I feel like a man dying of thirst about to drown!

[SparkyUK]

Having wandered the Microsoft desert for many years in search of stability and software which actually FUNCTIONS! I gave up and installed LINUX 7.1 (Mandrake) Behold there was the oasis awaiting my closer inspection. On reboot however I find myself at a rather low res linux penquin with the system demanding LOCALHOST LOGIN: err...

OK logged in using the root password, even searched through the FAQ's for advice. Tried 'startx' but to no avail.

PLEASE SOMEONE SAVE ME FROM WINDOZE!

Oh and a Merry Christmas to you all :O)

Paul Tyler

[Sterling]

Ahh... I'm assuming you want to get X up and running? If so, there should've been a manual of some kind that came with your system explaining it. You could also trying looking at various HOWTOs on http://www.linuxdoc.org (I recommend reading both the Linux Users' Guide and Linux System Administrator's Guide, too) and NHFs around here.

If you didn't configure it during installation, you'll probably need to configure X to recognize your video card, mouse, and monitor. I haven't used Mandrake in ages, so I've no clue how to do that, but some others around the forums probably will.

I do recommend learning a Unix shell sometime. (The one most Linux distros use by default is called BASH) Its not much harder than using the DOS command prompt, once you get used to the commands used by Unix programs, and is quite powerful.

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-Sterling
-This post made with the Lizard! (http://www.mozilla.org)

[quickfoot]

Just another minor correction, you aren't using linux 7.1, you are using mandrake 7.1

Linux is at version 2.2 and will soon release version 2.4

It is a common misconception among newer users that the distro version (7.1) is the version of linux.

The linux kernel is totally seperate from what you buy.

[Sterling]

No, the Linux kernel is one part of what you buy. If it were completely seperate, it'd be an awful pain to get a system up and running. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/wink.gif

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-Sterling
-This post made with the Lizard! (http://www.mozilla.org)

[SparkyUK]

The answer provided byMcMillianSoft

Type (from Root) XFdrake

Set monitor & graphics card accordingly!

EASY! Merry Christmas! Paul T.