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Question for the Linux gurus

TerriO

TerriO

Writer-type human
Premium Member
Guys, I just got one of those ASUS Eee mini-PCs, and I'm ashamed to admit that Linux is kicking my ass. I've read some of the basic websites on installing software and the like, but my UNIX experience was over a decade ago, and that part of the cranial hard drive has apparently been written over with information that was deemed more of a necessity.

Are there any websites that you guys would recommend as kind of a "Linux for Dummies"? Basically, Linux for those of us who've spent the last decade-plus on Windows and Mac machines?

*hangs head in shame*

Yes, I am ashamed to call myself a geek at this moment, but I'm also under deadline and less than a week out of oral surgery, so I plead temporary loss of geek-hood due to stress.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.
 
Could you be so kind and provide us with the name of the Linux distribution thats running on that machine?

Ubuntu and for example Suse are both Linux distro's but they're different in many ways.

Also they can be outfitted with several so called Windows managers like KDE, Gnome, XFce and the like and those work differently as well.
 
Thanks, Santaman, I'll check those out. I don't know why they didn't come up when I was looking for things last night.
 
Ah, frell. The forum just ate my (rather considerable) post, so I'm a bit too disgruntled to re-create it right now. I promise to reply later this afternoon, though!
 
How do you like your EEE?? I love mine.. People just can't believe it's a laptop.. Course, Bestbuy sells the XP ver now..
 
I also have an EEE, and I love it too, although I have the rarer 1 GB RAM/8 GB SS hard drive. And I know absolutely zip about Linux. However, I bought mine used, so the Linux operating system was already on it (which I thought it would have been right out of the box, TerriO?)

Anyway, I don't know why Asus is now selling them with Windows XP. The Linux distro it uses is the most user-friendly interface I've ever worked with (although all I use it for is websurfing, email, and OpenOffice document writing), and there's no threat of viruses or spyware, unlike WinXP. Huh.
 
Dukhat said:
I also have an EEE, and I love it too, although I have the rarer 1 GB RAM/8 GB SS hard drive. And I know absolutely zip about Linux. However, I bought mine used, so the Linux operating system was already on it (which I thought it would have been right out of the box, TerriO?)
Click to expand...

Oh, it was on it right out of the box. I was just trying to install Mozilla Thunderbird last night and getting lost in instructions that were kinda familiar to the portion of my brain that remembered UNIX, but not really completely clear on how the command line installation worked.

I've gotten far too accustomed to self-installers. I'm totally not used to .tar.gz files. I'll get there, it's a learning experience. :techman:

So far, I love the little machine. I'm finally able to have a research book, my computer, my phone, and my wallet all in one bag and not have my shoulder want to fall off from the weight. Getting used to that smaller keyboard is taking a bit of time, though.
 
Yes, the keyboard does take some getting used to. However, before it I'd worked with both the "virtual" keyboard w/ stylus, and thumb-boards on PDA's, and I can tell you that the EEE's keyboard is infinitely better.
 
TerriO said:
If I'm reading this correctly, Xandros.
Click to expand...
You are; furthermore, Xandros is based on Debian, which will become important later in this post. :)

TerriO said:
Are there any websites that you guys would recommend as kind of a "Linux for Dummies"? Basically, Linux for those of us who've spent the last decade-plus on Windows and Mac machines?
Click to expand...
I don't know of any all-purpose websites. However, this Eee wiki might help you with the Eee. Learning a bit about the command line interface would be helpful since directions are so much easier to transmit in command form. Once you're familiar with the terminal, using the man pages shouldn't be too difficult--they're a good way to get an overview of almost all CLI and many GUI programs. If you decide to enable the more complex KDE GUI, the documentation under the section 'Application documentation' may be of some use. The Debian forums are pretty helpful when I'm stuck on a problem.

If you have any specific topics you want to learn about or things you are trying to do, please post them--I know plenty of guides and tutorial focused around a specific subject.

TerriO said:
Oh, it was on it right out of the box. I was just trying to install Mozilla Thunderbird last night and getting lost in instructions that were kinda familiar to the portion of my brain that remembered UNIX, but not really completely clear on how the command line installation worked.

I've gotten far too accustomed to self-installers. I'm totally not used to .tar.gz files. I'll get there, it's a learning experience. :techman:
Click to expand...
Ah. Well, application installation/removal on Linux is usually done through a package manager. Packages managers query the repositories for a list of available packages; when you've selected what you want to install, they download and install them automatically. It's just as easy as an installer on Windows; the difference is that it's all centralised through one program/system.

Now, according to this forum thread you should be able to install Thunderbird through the default repositories. This is by far the preferred way to do things. If that thread is incorrect, you can add additional repositories (like Debian's), or you could just download the individual packages that you need--Debian's Thunderbird, which will most likely work on your system, can be found at one of the mirrors here; if the Asus people did their job setting up the distro, double-clicking on the file that you downloaded (called a .deb, it's Debian's version of an .exe) will install it.

Hope that helps. Feel free to throw out some more questions/problems/things that confuse you.
 
TerriO said:
Oh, it was on it right out of the box. I was just trying to install Mozilla Thunderbird last night and getting lost in instructions that were kinda familiar to the portion of my brain that remembered UNIX, but not really completely clear on how the command line installation worked.

I've gotten far too accustomed to self-installers. I'm totally not used to .tar.gz files. I'll get there, it's a learning experience. :techman:
Click to expand...

This is something that you need to Unlearn.

The procedure for installing software in Windows is as follows:

  1. You go to the site of the manufacturer of the software.
  2. You download a few files
  3. you use those files to install the software.

Most people coming from Windows (or old-school Unix) take steps one and two, and then conclude that Linux makes step three needlessly complex and difficult.

While in fact, the .tar.gz file is almost never intended for use by consumers.

The correct procedure on Linux is to take a different step 1 and 2.

  1. Open the package manager (on Ubuntu it's Synaptic, on Xandros I've been told it's called "Xandros Networks')
  2. Search and find the software you want to install
  3. Click install

This is not just a different frontend to installing the same application. This is a way of installing a different version of the application that has been tested to work on your system, making sure that all necessary library files are also installed, and that everything can also easily be uninstalled.

Many people coming from other OSes find it very hard to wrap their heads around this. They either think it's needlessly different, or they don't see the point of doing things this way (unable to quantify what 'tested to work on your system' means), or they'll point out that software from the repositories is often slightly outdated, and sometimes unavailable (understand that security bugs are fixed immediately--running this 'outdated' software is not a risk. Also, the system itself automatically updates all your software--not just the OS).

But doing things the right way instead of sticking to ingrained experiences can make the difference between a Linux experience that is fairly pleasant, and a Linux experience that's overall miserable.
 
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