New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

Hello my fellow nvnews-folk!

I'm working on some research at Uni and practically all of it will be done on linux, so I decided to install the distro the lab is using (Fedora 8) on my laptop (specs in sig - dual-booting with Vista home Premium).

Installation went without a problem and I am currently typing from a fresh install. Wireless seems to be working fine and it's nice and speedy. I haven't installed any additional drivers yet, so I'm guessing that's my next step.

I plan on getting accustomed to Linux so I want to use it as much as possible, henceforth, would you kind people, being uber linux users and all that jazz, be so kind as to recommend software I should download?
Things I need:
-Mp3 player
-divx/video player (VLC, right?)
-Chat (AIM and MSN Messenger)

I also have some additional questions I'd appreciate some help with:
- How can I add a wireless networks icon to my system bar?
- What other drivers besides GPU should I take into account?

erm... that's actually about it for now. :p

Any tips and tricks are gratefully appreciated.
Danke. :)

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

Amarok seems to be a very good music player, especially with large music collections.
VLC is very good. Xine is also good, though it's really a backend for other programmes to use.
Pidgin is a good chat programme. It's available for Windows as well as Linux, and seems to handle most chat systems very well.

Linux actually handles nearly any device without the need to download any drivers. GPUs are the main exception, due to the way Nvidia and ATI have in the past kept their drivers closed-source. The Nvidia drivers seem to be pretty easy to set up as long as you check the documentation first. I have never had any problems, though some people have had a bit of bother. Just check the Nvidia forums here. There is normally someone around that can help out if you do get into difficulties.

Anway, Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux. Have fun, and don't be afraid to ask :)



Cambo

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

Seconded on Amarok, vlc and Pidgin, although I do like Mplayer also.

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

VLC is great but I prefer mplayer or kaffene. Depending on your dt, I would use kopete for KDE, and pidigin for gnome.

Amarok is a bit heavy, but if your specs are good you won't have any issues.

Just a thought Fedora is not a really great distro to learn for beginners, and I would suggest something easier at first.

Mandravia, or fork PCLinux have a really nice gui control center, and make packaging a lot easier. Any of the ubuntus are easy to use as well.

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

Debian Etch also - I had very little trouble with it as a novice myself, but everything one needs to dig deeper is there.

I haven't used FC since FC2, it was the last that didn't give me heartburn trying to do something simple like make the mouse work :p

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

Thank you all for the replies.
I forgot to mention I did the installation for the computers at the labs so I've dealt with the nvidia drivers. Also, this is not my first time with linux. I mounted a webserver on Fedora 6 back in the day and I used Ubuntu here and there for some school assignments over the past 6 months. Mostly light usage, nothing really complicated.

By other drivers I was thinking more along the lines of audio drivers mainly. Aldo I seem to have audio, I want to make sure all is working properly (being on-board sound and all).

So, to sum it up:
-MP3's: Amarok
-vids: VLC
-chatting: Pidgin

New questions:

1. -What are some useful shortcuts/commands to know?
2. - Gnome or KDE? I think I've heard KDE is better, but I've only used Gnome in the past.
3. - What are your opinions on Beryl? I've seen vids and it looks awesome.
4. - Could I run any .exe with Wine? I'm interested in Adobe Flash and 3DS Max for my design clases.
5. - Where can I configure standby/shutdown options? I want to be able to standby by pressing the power button. (On a side note: Hibernating takes AGES)
6. - EDIT: Burning software!

Once again, thank's for all the input. Much appreciated. :)

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

[quote=Tuork]

Just my humble 2c. :)

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

1. -What are some useful shortcuts/commands to know?

Learn your shell commands. There are plenty of sites to help, here is one I love. Bruno is the man! http://brunolinux.com/

2. - Gnome or KDE? I think I've heard KDE is better, but I've only used Gnome in the past.

I prefer KDE, some love gnome. kde ftw! p

3. - What are your opinions on Beryl? I've seen vids and it looks awesome.

I only played with it when it was still beta, after the fork, and tried it again after they reunited under the new name, compiz-fusion. Still too buggy, and wasn't productive, just pretty. Meh.

4. - Could I run any .exe with Wine? I'm interested in Adobe Flash and 3DS Max for my design clases.

Probablly not any exe, not sure about flash or 3DS. Search here. http://appdb.winehq.org/

5. - Where can I configure standby/shutdown options? I want to be able to standby by pressing the power button. (On a side note: Hibernating takes AGES)

dunno? Standby can be a pain in the arse.

6. - EDIT: Burning software

Only one for me K3b. I have used the xfce burner xfburn.

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

Been busy with school. Hopefully I'll be able to play some more with this tonight.

Thanks for the input. I'll let you know how my endeavour turns out! :)

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

You'll get hooked. :)

I don't know about FC lately, I heard it's come a long way, but if you ever tire of playing with rpms I would strongly suggest loading up Debian 4.0. Either way, looking forward to your thoughts on FC. :)

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

Urgent question:
WHERE THE HELL can I manage my wireless connections????
:p

I've been dealing with installing a Cluster monitoring solution (Ganglia) and it's taking more time than I anticipated. Now I have to install Apache server and PHP. Ugh.
If anyone has any helpful links, it would be much appreciated. :)

Re: New'ish to linux and wanting to learn more
 

Connection manager should be in your control panel.

I don't know what all your needs are, but I have used XAMPP. Easy to install.

Also webmim is an awesome tool.