install done.. now what?
 

hello all... im just wondering.. i have managed to install redhat, mandrake, debian, slackware... I have also managed to play with it a lil.. installing some packages. but i dont know what to do next. it makes me wonder why i installed linux sometimes..... anyway, what are the things you do after a fresh install of linux? the reason why I asked this is coz I want to accomplish somthing new. but i just wonder what linux have that windows cant do? pls dont flame me.. i just really wanna know what linux have that windows doesnt. i mean i like both winxp and slackware and i have them multiboot with freebsd and solaris(4 OS in 1 HD).

i really like linux coz i can customize and stuff.. but other than that it gives me a hard time to make things just work(eg. java, webcam, apache/php/mysql,) so far I only have done it with slackware since they are already installed there except for the webcam which didnt work in whatever distro.

im actually thinking of not sending this message right now but since i already typed this far then maybe i should just send it.

so what do you do after you install linux? what do you like about linux? what cool stuff do you do with linux? plss dont answer "coz its free". thank you.

Thats a big converstaion already discussed to an other topic (about 100 pages!). All these questions are relevant.... ;)

You are used to use windows. First time is really hard :) . Start with your every day work and u will find your way ....

Ha ... I know the feeling. You are n00b, you install linux, and you don't know what to do then. What do you do with windows? That's what you can do in linux, but the real possibilities are endless.

/me gets confused

ummmmmm , mmmmm,... *thinks* . ummmmmmmmmm, *gets a idea* how about USE it?!!??? ??? ?! ????

-email
-web surfing
-office programs (for "work" (why do businesses need fancy "documents" , cant they just use something simple like or ASCII? (or TeX, but that falls under ASCII i think?))
-text stuff (using non office programs, like TeX (includes LaTeX), text editors..)
-games
-instant message
-picture viewing
-3d modeling
-drawing pictures
-make movies
-music
-record music
-watch movies
-edit movies
-download
-upload
-IRC (might as well include it?)
-programing
-simulations
-fractal stuff
-math (think this includes fractals?, fractals pretty....)
-messing with users life's by saying theres a virus when they buy things online, and there credit card numbers were recorded and sent to some bad person that will use it to buy porn and explosives.... and the FBI will come to them cause its there credit card.. and the FBI will find explosive material (in there gas tanks), and porn (on the Internet).. and they will be executed by Parana

Your Linux distribution is an Operating System with a load of programs installed. What do you want to do with it?

Do all the neat stuff you can do in Windows for free legally and more, even at the same time and not crash.

You can also find that you fried your motherboard 9 months ago during the last lightning strike when you re-boot to try a new kernel and buy and then real stuff cheap and rebuild it and not loose anything as long as the /home partition made it through (try that in Windows Can it run more than 24 hrs without crashing). It happened to me as I just got used to turning the monitors/sound systems/serial modems off and leave the box on..

Linux boxes are so much fun, one isn't enough. I like at least 3 of themCheap Linux Box. One to work/play on Linux only, one file/internet server, one multiboot with a couple of Windows OS and CD/RW and DVD player drives.

That one usually stays in Linux for CD and audio work and I use the Windows OS to play a couple of games and to checkout the occasional shockwave and Windows Media Player 9 encoded site links that Windows users keep sending me (they "make" a greeting card or something that is sort of stupid IMHO).

Here is a link list I post quite often.

I have Linux installed, now how do I work some stuff like some software and file managers?
# I can't figure out what software I want and how to install/uninstall it
The table of equivalents, replacements, analogs of Windows software in Linux
# Find software here
Freshmeat
Sourceforge
rpmfind
# Guides to software management
LNAG - How do I install a program I downloaded from the Internet?
Rute Guide's software explanation
You might want to check out CheckInstall to manage source code installations/uninstallation
# File managers
Midnight Commander
Gentoo file manager
ROX-Filer
# HTML editors
Bluefish
Personally, I use the editor in Midnight Commander when in console and gnotepad+ (gnp is the command to launch it) when in X.
Beginners guide: So, you want to make a Web Page!
Anything else you might need

When I dove into linux (hey, still learning, every day!), I decided I wanted my desktop to be as useful as my windows box had been. So, I fired up Slackware (against most people's recomendations for a newbie :)) and head in without looking back. Downloading the newest patches, OpenOffice, all kinds of games and office tools, learning about iptables and more, my little test desktop box has become the server for my household network.

It's all about having goals. They don't have to be many, but it helps if they're specific.

-- Poetics

first of all thanks to fancy ripper... and all of you heh.

yes I am a n00b, i am using slackware too... I actually try to use linux like my windows, i can watch dvd, burn cd's, can view shockwave, installed openoffice, setup my box as a server... upgraded my kernel to 2.6.6 and brag about it on irc(the number1 reason i installed linux "to brag") heh. but if i think of it.. i can do all that stuff with windows with more hardware support(webcam), can easily watch dvd's and all that stuff... except that I cant recompile the kernel and i cant brag to my friends anymore heh.

anyway.. thanks again.. i like linux.. maybe i was just bored yesterday and wanted to do something more than the usual stuff... yep still learning everyday.

Yea, thats a common thing. I find myself getting bored all the time cause I expect to be learning something new all the time, and I do still even to this day. It's get harder as time goes by as far as keeping your self busy with it. Try to break things and then fix it. :D There are so many projects out there to do it's not even funny. Try getting a bootsplash screen running on Slackware. That should keep you busy for a day or two... Maybe more. Try sliming down your kernel to as low as you can get it in size and only have support for your hardware if you haven't already (Mine is at 850kb, what's yours? and I have a new computer with a crazy ammount of Hardware). Try switching over to the XFS filesystem. Try building an LFS install or Gentoo if your not ready for LFS.... Get it so you can mount a BSD under Linux and then tell me how you did it. ;) Fix your uname -a output so it doesn't have any "unkown"'s anymore.... Stupid stuff like that will keep you busy and make you continue the learning process.... FC2 just came out. Install it and mess with it. I'm downloading it right now... Install OpenBSD, FreeBSD and NetBSD side by side and get them all tweaked out and see what the differences are between them. If you have more than one box, mess around with samba and get them talking to one another. Or better yet, go buy an old piece of crap for 30 bucks at auction and use that as a firewall/gateway for your main computer. Still want to try smoothwall Linux out myself.... If you really have Linux tweaked out the way you want it, then it can do everything that windows can, with the exception of some games.... So, yea... Try USING it..... I thought that was the best suggestion of all....;) Do you ask, "what now" with Windows? Probably not.... Go to the library and start checking out the entire Stargate SG1 series on DVD and then rip them all with Mplayer and burn them to CD or DVD.... (Nerd Alert).... Hmmm... What else.... I could go on and on but you get the idea... You gotta look for stuff to do once you reach a certain point.

Actually, I like Fancypiper's idea... Go dumpster diving or to auctions. Thats what I'm doing. I'm in the process of making my own supercomputer out of crappy hardware. Building a cool looking, multi-colored stainglass case and am going to cluster and raid everything together. Get crazy man...... :p