I have installed Adobe acrobat for linux, i am using the latest ubuntu. when i go to open acrobat the opening 'square' appears on screen but then it dissapears and nothing happens. Any ideas what this could be and how do i fix it?
maybe there are better PDF readers for linux?
(even so i guess i should still try and fix this adobe issue rather than avoid the problem!)

Start it from the command line and post any error messages that get printed on the screen.

Hmm..can't really say what's going on. Maybe try running it from the console, if it would output something useful when that happens?

I myself use Evince (Gnome application), which does just everything I need from a pdf: look at it, watch it, see it, scroll it, find text in it, zoom it..well, it's easier to list what it does not do for me: I haven't found such a thing yet, that I'd need, that it doesn't provide and it's a lot more good-looking and nicer in every way than that ugly Acrobat Reader..fits into my desktop much more peacefully.

Try it out..if Acrobat doesn't provide you anything that you need, that Evince does not, then why not simply use Evince, as it is a piece of Gnome?

And yes, there are many other pdf viewers out there, probably many better than Acrobat Reader, so search and try them out

if i open it up in a terminal window, the box appears briefly then again, nothing.No error message appears.
if i open it at the command promp outside of gnome it says:
(acroread:7632) Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:

then it goes back to the prompt. i assume this was because acrobat cant ope outside the gui?

Yes, many gui apps don't have a cli equivalent so you have to start them from a n X session.

where can i get a copy of evince?

using ubuntu latest version.
i wanted to download a pdf reader so i could view some of the linux books i've downloaded. First i tried adobe, i installed it as per the instructions- didnt work. someone recommended 'Evince' so i downloaded that. tried to install it ad it says i need a gcc compiler. i downloaded that as a tar file but now i have absolutely no idea what to do with it! i tried ./configure but it says 'building in the source directory is not supported in this release'. i read the readme files but they dont make sense to me at all!

Help!

(does all this linux stuff get easier? i know it has a steep learning curve and all but i haven't managed to start learning yet!!)

As for installing software on Ubuntu try apt. You may have to add to your apt sources list, but an apt-get install "package_name" is easy and takes care of your dependencies for you.

apt? i dont understand.

Ubuntu Help.

This may help, just in case.

Ubuntu Guide. (for the former release)


Now lets answer your previous question.

What is apt?

APT = Advance Packaging Tool.

You might be knowin' the "Add/Remove programs" under Windows.

There is something called "Synaptic" in Ubuntu, which is just like the Add/remove programs under windows.

APT is a command line Program. Synaptic presents a Visual GUI for apt-get.

Evince -- Universal Document Viewer.


You may also try apt-get install evince, if that works out fine.

On ubuntu, it will be sudo apt-get install evince

Yes and no...
It does not take long to master a few basics, but the nuances can take a while.

For starters, stick with things that you can get thru the package manager--in you menus, find the command that is something like install/remove programs. When this opens, you are running Synaptic, which is the Ubuntu friendly front-end for the debian "apt" package manager.

Once you are comfortable with how the package manager works, then branch out.

For the most recent UbuntuGuide, go here: http://ubuntuguide.squarecows.com/doku.php

After you know a few things, then buy a book. I would start with Linux in a Nutshell (O'Reilly)

Yeah...

Missed the sudo thingy. :P

>For the most recent UbuntuGuide, go here: http://ubuntuguide.squarecows.com/doku.php

Nice one.