I want to be able to get more information when encountering a problem. You guru's have to have a systematic process for troubleshooting. (i hate that word) Assuming we all should know you have to be root. So you can skip that whole step.

if you were trying to use rpm to rebuild something and it failed with some error what tools or process would you go through to narrow down the problem?


i got myself a "bash book" which kicks ass. now i can dump all the error# blah blahb abhaobhalhblah to a text file so i am stoked on that.

this is another one of my loose posts, that once again, is difficult to get a specific solution to any given problem.

i'm going to read my books and do my documentation exploration but be my cliff notes for a moment or two.

if i want to check to see what any given rpm package needs to be installed with it to be functional.. would that be a --dependency thing or a query thing.

you'll just have to do this one time and i'll be on top of it once i get the idea on how to start to think *nix style

sorry i have been a windows point and click certified professional and i have made my extra money on side jobs being a highly skilled wizard professional for realtors in newport beach, ca. what can i say they pay very well to do nothing but click okay or cancel or next. =\

Loose post = loose answer

All I can say is persevere...I am certainly not a guru, but I can usually muddle my way through any problems. Learning Linux (like most things) seems to come in plateaus, that is, you motor along ok, then run into something that makes you want to bang your head against the wall, and for a day (or week, or month) it screws with you, then finally, get the problem fixed. Then you rise up a level, and have a new understanding. You can then motor along again until your next problem.

I guess what I'm trying to say is stick with it, you will learn as you go, and it will become intuitive after a while. Error messages can be extremely frustrating because they are usually so useless/vague, but after a while you learn to read and speak 'linux', and they can help you as they should.

Read posts on this website, even if they don't concern/apply to you, and you will be rewarded with knowledge and know-how that can be useful later.

As for RPM problems, they are almost 95% dependency problems IMHO. Get familiar with rpmfind.net, as it is a great resource, and will tell you exactly what files are in each RPM file, and what dependencies exist etc...

Hang in there