Ok, I installed Red Hat! Now what?

[invisableflame]

Ok, I installed linux successfully, did the updates, i still have windows xp.......... now what? HELP ME!! I am able to browse, play games, etc.... but what about the commands?? is there a tutorial on how to get the full effect of linux?

Thanks!

P.S.

Im a blonde girl, so please answer in blonde language!! LOL

[rid3r]

Congrats, and here we go: http://www.google.com/linux
http://linux-newbie.sunsite.dk/
That will get you started. Also brose the forum, you will find a lot of people with links in their sigs. :cool:

[Vaseline]

In that case...

Just browse the files here on this site.
http://www.justlinux.com/nhf

Those should guide you through most basic things you want to do initially [and basic command line]. And if you struggle with any of it, hit the search button on the forums and you'll find infinite amounts of help. :)

Have a lot of fun,

Tim

[invisableflame]

Thank you very much!

[bwkaz]

There is also www.tldp.org (The Linux Documentation Project), but a lot of the stuff there is specific to doing one job, and assumes a fair bit of Linux knowledge already.

As for "now what?", just play around. Break stuff. See if you can fix it. If not, either search, or ask, or reinstall and try to figure out why it broke from there. You've got another OS that you can always fall back on, so no harm in breaking stuff, especially if you learn from it.

[madcompnerd]

Wow, everyone who failed to get RH up and running must be crying by now.
Ok that was mean. The full effect of Linux kind of passed you by, cause apparently you got everything working without spending time troubleshooting. But yea, go through the helpfiles on here; and use Linux just like you do WinXP. After all, in your case, that's what it's made for.

[invisableflame]

Hmmm... and I actually thought I found a forum that might actually help people like me with linux....... I should have known there would be a DICK floating somewhere around here.... ok maybe i shouldnt be calling you a dick madcompnerd..... maybe i gave you too much credit in that department... as for the rest that offered assistance to me thanks for you effort but I wont be coming back here. because my thirst for knowledge is not to be made a mockery of.:mad:

[bwkaz]

Don't let one comment turn you off to the whole place, though... yeah, it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to say, but there are 50,000 people registered here, with at least a few thousand regularly posting. madcompnerd is just one person (and, I would at least hope, is going to read this and go "what the heck was I thinking when I said that?").

I always hate it when people leave because they don't like one person, or one comment, or even a set of comments (anybody remember Unruly?) that they meet or hear here...

[nko]

The blonde joke aside, I think he just meant that the first linux experience of most users is a painful one.

[kly546]

I seriously doubt that person was blonde, or a girl.

[nko]

What, just based on the fact that this is a Linux forum!?... alright, statistically, you've got a pretty good point :)

[madcompnerd]

No I didn't mean that in a bad way, I was only joking about the blonde thing. I see a lot of people give up on Linux really easily, I did the first time too. I've met quite a few very intelligent blondes, but it's still fun to joke about.
And about the first experience thing I did mean that usually there is a lot of pain in initially getting things to work. That's where people usually get emersed in the "full Linux experience." Cause the full linux experience is dragging yourself through a difficult learning curve constantly asking "why?!"
It was nothing personal or even anything aimed at blondes in general. You should feel happy that installation went so well, that's what companies like RH, MDK, and Suse are really shootin for.

[invisableflame]

well, I am blonde and last time I checked I am a girl. and no Im not stupid....You guys or gals dont have to answer my questions, i would just appreciate it if you would try and remember how it was for you the first time you looked at linux and said to yourself WTF??? and why the heck wont this thing do what i want it to? instead of trying to sit on a pedestal and say i doubt that was a blonde or a girl or say oh she is blonde just give up now while you are still ahead...linux isnt for you...

[jsbrusty2]

Welcome to the Linux Experience!

To get the full effect I think you're talking about CLI (command line interface). Well, to get your feet wet in there I'd suggest just poking around and getting into stuff as bwkaz already suggested and see how some of the gui tools work and such. These are all just front ends for what you can also do from the CLI.

The way I got started was by trying to get something working that didn't work out of the box. For example, I'm using RH9 and I couldn't play mp3's because Red Hat didn't include that plugin with XMMS, getting TV out of my ATI Radeon AIW, or compiling and installing Xine to play DVD's. Searching forums, like this one or google.com/linux to find the programs needed and how to install them to do what I wanted. This is both frustrating and extremely helpful in understanding Linux.

To find some programs you might like to have to do the things you did in Windows this site has a great listing.
http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft-en/
Then search (here, HOW TO's, google.com/linux) to find how to install (compile if necessary) and get past any roadblocks.

Also, get familiar with using man pages (at CLI type "man command" without quotes and actual command name in place of command) to figure out command formats and options.

I'm still a newbie myself btw. Have fun
:D

[invisableflame]

thanks!

[madcompnerd]

Hehe, it's not that, it's that usually people say they're blonde to mean they're dumb. I don't understand any doubts about your gender though. *shrugs*
Find ways to do everything you did in Windows, that's the "linux experience." My point is just that there is no special "experience." It's just a nice OS that happens to be infamous for the commonality of trouble shooting and for it's hacker image.
Many of us Linux geeks try to be snobbish jerks high upon a pedestal. Just smack 'em upside the head and they'll whimper and apologize :).

[invisableflame]

cool! do i hear a whimper and maybe an apology? LOL

[nko]

Geez, I didn't think he was NEAR that offensive:rolleyes: ;)

[invisableflame]

yeah and you dont think i am a blonde girl either.

[belsonc]

Welcome to my world... I had a friend stepping me through the wonderful world of partition magic, and with his help, I was able to get RH8 up and running... on my sony laptop, that is, b/c the spit-and-bubble-gum computer (aka Frankenstein :)) refused to install correctly.

So basically, I'm kind of in the same boat you are - still wet behind the ears, still cutting my teeth, except I have short brown hair and a full beard. ;)

Best I can think of to do is wander the forums, picking up little tidbits here and there... maybe the mention of a program here, an idea there... you might actually wanna look at the screen shots thread - that's where I got my background and found out about gkrellm... :)


-C

[madcompnerd]

So basically, I'm kind of in the same boat you are - still wet behind the ears, still cutting my teeth, except I have short brown hair and a full beard.
The bearded lady!!! Aaaargh, jk.
I already apologized to ya invisible flame, read back a few posts :-p. Never meant to be offensive in the first place.

[belsonc]

Hey, I ain't no lady - and don't make me prove it...

[invisableflame]

LOL!!

[rid3r]

Documentation:
http://www.tldp.org/tldp-redirect.php?url=/
http://linuxcommand.org/
http://linux-newbie.sunsite.dk/
http://info.astrian.net/jargon/
http://www.xfree86.org/4.3.0/

Programming:
http://www.shelldorado.com/
<snip>
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/

Linux news:
http://www.linux-mag.com/
http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue64/index.html
http://www.linuxjournal.com/
http://linuxtoday.com/
http://slashdot.org/
http://www.madpenguin.org/article.php?sid=150&mode=&order=0
http://distrowatch.com/
http://www.gurulabs.com/index2.html
http://linux.oreilly.com/

Software:
http://freshmeat.net/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/blender/?topic_id=109%2C110
http://sourceforge.net/
http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/

News:
alt.os.linux
alt.os.linux.redhat
alt.os.linux.slackware

Just a few links.

[shadow-x]

Originally posted by invisableflame
well, I am blonde and last time I checked I am a girl. and no Im not stupid....You guys or gals dont have to answer my questions, i would just appreciate it if you would try and remember how it was for you the first time you looked at linux and said to yourself WTF??? and why the heck wont this thing do what i want it to? instead of trying to sit on a pedestal and say i doubt that was a blonde or a girl or say oh she is blonde just give up now while you are still ahead...linux isnt for you...


Dont feel lonely in the fact that u do the WTF!!! thing..........everytime i boot Linux I do it too!!!.....I just installed RH 9 flawlessly 8 days ago myself........and have u peeled your Windows sticker off ur box yet????

OOH Yea!!!........I just wanted to add this.........

Proud registered Linux user #317923 (http://counter.li.org/)

[yev]

about a year ago I was very new to LINUX.
probably the only way to really learn this stuff. Is by doing things with it. Try to get things working, like sendmail, apache, DNS etc.
Try installing new software you are interested in. If you run into problems use google or a forum such as this one.
A good Linux Administration book targeted for beginners is a good investment also. But you will find a lot of information on the internet.
Just have fun. Do not be in fear of breaking things, the process of fixing will your best educational experience.
Also talk to people that use Linux, most of us love helping others and sharing our knowledge.
Just remember you are a part of a greate community of fun loving geeks, and we are all welcoming you.

~YEV