Total Newbie-need Help
 

Yesterday i received an older dell Notebook on Fedora Core 5 and i dont know the kernel from popcorn

First the *bleep* thing wont play cd's- i cant figure out how to install software-it wont access my Yahoo Mail although it will access the home page-Its just *bleep*ing confusing.

Maybe if you ask proper structured questions, and include what you have/haven't tried . It would be easier for people to respond and help you.

What application are you trying to play CDs with?
What browser are you using to try and access yahoo mail?

Does the cd-player application give you an error, or does it play but no sound is coming out, or what is the exact problem?

Software can be installed in various ways. One way is to download Fedora .rpm packages, and if you've got every package that is needed in order to install the downloaded one, simply double-click on it to start the installation. One other way is to use yum command from the console (terminal emulator):
For Yum you'll probably want to add some other reposities ("package warehouses") to get more software, but if you'd like to do so, please search LQ and Google - it's covered there.

Do you get an error trying to access the Yahoo Mail? Does it use Java/javascript/some other systems, so that you might be missing a plugin? Do you just get a timeout or page not found?

Please be a bit more specific. Using commas and dots also might help making yourself more clear.

Have you tried the menu item for installing applications? --at the bottom of the list when you click on "applications". This menu leads you to the pacage manager--which is the easiest way to install new SW.

As others have said, tell us what you have tried and ask questions as specific as possible.

Linux is only confusing for a while, then it all starts to make sense....(We'll--sort of)