ok, i am having some proplems, first of all: i installed linux from cd that i got with a magazine named linux format, and it said that there where many games and programs, but how do i run them

i remember that it installed a program named proftpd but i can' run, there are others programs as welll, so can you tell me how to load this program and some games as well

i tried going in 'Run Command' and typing 'proftpd' and 'proftp'
but neithere worked

how can i find all list of games and programs installed and information on the name i need to type to play them

first of all, you should give some more information about the distribution you are using, i.e. what version of linux (red hat, suse, mandrake...) most distro's use a windowmanager like kde or gnome. you should see a splash screen of that when it starts. if you have one of those there should be a button on the bottom-left corner of your screen which opens a menu (like the start-menu in windblows) and the programs should be in there. or they haven't been installed yet.

proftpd is a daemon, a program that runs in the background, so you shouldn't see anything when you run it. might well be it's already running. can't tell where to find that info or what programs are installed without knowing your distro.

Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org

I don't have Linux Format handy, but if i'm not mistaking there should at least be a small
introductory text to go with that cd you got that can explain some things..
(then again I could be mistaking)

What programs did you install? Depending on the distribution you got on that cd it will
install various applications for office tasks, email, internet, audio/video, and some games.
These programs can all be found in their respective program groups, if you didn't install
them then they aren't there ofcourse. So a small question.. which distro and what install
options did you choose? What desktop are you using? (KDE, Gnome, etc..)

ProFTPd is an FTP server, you won't be able to run it like you tried, since it's probably
already running. the tiny 'd' at the end of ProFTPd means 'daemon', and daemons run
in the background when you start your machine. if you want to play around with it's
settings I suggest opening up a browser to go to https://localhost:10000
to log into Webmin (If installed..) and from there, on the Servers tab you'll be able to
mess with ProFTPd's settings.

TiMiN8R! jinx!

ok, i got the first version of Mandrake 10.0 and i am using KDE 3.2
yes i have already checked the "Start menu" button but it said that there would be many games, but i can only see 3 games
.....
lol, never mind about the games they followed but i forgot to install them

well, i tried doing Xolo said and all i got was:
-------------------------------------------------------
An error occurred while loading https://localhost:10000:


Could not connect to host localhost (port 10000)
-------------------------------------------------------
can someone help me configure proFTPDaemon?

sorry for double posting but i almost forgot (i tried editing my post but i got an error)

quote from Xolo
thanks i needed that

No problem
As for Webmin, i'm surprised it didn't get installed/activated since you got Mandrake. i've got so used to it being there I just thought it would be on your machine too you could go to package management and install it, it's very handy to administer things such as ProFTPd, Samba, Postfix, even simpler things like the system time can be found in there.
If you don't feel like installing it, you could always mess with ProFTPd's settings through the config file found under "/etc/proftpd.conf", you could edit that with something like Vi.

ok, i went to that file, but i need to be a root to dysplay it, but the proplem is that i only know how to be a root in the 'Terminal Program'
does anyone know how to be a root? i tried ending my session, but when the user list came, all i could see was my account

When you go to install new software as a regular user, Mandrake should prompt you that it requires root priviledges, and allow you to input the root password if i'm not mistaking.
I haven't worked with Mandrake 10 enough yet to know if you can switch to root at the welcome screen though, but I can find out. Is there any place on the user list where you can type the username/password? or just point and click..

ok, let me explaine:
when i install a software, then a prompt comes and askes me to put the password for the root, but when i try to access this file all i get is: you do not have permission to enter this file
about the login screen, it is just click, and there is only my account, not the root account
but whenever i have had these proplem, then all i do is go in 'Terminal Program'
and enter 'su' in there, then i try to do whatever i try to do what i can't do myself

*BUMP*

You could also try doing 'su' in the terminal, then try to run rpmdrake from there and try to install the software you need to see if that makes any difference.
Also worth a try is switching to one of the virtual consoles by pressing and holding down ctrl+alt, and then press F1 for vc1, and log in there as root, then use 'startx' to get a desktop. then do your stuff from there and see if it works.