newbie: questions about linux and knoppix

Hello all you linux users!

A few minutes ago I got my very first introduction
to sitting in front of a LINUX machine, and I am
glad to say that I LIKE IT! I got the $6 knoppix
cd in the mail, put it in my cd and punched it,
and, wow, it did everything automatically and I
was there staring at what looked like a variation
of a windows-type GUI desktop. I browsed around
a bit and I am very much impressed. Now I want
to go ahead and install a full linux system and
get into linux and out of windows (finally!!!!)

My first question is to help me decide which distro,
but I am really leaning towards suse, but, I am not
prejudiced, so I plan to condsider this a bit and
then just go ahead. I am a programmer hobbyiest,
and I have mainframe experience (MVS and VM), plus
I have been a DOS and windows user since the beginning.
My 440bx 1g PIII PC has 1/2 gig memory and a bunch of
decent 40 and 60 gig hd's, so I think I have the h/w
for a good linux desktop. I was thinking suse because
I read somewhere that it is geared towards programmers.

2nd - is there a way to run "standard" DOS and windows
programs? For example, I use the old standby SPF/PC editor
(a really good DOS clone of the mainframe SPF editor),
and I would really really like to be able to run it
on LINUX (that would be truly programmer's heaven).
Is there a DOS type emulation and where do I get it.

3rd - and this is very curious, I noticed that knoppix
was able to see my win98 fat32 harddrive WITH NO PROBLEMS
and that just floored me. The GUI (KDE) reported the whole
shebang, and it behaved like windows by just letting me click
on files and then letting me pick which app to associate with
it (LINUX is really getting good - this is fantastic!).
The curious thing is that I have a handful of DV-format
AVI files, and when I chose XINE to open these with, XINE
actually did go ahead and open each AVI I selected, and it
went ahead and actually played one, or a few, frames
(I can't figure out HOW XINE decoded these since the
DV codec is probably not included on the KNOPPIX cd),
but then it froze. What is going on here? XINE had
to have some way to decode the first part of the DV
AVI file (they are NOT in plain raw format), and I am
really curious about this. But, what I really want
to know, is, does the LINUX world have all these codecs
up and running (DV, DIVX, cinepak, indeo, mpeg, mpeg2, etc.),
and where do I go to download the most codecs I can,
especially the DV format?

4th) I wanted to ENLARGE the fonts used in the file browser
windows, and I did find properties under control center and
changed them to 14 pt, but it didn't effect the file browser.
How do you do that? ALso, when I brought up BASH, I also
wanted to make it a larger font, but, well, how do you get
linux to give you a larger font?

5th) I am sure the answer is yes, but, will linux offer me
true OPENGL compatablility with my leadtek video card so
I can not suffer any degradation in graphics programs?

Any other thing any of you LINUX users who can relate to the
worries a long time windows user has is appreciated. I have
at least two, maybe more, current friends who are windows
users who are waiting to see how it goes for me with LINUX,
and they are ready to bolt if it works out good for me.

Thanks to all - I am really starting to get interested in LINUX,
and, what is really hard to believe - IT IS FREE!!!!!!

Littleberry

In article <bd00fe19.0307291212.3dad2c42@posting.google.com >, Littleberry wrote:

> My first question is to help me decide which distro,

If you have a friend who uses Linux, get the same distribution and you'll
have tech support for beer & pizza :)

If not, find out if there's a local Linux User Group and see what's in
fashion with them.

If not, get one of the major distributions so you'll get help on Usenet
more easily. I mean SuSE, Red Hat, Mandrake, Debian.

> for a good linux desktop. I was thinking suse because
> I read somewhere that it is geared towards programmers.

Naah, all the big distros come with the same development tools.

> 2nd - is there a way to run "standard" DOS and windows
> programs? For example, I use the old standby SPF/PC editor

DOS is easier, you can run MS DOS or Freedos inside dosemu. Windows is
worse, but some apps will run with WINE.

> wanted to make it a larger font, but, well, how do you get
> linux to give you a larger font?

This is a X Window question. I suppose Knoppix doesn't really give you
everything. Fonts work fine on my Debian box (and Knoppix is based on
Debian).

> 5th) I am sure the answer is yes, but, will linux offer me
> true OPENGL compatablility with my leadtek video card so
> I can not suffer any degradation in graphics programs?

I don't know your card. Check the XFree86 site and see what they support.
In general, support is OK.

> and, what is really hard to believe - IT IS FREE!!!!!!

That's the way it's ment to be :)

--
Juha Siltala

> My first question is to help me decide which distro,
> but I am really leaning towards suse, but, I am not
> prejudiced,

If you really like Knoppix, you can install that to your hard drive as a
distro. Search google for "knoppix hard drive install", and it should
come up.

steve

Today I went more into Knoppix (thinking about installing it to a new HD).
A few questions:

1) I didn't find dosemu anywhere and WINE would NOT run SPF4,
which is really DOS based and uses pharlap's extender - is
this likely to be a problem? Even so, I did get two other
windows programs to run just fine under WINE (VDUB and THUMBS+)
So, do I have to download dosemu and freedos in order to get
dos-based programs to run? Or is this hidden somewhere on this
CD? Let me make it simpler - suppose I want to run a simple
*.com program to ring the bell and say "Hello, World", what
knoppix application do I choose?

2) It didn't detect my modem (DIAMOND's SUPRAMAX, considered
pretty standard, I thought), and I didn't see any place
where I could "ADD HARDWARE". How do you go about getting
knoppix to add new hardware, like my modem? Along with
that, anytime I add a new card, I will need to know what
program I run (under knoppix) to get it installed - so,
is there something outside of knoppix I have to do?

3) It didn't recognize my 2nd harddrive, which is daisy-chained
with the CDROM. I think that is why, but, has anyone had
difficulties getting knoppix to detect the master harddrive
on the secondary dma channel that is daisy-chained to a cdrom?
(after knoppix is installed onto the master harddrive on the
priumary channel, of course, to a new harddrive all by itself).

I went to the debian website and I was overwhelmed with the multitude
of software that is available for downloading. I won't live long
enough to even decide which ones to look into - any advice here?
I mean, has someone sifted through this immense list and come up
with a choice pick of some of the offerings to help cut down
on the huge time just looking into them and deciding which ones?
Python, of course, and the c compiler, but, there were so many
utilites, math, science - so much to look through. help.

Thanks,

Littleberry

In article <bd00fe19.0307301015.71c5cab7@posting.google.com >, Littleberry wrote:
> Today I went more into Knoppix (thinking about installing it to a new HD).
> A few questions:
>
> 1) I didn't find dosemu anywhere and WINE would NOT run SPF4,

I think you need a real distribution. Knoppix is a live CD for other
purposes, the hd-install option is just a bonus that some newbies seem to
catch on very eagerly. Knoppix is _not_ an easy way to install Debian.

> I went to the debian website and I was overwhelmed with the multitude
> of software that is available for downloading. I won't live long

Debian has everything, yes. Go get it.

> enough to even decide which ones to look into - any advice here?
> I mean, has someone sifted through this immense list and come up
> with a choice pick of some of the offerings to help cut down
> on the huge time just looking into them and deciding which ones?

Yes. When you install Debian, you can run 'tasksel' which gives your a
few options like "desktop", "mail server" and such, with reasonable
defaults. You can modify the installation later if/when you're not happy
with the selection.

--
Juha Siltala

Juha Kustaa Siltala <jsiltala@cc.helsinki.fi> wrote:
> Yes. When you install Debian, you can run 'tasksel' which gives your a
> few options like "desktop", "mail server" and such, with reasonable

He doesn't want to install everything. He shoudl get used to installing
and uninstalling stuff as he feels like. It's not going to vanish.

Peter

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 23:41:21 +0200, Peter T. Breuer wrote:

>> 2) It didn't detect my modem (DIAMOND's SUPRAMAX, considered

> If it's a modem, it doesn't need detecting. Just talk to it, on
> whatever com port it's on.

A Google search on (winmodem "diamond supramax") indicates that
it's a Winmodem, i.e. it needs software support. Some Winmodems
have Linux drivers available, but unless you have lots of free time
and very little budget, I would just get a non-Winmodem modem. Or
cable/DSL, if it's affordable and available in your area.

Conventional wisdom is to get an external, rather than an internal,
in case the modem gets stuck and needs to be power-cycled.

>> I mean, has someone sifted through this immense list and come up
>> with a choice pick of some of the offerings to help cut down

> Why should one care?

Maybe you have limited time to spend looking for a good program to
perform task T, and would prefer to start by trying one that is
recommended by someone who's used it but is unrelated to the author.

In article <bd00fe19.0307302054.5f411bcb@posting.google.com >, Littleberry wrote:

> dialup number, but it reports my modem is not found
> when I try to connect. ????? Also, when I go into
> system configuration it reports an entry for all my
> cards (sound, tv, video), but NOT my modem. How do
> I get KNOPPIX to let me "install" this modem?

I don't think you have a modem. If it's a winmodem, you should google for
its make and moded and "linux" to see if somebody has had any success. But
generally, winmodems work with Windows only because their functions are
half done with (Windows) software. Linux wants a real hardware modem.

> (like windows "add hardware" option)??????

Heh, yeah. You add the hardware and start using it. If it needs a driver,
they are generally kernel modules you load once you know what module your
new piece of hardware uses.

> Also, when I tried to install dosemu (from a *.deb download
> from debian.com) it asked me for a password - where do I get
> my password????? This CD doesn't say anything about a password
> and it just boots right up. How did any of you find out your
> password from your Knoppix CD?

I don't know, and if you never set yourself a root password you probably
don't have one. Try with no password. Then, first thing, make one with
'passwd'. Also, make a regular, non-root user for yourself with 'adduser'.

> I found a website for mplayer, but I didn't see any mention
> of it from the Debian website - and the mplayer.hu website
> says that it is for redhat - will that still work for knoppix?

Mplayer doesn't come with Debian for old political reasons. It will
probably be part of Debian in the future, since they've fixed their
licensing. There are Debian packages on the net, Red Hat packages won't
work.

> There are a whole bunch of programs I can run from the pop-up/
> applications, and, I suppose this is all the ones that are
> on this cd? Is that right? Or are there other packages
> on this cd that are not on the applications popup and I have
> to locate them and get them running some other way?

Well, graphical apps get a menu entry, console ones don't.

> When I go to Konsole and run tasksel, it says there are
> no selections and asks me if I want to setup something -

If you installed real Debian, you'd have a file called
/etc/apt/sources.list which lists sources for Debian software. It's the
very essence of Debian, I suggest you learn a bit about it. You should do
some reading anyway, you don't learn Linux by clicking around.

I also suggest you install Debian or another regular distro. Knoppix is
great, but it's made for different purposes like rescue or demoing or a
"pocket linux".

Since you already have Knoppix installed, you could get some Debian CD's
and start building your system from there, or install the real thing.

--
Juha Siltala

In article <vlgagb.bof.ln@news.it.uc3m.es>, Peter T. Breuer wrote:
>
> That's not what he's asking. He's asking to make a selection ahead of
> time of those programs that will be best for all his future needs.

I know what software I want, or what I want to support. So, I install a
bare bones system and apt-get everything. But the OP doesn't know. He
knows he wants to browse the web, so the distribution maker provides him
with a default browser. If he doesn't like it, he will look for
altenatives, uninstall the default and install another one.

True, the Debian tasks are huge and install lots of unnecessary stuff.

--
Juha Siltala

Juha,

jsiltala@cc.helsinki.fi (Juha Kustaa Siltala) wrote in message news:<slrnbihc65.ppe.jsiltala@kruuna.Helsinki.FI>. ..

> I don't think you have a modem. If it's a winmodem, you should google for
> its make and moded and "linux" to see if somebody has had any success. But
> generally, winmodems work with Windows only because their functions are
> half done with (Windows) software. Linux wants a real hardware modem.
>

Juha,

I feel like I have been HAD! About three years I had three
PC's and I went looking for a standard modem (for all three)
and I definitely did NOT want winmodems for that very
reason (I wanted to be able to use DOS if necessary).
I just now looked at that box again, and it does NOT say
winmodem (as did a lot of other ones I looked at back
then in the store). While this one does NOT say windmodem
plainly and clearly on the box, it does say, in very small
print under system requirements, windows 95, 98, or nt.
So they sneaked a winmodem in on me - blast! The only thing
good I can say is that they always worked flawlessly with
windows, but, still, I feel like I got tricked!

I guess this means I have to go shopping again for a modem -
dangit! I hate that because I really can never know what
brand, what to get - I just wish there could be some kind
of accepted standard that we could all go with and be confident
there aren't any "gotcha's" like I have just been bit with.
Is there an inexpensive plain-jane variety of modem that
is in widespread use and is likely to be problem free?

Thanks, that answers my biggest concern here.

Littleberry