I think i have things working
 

Hi. I have recently gotten mandrake to work on my uni's network (well at least on the net) and was wondering what i should do next. I have had very little luck installing applications and have gotten some to work because they did the work for me (a lot like exe files in windows but i think one was called .rpm and i the other one i clicked on it and it brought up a nice gui). So i was think some very easy instructions on how to install thinks using shell would be in order except i can't seem to find any (probably not looking in the right places under the right things). Also do i need to update mandrake or one of the components for security fixes or what not (habit from windows) and if so what one and how. I have no one around to show me how to do these things so need detailed instructions writen in plain English to help me.

Thx

Software installing how to:
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Software-Building-HOWTO.html

It is recommended that you regularly update your distro, at least with the available security updates.
I don't know where, but Mandrake has somewhere an update wizard for sure.
Look somewhere in the main menu bar (system settings or so...).
Or perhaps there is a quick-launch icon at the lower right corner of the main toolbar.

Re: I think i have things working
 

i have never used mandrake, but if it is rpm compatible then there is a tool to do so (i generally prefer to do command line over gui).

if you can't figure out how to make the rpms work for you, there is always the old standard: download the source code and compile it on your system ('make')

try doing a google search to learn how to updte mandrake, i have found google to be quite useful for many of my questions.

cheers,
--vq