First off, I'd like to say that this site, and you guys, are great. I've spent my share of time at experts-exchange answering questions on subjects I'm good with, and its great to have such a dedicated place where I can play the "asker" role.
What I really wish I had was a roommate Linux guru who I could ask all the stupid little questions that pop into my head. But I'll post some here-
1.) In Linux, everything is a file. There are really no other parts of the OS, like Windows' Registry. Is this statement correct?
2.) I've done some windows programming, mostly VB but a little C++. Can you explain why people compile their own binaries for programs? Why would that make it faster?
3.) Why do people recompile the kernel? For me, building a little web/ftp server on a p200 with Slackware 9.1, will I ever need to? Why?
4.) I never know where to put things. I realize /home/bohiti is like C:\Documents and Settings\Bohiti. Where should I install things to? like Java, or OpenOffice, or the newest Apache? If you're going to say "it doesn't matter", then where do YOU install things?
5.) What exactly do RPM's do for Red Hat? They just put files in the right places, and keep a log so that the files can be uninstalled?
6.) I'm a Windows command-line junkie, and I'd like to be able to run my Slack web/ftp server strictly from CLI. How can you stop and start individual daemons? Say I want to turn ftpd off for awhile.
I'm sure I'll come up with some more later.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Bohiti