Newbies? These guys aren't newbies!

[Anna]

If those who post here are newbies, than what am I? Eternal moron or what?

Trying to venture into Linux can be a ...humbling experience. Even after you got somehow through your mental block, there's just so much to learn when all you did under Windows was the very basic stuff. I never looked beyond the applications I needed.

Well, I did get Knoppix started, here I am posting through Konqueror, although with some freak screen resolution with microscopic texts which "it" tells me will be changed to the one I set in the next session. Really? Next session of what? After rebooting? Like, the screen resolution I set will be changed after all data I entered will evaporate into the ether of the RAM? Don't think so darling.

But there is hope. There is a permanent home. One just has to find it! How to? Lots of people know! I'm not one of them <g>. I'd love to save my settings on floppy (which I managed to format yeahh), but I don't know how, and I don't know where it is explained how. I think I saw something in the FAQ, but that was for the other newbies, not this type of newbie.

But I did manage to check the md5 sum something... after downloading the windows tool for it... So at least I know my downloaded "image" was complete, so this can't be the reason my KDE crashes all over the place. Hello? I thought this stuff here doesn't crash? That is because, it never gets handeled by a REAL newbie! Those other newbies aren't real, perhaps the don't know what "loiwjer asfoiajsero_ljj" means, but they are not doubleclicking holes into their screens:-)

Lucky me, didn't have to configure any modems, that worked all by itself! Whoa!

However, my printer installation tells me to f... well not really, but it tells me: "Unable to retrieve the printer list. Error message received from manager:
Connection to CUPS server failed. Check that the CUPS server is correctly installed and running. Error: connection refused."

Darling, CUPS server? Let me have some peppermint tea over that, before I try and find a searchable help file with shaking hands.

But hey, I'm sitting in front of a desktop which tells me I'm running Linux, and that is for me the real brilliance behind the "LiveCD". There is absolutely NOW WAY I would have EVER installed Linux on my HDD, hence no way either for me to get familiar with it. But here I am, right in the middle of these magical first hours, playing around without the nervewrecking fear that I'll cause the box to explode.

I'll tell you that much, I have licked cherry-juice.

I'm vegan darling we don't do blood.

[Durand Hicks]

Just so you know, we all started the same way you did. I'm only been in linux since mid-Jan, and I've been scouring the web, newsgroups, forums, mailing lists, manpages, etc.... and what have you. Does this mean I'm not a newbie? I don't think so. I still have much to learn as the next linux user so claiming that I'm not a newbie would be a serious injustice. Some folks might take to linux like a duck to water, especially if they haven't used windows or any other oses, but the majority of those coming over from windows have a rougher time going since we have to unlearn the microsoft way first and learn the linux way. I was just like you, I didn't know what the linux terms were and what to do about it, except to come here and ask questions. I don't ask many questions, because I like to figure it out before I have to ask. If you have to ask a question for a problem you're unable to solve, just post in the appropriate forum here and someone will answer your question, if they know the answer. Now, if you're having a problem making use of your home partition, did you type at boot the following command?

knoppix home=scan

And before you can use it, did you make the persistant home image file? On your taskbar (kicker), it's the Knoppix icon > configuration > create persitant home.

[oldgeezer]

When Linus conceived Linux it was very much an academic project. I'm afraid that what academics do best is talk amongst themselves and engage in a lot of foot-shooting. IT folk have done a grand job in this respect since the early '60s, when computer rooms were out-of-bounds hallowed ground. Academics tend not to respond well to marketing opportunities, so an appeal to global welfare would stand a better chance with them. There are the usual commercial parasites trying to make money from OBEs, but best to avoid them as they'll just keep asking for more money and I think that's what we are all trying to stamp out? It's important to separate money from, inter alia, Operating Systems.
Otherwise, the rest of us have to struggle on, live in hope and, meanwhile, try to build bridges with the cognoscenti.........
OG.

[eco2geek]

If those who post here are newbies, than what am I? Eternal moron or what?

Ha! I've been running Red Hat and various other "flavors" of Linux for the past...well, the first version of Red Hat I bought (!) was v5.2, however long ago that was...and I still consider myself a newbie.

I'd probably be further along if I dumped Windows altogether, but I'm not really an OS "fundamentalist."

One problem with starting out with Debian (upon which Knoppix is based) is that there's not a whole lot of books out there about it. If you'd like to learn how to use Linux more painlessly, you might start out by buying a book like Sams' Teach Yourself Red Hat Linux Fedora in 24 Hours or O'Reilly's Learning Red Hat Enterprise Linux & Fedora, 4th Ed., both of which come with Red Hat Fedora on CD's.

Then come back to Knoppix and Debian, because its package management system is superior to Red Hat's.

That's my 2 cents!

[Hunkah]

Darling, you made me laugh!

I laughed about 5 times! Even the "Darling" thing was funny!

I agree, Linux is a difficult OS to learn. I am still reading up on it. I haven't actually attempted to do any real computer work with it... yet.

There is a problem with Linux, that doesn't exist in the "Windows" world. Pride! "If you don't speak like us (linux), you are wrong"

Windows is a great OS, but the problem with it is cost. Believe it or not Linux crashes! I know you can deny it, avoid it, or tell me I am wrong but I have seen it. You say, "It was all my fault". But that is just my point, it is never the OS's fault unless it is Windows Based.

The best thing about Linux is the philosophy part. Open source. "Trying to free the world" Windows may be closed, but it is easy to use. Linux is difficult to learn, even for windows gurus. Some of the reason for that is the lack of easy to read and understand manuals written for Linux.

I too want to know Linux. I have been reading up on it for over a year. There are some learning curves that need to be overcome, but I will learn it.

This is what I know about Windows vs. Linux:
Windows is like a lamp, you plug it into a wall, turn on a switch and presto, you get light!

Linux is two sticks!

[eco2geek]

Windows is like a lamp, you plug it into a wall, turn on a switch and presto, you get light!

Well, not quite. Part of the reason there's so many security problems with Windows is that people think they can (or should be able to) treat their computers like toasters. Just plug 'em in and that's all you have to do, right? Er, wrong.

In no way do I mean to excuse Microsoft for its part in this, but people must realize that they are partially responsible for the security of their computers, especially if they're running Windows. This means: Install a software firewall before you install anything else; install security patches from Microsoft religiously; turn off scripting in your email client; don't open email attachments from people you don't know and trust; etc.

Unfortunately, I'm not as knowledgeable about how to keep Linux secure! Fortunately, Linux is a lot more secure "out of the box" than Windows is.

[OErjan]

ask and i will try to help you. i have used linux for a few years and computers for much longer.
If you are worried about complicated answers i am no help. but i could likely get to any newbies level. to be honest i have taught older people, some above 75 with 0 previous computertime, to use computers to surf, send/recieve mail, writing documents.

it just takes LOTS of explaining and skipping info not strictly needed to solve the task at hand... that info/background... can be added later if asked for.

My standing line was:
"if you do not understand ask, feel free to interupt!
if, after me ansewring you, you are still no closer to understanding, ask again.
if i am still not clear, ask why i am complicating things, there might be a reason, or i might just be above your level and have to make things even simler".

i had to be HARD on them, they where too well behaved to interupt my explanations, and if they alowed me to keep going they where even more confused in the end, as they had tried to catch the folowing parts with unclear facts obscuring the solution.

[knoppix_lover]

Oh! Oh! Pick me! I think I know the answer to one of your questions, sweetie (sorry, I know we haven't met, but we seem on such good terms alread (darling), so please don't mind the 'sweetie'!)

When the screen shrinks into a tiny, tiny font-squeezing size, you might type this at your startup:

knoppix screen=800x600

Added to the tip given above, that would make:

knoppix home=scan screen=800x600

Congratulations on diving in and having a go. Looks like you're on your way!

[user unknown]

Hi Anna,

As a pinguin, I would say: I have two fishes for you, and hope they don't smell -
but for a vegan, I better say: Here are two bananas - I hope they're not foul

first banana: Konqueror has a magnifier symbol with a plus for increasing textfontsize. Since I installed it permanently, I cannot proofe, whether saving-settings, closing and reopening would be meant by 'permanently'.
Konqueror and most programs wheren't developped for a live-cd. That's a problem with live-systems.

second banana:
open a console/ xterm/ xterminal/ xconsole
get super-user privileges
start the cupsd

[email protected]# > 
[email protected]# > su
[email protected]# > cupsd
[email protected]# >

But what the hell is CUPSD?
cupsd is the cups-daemon
It's a daemon, because you don't see it. It runs in the background, in the dark ways of your system, and waits for a (printer)command. If a printercommand occurs, he starts working.
Most commands ending with suffix 'd' are daemons.
So we solved the 'D', but what is CUPS?
The Common Unix Printing System.
More details will be found on their webpage

After starting the cupsd, you may configure it with the konqueror.
Instead of a file:///path/to/file or http://www.cups.org you type http://localhost:631 and get the setuppage of cupsd - - - no, stop.
Better you start your printerconfiguration again the way you tried before.

[GainesTR]

Anna,

Haven't you noticed that everyone has been so willing to answer your questions and at no cost to you. As a matter of fact that little CD that is sitting in your tray right now that says Knoppix didn't cost you anything either.

All you have to do is use this forum to learn and ask questions to what you don't know but would like to know. Please leave you negative comments on another forum. This latest version of Knoppix has a lot of hard work that has been put into it and I for one am willing to do everything in my power to harness that knowledge and to teach others!

Maybe this O/S isn't for you. If so, don't bash it! Just pull that CD out of your tray and reboot your computer. See, no harm done. You still have your Windows intact and unscathed!

I think that with a little work on your end, you too will come to realize how powerful that CD really is. I am a Systems Administrator for a large company and we use Knoppix for our mail and web servers. I am also looking to make it the default O/S on most of the clients that are in the company. Why? Just keep asking questions and you too will soon learn why.