Muckshifter's Blog on Linux

[muckshifter]

Ian suggested I do this, so blame him ... actually, I think it will help me as well as anybody who cares to listen.

I still don't know what a "Blog" is.

As I had to do a clean-install last night I am starting from the beginning, don't ask what happened, it doesn't matter, but the answer will crop up somewhere.

Why did I chosen to move to Linux, boredom mainly ... I have time and loads of it ... I need to keep the brain active and I'm quite fond of doing things on the spur of the moment.

So anyway, I pop the CD in & boot to the CDROM drive and up pops a nice clean crisp splash screen, very nice, off it goes all by itself looking for stuff that it can use ... found my Logitech MX700 mouse and every other conceivable device i had attached to the PC including both keyboards ... ... well I had no Idea if it was going to find my wireless keyboard so I plugged in my PS2 one. One of the "live" Linux CDs I had tried did not 'see' either so I was being 'clever'.

... a little tip here, make sure you have everything you are going to use already plunged in, and, turned on, such things as printers, scanners AND even pop a USB card in your reader ... it really doesn't matter as far as I was concerned, but it is recommended by some of the "experts" out there ...

Now as I was dumping Windows and going for a clean install, I opted for the option to do just that and let Suse use ALL the HD for its own use ... If you want to go the road of "dual booting" seek profession advice, don't ask me, I'm not interested in dual booting.

Ok, the rest of the install is straight forward, I just accepted any suggestions and carried on ... the last bit was quite interesting, Suse asks if you would like to get any 'updates' before finalizing installation ... now as I had already just wiped Windows off, I thought, why not, lets see what happen, sort of attitude.

Well you could knock me down with a feather ... it had already installed my access to the Internet just asks if I would like to 'test' it first so I did ... A1 all Ok ... press next and off it goes into the wilds of the Internet.

It download all and every update that was needed ... had a bit of a panic spot when it came to OpenOffice update as this was some 200mb file ... I had some food while it was downloading and kept moving the mouse just to see if it was still working.

It did take a loooong time, over an hour but finally carried on and started to install all these 'updates' ... and don't forget, we haven't even finished the install yet. Overall it took some 2hours, nope I'm not kidding.

Window has the edge here? ... we scoff at the time it takes to install Windows but first impression of a Linux install is ... What The Flipping heck, why is it taking so long? Not so, after installing Windows you need then to install ALL your programs ... HAHA, Linux, as I found out, when it finally started, HAD ALREADY INSTALLED Everything I needed, and I could just get on with it.

Hey! were in ..
When you finally get to the desktop, boot time is slow, you'll like it ... shame it plonks some familiar 'icons' on the there, or is it? Actually I was quite pleased to see some familiar named icons ...

My Computer is there and so too is the Trash bin along with Firefox, OpenOffice, Network Browsing, Printer and a nice green Suse Icon ...

Ok, let's do something, press the Firefox Icon ... ah, the Internet ... you lot out there who use Firefox will, I'm sure, feel right at home in "working" with this browser, me, I had used it once on Windows and did not like it ... however, I have become quite accustom to it, and just love the "tab browsing" experience ... I have had a bit of an uphill struggle getting it to "render" one web site ... this one ... but with the help of Google I have that one sussed. Oh, and my Google 'toolbar' is in place.

Pop a music CD in the drive ... need to listen to music while one "works" don't we ... heck, it works, naw not disappointed, glad really 'cos on one of my previous excursion with Linux it took me two days to "mount" the bloody CD drive, but that was 2/3 years ago. It plays, not pretty to look at, but it plays music ... now I'm being a bit harsh here, 'cos there are 3 other 'players' pre-installed I could choose from, not to mention about 50 others I could install including a WinAmp look-a-like.

All the time I am opening this-n-that and I see no interference with the music being played, no loss in how quick and sharp anything opens, heck I had so many things going at once I'm surprised, no dead chuffed, that Suse did not throw a wobbly ... here's one for you, I like using 'keyboard shortcuts' and one of my more useful ones is Alt+F4, to close a window, hehe, it works ... but don't use Ctrl+Alt+Del, use Ctrl+alt+Backspace ... hell, I have no use for CAD anyway.

Now I just had to have FaD on here ... if you ain't heard of that go over to crunchers corner, and sign up NOW ... Ok, this FaD for Linux is not going to be easy, this is a Windows program ported to Linux and one has to use the "Konsole", or as some of them there Linux 'people' call it a "Terminal" ... to put it loosely it's a little like using DOS again, I mean very loosely like DOS, but this little 'command line' thingie is a real powerhouse in its own right ... fortunately for me, someone had written a nice easy guide to follow. Thanks Crouse.



Suse, as we, Ladypcer and I found out has a wee problem letting you access a Floppy drive, as we have an amicable 'fix' I won't go into detail here, but it is a 'bug' in KDE, according to Suse, and it also seems to only affect Suse ... annoying but fixable.

If you took my little tip on connecting all your bit-n-bobs at installation time you should find everything should just work ... bits are still missing though. My printer works, but I need to do some more work on the scanner side of it ... it's an HP PSC 500.

My moose works fine, a Logitech MX700 and I can even check the battery level, but can't configure the buttons, I have no need really, but if you have a 'fancy' mouse, check to see if it is supported by your version of Linux.


I have an LS120 floptical drive, a Belkin wireless keyboard, Video7 19” TFT monitor and they all work out the box.


I'm using OpenOffice to write this, and It'll do me, more on this program later ...




... for now I'm hungry and I'm braking for lunch.

 

[muckshifter]

It's a little disconcerting not 'see' a CDRom drive, never mind not seeing your DVD or RW in 'control panel' ... Suse doesn't show you anything until you pop something in the drive ... but as soon as you do the appropriate program pops up.


I just put a blank DVD into my DVDRW, and up pop this wicked program, K3b ... Nero, eat your heart out pal, this thing is really neat.


I want to burn an ISO of Mandriva 2005 (Mandrake to us oldies) and up it pops as soon as I put a blank DVD in ... strange 'cos It says it can't find a DVDRW and please could I pass the salt, err, no I mean, could I tell it where the DVDRW drive is ... Hmmm, ah, now then?





ah, yes “Control Centre” ... open it up look under hardware and CD drives and there we have it listed and where it is on the system.


Now let me explain something here ... I read this in my 'research' of Linux ... Linux does not use “drive letters” but uses Folders, yep folders ... and one of the main folders is DEV ... I think, don't quote me, I guessing, but I think that stands for DEVice's ... neat, I'm getting used to this, but it is strange to start with.


Well anyway, I look at what the 'address' is an put that into K3b and bobs yer antie whopee away we go.


Another wee bonus is auto detecting it's an ISO file ... yeah baby nice one again.


I wonder if there is a Windows version. *insert wicked devil smilie here*


oops, don't hold the shift key down too long or you get OpenOffice doing something, I dunno, I'm still learning. I only ever used MS Word as a spell checker and that's all I'm doing with OO, at the moment.

 

[muckshifter]

What a crap day yesterday was.

Actually never got to do much, as the system is running as I want it.

Spent most of the evening trying to get this darn USB HD formatted ... it has a mind of its own ... if I don't know now how to "format" I never will, the command line Konsole is quite easy to use once you master a few basic steps ... oh, and don't issue the "reboot" command until you have closed any applications you had open.

OpenOffice recovered amicably on restart, and was able to save that document. Even Kmail 'recovered' and kept all the emails I had not read. nice.

Going babysitting today at me brothers, he isn't actually going anywhere, just trying to finish off his driveway ... but the baby is a little bit of a 'clingier' and I can watch a bit of TV. I'll take this USB HD with me and see if I can get it 'sorted' out on a Windows machine.


Catch you later.

 

[muckshifter]

Hey folks, you do know you can join me and have a conversation or to ...

Aint babies 'fun', I'll be quite happy to 'do that again' when the little perisher understands the word NO! ... naw, he wasn't that bad, I'm getting a little slow.

Anyhow, this afternoon I been having a look at my Windows back-up DVDs of saved work and other nonsense ... just clicking a few files and seeing what program opened, bit of a lucky dip you might say.

Quite pleased at the out come ... OpenOffice is one neat cookie in that it had no problem whatsoever in opening anything I threw at it, even chucked it a CorelDraw file and it opened it ... shame it was all a mess.

Not so sure I want RealPlayer, but nothing wrong with what it played. and again, there are alternatives, just need to have a play around when messing with an MPG and see what we've got.

It was a little off putting when I played an MP3 files ... don't have many, but it was a little stutery in parts and the player was Kaffine ... must see where/what that WinAmp look-a-like plays like.

Must also remember to use the DVDRW when using these backup DVDs as the DVDRom drive seems to take forever, but no problems with CDs of any kind. That is not a Linux problem, just one of them older Combo drives. Mind you, 2 years aint bad.

I just love this "right-click" on a file, there is no guess work in trying to figure out what program to use, it just lists the appropriate programs installed, and you can always choose something else ... I keep single clicking and something like a jpg or even Adobe reader open in the little window of the ... what would you call it, explorer? ... anyway, there's no need to double-click, and, I'm getting better at right-clicking and open with one of the suggested programs.

Everything is treated as a 'Browser' window, so from anywhere, you can open anything in a new "TAB", or window ... but I'm just loving them tabs ... no searching the bottom rail trying to find a minimised window. Brilliant.

oh look, I just seen my phone book .csv ... right-click, and, hehe, open with Kate. trada. There all there.
Hmmm, where is my Moto525 USB cable? ... just wait there a moment. Well I'll go to the top of our stairs, Suse sees it. ... will have a play with that later.

Never got around to formating that flipping external HD, another day, maybe.

see you later

 

[muckshifter]

DANGER ... do NOT read

Hmmm, this is probably going to be my last report ... I have now been certified insane.


DISCLAMER
You read the following at your own risk of being offended by bad language, and dam right bad behavioural for a mod on this forum. tough, I need to get it off my chest ... don't read any more and don't worry about it.





I didn't try to do too much yesterday, not for want of trying, but because I couldn't. Try as I might I could not get two programs to install.


YaST is your friend, bollocks, it's ****ing useless.


You see it turns out that Linux, any flavour, not just Suse, does not like a space within a folder name, so “My Downloads”, why the frigging hell did I call it that I don't know, is an accident waiting to take my brain to the ninth dimension of insanity despite some very knowledgeable people to help.


Ha! Gotcha you all stompt didn't it. And if any Linux Guru tells me he/she could have told me that in the first place ... **** off, don't bother I know NOW.


What is supposed to happen is you single click on the download, preferably you downloaded an RPM file ... this is what YaST will use to instal.


Side step her ... an RPM is a file that contains all the likes of YaST needs to install a program, ah, just use Google and find out for yourself.


So I click on the file and I duly see a nice button to “install using YaST” ... oo yummie ... YaST opens to a blank page ... HUH! ... your supposed to see the details and such, but as it was was my first attempt I just pressed Next and Finish. Was that it? is it that easy? ... Well yes, providing you had not used a space in a file name it would have worked. yearh it would have, 'cos it does now I changed it to Downloads.





CorelPhotoPaint ...


It's free, I have used it since ver3 and I liked it ... I stumbled over it at a site looking for information and duly downloaded it to my system ... yup, the folder with the space in it ... its been sat on my system for 3 days, clicking on it does nothing but throw up an error, well a moan that I can't do that as it's not an RPM file not a real error, its one of those TAR thingies ... that's a ZIP file if you're wondering ... fortunately it only took me about an hour to figure out that right-click is a wonderful invention in Linux and works superbly ... right-click, extract, pick, do. Sorted done, now what?


Well don't bother doing anything whatsoever ... until ... you have burned it to a CD ... 'cos nothing in this world is going to get that program installed until you do.


Insert CD, click set-up, choose your version of Linux ... boom boom done.


Wahooo, Yipeee success .... err, no, not quite ... WHERE THE **** IS IT ... I cannot find it, don't ask me ... I'm STILL looking for Mozilla Thunderbird Email program that I “installed” AND set-up but cannot find 5 days ago.


I tell you ... if you aint frigging nuts by now, then your a complete idiot. bleblebleblelbelble



WTF is this stupid Light Bulb in the bottom right corner of OpenOffice trying to do ... and better still, how the **** to I KILL it. **** off will you, you little ****. Sheesh, did anybody really like Mr Clippy in Word?



Where was I ...



Oh right, installing software ... right, here is the easy way ...Oh, just a note here, Linux is taking up 5% of my HD, hehe, small init ... so here is my suggestion;
When installing or after installing Suse, go to YaST and tick EVERY AVAILABLE BOX you can see ... that way you will install everything and never have a problem again .... hahahaha mammamaaagh .. ****ed if I can write that kids laugh.



So there you have it ... one person being driven totally insane though using err, trying to use, Linux.



To anyone contemplating installing Linux ... Don't be so frigging stupid ... use a Live CD and never ever let it onto your HD, unless you wont to join me in the frigging nut house.




THE END goodby I'm dead.