LinuxQuestions.org - Basic Very Basic ?

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Basic Very Basic ?

I bought an Acer Aspire One last August. Great for travel, 2.2 lbs, wired, etc. But once back home, I can't get it to talk to my other two Windows XP installed computers.
I can't download Gmail video Messenger as Google does not support Linux.

I'd like other simple games (Spider Solitare) but dont' know how to download them into Linux.

I've had computers for almost 20 years, and am comfortable with the basics, but reading the other "Basic" threads in this forum leaves my head spinning.

Where do I start? thanks.

As far as networking goes and other Linux basics
http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/
http://linux-newbie.dotsrc.org/
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting
http://linux.die.net/man/

Linux software
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/...ndows_software
http://www.linux.org/apps/
http://kde-apps.org/
http://www.gnomefiles.org/

Dive in Helen.

By the way tell what distribution of Linux you are using and state the specific problem you are having networking. Can you ping the windows machines? Are you going through a switch? DHCP or static? Have you or do you know how to configure your network interface in Linux? Ect.

Hi, happy new year.

For that game you mention see:
http://www.soft82.com/search.php?sea...=163&x=18&y=17

You do not in actual fact "just download" stuff into Linux. You need to actually "download" and properly "install" the stuff. What game you get and how you install would depend on a lot of factors, amongst others:
* the type of linux you have (the distribution --- you did not mention), because you face dependencies --- see the list in the above link.
* the type of tar ball you download
* what the README or similar file of the package says --- you may have to untar to get such.
* some games can just lunch without an install

I think there is just too many things at stake here. I suggest identify the game and get the it >> see what google results you get for its linux installing >> try the install as explained therein >> get some results (even errors will be useful) >> post that to the forum with all detail possible.

Or for Windows games into Linux check:
http://showmedo.com/videos/series?na...xCadieuxCedega

I hope you get your Linux gaming up and running soon.

Cheers,
Isix

The Acer aspire one comes with Linpus linux, which is derivated from Fedora. It comes with synaptic to install software. synaptic is just too damn easy to use. Just launch it and read what is written. It can't be simpler than that. Click 'search', type the name of the software you want, then click install and apply.

It might help if we knew what version of linux you're running, but we could probably help without it.

For the first one, it's a simple fix. Download and install Pidgin, it supports a variety of chat protocols including Google Talk.

---------------------------------------------------

For the second there's a bit more work to be done and a couple ways it could be done. But I'll give you one way and you can figure out other ways if you wish. This is using something called Samba which I believe ships with basically all distros now... anyway, on with the examples.

Replace windowsserver with the name of the windows machine that the share and wherever you see winntuser and mypassword, replace those with your windows username and password on the machine with the share.

You'll want to open up your terminal or command prompt.

Code:

# mkdir -p /mnt/win

# mount -t smbfs -o username=winntuser,password=mypassword //windowsserver/sharename /mnt/win

# cd /mnt/win

# ls -l

mkdir makes the folder for the windows share to be accessed.
mount accesses the shared folder on the windows machine.
The last two commands are used to verify you have accessed your windows shared folder(s).

You'll have to re-mount the share each time you boot up your computer by re-typing the mount command each time you reboot or you can edit /etc/fstab file to auto-mount the share each time.

Append this to the end of the /etc/fstab file.

Code:

//windowserver/share /mnt/win smbfs

auto,gid=users,fmask=0664,dmask=0775,iocharset=iso8859-15, credentials=/etc/sambapasswords 0 0

Then create the file /etc/sambapasswords with these contents:

Code:

username = winntuser

password = mypassword

And now for a little extra security you may want to ensure only root can access the /etc/sambapasswords file.

Code:

# chown 0.0 /etc/sambapasswords

# chmod 600 /etc/sambapasswords

Close your terminal or command prompt and you're done.

---------------------------------------------------

For the third, if you're running KDE for your desktop then no worries, it's packaged with kdegames by default and has been for a while now. If not, you can download a version of it by searching on the net. Shouldn't take too much to find one.

:twocents: Google is your friend, anything you're looking for, do a few searches and I'm sure you'll find what you need.

Basic Very Basic ? part 2

Gosh, thanks so much. Problem is, I don't understand most of what all of you told me.

All those command prompts left my head aching. I'll print out your comments and try them...really all I want is for all three of my computers (two on XP, the Acer One on Linux) to talk to each other...)without having to Uninstall Linux and install Windows in the Acer.

What's a tarball? And KDE? and Distros?
cheers! Helen

Fallen among the knowlegable

There is lots of help listed there, but it requires that you do some homework on Google or on the tutorials and articles on this forum. Wikipedia too has articles on basic items. Linux has its own structure with own terminology, and an own learning process. You need help, but also patient perseverance. Welcome to the Community.

But first

You could passingly read this.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/...Ask_a_Question

Remember, Tux merely looks fierce.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thorkelljarl (Post 3396822)

Remember, Tux merely looks fierce.

LOL

Welcome to the rest of the World. Backup all your docs and try everything. Linux is here to help you learn and the best way to learn is to try,fail,try,...etc. Don't be afraid of your computer. Its just a machine ;)

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkinnerC (Post 3396878)

HAL anyone? Just a machine! :(

To the OP;

You've been given some good advice. I would suggest that you look at 'Rute Tutorial & Exposition', 'Linux Newbie Admin Guide' & 'Linux Command Guide' to get some good background.

These links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

Quote:

What's a tarball?

tarball is a group of files collected together as one. A tar archive has the file suffix .tar. The files in a tar archive are not compressed, just gathered together in one file. A popular archive handler for Windows systems, WinZip, can be used to extract the files from a tar archive. Normally most of the software packages for a linux machines comes in tar arcive.

Quote:

And KDE?

KDE- K Desktop Environment is a software package that manages linux desktop requirement.

Quote:

Distros?

Distros are short form of Linux distributions can be defined
“a Linux operating system and a collection of applications. The operating system will consist of the Linux kernel and, usually, a set of libraries and utilities from the GNU project, with graphics support from the X Window System“.
rgds
bil

http://www.linux.org/lessons/beginner/toc.html
Go through this course, it's written with the newbie in mind- the commands and utilities described there are universal for all distributions. That was the first page where i started from when i installed linux.
And the fact that you're a woman and come asking for help shows a lot- you can do it.

By the way

I hope that you are not posting under your actual name, not the best idea if you don't welcome all comers who might find their way to you.

You can edit your profile or leave and re-register as someone/something else.

I might not indeed be the known Jomsviking and member of the Varangian Guard, Thorkell the High, made Jarl by King Canute the Great for the worth of the services or the threat of the enmity rendered in the years around 1025.