The hassle of conversion

[GooGooMuk]

Hola everyone, just installed my first Linux (Mandrake 7.2 seemed like the easiest to get started with) and have a few issues:

1) If there was a way to be able to install programs that was as hassle free as
Windows life would be much easier for the
newbie's newbie like myself. I have used RPMs, but even a few of them sent me on
my way to track down and install various
libraries. The tarballs can turn into a
nightmare, it is not always as easy as
./configure
make
make install

2) Why are ther 300 differant /etc /bin/ /sbin...etc directories? Whenever I have to modify something in one, and then have to go back to redo the mod, I find it hard to remember which /etc (or whatever)it was in.

3) It is nice to be able to keep it running
for a week straight w/no crashes http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

4) ssh is cool (dont have to goto the
school's lab to access their SUN machine workstations)

5) Since I haven't figured out how to play
Quake/UT yet, I have become addicted to
Shisen-Sho (don't know how that happened, maybe because I find it relaxing after
trying to install a taarball that just
refuses to compile)

That's all for now

[Paul Weaver]

Originally posted by GooGooMuk:
Hola everyone, just installed my first Linux (Mandrake 7.2 seemed like the easiest to get started with) and have a few issues:

1) If there was a way to be able to install programs that was as hassle free as
Windows life would be much easier for the
newbie's newbie like myself. I have used RPMs, but even a few of them sent me on
my way to track down and install various
libraries. The tarballs can turn into a
nightmare, it is not always as easy as
./configure
make
make install




Ahh, the beauty of apt. Only on debian and debian based distros though. RPM is good though, you should be able to find a lot of rpms that you need - libraries etc - at rpmfind.net.


apt-get install ??? and its there (when it finds the package - most of the time)
Originally posted by GooGooMuk:


2) Why are ther 300 differant /etc /bin/ /sbin...etc directories? Whenever I have to modify something in one, and then have to go back to redo the mod, I find it hard to remember which /etc (or whatever)it was in.




I think theres a directory structure NHF.


You should only have one /etc directory (/etc/X11 will have X stuff in, /etc/whatever will have whatever in etc.)


Originally posted by GooGooMuk:



3) It is nice to be able to keep it running
for a week straight w/no crashes http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif




You'll get used to it, then in a few months time you'll wonder why you have to reboot to install icq on a windows machine.


Originally posted by GooGooMuk:



4) ssh is cool (dont have to goto the
school's lab to access their SUN machine workstations)





To be fair you can get windows ssh clients, for a price (probably)


Originally posted by GooGooMuk:


5) Since I haven't figured out how to play
Quake/UT yet, I have become addicted to
Shisen-Sho (don't know how that happened, maybe because I find it relaxing after
trying to install a taarball that just
refuses to compile)

That's all for now


You need to install them first - which means getting 3d aceleration working.


Details at loki-games.com, and on LNO's linux games forums.


[This message has been edited by Paul Weaver (edited 16 November 2000).]