Go Go Gadget Stage 1 Tarball!

They actually are opening beta testing for something called GenUX that is a supposed repository of precompiled binaries for all the different USE and CFLAG flag combinations. Only problem is its a bit pricy at $10/mon.

We were all newbies...

Never quit because of what some random person types on a message board. Read everything with a pound of salt on these things. My posts included. If it doesn't help, don't pay any attention to any insults. Ask, discuss, or help. That is all.

I am a complete newbie - I can't do anything with mine, but i love it (f??? Gates!). If one can not adapt to linux from windows (with all these graphical interfaces), you will probably fail in real life too: think how the elderly could've felt, when the cars came around! If you can't handle linux, just stay in your stabile 3.11, and don't come telling me, how good and beautiful longhorn is!

Then again how are we to help this kid.

<Snipped from another LQ thread>

Which CD are the kernel sources on in Sarge? I'm trying to build a cluster at home, and I don't have access to high-speed internet at home. It's kind of difficult to do a netinstall at 45 kbps. Is there anything else I need to run a cluster that is not on the first CD?

<end snip>

He can't even find the proper programs on the CD set and he's trying to build a cluster?

Dudes and Dudettes you've got to get your arms around this fact. Linux is industrial strength, Grade A, Mission Critical, computing. You've got no stinking 'C' drive and we shouldn't tell you how to make one. I lied in a post a while ago when I said something to the effect that 'I want an operating system that doesn't tell me what to do'. I've got FC3 installed on 2 servers and 1 desktop. Why? Because RedHat does the thinking for me. Gnome and KDE even gave me a 'Start Here' button. They've made it more 'Windows-Like'.

Do my kids care about what distribution I use, no, they just want me to stop goofing with the computers long enough for them to check their e-mail and do their homework. They have suffered more than I in my absolute refusal to ever use another Microsoft compatible product. I'll throw every PC I've got in the dumpster if I have to go back. But, I didn't come into this mindlessly, or because I was tired of using ripped off software, or because I had some lofty ideal about toppling the Microsoft juggernaut. Linux offered me value, productivity, gave me a chance to contribute to a community. How many of you have even heard of THE FREE SOFTWARE FOUNDATION, let alone contributed to it. You download, and burn, and beg for free advice. And a great number will not even read the MAN pages before posting.
Maybe the Hurd will be alien enough that the masses will stay away. Until then, I totally agree with a poster on another thread in Linux-General. '75% of Windows users should go back'.

This is what it's about my friends.

Redmond hasn't helped Linux by becoming so expensive, they found a way to kill it. Do Nothing!!

nz

I've been on Linux for about a year and a half at this point. Thinking back, about two years ago, I did try to install Mandrake, but it didn't work. Would lock-up on boot. Took me 6 month after that to try Redhat 9. That installed like a dream. Really, no troubles at all from install to first boot.

Installing software under RH9 with only a dial-up was trying on my patience. I needed a movie player and installing Xine or MPlayer by hand even with RPMS was a pain in the butt. Once I learned about YUM from this forum, everything got much easier. (thank the gods for Freshrpms.net)

In my experience, it took me about a month to get comfortable with Linux, but was able to set it up and get my dial up connection going even as a noob in a few hours. The important thing seems to be to choose an appropriate distro both for yourself and your hardware. Some of the new live CD's are really nice in that you don't have to give up on your windows install all at once, and don't have to have the technical expertise to set up a dual boot (which is beyond most noobs) and still be able to run Linux. I've grown fond of Berry Linux, a live version of FC3. If it had existed a couple years ago, it would have been my first choice in an initial Linux distro.

Beyond that, I think if you're going to move to Linux, there are certain things you just have to accept...


In Linux, when things work, they work really well and are very stable, low cost or free & secure. When things don't work, chances are it's a complicated mess to get them to work. You can do pretty much everything you could do on Window on Linux without much trouble at all save for using proprietary software only written for MS platforms (though sometimes you can get it to work in WINE given). The only thing that doesn't work on my Linux box is my webcam.

In Windows, when things work, they tend to work half-ass and tend to crash a lot, or freeze your system. If things don't work, with some work you may be able to get them to work half-ass. If you run windows, chances are you'll be paying more than you should for software and you'll be spending a lot of useless time and energy trying to make a screen door water tight WRT viruses.

So it's up to the noob. A short learning curve results in being able to use a better, less expensive product.

Here's the thing, Linux is a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Hence the many flavors. Is there really anything wrong with windows (not the OS, the GUI)? I suppose that depends on how you like to operate. And that's the beauty of it.

Many users have grown up with Windows (the OS). It's all they know. They want something better, they want a small learning curve, they want to be productive in as short a mount of time as possible. Most people don't really care what it is - Linux, Mac, Windows, Commodore 64 - they just need to get things done. Fortunately, there are a lot of brilliant developers out there who want to help Mom, Dad, Grandma, and the slow kid down the street, use something worthwhile. Both "open" and "free" software makes this possible - which is society betterment if you're in the "free" camp.

I'm a noob in Suse 9.2 and the main problem I have is deciding which brilliant piece of software I want to use to perform a given task. Truly amazing.

Sure I took some *nix courses @ school using Slackware & Red Hat, and I installed Mandrake a long ass time ago as dual boot & never used it, & installed Red Hat to do some scripting & programming homework on a piece of crap 433MHz I have, but I never really thought of it as a viable alternative to my Windows machine until now. Now, my "Windows" machine is running Suse 9.2 and although it still maintains a Windows partition, it is resting in peace till maybe next year when I need to do my taxes again (maybe).

I'm a tech type person and a software developer by trade, so maybe I have a skewed view of the world, but I think the most user-friendly of distros are now just as easy to use as Windows.

Aside from having to know how to install RPMs (gee, double-click on them using the filesystem explorer lol) I can't see why anyone would NEED to switch back to windows (aside from gaming or legacy applications). Back when I installed Mandrake the first time I had to screw around with the X server settings to even get a picture, now it just works. Truly amazing.

I haven't a CLUE.. Not One Iota... Of how to use Linux... I'm downloading Mandrake 10 right now.. And plan to make the switch.. I'm a student taking programming.. And hope one day to rid myself of the evil they call MxxxxSxxx.... Anyway wanted to introduce myself.. As I'll be posting many.. MANY times here.. I'm setting up my system tomorrow... ERRR.. Today.. And gonna dual boot XP and Linux.. Still searching these boards for the best way.. Going to bed now.. But if someone happens to know a direct link to a Perfect way to do this.. By all means.. PM me...

Great to join the logical !!!!

Bret

Mandrake's installer is possibly the best installer linux has. When I tried Mandrake I had a fully functional dualbooting computer in under 30 minutes, after clicking about 10 buttons. It was uber sexy

There are a small number of posters who are actually plants,... people who come on from M$-centeric shops, and try to disuade new users from using Linux,... They use straw man tactics to take down Linux in the eyes of those trying, and help solidify M$'s market share,... The longer you use Linux, the more of them you'll see. You can tell who they are, as they don't post more than once or twice and give a real crappy message excuse for not continuing to use Linux.

Hi JaseP:

I tend to disagree with you there. If they were indeed paid M$ plants they wouldn't be only posting once. Next, a lot of times people like me or you probably tout our Linux to our friends and acquaintances trying to persuade them to give it a try. Sometimes these people will come looking and when they do they try to compare windose and Linux expecting all of their beloved windose software to work on Linux and if it doesn't then Linux is a piece of crap and thus their flame. We know that you can't look at it that way but rather one has to separate ourselves from our computer pasts and start afresh with Linux forgetting about the software we used to use and find it's equivalent or in many cases it's betterment in Linux. Until these people get the Linux bug like we do they will certainly want to take pot shots at us but l don't believe it to be a corporate onslot at all. They just come for a peek and want to tell us how stupid we are for leaving windose for a piece of crap like Linux. They don't understand the freedom and free spirit of the Linux Community and the power of our software because their brains have been conditioned since their youth. What we should be doing is welcome them and not throwing the flame back at them and calling them trolls because it sends the wrong message and gives ammunition to their rant and makes us look unprofessional
and out of control.

Wayne

I've seen some of them, yes, on this very forum. It's usually very tough or very easy, depending on the subtleity in their nature. Some of the not-so-subtle ones gets found out and gets flamed from pillar to post.

And yes, there was recently a "plant" I suspect, though I'll not point out which thread it was. It's very easy to find that one out, so I'll let you figure that one out yourself

There are no so called 'plants' on this forum. And definitely not anyone working for M$ trying to keep people on their side. There are some however who became so frustrated trying to use Linux that they gave up and scolded the OS and disuaded others from using it also. Just like someone who bought a bad car from a Ford dealer and told everyone to keep buying Chevrolet.

Myself, if I had any fits or problems I just tried another distribution until I found one I liked

Hey Jaz: You hit the nail right on the head there. And if we want to attract more people to Linux we should try to understand these people and realize they are venting frustrations. There is a little too much paranoia with some of the linux forumites and when they attack one of these people they in turn do the same as the people they accuse of trolling "speaking without thinking first". My son is a computer support tech with HP for about five years and he for example, doesn't have a clue about Linux. He was here a couple of times and was on my computer which l have SimplyMepis on and he got a little hot because he couldn't figure out things that were easy for him in windose (They were easy for me in Linux)

Wayne