Well in reality It isnt a question. Im up and running with linux. Mandrak 10.1 Ive been using windows all my life. I just need somone who is online alot to sorta of help me with linux until I can get on my feet. I have alot of questions about file downloads and stuff. If I can find a buddy who would help me out that would be amazing!

If you post your questions/problems here, you will find that there are alot of people on hand to help, whatever time of day you post. Because we all live in different time zones, if your question isn't answered immediately, just check later coz others may reply to it at a later time. Personally I am around quite a lot when I am not at work.

Yeah that is true. But I think it would be easiest If I could chat with a few people on AIM. I have a bunch of questions that have to be asked on a personal basis.

if people actually feel like getting that level of personal interaction, then kudos to you.

The forums are here so that everyone can contribute, and everyone can learn from other people's problems and solutions. If you use Instant Messaging, then others that might have the same problem won't be able to search for the answer on these forums, because they haven't been discussed (that is of course not that common, with the millions of posts already - it still applies though). I do agree that Instant Messaging allows for a more personal-level interaction, but it only benefits the two people discussing the problem.

Just my opinion.

That search feature works too. I know when I run into something with mine, I search and the answer just sort of pops up. Lot better than waiting on a answer too.

Hang in there. Next time a virus bug comes around, just surf on.

Later

If you want a personal trainer Mandrake will be happy to sell you assistance package just check http://www.mandrakelinux.com.

But I think you can learn more about linux using google or this forum.

Learn to solve your problem and the worl of Linux will open itself in front of you.

Only an opinion .

Not have any badly.

The whole idea behind open source is the community of shared ideas and resources, not just the code. There is no warranty for almost all open source products, so relying on the community of users to help you out is the best option. But if anyone uses those shared resources (the users in the community) then you have to give back to the community by helping others, which is accomplished by leaving solutions to your encountered problems open for all to see and learn from. This is how the community thrives, and how this site has grown to be so large. It is a database of problems and answers; you simply have to look them up, or contribute a new one.

Yeah, Actually You guys are right. I have a bunch of questions that I'll just ask here then.

First question:

Best IRC Client for Mandrake?

What is the best program for email. The one that comes with Mandrake is a little confusing on how to work and I have multipul emails that I need to set up.

What File do I download for a bit torrent. I always used Azureus in windows, and they have one for linux. Which one do I downlod?
Latest Azureus Release [2.2.0.2]



Linux GTK
MD5: f827bd23d6fdec3dce06f387635a305c

Linux AMD64
MD5: bbdcb00f8bb79af8c0873559f4fdb71b

Linux Motif
MD5: 395bd85d0d8df74afb438cb2257ff35f

Linux PPC
MD5: 1ebbd9de7147fb6fc1253d23fb3c18ae

Lastly I have a Lexmark Z610 Printer its BRAND new. and Linux dosn't have the drivers for this printer so what should I do?

The best of...

There are as many "best" apps as there are Linux users.

1) IRC: My personal favorite is KVIrc, but you have to download and manually install that. XChat is also a very good client. KSirc is functional, but that's about all I can say for it.

2) email: Again, everyone has a favorite. I personally like Kontact/KMail, which is the default in Mandrake's KDE setup. Very easy to use, and configure. But then, I have used Windows for many years, and am still forced to use Outlook at work, so the interface is fairly similar. Another popular one is evolution. There are also things like Thunderbird, Opera mail, etc.

3) I don't do BitTorrent, so I have no experienced opinion, but my guess would be the GTK version. (The list of files *is* what you were referring to, isn't it?)

4) printer: Does it work with CUPS?

see this thread http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ght=irc+client

I use Mozilla Thunderbird. It can handle multiple connections very easily, as well as newsgroups. It is extremely simple to configure. http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird

AMD64, and PPC are cpu architectures; GTK and Motif are GUIs. Gaim uses GTK and i believe Motif is really old. My best guess would be that you want the GTK one. If you have mandrake, you can just open up the installer, and type "azureus" into the search bar, and have it install the rpm for it instead (much easier).

I tired Kontact, Maybe Ill give it some more time when I get home from school. But I felt that the interface was confusing.

Ill try out KV IRC tonight. What specific file should I download I do not know Linux extensions.

The list of files for the bit torrent client were only tar files and I have no idea what to do with them.

And as for the printer I have no idea what CUPS is


And for the GTK I beleive I download and tried to install it last night it was just a tar file I don't know what to do with that/ What do you mean in the search bar?

Kontact: This is very similar to Outlook/Outlook Express in appearance, and not really any harder than that to configure. I have 4 email addresses I check automatically using my setup. If you aren't familiar with MS Outlook (lucky you! ) it may seem rather confusing, though.

For KVIrc, go to their website that I linked to, and go to the Downloads -> Source Packages page. (Or just download from -->here<-- to hit a USA mirror.) This will give you a zipped package of source code, commonly known as a tarball. You *will* need to have KDE/QT source/headers installed to build it though, so unless you are comfortable "rolling your own", you might want to try XChat first. (XChat is available on your installation media. If it's not already installed, just go to the Mandrake Control Center ("Configure your computer"), click on "Software" in the left panel, and click on "Install" in the main panel. Search for "XChat", select it, and click the "Install" button. It's that simple. )

For azeurus, I'm with student04: Just install it from the Control Center.

CUPS is the Common Unified Printer System. It should have been installed by default when you installed Mandrake. If not, go to the Mandrake Control Center, etc.

Actually, for *most* software, the best thing for a newbie to do, is to go to the Easy Urpmi website, and follow the instructions there for setting up their system repositories. Once you have done that, you simply install software from the Mandrake Control Center, instead of downloading tarballs, or "wild" rpms, and hosing your system with incompatible stuff.

See my screen shot of the installer HERE.

For email, if you use Mozilla, then Mozilla mail is a good way to go. I like it because if I get a email with a link in it I can right click the link and then select "open in new tab" and it opens the link in a new tab. That works great for me since I get a lot of email notifacations from forums. That works even of they are on different desktops.

I usually keep Mozilla, the browser, on desktop 1; Mozilla mail on desktop 2; Kppp and a root console on desktop 3; Konqueror on desktop 4; my spider solitaire game on desktop 5; and Gkrellm on desktop 6. I'm pretty organized here.

If I go to my brothers and work on his windoze XP, I'm lost. I did put Mozilla on there but the lack of desktops really makes it hard on me.

I'll get Linux on that old thing yet. You just wait.

Later

Im going to use firefox and thunderbird for my internet stuff. As for the azurez all I do is go into the control center and install the tar file? Does this go for pretty much everything else that is a tar file? And For the KsIRC do I do that through thr control center as well?

Also with KDE on their short cut bar they have the browser on there. How can I change the internet browser icon to the firefox icon and how do I add icons?

And like shortcuts in genral how do you put them on the desktop?