My advice for a windows user is this:

1. Try Knoppix, a live cd version of Linux, so you can try it out and see if you like it before doing anything drastic. This makes no changes to your hard drive and current windows installation.

2. When you're ready to make the switch... I've had good experiences with Debian and Mandrake Linux. First of all, Debian is incredibly easy if you want to install things. You just type one line into the terminal window and it'll find all of the dependencies and whatnot for you. I now run Mandrake 10 - whenever I need software, chances are it's somewhere on the three discs. You just select the program from a list and place the correct CD in the drive, in a minute you've got it ready to go. Of course, this doesn't help you with new or obscure programs that aren't in this list... still not a big problem. I find that nearly all of my software needs are satisfied with the three discs that come with Mandrake (with the notable exception of Firefox!!!).

No matter which distribution you use, or which problems you run into, just remember the url of this forum! You'll be able to work through nearly any problem with the helpful people here.

Baltika

All of the other users seem to have given complicated instructions.

You dont need to run it through 2 different unzipping programs its like this

Ex:

something.tar.gz

command would be

tar -xzvf something.tar.gz

something.tar.bz2

tar -xjvf something.tar.gz

hope that makes it easier

and if its the source code and not a static binary(meaning the program is already compiled)

you would first cd to the directory for example

cd something

then ls

look for something like a configure file then run the file like this

./configure

then after all that is done do this

make

after it has compiled itself and what not you need to install the rest of it to where it goes so become the super user

su
password

then

make install

that should be it

Thanks for all the replies (this is an awesome board for n00bs !)

Okay...just a few more questions-

Sovietpower was talking about a binary - this is completely compiled and needs no make install, right?

And do you just install the programs wherever you want or is there a specific place for that?

Thanks everybody

poonaninja

Correct.. binaries come precompiled, and they decide where they install. Some have options on where they put themselves, but most are written to install in their default locations for the distro you are using.

Excuse my stupidity, but, there are specific places where the user can write documents and stuff /home i think....

Is thare a specific place to put programs that you compile and install yourself ??

Thanks

Poonaninja

Another question : I read somewhere that linux is the most hacked system ever.....any truth to this ??

Thanks everyone?

hacking is sometimes used to mean 'hobbying'. so people who do a particular activity in a non-professional capacity are referred to as 'hackers'.

it's a slang thing. local / cultural / time-based resolution of the meaning may vary. so linux being the most hacked system ever, well what did the person mean by 'hacked' ?

that just means that Linux is the system that has had the most people working around problems and such. Not that it is attacked by crackers alot, that honor belongs to M$.

dudes, one question about installing

i know that progs "make install" their libraries and dependencies to creapy locations that shouldn't be touched like /usr/bin and /usr/lib, but the program itself, where could i install it? /usr/local? /usr/etc or just home?

For the life of me, i cannot find the article again. Well, it good to hear that its not the most hacked.

Oh and another question , how do you mount a usb drive??

I am confused by the naming conventions of the mounted drives (like hda1, hdb1 , etc....) Can someone explain this??

Thanks a lot everybody!!

Poonaninja

Oh..yeah.....i am also interested in the question asked above by agentDukey...confuses me a bit.....

RPM files will automatically install where they were meant to go by the packager.

Code that you ./configure and make (compiled) if no errors can be run from the directory at which they were compiled. Usually you will find a file named after the software that can be run by typing ./namehere . Where the ./ tells the machine to find it within the current working directory. If you were to su and as root type make install, it will copy all the necessary files usually to a directory at where the system is commonly set up to search and find those executable files such as the /usr/bin directory. If /usr/bin is within the search "path" of the operating system, any executable within that directory can be run from any working directory in a terminal without using the ./ first. So, in essence, you could test the software in the directory you compiled it, or use it like I commonly do within my home directory for some softwares. The real downfall I have found to the different types of installation methods and packaging is that when trying to compile certain softwares. I often have had errors at where the software to compile cannot see or work along rpm based type. I plan to try other distributions for ease reasons. Any way, hope this helps some.

Wow, that was a nice clear, consise answer....So let me get this straight to make sure i am not stupid and got it wrong.

I can compile it anywhere maybe /temp (or a folder for its source ??) and then the program is in the folder. You can run it from there or you can sudo and make install and then the system will copy the program into a folder where the programs knows where it is. Then the system knows where the program is. And by typing the name in a terminal, can run it.

RIGHT???

Thanks Synonymy ! :) ;)

Poonaninja

Ok, I install all my compiled programs (those from .bz2 or .tar) into the /opt directory. It will put the relevant files where they need to go. An example:

say you download xxx.gz to your home directory.
cd /home/user
mv xxx.gz /opt
cd /opt
tar xzvf xxx.gz
cd xxx(directory created when the file was uncompressed, run ls if you don't know what it's called)
./configure
make
su
(enter root password)
make install (this is the step will install all the pertinent parts to the various directories /etc, /usr/, etc.)

Don't put anything in /tmp. Now depending on what distro you use, they can install them to different spots. Keep in mind when that when using certain distros, use their native tools to install things. Fedora core use yum. Slackware use installpkg or pkgtool. Debian use apt (this has been ported to other distro like Suse and Fedora). Gentoo has portage. Mandrake use urpmi.

Another nice answer...Thanks

Okay, I am thinking about getting ubuntu as my first distro...
Since this is based on debian, i can use the debian distro (.deb), right??

This means i dont have to worry about where it installs, right?
This is like an installer in windows which puts itself in the right directories, correct?

Not really an installer. It will install the packages and install the proper dependencies. It does work in the same capacity. There no real equivalents as far a file system hierarchy goes between linux and windows. They are just 2 differnt philosphies. If you want to go with debian, take a look at MEPIS. There is a very recent review of it at http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT3135712364.html

use that as a guide and get a copy of distro. Do you know how to do that? If not, you can buy them from the Mepis site: www.mepis.org

As always check and use the forums to your advantage.