Well first off I warn you I am a big newbie so forgive me.

Basically I am starting a uni course and the uni uses redhat linux and I am looking to do the same on my laptop. I have downloaded all the iso's and have them aswell. Anyway once I installed everything went fine (I did workstation install) but some things are diffrent from the uni one's so I thought I would ask some questions here.

a) On the other computers there was a program where I could type commands etc, basically the crux of the operating system I believe (shell is it not?). I was wondering which would be the best for me. I have a program called konsole I found but the graphics on it are terrible (Delete leaves 'residue' of past letters and clear only clears some of the screen leaving ghost images of the past letters) so I am looking for something else.

b) They are using a compiler called gcc (for c++) and I was wondering how I could get it.

c) They have many diffrent options for desktop displays (gnome, kde etc) and I was wondering how I could also get diffrent ones.

d) Anything that could help out a complete linux newbie would be appreciated. I don't know much but I am willing to learn. I am used to windows however so I think the file systems and program running is going to take a while to get used to.

Thanks again if you can answer any / all of my questions, or if you have something useful chuck it in.

-Peleus

konsole is basically used best in KDE
there is a gnome terminal
actually I believe there are a few floating around.
sourceforge.net and freshmeat.net are great places to search for apps.

gcc and g++ are standard in every linux distro they are on the redhat cds somewhere.

there are a few window managers. KDE and GNOME are desktop managers, which means that they handle drawing icons and such on the desktop. Window managers can be run inplace of Desktop managers there a quite a few in this catagories. blackbox, Fluxbox, openbox, sawfish, icewm, etc... Again freshmeat and sourceforge

here is a Admin guide probably the most recommended
http://www.icon.co.za/~psheer/book/index.html

Thats great, any further imput is still appreciated though.

Also looking around at this place (my first time here) I am mighty impressed by the community and it seems that it has a large (or larger then usual) empahsis on helping people and newbies which is great, thanks everyone.

Oh and also is it just me or are the icon's and menus for the task bar under kde a lot lower quality then those in gnome? They look blocky and grainy but I am still at the same resolution.

Also I had a look at konsole under KDE and its still being crappy.



Linux is so frustrating to start with, hope it gets better.

Oh and on another note when I try and say install gcc on computer it says package already installed, but when I try and run it it says 'program gcc not found'

which version of redhat are you running?
and which version of KDE

I'm running KDE 3.1 at the moment I prefered gnome 1.4 but gnome 2 seems to have taken a step backwards.

Redhat 8.0 and whatever default KDE version it is after running the update thing.

Well the newbie in need update is as follows:

Firstly sorry if I am posting too much, its kinda like help a newbie in real time, fun

Anyway I have found the terminal, staring me in the face all the time, and don't worry I feel plenty dumb enough.

However I still can't get gcc to work. I type in gcc in the home/username directory and get the message "gcc: no input files" which has me stumped. I also tried it in the usr/bin folder where I believe it is located and still no luck.


Please help!

usually gcc is used as follows

gcc main.c -o programname

if you are looking for an ide then try either
Kdevelop
anjuta