Okay I am Newbie 3 days only on linux
 

Okay I am Newbie 3 days only on linux and loving it. I loaded Mandriva 10.2 / 2005 limited edition with no trouble at all. I am running XP on a slave drive and linux on my main drive. My computer Compaq 6000 pent. 4, with 80 gigs on each hd. Now my newbie questions. Do I need anti-spyware software and a firewall for linux like windows. When I set up Mandriva I used the standard security setting. Oh! another dumb Newbie question? What about cookies how do I get rid of them? I have not even figured out how to set up software like Bittorrent for my bookclubs. Because I am a Newbie. I am learning alot from the threads here. I hope that over time as I learn I'll be able to help other Newbies like the users here help me.

Tnx everyone. :)

A firewall is always a good idea regardless of what OS you use. As far as spyware and virus, I wouldn't be too concerned there. Linux is inherently more secure than the other OS and most won't even run on Linux. As long as you don't do anything dumb like log in as root, you're pretty safe.

Cookies are typically accessed through the browser's options menu depending on what browser you use.

Azureus is an excellent bittorrent client. Check it out.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Open Source.

your first question has been discussed many times, search this site for firewall or spyware to ge the details. in short, no you dont need antispyware/adware software on your linux machine, but some/most people recommend setting up a firewall (look up ipchains in google or here).
i dont use software firewalls or anti-spyware removal programs on either linux or windows and have never had a problem with either.

Thank You
 

Wow fast respond time. Thank you Masonm & Nadroj. No anti-spyware I am now even more impressed with Linux. My
browser is Firefox so I'll look for those settings for cookies right now. Then I'll dive into the blogs on firewalls. Lets see if this Newbie can set up a firewall or Bittorrent first time around. Hahahaha I am a dumb Newbie.:D

There is bittorrent software included on the mandriva cd - goto the mandriva control centre, look for "look at installable software" and search for bittorrent. There was bittorrent, and bittorrent GUI, if I remember correctly.

Good luck with Linux! Once your comfortable with it, its too hard to switch back ;)

very true. :D

Newbie fails again.
 

Well I tried downloading BitTorrent 4.0.2-1.rpm. Saved it to a selected folder. Ran RPM installer, which said the packages are installed. But as my luck goes in didn't work when I went to any torrent links. I'd hit a link and get a popup open, with torrent name and 3 selections, open with, save to disk, or do this automatically. I chose open with and located my torrent software but still no go. I can't seem to find any easy Newbie threads here or on google and I looked around a few hours. I am using Mozilla Firefox for a browser and have no firewall. What have I overlooked? If I could find the answers myself I wouldn't post. The dumb Newb.:confused:

I can't wait to see how bad I mess up trying to install a firewall later on.:) Hahahahahaha

what happened when you 'open[ed] with' your torrent client? did it give error or not download or what

I do not think The Bittorrent software is even starting up. The popup window I am getting I think is from the torrent link looking for the Bittorrent software? I am not sure whats happening. I can say the software is not working.:confused:

open a terminal and type the name of the bittorrent client to load it, it will either load or not load and print out a message into the terminal. or check the manual for your program to see how it works, ie "man bittorrent"

The Newbie returns
 

Sad truth is I do not have the Mandriva 2005 L.E. manual. Wish I did. It looks like I am going to have to look into the darkest corners of the internet & see if someone has a pdf copy I can download. This dumb newbie ran a command line as you said but nothing happened. I will learn linux because I am a stubborn dumb Newbie who will not quit. I think I need to understand RPM install better. That's one of the first things I'll scope out in work tonight. Until then I am in search of a manual. Thanks so very much for your help. :)

the manual for your OS and all of its programs is on your computer. i quoted an example of the command to enter in at a terminal to display the online manual pages
enter any of these commands at a terminal/console/command line, substituting your program of choice:

to find out what a program is: whatis myProgram
to find out where a program (and its source/documentation) is: whereis myProgram
to find out how to use/display the manual for a program: man myProgram

Return of the killer Newbie
 

I can't access my help files. There on the setup dvd & when the command instructs me to put in my dvd it opens my cd-r and rejects my dvd.:confused: Well at least today I made a little headway I believe the torrent client problem is with my browser firefox. It's blocking my book club links from hooking up with my torrent software.:rolleyes: I hope tomorrow I'll straiten this out. The window that comes up asking what to do with the torrent link is from Firefox. Oh god I am in Newbie hell again. BUT LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT.:D Cheers 11:15pm on my end & due in for the 3rd shift.:)

you dont need a cd or other medium to access the online manual pages.. they are installed with whatever program you install. if you can access your computer you can access the man pages. type 'man man' to read the manual page for the 'man' program!

Look at my sig, you'll see a link for "how to read manpages".

As a "3 year n00b", with mainly mandrake/mandriva experience "under my belt", once I finished installing and had made sure that I had a working net connection, the _FIRST_ thing I learned I had to do, was to ditch the cd/dvd sources and get uptodate ones, so that my system would look for the most up to date versions of any packages I wanted to install, plus the update facility would update to the latest.

The mandriva control centre (configure my computer) software manager is the place for that, but to get the sources, you should go to easy urpmi and follow the instructions precisely - get sources nearest to your geographical location, they're usually the fastest. Get sources for everything in section 2 box 1 at easy urpmi, I never bothered with checking the "show specific sources too" box or the "Use compressed index, much smaller than normal, with less informations" box.

You just then highlight and copy the output in section 3, open a konsole/terminal (usually from an icon on the taskbar), type and input your root password, and then right click and "paste" the output you copied from section 3 of easy urpmi it might start automatically, you may have to hit enter as well. If any of the sources that you've put in don't work, you can always just wait for it to finish doing it's thing, and then just go back and get another source for whatever didn't work as an individual one (you don't need to get all 6 again).

Then if you look at the MCC software manager you can update the sources, but I'd delete the cd/dvd source, cos once you've installed you might as well get the most up to date stuff!

regards

John