hello, i am brand new to linux, switching from the meniacal windows xp home edition. i tried to download a flash player off of the internet for basic flash games and movies, but the download instructions mention that i need to type certain words into the "command-line", and i have no idea what this command-line is. i just want to know how to download basic programs using this command line and have them actually function on my computer. i know how stupid this post must seem if you actually know anything about linux, but i have no idea what i'm doing here.

Which distro?

Look in menus and all for "terminal". That is your elusive command-line.

search for something called terminal on your desktop or the menu.

if your trying to install flash
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=474239

Welcome to LinuxQuestions.
A "command line" is refering to an application that emulates a video terminal similar to the DOS command prompt (if your old enough to remember or read about it a history book ). Command line is short for command line interface. No mention of what linux distribution / desktop you are running but typically there is an icon of a video monitor on the taskbar. If you select this icon with the mouse then a window will open with a command prompt like
# (This is where you would type in commands and pressing the enter key would execute them)

If you still cannot get the 'terminal' try this
type ctrl+alt+F1 (or F2, F3 until F6, each represent difference terminal) to shift to terminal directly, then press ctrl+alt+F7 back to the kde/gnome.

Regards,
Ks

i went and found the file that i had downloaded and choose "run in terminal", and it automatically brought up the terminal and went throught the installing procedure, but then the plug in didn't show up on my mozilla browser. i found the terminal under the first pull down menu, put when i actually brought up the terminal and typed in the command that was given to me, i received a message "command not found" . i think i'm on the right track, but my feora core is confusing me. i downloaded the file, then extracted it. then i right clicked on the file from the extracted file that needed to be executed and choose to run it in terminal (i think this is the same as selecting terminal and inputting the name of the program, but when i tried that, it didn't work!!) and the program executed itself, telling me to close my browsers and such. but after the program was installed, it didn't show up as a plug in on my mozilla browser. i'm getting closer, and i at least have an idea what is going on. my friends said this has a learning curve.....well, batter up. thanks for any replies!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello and welcome to the forums and Linux.

Which Fedora Core are you using? I think Fedora Core is a good distro for someone new to Linux. It is what I started with and am still using. Check out this site as it has some good guides for setting up Fedora: http://stanton-finley.net/

one of my friends put this operating system on my computer, and when i restart, it says F5, so i think i have fedora core 5, the newest version. plus, he said he put up the most recent version he could find.

Then I would suggest looking at the Fedora Core 5 installation notes on the link. Obviously you can skip the first steps about getting it on your computer, but it also tells you how to set things up so you can play mp3s and all the other stuff you probably want to do, like install the flash player.

Since you may find yourself using the terminal a lot and if you are using the Gnome desktop you can right click on it in the menu and select to add it to the panel so you can have easier access to it. You can do this with any of the programs in the menu. You can also drag and drop them from the menu to any panel.