hi can anybody please help im new to linux and have just finished installing it on my pc ,it goes straight into a linux console and i cannot get past there as im new to it to start the kde console all i can do is bash commands which dont really help me. i use lilo as my boot loader. i login as root and read the mail message and try bash commands and thats as far as i get . please some advice for a newbie would be great i installed slackware 9.0 complete GNU/LINUX OS

Slackware 9 is pretty old (the current version is 12.0)

Did you install KDE as part of the initial installation? If not, then you would need to install it. If you did install it, then try "startx" in the terminal.

If you are new to Linux, Slackware is not the place I would recommend starting---something like Ubuntu, Kubuntu, PCLinuxOS, OpenSUSE would be easier.

To add another great newbie-friendly distro, try Fedora 8. It's come a LONG way (even since FC4). I first tried it at FC4 and immediately went back to Windows (my boss at the time recommended it...I didn't know about distributions back then). Now, however, it's a fantastic distro to choose.

My personal recommendation list would be OpenSUSE 10.2, Fedora 8, K/X/Ubuntu 7.10, and Mandriva 2008.One bringing up the rear.

Also, if you're convinced that Slackware is THE distro, grab Slack 12.0.

I agree with the sentiments in the posts above. Get yourself the latest version of Slack or a newbie friendly distro. For the time being, you probably need to configure your X server by entering the command xf86config as root. Once you have configured you X server, you need to login as a normal user (if you haven't created one, you probably need to do so using the adduser command) and enter the commands
That should start KDE for you. In the future you would only enter "startx" if you want to start KDE.

Hi,

You have already been told that the newest Slackware 12.0 is available. Apparently your installation of Slackware 9.0 went good for your hardware. At least nothing leaped out at you.

You can benefit from the 'cli' experience. Too many people look for the easy way out with a turnkey OS. As you can see I do prefer Slackware as others responders want to direct you a 'newbie' friendlier distribution. I think that mindset is wrong!

Linux Command Guide, Linux Newbie Admin Guide are just a few of the links to get yourself familiar with the commands and their use.

If you decide to stay with Slackware then I reference you to Slackware® Essentials and Slackware® Basics.

These links and others can be found in 'Slackware-Links' .

BTW, Welcome to LQ & Slackware!

Hi,

Another point would be to create a user for your system via the 'adduser' command from the cli. Be sure to add your user to the necessary groups. I would suggest; audio,cdrom, video too start. If you decide on Slackware 12.0 then include the 'plugdev' in the group for your user.

One other thing, the Slackware 9.0 is old but usable. I still install earlier versions of Slackware on older equipment. You don't always need newer releases of Slackware. I've still got systems with the 2.4 kernel on them. If it ain't broke don't fix it! My point is that newer is not always better. That is unless your using Ubuntu or the like of. There you need to wait to get something corrected. Not so with Slackware!

With the aim of GNU/Linux and FOSS quickly shifting to mainstream users and trying to free people from monopolies and proprietary software, I don't understand how pointing new users to a friendly OS is bad or the wrong mindset. First of all, long-time Linux users aren't as used to the Windows OS and interface as new users. If you think about it, new Linux users have had an extra X years to be embedded in Windows over veterans/gurus.

While I agree that CLI is power, there's nothing wrong with the GUI. There are some things that the GUI is required for! I couldn't imagine using Lynx to browse the web, for example. What a headache that would be!

Another point is that not everyone using Linux is a power user nowadays. As stated above, many are just looking for alternatives. For these users, power is not too important. They usually want a way out of proprietary software, but also want something easy and that just works. For this type of user, the command line is nowhere near acceptable.

So while nice to point users in the direction of BASH or other shells, it is equally important to know what type of user the person is.

That being said, if the user has done any research and chose Slackware, then yeah, he probably should be hitting up the command line.

Sorry for the soap box!

PS--I hope Microsoft doesn't sue me for using their trademark! And it's kind of creepy that they can trademark the name of something in my house...

1) Login as root
2) run 'adduser' and a new user (so type 'adduser' (no quotes) into the console and press <Enter>)
3) run 'xorgsetup' and setup xorg
4) type 'exit'
5) login as the user you just created
6) type 'startx'
7) Enjoy

Hi,

My meaning for mindset was that most people have the tendency to lean to the easiest outlet as for a type of mindset. Most find the easy way out to be the best way out. Not always so! I did not say it was bad to point someone to another distribution, so do not put those points on me. Where do you come off with such a broad statement;

I know a lot of users that work across operating systems, be M$, Sun or even GNU/LINUX. WE do use these as tools for our needs. Not all are religious zealots about their OS. Yes, not everyone is a power user! But the pointing to another distribution just because it is easier will not benefit that user. Sure the user will most likely get a system up and running with a nice GUI. A GUI does have it's use as a tool but to offset that with a good basic understanding of the command line will enhance that user.

My meaning is that a user should learn to use the OS, be it M$ or GNU/Linux. The means to learn GNU/Linux is a lot easier than M$ because of the openness of a GNU distribution. Sure we have differences between the distributions which is a great benefit to the populace which allows one to choose.

I did not say anything was wrong with using a GUI. There are times when a GUI is nice. What are the things a GUI is required for from your standpoint? Lynx can be used to browse. You want the JAVA, FLASH and whatever then choose the browser to fit that. If I want to browse and just communicate without the eye candy then Lynx would be the way to go. No headache for me. Just choose the tool to meet the needs or job. You don't use a screw driver as a chisel!


You must define a 'Power user' first. With this as a base then anyone who is committed and efficient with a particular system would then be considered a 'Power User'. Not just someone who knows the command line interface. Therefore someone who 'knows' a GUI based system could then be considered a 'Power user' within that realm.

You are classing users, not everyone can learn something without repeat action. It is just as important to realize that there are people who do know how to read for understanding which will allow that same person/user to perform an action. Be it for a computer or just baking a cake. So to make the statement that pointing someone to a reference about "BASH or other shells" without knowing the type of user is moot. If that user can read then they should find out rather quick if the command line is for them or not.

I won't argue that you must know the type of user you are communicating with. But we do try to communicate in a general sense when responding to a general post here on LQ. Some assumptions must be made. When specific information is required then I do attempt to be intrinsic therefore explanations or definitions sometimes must be included with the response.

It was really nice to see two veterans engaged in a dialogue. while I dont call myself a veteran by any stretch of imagination,( I am registered as a newbie and still am), I think I can put in my two words to make the dialogue broader and may be invite a few more readers to participate. My own view is that both arguments hold water. I am new to lnux. But not to computers (rather microprocessors.) As a matter of fact I started off with electronics hardware and got interested in microprocessors ( They were the rage in those days ( 1980 s). And talking about command line , one can argue that it is also a gui, as ultimately all processors work on machine code, and that it is humanly impossible to remeber all the instruction for today's processors. way back in 1972 when intel introduced the first 8 bit microprocessor 8080 ( this itself was a devlopmet over an earlier microprocessor 4040, which intel developed for citizen watch co. for their calculators)it had 53 instructions. arithmetic, logical, move, input, output etc groups.
The next generation 8 bit processor was the 8085, which had a larger 78 instruction set. At the same time Zilog also released its Z80 prosecssor, which was touted as a better rival to 8085. In some ways it was ,with 153 instruction set. and relative jump instructions.And then came assembly language.At around the same time Basic, Cobol and Foortran, Ada, lisp too developed . And we had to write the program in machine code for each program. But computers existed even then. But they were main frames housed in huge rooms. Veterans will still recall the reams and reams of cobol programs painstakingly typed by programers and equally painstakingly punched on tapes by punch operators. And there were always the Fortran cards. It was much later (1972) when Ritchie developed "C". And it has been refined to the present state. The Idea was to make life easier for every body.
Comparitively our life has been made a lot easier. All these mundane jobs are taken care of by the built in assemblers disassemblers ( Computres don't understand English, spanish, German Etc. They understand only one language . That is machine code). There are applications for every conciveble purpose.. So we install an application and start banging away on our keyboards. But some body has to keep developing the basic languages and make them more powerful. That is where hard core programmers come into the picture. As Linux crayon pointed out not every linux user ( it should be "not evry computer user")is interested in how things are done , as long as they are done. But who will create these "Done" things. So Both streams are equally important. It is a matter of one's choice as to what one wants to be, a Good "User" or a "Hardcore Developer". without users developers have nothing to develop. without developers users may find life a bit hard. So friends let us bury the hatchet and look at the brighter side of things. And finally this was a fairly long post coming from a newbie. So , as a newbie I am entitled to be forgiven. Christmas is round the corner. A happy Christmas to all of you. Bye.

To add a little more fuel to this fire, I have a question... What difference can it possibly make which distro I use?? I see many of you touting Slackware as the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I've tried several versions of it and I can't see anything wonderful there. It will not do anything for me that a lot of other distros won't do just as well without the hassle of the Slack setup. In fact I was never able to get Slack to "handle" my printer--it did not install all of CUPS and I couldn't find any way to make it do so. No big deal, there are more than 400 other distros, and most of them are less of a problem. I see no reason to beat my brains out, when the end result is no different from brand x. I started working with computers 50 years ago (this month in fact, and yes, they had computers in 1957--BIG ones), and the fact that I still have a little sanity, speaks for taking the easy way when you can.

As a final thought, I really, really like Linux and I'm so glad to disconnect my Windows from the 'net' and stop fighting viruses, trojans, adware and other trash allowed by MS. I can use Win XP to drive my scanner and some Nero DVD functions and nothing else..

Hi,

I do appreciate a good open debate. Be from a newbie or a veteran. Not meaning that I want to argue but to see another's point(s) of view. That is the way we all learn in this beautiful forum of 'mulligan stew'.

Great history lesson!

My first system was a '8080' based unit that I built from scratch. It had 256 bytes of memory with a simple numeric octal keypad with a LED output. Later added a ASR-33 as the I/O. Then I built a Tele-Terminal for the unit using a TV with a video interface. Cute little machine that I still have. It is used to program 1024 PROM to date.

The Zilog Z80 was a better processor than the Intel 8085 from a address standpoint. Much faster with indirect control of data. We had assembly in concurrence with machine code. The BAL/MASM was available but just too expensive for the average user. Until we got a cheap assembler, most just wrote in machine by writing our code then translating manually. That was one of the reasons I purchased a Trash-80 (Radio Shacks TRS-80). Simple, cheap and adaptable with cassette storage. I built a expansion interface instead of purchasing one from Radio Shack. Radio Shack wanted too much money for the expansion interface that was easy to build from scratch with wire wrap and perfboard. The design had a floppy interface to replace the cassette I/O. Mine also had switch input with LED output for the Data and address Busses with toggled stepping. Something you could do via software and hardware with my design. Something you couldn't do with RS design except single step via a debugger with RS.

This machine was used for a long time with a lot of different language packages. That is until the 'IBM PC' was introduced. Man I was in heaven then. With that much memory and speed I was able to do most of the LAB interfaces with minimal hardware.

With MASM, C and machine code experience my hardware and code was really working for me. Some of my hardware is still in use today within the LAB. That hardware is over 20 years old! We don't code like yester year. Most programmers' (myself included) are spoiled with the available memory. If we produced 1-2 lines of code a day then we were satisfied. Newbie alert! Sounds slow doesn't it. Well to write error free code you would debug along with the written code to prove the produced code did what you wanted. You traced by hand then you traced via code. If you were writing fresh instead from a tool box then you had to perform this action to prevent unwanted errors.

As for the punch cards, I really don't want to remember those experiences. Blocked! Those days were terrible. Who wants to remember having to program a punch machine in order to punch program cards. I don't! Don't even attempt to speak of punched tape as a improvement. Heck to boot load via punched taped, a pain in the A**. Talk about read error.


I have no hatchet to bury.

Yes, the GUI has its' place in the modern day computer world. I'm not saying the cli is the only way. Just that to understand the 'cli' will enhance anyones computer experience. Yes, the mundane is being done by others that want to code at a level that is comfortable to them. Some still use 'C' mixed with machine to enhance the users experience. Sure the C++ and the tools we have today to produce code for most desired applications is much easier. But in order to produce fast efficient code we sometimes must get back to the basics.

Most coders have good tool boxes that they use and enhance daily. I still have mine. You don't always loan tools but these tool boxes contains tools that you do loan. That way you have feed back for your code much like GNU/Linux of today. Minux comes to mind.

As for your being a newbie. Just the LQ tag at the moment!

I too wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Not to offend anyone else 'Happy Holidays'.

Oh Heck, You guys get my meaning. Share some time with your family, friends or Slackware if that is all you've got at the moment.