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Most basic possible beginner guide needed to "speak" Linux.
Geekfriend installed installed Gentoo Linux on my EEE-PC; did not teach me anything. Probably I do not belong here, as I know nothing bout Linux xcept it's stable, open source, and better than spoonfed almost-monopoly competition. Where can I get a basic- seriously beginner basic- guide to learn how-to of Linux? It's like learning another language without a teacher OR a dictionary.
I can get online, email, search, (that was set up for me) but no clue how to get missing part that lets me read PDFs for example, or how to get the missing code that allows me to import apps, or how to import an app & make it work or how to make video or sound work, etc.. I am not stupid or lazy, just don't know where to begin learning the language. Thank you so much for any help you offer. |
Hi, welcome to LQ,
mh, Gentoo for such a newbie, that's a jump into very cold water ;) In order to install additional programs, you'll need the emerge command. Wich Windowmanager do you use? the most simple (fast to install) program for PDF-reading would be xpdf Code:
emerge xpdfSo please provide more information about which programs you've already installed. Useful links: http://www.gentoo.org/ and http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz Good luck Markus |
cold water, indeed
Markush, thank you for responding. Where do I look to find out which window manager I have? (i did say VERY basic) And what happens when I type "emerge XPDF" in (command prompt ?) window?
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In your homedirectory, there is a file .xinitrc, it is hidden, like in Windows, the files with a dot as the first character of the name are hidden. Please post this .xinitrc as an attachment post.
Quote:
Markus |
/home/joy> emerge -pv xpdf
!!! /etc/make.profile is not a symlink and will probably prevent most merges. !!! It should point into a profile within /usr/portage/profiles/ !!! (You can safely ignore this message when syncing. It's harmless.) !!! If you have just changed your profile configuration, you should revert !!! back to the previous configuration. Due to your current profile being !!! invalid, allowed actions are limited to --help, --info, --sync, and !!! --version. |
Markus, you are generous to give me 2 quick replies, but I know you can't sit here all night diagnosing/teaching. I posted on this thread the error msg.I got, & truthfully, I don't know what it actually said. Where can I learn this basic stuff, without wasting everyone's time? a book, a guide, a tutorial somewhere that can tell me what the words & commands mean? It's just another language, like english or swahili or whatever, but I need the meanings of the words.....
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Quote:
Markus |
Well, look here http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/ and read this: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml and ask the guy who installed your system why the portageprofile isn't set correctly.
Good luck and good night Markus |
Happy new year, thank you, & I blow you a kiss & a smile.
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As Markush said, Gentoo is not for newbies. I haven't tried it yet (it's on my todo list now that I've figured out Virtual Box), but I understand it pretty much expects everything to be compiled and installed from scratch.
Here are some good basic Linux references that are not Gentoo specific but which may help: About dot com's intro to Linux. It's oriented towards Ubuntu, but the information is solid. The Slackbook. It's Slackware-oriented, so it's very good on basics, such as permissions, file structure, and the like. In fact, it may be best thing I have read on permissions. Garrels's Introduction to Linux is extremely detailed and very thorough. |
Frankbell, thank you, I will followup
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Here is a really comprehensive guide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSQ4L...eature=related |
Hi,
Just a mix of links to aid you to gaining some understanding. Sure some may seem beyond a newbie but you must start somewhere; Linux Documentation Project Rute Tutorial & Exposition Linux Command Guide Utimate Linux Newbie Guide LinuxSelfHelp Getting Started with Linux Bash Beginners Guide Bash Reference Manual Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide Linux Home Networking The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just SlackwareŽ links! |
Thank you, leopard & gary. I'm now going away for a few weeks to do homework.
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newbie recommendations
Hello and welcome to the community here at LQ.
I am more than willing to help you research your issues. I have been using Various distributions sense 2003, My latest distribution of choice for dewsktops is Red HadLinux (RHEL) for short. I would recommend a ubuntu variant such as Xubuntu for a New user like yourself. I a,m a seasoned Linux user of 7+ years a few of which were spent distribution hopping |
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