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Old 07-01-2003, 10:32 AM   #1
asktoby
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Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Cardiff, England ;)
Distribution: Mandrake 9.1
Posts: 94

Rep: Reputation: 15
Another damn noob.


Hi!

I'm a newbie. I've got Mandrake 9.1 installed and 75% working. I'm keen. Confused. Full of questions. Sit back and get comfy

I've been faq-digging, and I've read a lot of online manuals, but this is almost a case of too much information. When reading faqs I often get stuck because I have a few core bits of knowledge missing. Everything I read assumes I already know something else.

Perhaps I could get some information on the following simple questions:

1 - Where is the best place to go for help? I don't want to keep clogging forums with my "same as the next guy" newbie questions. Is there a comprehensive (and plainly written) manual available anywhere online?

2 - Where do my programs get installed? Sometimes I install things and I can't find them in my K-Menu. Where do they go?

3 - What are linux programs? Are they bats, pifs, exe files and dlls, or something new?

4 - What are the techniques for installing/uninstalling programs? I've put a few RPMs in. Is that the only way to install software? What about installing drivers?

5 - What is "compiling the kernel" and do I need to do it to install things? Hell, what is the "kernel"?

I'll leave it at that for the meantime!
 
Old 07-01-2003, 10:45 AM   #2
rshaw
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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Perry, Iowa
Distribution: Mepis , Debian
Posts: 2,692

Rep: Reputation: 45
1. come here, thats why we're here.
2. could be in one of several places, use 'find' from the kmenu
3. none of the above, file extentions don't carry the meaning that they do in windows.
4. there are several ways to install programs, best to stay with rpms until you get a handle on things.
5. no need to recompile your kernel, unless you have a very, very new piece of hardware not supported by the current kernel.mandy builds their kernels with almost everything compiled as modules that will load automagically if needed.
 
Old 07-01-2003, 10:56 AM   #3
darin3200
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Dec 2002
Distribution: Gentoo!
Posts: 1,153

Rep: Reputation: 45
1. If the question has been asked before you can try searching for it in the upper right hand corner of your screen. If not, feel free to post.
2. Someplace in the root directory. If you want to run them on the k-menu at the bottom there is a run command. Type in the program you want to run. Also, go into Mandrake 9.1 Control center, the system tab on the left and then in the top left hand corner click menu drake. You can add apps to your menu this way. Lastly, to get programs on the desktop, right-click, go into the create new menu, and click link to application. Put in the title and select a special logo if you want one, and then go to the execute tab and type in the program that you want to run(program launcy commands usally don't start with a capital letter)
3. They are executable, but not like windows's .exe files.
4. I would recommen mandrake 9.1 packing tools in the configuration tab in the k-menu. You can add apps from a ton of software or delete apps. You can download files off the web the are rpms. rpms to me are the easist. Double click, give your root password and the rest is simple. Or in command line type su to get a root prompt, give your root password and then to install type "rpm -ivh (filename).rpm". You can also install things from source. These are labeled as source and come with that .tar.gz extenstion. To uncompress these type tar -zxvf (filename).tar.gz. Then get into that directory type "./configure" (wait a while) "make' (wait a while), then do su again and then "make install".
5. I would say leave the kernel alone for now. You probably don't need/want to remeber it. It is sort of the center part of the operating system, like the core component. (Anyone ffeel free to correct me if I'm wrong here)But I sort of have the impression that it is like what a cpu is to the computer. Its a main thing that everything else goes through.
Hope that helps.
 
  


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