with ver. 3.4 start from scratch?

[bob58]

I am using ver 3.3....works well...but I want to install the new 3.4......should i use cfdisk, repartition and start from scratch for new install? And if so, do i use knx-dhinstall or knoppix-installer???? bob

[mzilikazi]

I am using ver 3.3....works well...but I want to install the new 3.4......should i use cfdisk, repartition and start from scratch for new install? And if so, do i use knx-dhinstall or knoppix-installer???? bob

Well....if you have the disc space I'd wait on removing 3.3 until I had 3.4 working well although I must confess that I don't know why you feel the need to switch if it's already working well. Knoppix 3.4 isn't going to do anything for you that you cannot accomplish through apt-get. That said......

If you have plenty of room with your current partition layout then it should be fine, just run knoppix-installer.

If on the oter hand you find that you're out of room perhaps it would be wise to resize or start w/ a new partition table entirely. Since I have no idea how you partitioned your drive I can't really give any insight on that but here's mine:

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on

/dev/hda1             897M  400M  450M  48% /
/dev/hda2             2.8G  1.7G  957M  65% /home
/dev/hda3             2.8G  2.1G  599M  78% /usr
/dev/hda6             897M  8.1M  841M   1% /tmp
/dev/hda7             897M  382M  468M  45% /var

HTH

[bob58]

OK thanks for the info...I guess i really dont have to install 3.4. Iwas only hoping by doing so, would help solve some very minor glitches....But my HDD is partitioned with just 2 partition, one for swap and the other for the system. So I guess there isnt much difference?

[mzilikazi]

Well you certainly don't have to use more than one partition for the Linux filesystem. I do beacuse I like to be able to easily expand the size of my filesystem and it's nice to have /home separated for times just like this when you want to reinstall but would like to keep all of your desktop tweaks and such.

What minor glitches are you experiencing?

[bob58]

Well I can see the point for having the HDD split up like alot of people do. I figured once i was able to fully understand the directory structure of KNOPPIX / LINUX I would do the same. But I still don't understand where everything is yet. For example, WINDOWS has its "PROGRAM FILES" folder for most programs. I am not sure where all the programs in Knoppix are located and what their executable file looks like. I have figured out how to unzip a "tar.gz" file, but i do not know what the executable is to start the program! I need to get my "plug ins" working for internet. I havent had any luck. I cannot play any sound or video clips. And there are some programs you have to COMPILE!!!!! Ahhhh!!!!! I need to get organized. I did manage to download 4 programs from that "KLIK" website....now thats nice to have. If only they could replace "APT-GET" with that!!!! The only thing that sucks about KLIK is it puts everything in your home directory! Someone should be able to simplify program installations. I am sure once you learn its no big deal. And my sound events suddenly dont work....i read that i should use an external player, but i tried and still no go. They were all working fine before....then i turned on computer 3 days ago, and NO system event sounds. Not that its a big deal, i just want to know why they suddenly dont work. The button to "play file" isnt muted and everything looks normal. My cd player plays music so the sound is OK. I figured if i deleted ver 3.3 and started fresh with 3.4 it would help a little as far as system sounds and some other little things. But it would be nice to know the file extensions and where programs are located....

[mzilikazi]

Well I can see the point for having the HDD split up like alot of people do. I figured once i was able to fully understand the directory structure of KNOPPIX / LINUX I would do the same. But I still don't understand where everything is yet. For example, WINDOWS has its "PROGRAM FILES" folder for most programs. I am not sure where all the programs in Knoppix are located and what their executable file looks like.

*most* apps are located in /usr thus my huge partition for /usr.

I have figured out how to unzip a "tar.gz" file, but i do not know what the executable is to start the program!

Well a tar.gz or tar.bz2 is really not much different that a .zip file (which you will also find used in Linux). It's just a way of compressing. Now what's inside the gzipped tarball can (and will) vary a great deal. Sometimes you just launch the executable by adding a './' in front of the executable like so:

./script.foo

How do you know which is the executable?

file script.foo

An executable file would read something like

file gdesklets.sh 
gdesklets.sh: Bourne shell script text executable

How to make a script executable?

chmod +x script.foo

I need to get my "plug ins" working for internet. I havent had any luck. I cannot play any sound or video clips.

Well there is an mplayer plugin for Mozilla but I've never had the desire to use it - sorry. You can find it at apt-get.org just search for mplayer. For Konqueror?? You're on your own there.

And there are some programs you have to COMPILE!!!!! Ahhhh!!!!! I

OMG and it's soooo complicated to do!
How to compile a program?

tar xzvf file.tar.gz
cd file
./configure
make
make install

OR if you want to be really slick.....

./configure && make && make install

Wow that was tough eh? It is ALWAYS a good idea to read the README and/or INSTALL that you will almost always find inside of your unzipped tarball for specific instructions. Sometimes you just do

make install

There are other ways too.

But it would be nice to know the file extensions and where programs are located....

Wouldn't it be cool if there was an easy way to find out where the executable was....

which <app>

EXAMPLE:

which mozilla
/usr/bin/mozilla

Sound....well that's a tough one. What sound card? Are the modules (drivers) loaded for it?

lsmod

[user unknown]

How do you know which is the executable?

You list the directory:
ls -la

and get some output like:

drwxr-xr-x     2 stefan users (size) (date) (time) (name)
-rwxr-xr--      ....

a leading d means directory
a leading - means normal file

Then there are three triples of rwx, one for the user (stefan) and one for the group (users) and one for the rest of the world.
These are:
r means readable
w writable
x eXecutable
a - at the position means: not, not executable by group or others.

You may try to make a file executable, by changing it's mode:
chmod u+x FILE
(read man chmod for details).

But of course you may not write the name 'Buick' on an oak and drive away with it.
So there is no magic involved, it's just a flag for the OS, that this is an executable file.
If you remove the flag, the OS will refuse to execute it.

Most terminals are configured to indicate a executable file by color.
(See man ls).

Most linux-shell scripts are written for bash- a command-interpreter.
But there are others too, like sh, ash, dash, ...
By convention, a scripts first line is a comment, and a suggestion, which interpreter to use to execute, since they have different syntax:
#!/bin/bash
or
#!/bin/sh
You may execute a shell-script, which is meant for 'sh', by invoking it like this:

sh myScript.sh

and in this case it needn't be marked executed.

[probono]

I did manage to download 4 programs from that "KLIK" website....now thats nice to have. If only they could replace "APT-GET" with that!!!! The only thing that sucks about KLIK is it puts everything in your home directory!

Hi Bob,

that's a feature, not a bug. This way the apps get persistant when you save your home directory, and also you are easily able to delete apps you no longer need.

in the next versoin of klik, you will be able to move the AppDirs installed by klik around - you then will be able to store them just where you want.

probono