linux basics, version recogn, network conf
 

hello, hello!
hint:
- i dont know anything about linux (only some history)
- i have to use this linux based computer for some reasons
- i must not reboot the machine because others depend on it
so my questions are simple, but your answers should be analytic

now im in front of my screen and linux is on and operating, here we go:
QUESTION 1: how can i identify the version in order to help other people willing to help me for my next questions?

hint:
- what i see is a window based interface with ugly win311-like graphics
- i see a "suse simply change" wallpaper
- 2 windows are open: xterm, xconsole
- there is a menu-button bar on the top left with the following:
-- 1st square/button: a six desktop-space chooser
-- 2nd square/button: a pair of eyes that follows the cursor
-- 3rd square/button: a clock
-- 4th square/button: a fvwm2 button
-- 5th square/button: a suse button
-- 6th square/button: a graphics button
-- 7th square/button: a tools button
-- 8th square/button: a shells button

- i ve also seen the words: yast, sax2

hopefully those are possible identifiers(?)
thnx
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edit:
after a lot of searching i found a very similar screenshot here:
http://www.navigare.org/immagini/snapshot_fvwm2.gif
i only have the menu-buttons bar on the top right, with the buttons i have already mentioned
for the search i used the keyword fvwm so i suppose this is the graphics interface or something(?), but what about the linux version can we identify it somehow?

SuSE is the distribution name. I've not used SuSE in years, so I don't remember exactly, but I would expect there to be something in YaST which will tell you the distribution version. YaST is the SuSE configuration tool - IIRC, YaST stands for "Yet another Setup Tool".

A quick google suggests there might be a file called /etc/SuSE-release which contains the version number. You can see what's in this file by opening a terminal and using this command:
Note that Linux commands are case-sensitive.

From the screenshot the desktop is pretty ugly! Fvwm2 is the name of a window manager. It's pretty light-weight by modern standards and I seem to recall it having a reputation for being very customisable, but I don't think it's used very much any more. There are probably a few fvwm2 users lurking round here somewhere :)

In the xterm, enter the command 'uname -a'. The reply will contain some information that is probably enough for people to know how to answer your questions. The fact that you've already identified the distribution as 'Suse' is probably enough for most things.
--- rod.

thnx a lot guys:
matthewg42: the cmd returned: no such file....
theNbomr: the cmd returned: Linux linux 2.6.16.13-4-default #1 ...
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but from what matthewg42 wrote and after the screenshot i provided i can tell that at this point we dont need anything more spesific
---
now
on the menu bar there is a button called "tools"
after pressing it there is the choice "mozilla"
but it doesnt work, pressing "mozilla" does nothing
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so
QUESTION 2: is there any other default web browsers i could search for?
(i ve already mentioned the buttons of the menu bar on the top right in the previous post
and i can write down their drop-down options too, if that helps)

i think that we could bypass many questions if i could find a browser
so thats why i ask this first
again thnx, yes a lot of reading for me but only simple questions here