Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

There's a project for using Chrome under linux right now: http://www.codeweavers.com/services/ports/chromium/ . No idea how well that works, tried it months ago and it was OK, but I prefer Firefox and all its nice add-ons. But Google is actually making a proper Linux version, too. No idea when that will be finished, but you'll have it sometime in the future if you're still with us in Linux land then :)

As for the desktop cube and other graphical effects, make sure you have accelerated graphics on: Restricted Drivers under Adminstrator menu, I believe, not at an Ubuntu machine now. Reboot and you should have them on, then you can start customizing your desktop effects, I think Preferences > Appearance or something like that.

I think you'll be sick of exploding windows and cubes in two weeks but the flashiest effects are great fun to play for a while. I used to drive my wife crazy with the wiggling windows for a bit before I got sick of them too :) And the other effects can actually be useful too, very slick looking.

As for videos, look up installing flash (for youtube) in the forums and look up installing VLC for watching other videos. Ubuntu should just prompt you for downloading proper codecs too if you try to watch videos with other programs or play mp3s/whatnot but VLC is a very nice program for video watching.

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

Oops, sorry I missed this. Can you link to what you enabled? Did you just try to go to Youtube and click on a video? At least in 32-bit systems I think it should prompt you to install flash. 64-bit may be a bit more tricky. Which one are you running?

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

I'm runnig the 32-bit, (unfortunatly i'm at work right now, but when I get home I'll see what i can do to give you better insight) i didnt wana sound stupid in trying to explain because I downloaded it and messed with ubuntu a bit after my bed time so I cant remember fully but I think when I was given the message after I tried to view a youtube video; it gave a message and link to the actual flash site(which didnt work when I tried downloading form the site)... but I went to the help menu on the desktop and typed in "flash" and it gave me a few choices and steps for each. I enabled macro and sun something plug-in's if i'm not mistaken... sorry when i get home i'll be able to better explain.:o


ya i think i will grow tired of the over excessive effects but that clean, simple, and some what elagant/clutter free look is something i know i will want to keep (i.e http://images.apple.com/hk/en/macosx...ro20071016.png ) but hanks for reminding me about the chrome for linux i heard about it awhile ago but since i wasnt using linux i didnt pay much attention to it at the time, but trust me I think after some tweaking I'll be here to stay with linux, Thanks:D

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

Well said! Yeah, distro bickering is rather silly. Most of it occurs between the elitists and the fanboys anyways, both of which I highly recommend everyone avoid at all costs. ;) Stick with the more level headed people when getting distro info.

And props too on the acclimation suggestion. I see far too many give up on Linux because they dive in expecting it to be just like Windows, and it's not, thank God. Some can take to it like a duck to water, and others take a little time of kicking it around the park before they get comfortable.

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

I'll chime in here too. Amen to both comments. As a Linux user and admin for something like 14 1/2 years, I have tried the bulk of the larger distributions, and I have my favorites. You will find that one distro or more fits your workflow better than the others. For instance, my preference is Debian for a number of reasons. To not belabor the point, you can PM me if you want my opinions. But don't let someone else's opinions change your opinion. Thats the beauty of the open source community. It is open, so your opinion matters.

Also, in addition to Lord Raiden's site, there is a ton of Linux documentation out there, most of it free. I invite your attention to the following sites:

The Linux Documentation Project - http://www.tldp.org
The Debian Documentation Project - http://www.debian.org/doc/ddp
The Gentoo wiki - http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/

The nice thing is that most of the documentation can be transliterated to your distribution. I have used docs from Gentoo to accomplish tasks on Debian or Redhat machines.

Now if you learn better by audio, you might want to check out one of the many fine podcasts available for download.

Dann from the Linux Link Tech Show maintains a list of Linux podcasts at http://www.thelinuxlink.net/. [shameless plug] My not currently active podcast is the Armored Penguin[/shameless plug]. A couple which would probably stand you in good stead would be Linux Reality (no longer produced, but all 100 episodes are still available), Free Linux Help Line, Productive Linux and Going Linux.
In addition, you can look around for Linux screencasts. In fact, some of the podcasters do screen casts of their shows.

Hope that helps,
--vr

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

that really does help guys thanks a lot, I think i learned how to just listen and gather the information i need dispite some ppl who take a simple thread and make it into a dispute from this site sadly:( as much as I love talking about the n8x0 and other topic's about it I was verbally slashed a few times when commenting (opening my big newbie mouth) in the middle of a heated topic, while the big wigs of this site were trading lethal blows, so to speak lol, but i kindly bowed out, so it cool I appriciate all advice and read enough forums to know how easily things can get two sided or how you can be virtually mobbed:eek:... but in any case thanks alot guys, now i just cant wait till this weekend when i have plenty of time to figure this out.:o

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

Don't let it put you off. Keep learning and keep asking your questions. As with any segment of society, there are a certain percentage of people in the Linux and open source community that are just ***holes. Don't let them dissuade you.

--vr

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

I wont, because I love tech/gadgets and have an annoying detremination to educate myself, and because I was always taught the more you know the further you go and I dnt like to limit myself for anything... thank you for the encouragement:)

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

Linux distributions are actually just collections of software and system libraries.

Most of those pieces of software and system libraries are created by individual projects which are completely independent of any Linux distribution, and the distribution maker links the products of these projects together via distribution-specific installation and administration tools in an effort to make things easier and more consistent for an end user.

While the Debian folks (for example) might provide their own version of Firefox (for example) in their own .deb package format, that software is almost completely identical to the .rpm version of Firefox found in Fedora. The main difference is typically the format of the package, not the included software itself.

If you're running on a specific architecture (say a 32-bit x86 compatible CPU), the same generic software package (normally in .tgz or .tar.gz format, known as a "tarball") can be used on several different distros.

I've installed software from the same tarball and run it on Puppy, Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Austrumi Linux, for example. Worked just fine as long as the required libraries are all present ... or I was able to hunt the missing ones down and install them. That's how the commercial version of UT2004 is able to run on several different distros ... it tends to use fairly standard libraries, and its installation routine provides the things it depends on that might not be present on a given system.

Re: Linux for an OS, Beginners Guide...
 

I figured it out, I had to give the (?) or help menu a better read, when I typed in the word flash it gave me the the option to due a few things dealing with flash. I picked the one for viewing video and just add the plugin for marco media and sun java so now I'm watching youtube and other video on ubuntu:D... I had to sit for a bit and have patience but thats what windows does to ppl, it makes them impatient and forget to read direction when trying to figure things out:p

now all I have to do is try to find out how to update firefox to the 3.5 version and I'm set...thanks