Hello,

I saw some screenshots of Gentoo I believe (I assume you can do this on every distro) that looked similar to Mac like with the calendar and time and everything open all over the place.. How is this done?

Another thing..
The reasons I want to use Linux is because I would like to do some certifications and I plan to have a career in IT and linux seems to be on most servers and playing a very active role.

So.. To learn how to use Linux, the commands etc.. Should I buy a book? Look online?

I'm thinking of starting with ubuntu..

Last thing..
What is the diffrences between gnome, kde and other window managers and is it possible to download lets say ubuntu which is gnome and switch the windows manager to KDE?

THANKS!

To get some nice effects on your Linux box, you can use superkaramba (kde-look.org) for KDE and gdesklets (http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org) for gnome or XFCE. There is also another tool called adesklets that works on a variety of window managers and desktop environments.

To learn commands, there are a variety of online sources available but its pobably best to get a book as well. The sites I recommend are rute, the linux cookbook and linuxcommand.org.

KDE, GNOME and other DEs and WMs differ in terms of features, configurability, integration, etc. KDE and GNOME are full DEs but still use some sort of window manager to interface with your X server. Most WMs are lighter than DEs and don't usually ship with lots of packages.

Well, all I've known about Linux, it's been by asking in forums, or google, so if you find a good book about linux, I would recommend you buy it, so you can learn more and of course practice is the most important, at the beginning you can get pissed and start yelling at the machine, but with time, you'll love Linux.
Ubuntu is a good start, a esay to use,configure and mantain distro with a huge repository for installing packages.
And the main difference o KDE or Gnome, well KDE is more attracvtive visually and comes with many tools and programs especifically made for KDE, but it consumes more RAM and tend to be a little buggy, Gnome is more clean and fast, but not as attractive (but you can always modify it with themes, icons, etc.)
windows managers like fluxbox, icewm, enlightement, are very clean, fast and low memory consuming, but not as easy and friendly as KDE or Gnome, (I recommend Xfce, its a lightweight desktop manager with useful tools).
And if you install Ubuntu, you can install KDE, or Xfce, or any window manager by using "apt-get install package-name".
And linux and BSD are great ways to learn how the computer works.

Great site for learning is www.tldp.org

By the way to install KDE in Ubuntu, do as root

A little offtopic..

Any cool things to try out on Linux? Like something that the first time you did or saw it you were like wow..

Just wondering.

Thanks.

This may seem a little geeky, but my "wow" with Linux is the power of the command line and shell scripting. In my early exposure to Unix, I had the feeling that this was the right way to do an OS---but I quickly got sucked into the novelty of the Mac-128, the Power-Macs (not Apple's finest hour), and then (shudder) Windows.
For me Linux is back to basics---the power of a "real OS" with a robust CLI---PLUS the option of modern GUIs.

Hey Fadeone,
I am also a newbie to Linux. From what I've learned so far, the best way to learn is to just install it and try do a few things...

What I mean is, I installed Linux on my laptop and I learned a lot by the process I went through to get my wireless card working.

The best way to do it I find is to have another computer or laptop around with Google and LQ handy and just try different things. As you play around with hardware and software you learn a bit about how Linux works.

I also started off with Ubuntu and tried both SuSE and Mandriva. I found Mandriva suited me best as it is intuitive and provides a good medium for going from Windows to Linux imho.

Good luck!!

http://linuxcommand.org
is a very cool site to try if you wan't that wow!, aha! or 'o yeah' feeling.
It teaches you command line in a quick tutorial.

Hello
i want help for booting my windows os. Previously on my m/c 2 OS was there.
Windows Xp & Linux ES 4.0 But later on somebody else deleted my linux partition
from Windows Xp. So now i m unable to boot my windows though windows is there
on hard drive.
I m using GRUB boot loader.

i m new to this site pls guide me how to send the queries on linux.

Start a new thread of your own in an appropriate forum with exact details of your problem.

If you have your windows cd handy, put it in, boot from it. On the CD go to repair windows.

Or you can press F5 or F6 at booting and select safe mode..

Good luck.

Thats a great website, reading..

Thanks.

What did you use for those 2 screenshots you have in your sig?

Take a look at this thread for detailed info. In KDE, I am using superkaramba and the themes are liquid weather++ and cynapses. In GNOME I am using gdesklets, but I can't remember the name of the weather monitor.