Basic Linux Questions
 

I am a :newbie: linux and i just have a couple of ?s for all you vets.(i am looking for terminal app names, not KDE or GNOME apps(if any programs are to be stated in the anwer))

1) what is the deal with product version 4.3.15-3 (the red part i don't get)

2) I am a windows user and as many OS 'analogies' as possible would be helpful
2.1) Where do programs get installed(/usr/bin????)(is it the equvilent of c:\program files, or more like c:\windows??)
2.2) Is there anything like a linux registry?
2.2.1) If yes is there anything like add/remove programs
2.2.1.1) If yes where is it located

3) Is programming with c(++) in linux(including x windows, KDE, GTK, GNOME) as hard as win32api?

4) I don't get the whole part about file extensions, does linux look in the file and try to figure out what it is if there is no extension
4.1) if yes how often is it wrong

5) are there any files like autoexec.bat? i know that fstab will mount drives, but what about a script, lets say if you wanted to set a var each time at start up

6) thats it, for now;)

you should try searching google and this forum first

1. ? are you talking about the linux kernel version?
2.1 programs get installed in a number of places, which i don't think can be an analogy for windows
2.2 i dont think so
2.2.1 you can use rpm for installation and uninstallation (I'm refering to command line, i don't use gui, but from what i've read, redhat has make something like window's add/remove programs, which has angered some people)
3. dunno, never did win32api
4. yes (sometimes there are extensions, but they are mostly for user reference, and programs do not care about them)
4.1 ??? dunno
5. for bash theres .bashrc

Re: Basic Linux Questions
 

Um, nothing is red on my end? What "product" are we talking about?

Quote:

2) I am a windows user and as many OS 'analogies' as possible would be helpful

I hope I can suffice

Quote:

2.1) Where do programs get installed(/usr/bin????)(is it the equvilent of c:\program files, or more like c:\windows??)

some go to /usr/bin /usr/local/bin /opt/bin /sbin /usr/sbin and some even go elsewhere (qmail goes to /var/qmail). This is considered by some a downfall, to others a blessing, to even others an un-important bit of info, you can take it as you will. For the most part, the binaries will go to:
/usr/local/bin OR /usr/bin And this would be the equivilent sorta, to C:\Program\ Files The libs would be the ones that would be the closest eq to C:\Windoze which they usually go to /usr/lib or close to it.

Quote:

2.2) Is there anything like a linux registry?

No Yes, but only on certain distros, and only for certain types of installs (unless you are able to use things like checkinstall from www.freshmeat.net )

Quote:

2.2.1.1) If yes where is it located

That is, for most, an inconsequential piece of info. If this is an rpm distro you could open up a command line and usually type:
rpm -qa | grep program
And it will pull up the rpm's that were used to install that program. If you wanna uninstall it:
rpm -e programname-version
Is what is usually used. More info on this and other related install material can be found from a search on the board ;)

Quote:

3) Is programming with c(++) in linux(including x windows, KDE, GTK, GNOME) as hard as win32api?

Uh, no. :D I don't know really, I've never programmed a day in my life ;) Linux rarely uses file extensions. It's much smarter than that, instead it looks at the file itself to determine what type of program it is. A FAR superior way of handling things IMNSHO very rarely. I've had it be wrong once, and it actually wasn't linux's fault but rather the gui front end I was using. I fired up a terminal used:
file filename
to determine the type, then used it appropriately.

Quote:

5) are there any files like autoexec.bat? i know that fstab will mount drives, but what about a script, lets say if you wanted to set a var each time at start up 6) thats it, for now;)

A linux eq to autoexec.bat is probably going to be rc.local in /etc

As for mounting things at startup, that can be done with options in fstab, but yes, you can setup scripts to mount things to if you have the permission to mount it (usually you do on your easier-to-setup-use-as-a-newbie-distro).

Cool

1) i don't get why it has that hypen in there followed by another #, i see this in lots of things, including the kernel version

Ah..

That's usually a release before the next minor release. Sometimes a "patched" level when referring to the kernel. It means it's more than the base:
2.4.21
But less than the next version:
2.4.21-13
Isn't:
2.4.22
for example.

HTH

Cool

Re: Basic Linux Questions
 

Okay here we go:

1) Redhat is just the name of the particular flavor of linux (there are many other flavors like suse, slackware, mandrake.....the list goes on. Because Linux is open source people can make different styles of Linux). The numbers you see is just the kernel version. The kernel is the main part of Linux's code and when an update to it is release the number goes up one.

2) System programs are installed in /bin, applications that come with Linux are usually in /usr/bin, 3rd party applications get installed in /opt and /usr/local/bin.
Linux doesn't use a registry instead it uses config files that can be found in the /etc directory. For application config files look in that applications install directory.
To add and remove programs the old-fashioned way you use the make command, here is the basic way to install from an application directory:
./configure
make
make install

To uninstall:
make uninstall
The easier redhat way is rpm (redhat package manager) where a package is a application. basically to install you use:
rpm -i packagename.rpm
to uninstall: rpm -e packagename.rpm
There are other useful options besides -i and -e that you can read up on over the net (try redhat's documentation). Also Redhat comes with a graphical package manager under what looks like the start menu.

3) Programming is available. Can't say which is harder. Once you get into programming it all seems the same. The methods are the same just the syntax seems different.

4) File extensions don't matter in Linux for the most part. They do help with certain applications like jpegs. Newer Linux apps recognize file extensions and allow you to browse a folder only viewing files with certain extensions. File extensions are only there to organize files and make directories easier to manage.

5) Yes. once again look in the /etc directory.

6) Hope this helps. I suggest you read alot of tutorials. They really help.

Re: Re: Basic Linux Questions
 

Excellent reply :) Just 1 thing I would really like to clarify before it gets used/questioned:
rpm -e packagename-version
is the only requirement. If you include the last 3 letters there (.rpm) it won't work. At least, that has been the bane of several members headaches lately ;)

Cool

Re: Basic Linux Questions
 

MasterC and others covered it great, of course, but to vary or expand (or babble)...

Like MasterC says, no, in a sense. But, in a sense, every plain-text config file on your system is what MS insists on bundling up into a binary registry.

Yeah - the command 'file foo' will id your file based on its 'magic' file which keys on characteristic bytes forming a kind of signature of a filetype.

If it's wrong the most likely explanation is that the file is in error (corrupt) or, as MasterC says, something's wiggy with a frontend.

/etc/inittab is probably the closest and it travels along to /etc/rc.d and many other chains and forks of files. Your user variables are more controlled by the environment which can be modified in one shots by 'export' or 'set' or what have you or made permanent with modifications to the .bashrc or .bash_profile configuration files and so on - assuming you use bash for your shell (like command.com or cmd.exe).

Re: Re: Re: Basic Linux Questions
 

That is so right. WHen I 1st started using rpms I ran into that problem all the time with the -e option.

Re: Basic Linux Questions
 

I can help with this one.

Programming in Linux is easlier, but not much so. The reason why is that when dealing with the win32api, not all features are documented. Much of the real hardcore win32api is trial and error, guess and miss, and hope for luck. Wiht Linux and it's completely open source kernel/yadda yadda, you KNOW the entire operating system front to back (or can find it by digging around in the documentation).

It's easier. You'll like it.

:D :D :D :D

actually i agree of one of our members that tell you to search www.google.com first before you entering this forummmm

I don't quite agree...

A search would have probably given him an idea, but the answers he got were tailored to him. To his questions. He got what the Forum provides: Hands on responses from those who do it. A search gives you a faceless response. Sometimes that helps, and probably would have quite a bit. But you lose the specifics. The follow ups. The 'additions'. You lose the interaction. You lose the ease of the documentation.

Besides, it would appear that there are a few that didn't mind providing responses, so it was certainly welcomed by some ;)

Cool

and believe me it did. and btw, i always do some sort of search first.