General generalities generally.

[Weatherlawyer]

So
I'm finally back on-line.

First time Linux user here and not an happy chappie. My main problem before getting on-line was using Open Office. It is a pig to use compared to Microsoft's machine.

Greatest gripe at the moment is I'm stuck with Konqueror and don't know how to install software. Flash is absent on DVD discs apparently. I wonder why they use DVDs if all you get is an OS with no more features than XP?

Here is the thing though. I have been using the net for years and am familiar with the concept of not asking for help that is already well covered. And am hit by the need to confide.

Confidence is a major obstacle in asking for help. You want to get help and know it's readily available and at the same time you want to be treated with great respect.

Then you end up asking silly questions.

So how do I open stuff I download so that it operates like it would if I was using Microsoft. That is, how Microsoft can work when not BSODing.

I'm using Kubuntu (with KDE obviously) and have another OS on the other HDD that I screwed up the settings to and have relegated to 2nd place (Back up store.)

PS
Was it this mag or the enemy, that was offering the new alternative to Open Office. I want it whatever. Abiword would be OK if I knew how to use regular expressions. (Open Office would be OK if I didn't have to excize full stops from my essays now and again.)

I'd have got it but some scumbag nicked the disc off the only copy of the mag (whoever produced it) in Stoke on Trent.

'Nuther gripe:

Nobody stocks any Linux mags in the miglands. Whatever happened to the saying: "If you can't get it you aren't in Birmingham?"

Margaret Thatcher and the CIA?

Anyway, what's on offer for my next sojourn to a location that a Linux magazine of any description can* be detected?

(*Might be detected, hopefully but only likely.)

[M-Saunders]

Flash is absent on DVD discs apparently. I wonder why they use DVDs if all you get is an OS with no more features than XP?

Flash is closed source, proprietary software and therefore many distro vendors prefer not to include it in their distributions by default. You can, of course, get distros which DO include Flash (along with various media codecs which may be legally dubious regards to patents and copyrights).

With a typical Linux distro you get an entire office suite, graphics editing package, development tools and much more -- to say it has "no more features than XP" which only includes WordPad and Paint is incorrect

There are various methods for installing software in Linux. The Help/New to Linux section of the LXFDVD describes some of them. You didn't say which piece of software you're having trouble installing, but if you post in the Help forum with more specifics, someone will be able to guide you along.

M

[Ram]

99% of the software you need is in the Kubuntu repositories.

To install programs use the packet manager - not sure of it's location in Kubuntu so just look for it in your menus.

[Weatherlawyer]

Packet manager just look for it in menus is meaningless to me. But thanks for the prompt reply.

To say that XP and Linux distros vary widely isn't correct, isn't correct. With XP I get two graphics tools I can use -or in my case, not? Where are the graphics tools in this OS?

I want to produce a clip of gif or J pegs or whatever to go on You tube to show the world how Tornadoes are linked to earthquakes via the North Atlantic Chart. That's all I need to do. But my computer with XP embedded went tits up and I don't have 78 quid to get another copy of XP.

2000 people died earlier this year, I could have done something (and been totally ignored as usual) but at least I could have done something.

Actually if I'd pulled my finger out I could have got a set of graphics on-line but I wanted to set up a list of earthquakes in a slide show. I have just got on-line and am still pondering where to look for help.

I hope I am not being awkward. Google groups won't open fully in Konqueror. I presume this is not all my fault.

Whatever, it is off-putting. I don't like the winding up process of being a lamer. Sorry.

<Reaches out of cradle for dummy>Feels angry going on stupid</Reaches out of cradle for dummy>

[wyliecoyoteuk]

Not familiar with Kubuntu particularly, but in general on Ubuntu, the software installed will include most basic desktop packages.
To install software, go to the system menu, there will be an entry for a package manager (usually called synaptic).
If you launch that, you will be presented with a searchable list of several thousand free applications.
Firefox will be in there, along with GIMP (Gnu Image manipulation program) Scribus (DTP) Inkscape (vector drawing), Koffice and many others.

You may need to add the third party repositories to get java, flash etc.

The main reason that a free distro does not include commercial applications and codecs is that they are not legally allowed to give them away for free.
MP3, Flash, etc are controlled by the copyrights of their owners, and while they can give them away, they choose not to let others redistribute them.

As for getting a Linux distro to work like Windows, that is not really possible or desirable. Linux is free, stable and secure by nature, to make it more like Windows would break that, and would be pointless, really.
We want Linux to be different, that is why it exists.
I subscribe, but my local Tesco and WH smith both in Birmingham stock Linux format and the other one.

(end of lecture, you can have your dummy back now)

[Weatherlawyer]

I'm using this damned browser that is so hair trigger I no longer have a back button on it. It wouldn't be so bad if the view would remain set at something I could read but every few pages I have to reset it.

I'll browse Tesco or Smiths tomorrow, the only places that sell Linux magazines in my region.

If I get a new operating system and I like it I will start over with (hopefully) everyone on the same page as me.

Any suggestions for the umpteen distros I already have? Presumably I'd be safer in Gnome?

[heiowge]

If you're fond of distros that look more like windows, that works more out of the box than most, I recommend Linux Mint. It's based on Ubuntu, and uses a customised Gnome desktop.

Here's a screenshot of the latest release (sorry, in my haste, I've clipped the pic slightly off)::oops:



Download from here:

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

I suggest the MAIN EDITION. It has more stuff working by default.

Download it then burn the ISO image to disc using a disc burner (set as image, not file or it'll not unpack it for you). Windows if you have it, or on your Kubuntu (I tend to use K3B, but I'm sure a Kubuntu expert can point you at and help you with default software to do the same).

[donoreo]

So how do I open stuff I download so that it operates like it would if I was using Microsoft.

Stop right there. Linux |= Windows. You need to remember that FIRST before you do anything else. Others have covered your more specific questions, but you need to remember the above it will make things easier for you.

[wyliecoyoteuk]

So how do I open stuff I download so that it operates like it would if I was using Microsoft.

Stop right there. Linux |= Windows. You need to remember that FIRST before you do anything else. Others have covered your more specific questions, but you need to remember the above it will make things easier for you.

Good point, why do you think Windows is overrun with malware, trojans and viruses, and Linux is not?

In Linux you generally pick from supervised repositories of software, in Windows, you download any old rubbish, click it and it runs.

[heiowge]

...in Windows, you download any old rubbish, click it and it runs.

Don't forget that you have to install their toolbar and get a limited version that has less features until you upgrade for a mere $49.95!

[Weatherlawyer]

So how do I open stuff I download so that it operates like it would if I was using Microsoft.

Stop right there. Linux |= Windows. You need to remember that FIRST before you do anything else. Others have covered your more specific questions, but you need to remember the above it will make things easier for you.

Good point, why do you think Windows is overrun with malware, trojans and viruses, and Linux is not?

In Linux you generally pick from supervised repositories of software, in Windows, you download any old rubbish, click it and it runs.

Not.

Windows is designed to fail. You can get **** versions of Windows that are not so crappy. It is possible to design freeware to run as wanted.

But it seems I have missed the problem somehow as now this box is connected to the web things are far better.

Extremely impressed with Konqueror by the way. Fast as f..errrmmmm a very fast pleasure. Pity it hasn't got a back button any more.

Some Linux fanbois want to tell me how superior the command line Ctrl + Left arrow is?

The moral of the story is get connected with Linux.

What does: Linux |= Windows. mean or must I make a newbietolinuxlike guess?

I almost got the Mint OS today but my purchase went to a Linux intro from a competitor. Sorry LFM. Maybe next month and if and when there is an alternative to Open Office.

Something about that seizure infected infarction that stops me cross pasting clips from spreadsheet to word processor.

[Dutch_Master]

I was waiting for that question... The |= means not equal to, the | is considered a "logical invert". Not all the time though, you'll find it has magical abilities in stringing commands together once you try a terminal (like a DOS prompt, but way better )

Actually, you may want to try that (the shell, that is)... Find the "terminal" entry in the menu (Applications -> Accessories is the most obvious place) Then type (or better: copy/paste) this:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

This updates the package list and upgrades your system to the latest packages available. The sudo gives you powerfull permissions, so use with care! (you'd have to supply your own password, sudo then checks if you have the proper permissions to execute the program you want with root permissions and grants you these once confirmed)

The shell (usually Bash, there are plenty more to choose from) even has a build-in help-function: if you want to know the syntax of a particular command, use the man-page. Still in the shell, try

Code: Select all

man bash

Use q to quit. Eat your heart out Bill!

[wyliecoyoteuk]

Linux is not windows explains it better than I can.

Oh, and by the way, Sainsburys sell LXF and the other one as well, the M42 Hopwood services do too.
Not sure about Waitrose, Morrisons or ASDA.

Actually, it used to be just WHS around here that stocked them, but that seems to be changing.

[towy71]

it is actually Linux!=Windows the exclamation mark followed by the equal sign means "not equal to", some sort of maths convention or somesuch

[ollie]

it is actually Linux!=Windows the exclamation mark followed by the equal sign means "not equal to", some sort of maths convention or somesuch

Try programming language logical or comparison operator

Ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operators_in_C_and_C%2B%2B
http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.operators.array.php
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prog-Intro-HOWTO-11.html .... etc, for most other languages