Originally posted by: hypersonic5
So I'm using Linux now and I'm trying to figure out how things work. So far I am completely lost. I know how to use the command line, but I don't know any commands that might help me out. A lot of the questions I have may seem very noobish, but thats the thing: I'm a noob. So I would appreciate any help you guys give me.
Things that should be easy seem very complex to me at the moment. For example, I am trying to install Mozilla Firefox. I downloaded the tarbell file and I can't seem to figure out how to install it right. I managed to run the installation file and it seemed to have installed correctly, but I don't know how or where to find the Firefox browser to run it. I am so confused.
it can take a while to complete... but see if this command can find your file:
find / 2>/dev/null | grep irefox
(left the f off incase it was capitolized...) It should find your files. Generally programs that you install from generic install things generally go into /usr/local areas. That's your own little land for installing stuff half-hazardly and the OS shouldn't mess with that stuff even when updating or upgrading installs.
Another thing, how would I go about installing one of the themes at
www.gnome-look.org ? I see the themes listed under things called GTK and metacity. What are they?
GTK is a graphical programming library. The actual files are one of those various .so files in your /lib, /usr/lib, usr/local/lib. etc etc directories. About the same things as .dll files in windows. Programmers use these to make their jobs simplier.
GTK is generally used in Gnome projects.
gtk.org
QT is another one you'd see that does similar stuff to GTK, but is used mostly in KDE apps.
Metacity is the default Window manager used in Gnome. Gnome is what is called a "desktop manager" or desktop enviroment. That is it's a overall project designed to fuffill all the basic needs of a average basic needs of a Desktop user.. (simple games, browser, editor, window manager, panels, icons etc etc). Metacity can be replaced by something like Openbox or other compatable window manager (window manager controls the behavior of windows, like minimize, maximize, the look, feel, and other behaviors of the windows)
Everything is done in layers.. each program controls a specific need for a user or developer... It can get complicated. But once you get used to it, it's easy to figure out and makes sense.
Generally to install a theme in Gnome you go to the start menu, open up preferences, and find the themes selector. Open that up.
Take the gz file you downloaded and drag and drop it into the theme window, it should give you a prompt and you select yes you want to install.
What you'd probably want is GTK+ 2 theme, because Gtk+ 1 is obsolete for most programs. To use that you create a custom theme by going to "theme details" and gtk-only theme would be in the "controls" tab. You can mix and match different themes. You can install one theme for metacity window manager theme, a icon theme, a controls theme, and then create your own from mixing and matching it all. You can also get one overall big theme like "smokey" or "industrial" theme.
THere are a few different theming websites. There are ones at
art.gnome.otg and different tutorials on constructing and installing your own custom themes.
Also for reference, how do you usually install a program, and where do you find it to run it after it is installed?
Depends. Most of the time it's installed in /bin /usr/bin /usr/local/bin, /sbin /usr/sbin. sbin are used for administration tools only. Stuff to keep away from normal users.
If it's a GUI program like a game it'll usually pop up in your start menu somewere, depending on what type of program it is. In the command line your enviroment locates executables by the PATH variable. To see that you go "echo $PATH". To see other variables you go "set". To append a new searching path. you'd go like:
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin/
or something like that. To make it perminate you'd add the command to one of your .profile or .bash_profile or .bashrc files in your home directory. The . before the name makes it "hidden". To see these files you go "ls -l ~/".
~/ is short hand for your /home/usrname/ directory.
More questions...How would I go about installing the latest versions of Gnome and KDE? What about other window managers?
Generally you install them either thru packages, like RPM's and DEB files. Or you simply download the sources and compile and configure everything manually. Of course this can get pretty complicated.
Depending on your distro you can do is differently. Fedora and Debian I just use Apt and Yum. These programs keep track of packages in online repositories setup by Debian/Fedora or third parties. They are convienient because they do most of the work for you... Personally I prefer apt.
You'd go:
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
and that would make your OS up to date. To install programs you'd go:
apt-get install openbox
Otherwise if your using something like Suse or Mandrake, best way is to use something like a
rpmfind mirror to find the rpm files you need. Of course without a advanced package manager you have to find and install all the programs and their dependancies.
The actually easiest way to keep up to date is just install patches and such for your distro, and then when a new version comes out you download the cdroms and do a upgrade. Using apt-get it's easy to keep up to mirrored third party distros.
I can't save my setting for my wireless adapter for some reason and everytime I want to connect to the internet I have to open up the terminal, log in as root, and then type iwconfig wlan0 mode Auto followed by iwlist wlan0 scan. Can someone tell me how to make a script or something that can automatically do both of these when I run it?
Depending on your distro you simply make a script like what nocmonkey said, and if you want it to run automaticly every time you start up you put a reference to it (or the script itself) into a file like /etc/rc.local.
It depends on your distro, each one has a slightly different setup, but it's easy once you get the basics figured out. There are also various gui-based tools for setting up networking and stuff, that tends to be more distro-specific.
If you could also tell me some other useful info that might help me get on my feet in Linux, I would appreciate it.
google is your friend. Anything you want to know is located in various websites and you use google to find them. It even has a linux specific search engine you use by going to
www.google.com/linux/
the guides at the documentation project is usefull.
It's a good place for distro-agnostic information, rather then a simple step by step howto, it explains everything and what is happening. Check out the linux introduction guide, bash introduction guide.
Also usefull are the linux administrator guide, and the advanced bash scripting guide. And also the network administrator guide if you want to setup network services. For specific tasks (like setting up a ppp server) there are the howtos section.
Also there are security websites like
linux security.com that will teach you some basics about hacking around and how to protect yourself. Also check out the advisories section to keep up to date.
Also check out the websites for your distro for specific things like the various startup scripts and distro-specific configuration tools and distro-isms. Also most have forums and mailing lists specific to that distro were you can ask questions that a non-mandrake linux use may not know much about (for instance).
Also most major bookstores (like barnes and noble) have huge linux and programming sections for all sorts of subjects and different subjects. Some books are better then others, some books just suck. Check them out and read them at the store for a while and see if they have what your realy look for. They have documentation from everything from "linux for dummies" to "Linux administrator bibles" to advanced programming subjects.
But the best to find anwers quickest is google. Do searchs like "gnome install themes", and you should find something quickly.
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