I know somebody who got GNU/HURD and didn't realise why!

Edited by mathmo at 07:14 on July, 01st 2003

Adding to the commands list:
whereis: searches for exact filename
locate: searches for strings inside filenames - only works after an occasional updatedb

Mr Creosote: Thanks for the quick help... I probably could have gotten all that info myself if I'd tried harder so thanks for typing it out for me. I just picked DHCP because it was the only way I got a working Internet connection, but in fact I am on a 'permanent' network so it's probably set correctly now. And my Windows partition works fine...

So now I have something to work with... I'll try not to get discouraged.

That's the way to go. In case you're completely new to Linux, you can easily get a little confused as virtually anything can be configured. At least that was my impression when I started with it some months ago. In contrast to Windows, you have full access to your OS, which means you have to find out for yourself what's useful and what's not. In most cases, "learning by doing" worked far better for me than reading the manuals.

As for Windows XP, I will have to believe in what Eagle and Mole said. All my information about it is second hand as I've never used it myself - and that won't change very soon.

Edited by Tapuak at 05:00 on March, 02nd 2003

DHCP is a protocol used to determine a client's IP in a network. Unless your computer is hooked to a 'permanent' network (as opposed to some kind of DSL dialup), you shouldn't choose that as it will only produce an error message on bootup. Doesn't have a fatal effect if you have chosen it though.

Placing icons on the desktop (from here on, I'm assuming you're using IceWM and not any other of the several hundred window managers available) is really a piece of cake, all you have to do is right click on the desktop and choose 'create'. In the upcoming menu, you just enter the command associated with the icon. To change the icon itself (i.e. the image), just right click on it again anfter leaving the previous menu and choose 'options'.

Some important commands for the terminal:
pwd: shows the current directory, in case you get lost
cd: change directory
mkdir: make directory
rmdir: remove directory
rm: remove, delete a file
cp: copy file
mv: move file
gzip: extract .gz archives
tar: extract .tar archives
unzip: extract .zip archives
nano: simple text editor
su: change to superuser
pkg: install .tgz (Slackware 8.1 - this is important) packages you downloaded somewhere; can also be used to convert .rpm or .deb packages (which are both very common) to Slackware compatible ones
autopkg: the same as the graphical vec-get, but since both can only be run as superuser and normally you're not logged in as root, you can change to root in the terminal and then run autopkg to get and install packages

I think those are the most important ones. In case you haven't already, I recommend you add the Windows partition to your mount list (/etc/fstab). That way, you will have full access to all your files from Vector.


MacOS X is indeed Unix-based, but as you said: Macs are always ahead of the development of Windows - made for even more stupid people

Edited by Mr Creosote at 20:32 on March, 02nd 2003

Well, I managed to install Vector Linux on a separate partition, so far so good. The installer even tries to be funny at times, his jokes weren't all the best but hey, I appreciate the effort.

Configuring my network card was really a game of chance, I haven't the slightest idea what DHCP is but it works, so fine by me. That's about all I've done so far, it will surely take me some time to learn the way everything works, for example the command line and the terminal totally freak me out for having operations I've never heard of, and how to place an icon on the desktop is still a mistery to me. I'll figure it out little by little I guess...

By the way, I'm also messing around a bit with a friend's Power Mac G4 (I don't know exactly how he got it, he claims it was ordered by accident ) running MacOS X, - supposedly also Linux based - another OS that's got me puzzled... especially the one button mouse is particularly uncomfortable at first. The Mac is just uhm... - how should I put this - aimed at a different audience than me I guess.

As for Windows XP, I agree with Eagle, the stability is for me one of the points that justified the move from Windows 98... But let's not say too many good things about Microsoft products.

Tapuak; in fact, those adjectives apply fine. I've found strange the layout of WinXp the first time I've seen it, but I can't deny the fact that it's somehow cheerful. As for the bright side of it, I been surprised on how complete the help pages are. Agreed, they don't usually help much... But hey, I think it's their best effort so far in that way.

I also beleive XP is the most stable Windows I've work with yet. I don't know why... My guess would be that WinXP run programs independantly of his work core. Thus, when a program get fucked up, the core stay stable. I noticed that several times with StarTopia.

And strong... well... erm... I don't know... Must be because Microsoft crush (or try to) all the competition

If you ask me tough, I'll stick to Win98b French Second Edition as long as I'll be able to. Afterward, WinXP seems to be the obvious step for me, until they release something better at least.

Wrong. You can order many other (smaller) distributions on CD. Vector, Peanut, Ark, to name just a few. In fact, you can get most distributions which are bigger than a few floppy disks on CD. Not that I see the point of buying CD versions of Linux when you can download them for free (or, if you have a slow connection, have a friend download them for you or download them from university or something)...

I personally think Linux is too bloated myself, I say that only because the versions that are available on CD's are from companys like Mandrake and Red Hat.

Anyone see that Mandrake has gone bankrupt? I noticed it in the Kinetik forum and told all my mates, most of them were like "Bullshit! Show me!", I too was shocked at this recent development.

Here's my result...

I know that and I have the patience to look into alternatives which aren't listed on top of Yahoo's search results for 'linux'. Most people aren't.

There are two sides to it of course. I am convinced the bloat drives just as many people away again (the ones I talked about earlier) as it attracts.

I completely agree the "mainstream" of Linux distributions seem to get more bloated the newer they are - I don't like that development either. However, you have to consider that no one is forced by any means to keep using one of the bloated distributions. That's what I like about Linux: Even if the major distributions get huger (worse) all the time, there will always be minimalist versions you can switch to. So if the bloated ones manage to attract more users because they are more similar to Windows (KDE...), they may continue bloating in my opinion.

To tell the truth, I don't understand how these adjectives can be applied to Windows XP. I agree with the second (spyware) part, though.

That's why I love this board.

You send it to me or post it as an attachment in the forum and it'll magically appear in the smilies listing.

But how do I add it to the forum list thing for me? Or do I have to go host it somewhere?

Make one. Just take the blank one (attached) and add the features you want/need.

I wasn't complaining, I was saying "Thank God I didn't get Windows ME" I like my result

By the way, you need a sunglasses smilie.

Edited by Da_Goat at 20:15 on February, 21st 2003

I haven't tried it, but yes. The full installation of Vector is slightly over 400 MB, but if you don't install all the window managers and all the applications, it will fit. Don't have any experience there of course...