I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

[extra]

(if you don't want to read my pathetic intro skip to bottom)

All of my computing life I have been using some form of Windows, I started on '98, loved 2k, liked XP, hated Vista, and dabbled in 3x a bit. I never really liked MS as a company so I always used open source programs (firefox, pidgin, clamwin, etc). they were always easy to use, and pretty simple.

My newer PC suddenly claimed it had no graphics card and would only display in VGA mode, pretty ugly...so I did what I always did when Windows screwed up, I ran a destructive recovery and rebuild, only this time it froze each time leaving me with nothing on my PC but a red screen.

Not wanting to waste a perfectly good PC, (and not wanting to buy a physical disc of XP as my PC came with it pre installed) I took out my Kubuntu disc and put that on.

Problem is I am completely lost on Linux. I mean I can get around and all, but the whole process of doing things that were simple on Windows is insanely confusing to do on Linux. I can't get my printer or wireless adapter to work. But I'm not too worried about those because I can live without them for a while.

But just organizing things, and the process of installing and uninstalling stuff is really different than what I'm used to.

I can't ask any of you to take days out of your life to explain how to do the linux equivilant of what I used to do on Windows, because that would be like trying to explain how to turn on a PC to my mother.

Is there any kind of web document about migrating to linux from windows out there? What did any of you do when you first jumped into linux?

(although I can't use Kubuntu like I want to [yet] I still find it refreshing)

[Snowhog]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

We always welcome those who have ventured 'out of the darkness' and into the light.

Linux is different than Windoze. But we have all been there. First, it will be very helpful if you will:
1) give us specifics about your PC (CPU type: 32-bit or 64-bit and manufacturer, RAM, Video card/graphics chip, #/type of HDs, other peripherals, brand of ethernet controller (Broadcom, Atheros, 3Com, etc), how you connect to the Internet (dial-up, DSL, Cable Modem, etc), video card/chip manufacturer/model, ...
2) version of Kubuntu you have as a LiveCD

There is help here.

[extra]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

Thanks


Compaq(HP) Presario (circa 2005)
1.8 Ghz AMD Sempron (32 Bit)
2.5 GB RAM (3200)
ATI Radeon Express 200 (integraded)
1 Harddrive about 80GB


Internet is connected through a wireless Netgear USB
http://www.netgear.com/Products/Adap...ers/WG111.aspx

(except I think it's a wireless N rather than a G, but thats what it looks like for the most part)

(When I lug the thing downstairs and hook it up with an ethernet cable it can go online no problem)

I got Kubuntu 7.10

My printer is a Lexmark E232, both the PC and the Printer were bought almost exactly 3 years ago....kinda heightens my suspicion of Microsoft purposely makeing computers crap out after 3 years....or perhaps spiked XP SP3 with something...but thats besides the point.

Mouse, keyboard, iPod (as a hard drive), speakers, and monitor work fine.
USB and PS/2 ports functional

I've also been trying to upgrade to the latest version, there doesn't seem to be an update button like there was with Ubuntu (I briefly tried that but switched)

[Snowhog]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

Your ATI Radeon card will (most likely) present some initial difficulties, but that can be addressed.

So may we safely assume at this point, that you don't have a functional OS on the PC - that you destroyed/erased Win XP? Have you reformatted the HD to ensure that no trace of XP remains?

Have you actually installed Kubuntu to the HD already, or are you running from the LiveCD? If you haven't installed:

Get a copy of GParted LiveCD (don't use version -11 which has been reported to have problems - I use version 0.3.4-7) which you can use to reformat the HD and to setup your partitions. When doing so (partitioning), strongly consider setting up a separate partition for /home as this will save you much grief latter on should you have to reinstall the root file system or otherwise 'rebuild' the main OS. A typical partitioning scheme, given your HD size, would be:
8GB for the root file system ( / )
25GB for your home partition ( /home) - if you don't intend to install any other OS, you can make this as large as the remaining space less your swap partition
1-2GB for swap (as you have sufficient RAM, a swap isn't absolutely required, but it doesn't hurt to have it).

Specify ext3 for the filesystem for both the root and /home partitions.

The documentation on the GParted homepage is very good, and I'd recommend you download/read through it. You can get it here.

[marshallbanana]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

I can't ask any of you to take days out of your life to explain how to do the linux equivilant of what I used to do on Windows, because that would be like trying to explain how to turn on a PC to my mother.

Actually that is pretty much the raison de entre of this forum so ask away...(although preferably after a quick look around with google and the forum search to see if you can't find the solution there).

As for a guide, psychocats is pretty good.

[extra]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

XP is dead and buried now as far as I know, I installed Kubuntu so it's running off the HD.

I'm pretty sure it's been reformatted after the destructive recovery and when the live CD reformatted it.

I'll check the links out and I'll report back here if I need any more info, thanks again.

[Chomp]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

I find Kubuntu Guide(http://kubuntuguide.org/Gutsy) to be a great help sometimes. That guide is for 7.10. If you upgrade to 8.04 just change the end of the address from Gutsy to Hardy.

[smirnoff76]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

Hi extra.
Congrats on your move to linux, I also made the same move a couple of months ago and I can honestly say that Windows will never ever go back on any of my computers, the learning curve and flexibility makes the transition thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile.

My machine is also using an ATI graphics adapter, I have installed Kubuntu 8.0.4 and I have to say it works fantastically well so I really do recommend that distro / version.

As for knowledge I got a couple of books about linux and have also subscribed to the Linux Format magazine which have helped no end.I know you will hear this on just about every site you go to but google is your friend, failing that come here.
I have found the people on this forum are exceptionally helpful and friendly and will always try help out where they can without the elitist attitude that can some times come with the more experienced linux user.

I hope you enjoy your move to Linux!!

[Penguin22]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

For me the switch was kinda hard to, I had no idea how to do anything, but I went out to my local Barnes & Nobles and bought the Official Ubuntu book ,which is about $35 if you don't have a membership card, which helped to explain most of what I needed to know.

As for installing programs, just go into the Kmenu to System and then to Adept Manager, which is the Kubuntu package manager and handles every package installed on your computer. You just type in the package your looking for, and if it's there it'll show up. If it isn't there, then a quick search at Yahoo or Google can find it. An Awesome site I found for simple installs is http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ which is a site that contains different Make, Compilers, and everything else that comes with a distribution of any version of linux.

Well, I hope you have a good time with linux, and that you get the hang of it soon.

[lykwydchykyn]

Re: I'm a linux novice in dire need of enlightenment.

I have a little help guide I wrote for another distro (SimplyMEPIS) which should mostly apply to Kubuntu as well. You can find it here:
http://www.alandmoore.com/linux/

Someday when I'm not insanely busy I plan to rewrite it for other distros like debian and Kubuntu.