installing nano on linpus? completely new to linux, please help
 

hi there,
I've just bought an acer aspire one and didn't know the OS was linux. I thought I'd give it a go anyway.
I've been researching how to change the desktop type and discovered i need a script reading/writing program to do this. a bit more research told me to download the nano program. I've now done this but have no idea how to go about installing the software.
Any help at all would be much appreciated. thanks.

Andy

Hi Andy, welcome to the forums! (And to the wonderful world of Linux.)

I've not used Linpus before, but a quick google search shows me it is based on Fedora. In Fedora, you can install applications using the "yum" package manager.

So, open a Terminal (not sure how Linpus is set up but it's probably under Applications, Accessories or Applications, System Tools) and type:

Then type your root password when prompted.

Now:

Let me know if that works!

HOWEVER, nano is simply a text editor for, well, editing text files. I'm sure that Linpus includes a text editor of its own, try checking your Applications, Accessories menu for example. So why don't you take a few steps back, introduce yourself, and tell us what you mean by "how to change the desktop type" because I'm sure there's more to that question than simply installing nano. :)

OK, so my current desktop looks like this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/...474fc822_z.jpg

which i don't like the look of and doesn't give me access to any menus apart from the ones you see here. this is a pre-owned machine and i don't know the password, is there any other way than contacting the previous owner to find this out? also when i tried typing anything next to password on terminal no text showed up although it allowed me to type the su command.
I tried to find the applications by searching in the file manager and found a folder by that name but can't open it, it brings up a message saying "the nautilus manager is not running" when i try.
when i searched how to change the desktop i found a site that said changing a few shell script files(xfdesktopnew) would achieve this. but again when i try to open them there are no programs that will allow me to change them.
very confused, thanks for the help

This is my personal opinion, you may agree/disagree with me:

Any time I acquire pre-owned hardware (which is something of a hobby for me) I always do a fresh reinstall of the operating system. I am not interested in a "used" operating system with someone else's documents, passwords, and personal information. I like a clean, fresh feeling.

You can do a clean reinstall of most Linux distributions ("distros") in about 15-20 minutes.

For example here are easy 1-2-3-4 instructions how to install the latest Ubuntu Netbook Edition (Ubuntu is probably the most popular distro for first-time Linux users): http://www.ubuntu.com/netbook/get-ubuntu/download

To answer your specific question, it is normal for Linux to hide the "root" password as you are typing it. It is possible to reset this password if you don't know it, however I don't know specifically how to accomplish this with Linpus.

I would replace the dumbed-down Linpus OS with a real Linux distro.

Also, I agree with snowpine about reinstalling the OS after someone else using it.

Will this have similar applications like firefox and a writer etc? and a script writing program? or will i need to acquire these things again afterwords?



I think this is probably a good idea. i'll give it a go, cheers

Almost any distro will have all that and much more.

All of the top Linux distros (Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, etc.) have huge libraries (called "repositories") of available software applications. Firefox and OpenOffice/LibreOffice should be not problem, not sure about a "script writing program."

You can compare the different distributions at http://distrowatch.com
Each distribution has its own forum and wiki where you can search for information about compatibility with your Acer Aspire One. I am not familiar with this hardware personally.

thank you for all the advice guys, i'm gonna give this reinstall a go and i'll get back to you.

got as far as "In the main menu, go to System > Administration and open 'Startup Disk Creator"

there are no menus on my desktop anyone know another way to find these?

Where did you get those instructions?

Are you trying to burn an ISO image to a disc?

In most Linux distributions, you can press Alt+F2 and type the name of an application, if you can't find it in your menus. You could also open a Terminal and type the name of the application there.

(edit)I think I just figured out what's going on. Are you trying to follow the instructions here?

http://www.ubuntu.com/netbook/get-ubuntu/download

You'll notice this instructions are for if you're using Ubuntu. They will not work in Linpus, sorry. :( Do you have another Windows, Mac, or Ubuntu computer you can use for preparing the Ubuntu bootable USB drive?

Alternately, you could probably use Unetbootin to create your USB: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Not Linux distributions, but desktop environments.