What People Needs to Know About Linux.

by R_Head Oct 30, 2009 2:00PM PDT

A lot of people tackle Linux like MS. That is wrong !

Things to know about Linux. I will try to be brief about it...

Linux is a Kernel, get over it ! It was a pet project by Linus Torvalds and he gave it for free. Is a spin off of UNIX. Unix was invented by Bell Labs (now AT&T) back in 1969 (Microsucks was not even around). Is mostly given credit to Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, but of course where more people involved. And was given for FREE by Bell Labs.

That is why there are so many flavors.

It was a true Multi-Tasking Multi-User Operating System. Ok, Enough history lesson.

Now lets go forward...

Linus Torvalds (google it to learn more) created a Kernel (a bit fat lier that talks to you and the hardware) as a hobby. Anybody can create its own spin offs.

So Linus + UNIX = LINUX

Now, there are many flavor of Linux around... Lets see...

Solaris (SUN), SuSE (Novell), Red Hat, Debian (Deb+Ian), A Linux, Puppy Linux, PCLOS, Android (phone OS), The ...Buntus (spin off from Debian), Slackware (Debian spin off)... as so many more. Including Mandriva (aka Mandrake)

They all use the same Kernel, the Desktop Environment are different. The major ones...
GNOME
KDE
Enlightenment
and many more, Google them.

That is a different ball game. That dictates the GUI that you are going to use and some of the apps.

For example, Kubuntu and Ubuntu the difference is that K..buntu uses KDE, Ubuntu uses GNOME. Mandriva uses KDE and GNOME, Red Hat is GNOME...

Most people has the MS approach, GET RID OF IT !!!

In the MS world you go around looking for an .EXE file to download and run.

In Linux is a bit different...

There are people out there that put all the packets for you and takes care of the Dependencies ( MS world DLL HELL ! ).

There are 2 major ones APT-GET and RPM.

APT-GET is Debian and their clones
RPM are Red Hat and their clones.

Both woks somewhat the same.

Lets take for example Mandriva Linux, uses RPMs as packet manager. (Gael Duval created Mandrake and used the easiest back then in the late 90s and was RPM)

You have to set the repositories. That is called URPMI. So when you install Mandriva (merge with Mandrake from France and Conectiva from Brazil) URPMI it makes all the dependencies for you (not perfect but is pretty darn good, I use Mandriva for 8 years).

If you want to install the software, go to the MCC and choose, Add Software. Is that simple. All updates comes from there.

Now here is the kicker..............................

Linux is free, so do not expect top notch commercial support. Nothing is free, even the ...Buntus !

I am not selling Mandriva but I am making a comparison between a Paid Distro Vs a Freebie one.

If you get Mandriva Free you get the GENERIC everything, the same with the ...Buntus. If you pay the 60 Euros a year for Mandriva you get all the Proprietary Drivers and Firmware and Applications.

Now you see the different between the Free and Paid Linux distros?

With the Free, you need to know what the heck are you doing, if you pay for the Important stuff Linux Rocks !

Now, why MS is where is right now?

Buy a PC without the OS, NO MANUFACTURER will sell you one and you shoved with a Microsoft Tax, a paid Lic that is for you to use but you do not OWN it. The PC industry makes MS to work, Hardware vendors have tools to make MS drivers and Applications. Since the Linux market is small, is forgotten or neglected. That is why Linux is in the way it is and MS is not.

Now......

Some hardware manufacturers like nVidia are making Linux drivers and sure they are the best. Mandriva Power Pack has them but is Proprietary and you guess it, is on the paid subscription.

The bottom line is. You want a Linux computer that kicks butt, you need to pay for the good stuff. You want to take the risk, get the Free version.

How people makes money on the Linux world that is govern by the GPL? Is easy, they charge for the Service, NOT THE LICENSE like MS does.

Just on the side....

I work as a system admin. We have PCs with Valid MS Licenses, also we have an Enterprise MS Lic, we paid to MS 2X the Lic since the Systems came Licensed and because we had an Enterprise Lic. So they Double Dip !

Discussion is locked

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This is a good summary but,

by Porch-a-Geese Oct 31, 2009 2:20AM PDT

you need to be able to have people with no experience to be able to use a Linux system from scratch.
You could install Linux and Windows beside each other on a machine and donate it. Set the boot manager to log in automatically and leave a note on the Desktop for the new user to read. Give them the proper links to follow. This will get them started and they will have two systems in the event one fails.

The average user isn't worried about licensing, kernels, file systems, or permissions; they worry about something working and something not working. Leave the person a list of programs and links on how to use them. remember that the average person will not read a man page, use the console, or search for help; you need to lead them.

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IMO

by GODhack Oct 31, 2009 2:54AM PDT

IMO fear of console is wrong way.
Console is IT bicycle: maybe not for everything, but perfect when used correctly and in right situation. And not that hard to lean as looks in first.

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Console commands need to be learned,

by Porch-a-Geese Oct 31, 2009 7:57AM PDT

but at the user's rate of learning. It's best to tell them what not to do, show them why, and let them learn what's right on their own.

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Linux is so broad !!!

by R_Head Oct 31, 2009 1:15PM PDT

We can go on with details.

Just to be on the newbie side...

Now days all is web base applications, so you will spend more time surfing the web anyway. So how hard is to use Firefox?

By my experience..........

How did I taught my wife to use Mandriva? It was easy as heck. I loaded her MS with Open Office, Firefox and Thunderbird. Neat eh?

Once she learned the applications, I gave her the same laptop with Linux. The Icons are the same. She can go around the directory and knows how to swing between Linux and Windows.

Another example is my 65+ year old Mom in Law. She grabbed a freshly installed Mandriva Linux laptop and off she went. 4 Months later and she says that works flawlessly.

That tells me one thing, is easy to use and they never used the Command console, ever !

I hardly use the console at all.

Here is a trick for all of you...

Open the Konsole on Mandriva.
Type SU - (place the dash)
Type the ROOT's Password
Type koqueror

What that does is, opens the Konqueror web browser with ROOT's rights. Is as simple as the Run As command from Windows (BTW, that came from DIGITAL engineers working for MS. MS ala UNIX )

If you run the Internet Explorer with the Run As command, you can browse your Windows directory with Admin right and whatever you do in that window is with Admin rights. Pretty neat !

Linux is the same thing.

Now, how hard is that, to use the Linux on the GUI with ROOT's rights?

I do that on Mandriva all the time.

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Konsole and console

by Porch-a-Geese Oct 31, 2009 8:07PM PDT

You can use any terminal.
The dash is not necessary.
(It's a shame that there is no [CODE] tag here to use for the output. Maybe a moderator will see this post and have one enabled.)
Using Konqueror as root depends on the shell. You need to link to the user's account before doing such. Personally, I do not recommend this unless you have Konqueror configured first as root. You need to disable kdm. Next you login as root and type startx. Open Konqueror with the command line and setup the preferences. Disable autocomplete. Set Java to deny and ignore. Set history to a value of 0. Disable use as a file manager. Set cookies to where you have to ask for all permissions including session cookies. Set the cache to 2MB. Keep no preloaded instances. Use full encryption methods.
After this, do the following. Set SELinux to non-permissive/strict settings. Create the link between user and root to run the application. Exit from Konqueror. Close the terminal. Exit from the GUI. Restart the system. Now you can use Konqueror as root and be safe.
There is also a tor add-on for Konqueror that I suggest you use and setup. Oh, you also need to disable flash before using Konqueror.
Now there you have a secure browsing experience as root. To be even more secure you would create a VM and run Konqueror as root from there with the settings mentioned above on both the host and VM. Extra security.

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