot of good info for someone who starts fresh with Slackware.

My repository and the VLC package in there (assuming you installed the 64bit Slackware-current: https://slackware.nl/people/alien/sb...nt/x86_64/vlc/

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In Linux, files have permissions that determine how they can be accessed. One of those permissions is Execute. Any file which contains a program and has this bit set can be run. That includes scripts as well as compiled programs. But they don't have a distinctive suffix like .exe.

The system programs live in specific directories (folders) and there are 4 main ones: /bin is for essential user programs, /sbin for essential system management programs, and /usr/bin and /usr/sbin for the less essential ones. That means applications, basically.

tar.*z files are called tarballs and they're just compressed archives, like zip files in Windows. They might contain anything, not just programs. Those that do contain software come in two varieties: either they are binary packages that can be installed by your package manager (but only if designated for your distro and version) or they are source code that needs to be compiled locally. Whether or not it makes sense to unpack a tarball by hand depends on what it contains. With binaries, it's generally not a good idea. In Windows you unpack binary archives and there's an installation program somewhere inside, but that isn't how it's done in Linux.

I think you have the temperament for a Linux user. You want to learn and that's three quarters of what's needed. I'm impressed that you've decided to start with Slackware, but frankly I wouldn't recommend it to a complete newbie. It's a lovely good-tempered system but it does assume a certain level of knowledge. There are several other distros that are specifically designed for newbies. They offer a full graphical interface with lots of tools that you can use while you're learning how to use a terminal and how to manage software.

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A new Linux user does not need a newbie distro. When I first tried Linux there was the big three, Slackware, Red Hat and Debien and that was pretty much it. Not one of them was in any way a newbie distro. I was frustrated and even angry at times but finally settled on Slackware. You will benefit from reading docs and also from regularly checking in on this forum and reading the posts. If you find something interesting then you can keep a copy & paste of it for future reference (I do)

Interesting - You already have done the scariest part (scare most newbies anyway) by formatting your hard drive and loading an unknown (to you) operating system. When I found myself at a roadblock I would just format and start over until I could format and reload without peeking at the docs. Each time it got easier for me and I could get closer to being somewhat proficient.

Welcome aboard and I hope you enjoy your time with Slackware

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Hi.

Welcome to Slackware! I don't know exactly what the others have written so I may repeat something someone else has written but check out https://sbopkg.org and http://slackbuilds.org/.
Also, go to the channel ##slackware on irc.freenode.net. Use an IRC client for this. There you can ask the slack people directly if there's something you want to know.

Best of luck.

/Michael

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What desktop manager are you using? Some are more like Windows than others. I'd heartily recommend either KDE or XFCE until you know how they work.

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Hey Ul7,

I can only speak for myself, when I started, it took awhile to figure a few things out, it can take time to get used to everything being named different, some new commands, and where everything is located. But AlienBob is right, spend some time going through https://docs.slackware.com/start

Welcome to Slackware, it's very flexible and powerful once you get a handle on the way things work in Linux.

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My advice, to add to the pile, is :-

Wherever you see a file called README, or that has "readme" in its name - read it. Eventually, they will fall into a kind of pattern that you will come to recognise. You will find lots of them in "/usr/doc/"

The filling system principles in Slackware are quite different to the ones you will see on Windows. All filed data, even device drivers, even filling system partitions, start from the root of the filling system, called "/" and continue in by way of a series of folders unitll you reach the relevant file.
eg "/usr/doc/emacs-26.3/README" is a README file in the emacs-26.3 folder.

The filling system tree on most linux systems is a kind of classification system, not just a random storage expedient.
eg /usr/doc/ contains documentation
/etc/ contains configuration information
/home/ contains the users's home directories
/home/harry/ contains harry's home directory

It is left to the reader to guess how 'emacs' got its name and what else it does other than editing and viewing files.

Welcome to using Linux. While there are many commonalities between distros, they tend to offer different ways to configure and administer your machine. Slackware in particular does this mostly with simple text files, scripts, and command line tools. Coming from Windows you'll probably find the command line in linux uncomfortable at first and slackware tends to make you use it more. After practice it gets easier. When I started with Slackware I read the slackbook.org web book. This still has good info and I would recommend going through it to get a basic understanding of the system. docs.slackware.com has lots of good info too as these folks have pointed out.

There's also a bunch of options for graphical desktops, some of which Slackware includes. Most of these desktop environments run by the "X window system". From the command line you can run 'xwmconfig' to select which of the installed desktops to use. Then run 'startx' to actually start the X server and run the graphical session. You can also set your machine to boot to graphical by editing /etc/inittab and setting the default runlevel to 4.

Once you go deep enough everything becomes a file, including your hardware devices. In general, regular user owned files are in home folders under /home, the rest is used by the system/admin. This usually follows the "filesystem hierarchy standard", which explains the directories you find in the root directory of the system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesy...archy_Standard

Programs are executable binary files on linux that are created by compiling source code. Many binarys are compiled to use code from other libraries. In these cases to run that program you will need these "shared libraries" installed as well. These are called dependencies. Note that dependencies can be build time (needed to compile a program), or run time (needed to run a program).

To add programs in Slackware you generally get the source code for the program you want (that .tar.gz file). Make sure you have the required dependencies installed, extract and compile the code, and then copy the resulting files to the main filesystem. This whole process is automated in a script called a Slackbuild. There's a large repo of community created scripts at slackbuilds.org

Optionally you can use someone else's pre-compiled software and install a program directly without compiling. Note that going this way you have to trust the person whos pre-built binary you are using. A good source for precompiled software is alienBOB who's put in much work towards Slackware and packages for it.

Read that slackbook.org and reference docs.slackware.com. If you've gotten it installed that's the first step. Next step IMO is update to the latest packages to get security updates and whatnot. That would mean setting up slackpkg to connect to a mirror over the net and downloading/installing all updates. Type 'man slackpkg' in a terminal to read the manual and start getting that set up. Also it's good to read the 'man page' for any command you learn about to better understand using the command line (e.g. 'man tar', will tell you all about the tar command and how to use it). Once you know how to update your machine and have that done, you can start tweaking, installing programs, etc. See my other remarks for that.

Good luck!

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Hearty Hellos and Congratulations, ul7.

I absolutely agree that Slackware documentation is quite good and of course absolutely specific so it is a Must. However you might do well to get a wider overall view especially since so much focus in on the differences between distros (and some folks resulting quest for some holy grail distro) and you could do that with this.......


https://www.oreilly.com/library/view...th/0596007604/

This latest edition is from 2005 so it is by no means up to date but that's actually one of the cooler things about Linux - basics don't change much. A user can amass a capital of knowledge that you don't have to throw out when the next release comes along. Anyway, I found it very helpful back when edition #1 came out. After that, assuming your interests and expertise only grows, I highly recommend "Linux in a Nutshell", a superbly organized tome of command line usage.

Yeah I got KDE. I am mainly trying to use terminal commands though.

Guys and fellow slackers, thank you all so much for the feedback. Everything mentioned has been heaps of help. I just think Windows has made me a potato over the many years. I'm really loving how you have to do stuff yourself. I also realize how much I don't know about computers :-). A great example is .exe's. Executable files are potentially very DANGEROUS, and now I'm starting to truly understand WHY these OS's bring out the nerd in you, and more importantly, exercise SECURITY above all else. I think I found my new addiction. I definitely am checking out the massive MAN pages. I want to formally apologize up front, because that was something I wasn't very familiar with (obviously) and didn't mean to waste peoples time. OK I'm disappearing into the terminal for a long coffee filled night! I wish I knew about VIM years ago. I really suck at it right now (as with everything Linux lol), but wow. This thing is a programmers and script writers best friend. I don't know a thing about programming, but when I eventually start programming I will be using VIM. And it's free..... Thanks again everyone!!

OK cool, I booked that on my bucket list.

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