Re: Basic questions

From: Basajaun (isilanes_at_bluebottle.com)
Date: 11/22/05

  • Next message: Hodgins Family: "Re: make an updates CD?" 
    Date: 22 Nov 2005 10:46:23 -0800
To: debian-user@lists.debian.org

    Rafi Gabzu wrote:
    > Hi ,

    Hi, Rafi, welcome aboard!

    > I just installed Debian "testing" , I'm new in Linux. Few questions:
    > 1. How do I configure my audio card , it doesn't recognize it ?

    Install the package "alsa-utils" and run "alsaconf" as root. You should
    be presented a quite straightforward menu, following which you'll get
    what you want, I think.

    > 2. How do I add additional keyboard layout (Hebrew) and fonts?

    There are, I think, two places where you define your keyboard:

    a) The X settings file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf if you're using X.org,
    /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 if you are using XFree86. To find out which X
    server you are using (the X server is the program ultimately
    responsible of displaying the graphics), type " dpkg -l 'xserver-*' |
    grep ii" (w/o double quotes). You should see either "xserver-xfree86"
    or "xserver-xorg" listed, plus "xserver-common".

    b) The configuration of the Window Manager (WM) or Desktop Environment
    (DE). KDE and GNOME are DEs, and the WMs are the bare core of the DEs,
    striped of some fancy but sometimes unneeded features DEs have.

    I personally prefer KDE over GNOME, but that's just me (I actually use
    XFce, which is a different one). I advice you of using either KDE or
    GNOME, which are more newbie-friendly. You will have time later to
    switch to one of the many other WMs or DEs you might find better for
    you (or not). In KDE there is one nice thingie called "Control Center",
    which I wholeheartedly recommend you to fiddle with. There are tons of
    things you can customize to your liking, including the keyboard layout.

    > 3. How do I know if I'm working in KDE /GNOME , how do I switch between them?

    If you have a panel with icons, a system-tray, maybe a clock, etc. at
    the bottom (not unlike Windows), with an icon resembling a big "K" at
    the leftmost part, chances are you are running KDE. If not, then not.

    When you boot your comp, are you presented with a window asking for a
    username and a password, over a fancy-looking background, or a white
    "Machinename login: " message over a black background greets you?

    In the first case, you are using a display manager (xdm, gdm, or kdm).
    That login window must have somewhere a dropdown menu where you can
    choose between different DEs.

    In the second case, you will have to invoke the DE with "startx". That
    program reads a file called ".xinitrc", if present in your home
    directory. Type "man startx" and read the output. It might be a bit
    confusing in the beginning, but you might find it helpfull in the long
    run. In any case, if you use "startx", you'd better start creating a
    .xinitrc file in your home dir, and adding there a line reading "exec
    /usr/bin/startkde" (someone please correct me if the invokation is
    wrong). This will open KDE when you type "startx".

    > 4. Is there a guide/book that can help new users like myself ?

    I've never used (hardcopy) books myself, but I've found some resources
    to be very valuable:

    1) Friends/colleages.
    2) the internet: googling and reading mailing lists like this one.
    3) the commands "man" and "apropos". To be honest, I've hardly ever
    used the latter (do a "man apropos" to know more) . man, followed by
    the name of a command, outputs the manual page for that command. Almost
    all of the programs shipped with Debian (with Linux in general) come
    with a man manual page.

    > I have many more questions ...

    And I hope we have many more answers...

         Basajaun 

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