Re: I'm lost
- From: ray <ray@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:00:55 -0600
On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 01:50:57 +0000, who cares? wrote:
I have never been a programmer, hacker, technician, or anything similar. I
just use a computer as an appliance for accessing the internet and so on.
I got tired of Windows and finally put Linux on my computer from a disk
labeled "ubuntu 6.06" that came out of some magazine (no I don’t have the
magazine). I had more than one drive in my computer, so I emptied one disk
out and chose the automatic install option that used an empty drive. The
installation seemed to go through without a hitch and I now have Linux and
Windows as start up options with a default to Linux if I wait too long.
That was good so far, but now I can’t figure out how to make anything work.
I can’t find a software for reading newsgroups. I did find a web-browser
("Firefox" I think) that I used to download an install package for Netscape.
It put an icon on the desktop, but clicking the icon doesn’t seem to do
anything.
Firefox is the latest of the mozilla suite - the successor to netscape.
The best way to install any software on Ubuntu is to start 'synaptic
package manager' from the system menu. Then you can search for what you
might want - e.g. to find a newsreader, search for 'newsreader'. Then
click select and click install.
I did manage to create a second logon name so that I wouldn’t be blundering
around the system as the master user.
By default, Ubuntu does not allow you to log on as the 'master user' - in
*nix systems that is generally referred to as 'root' or 'superuser'. The
first account created allows you to run priviledeged commands via the
'sudo' interface.
I have not found any help files. They may be there, but I don’t recognize
them if they are.
There is a Ubuntu news group - alt.os.linux.ubuntu, and many resources at
the ubuntu website. There is (or at least was - I haven't checked
recently) a decent desktop tutorial at iosn.net. BTW - basically what you
have works a lot like MS - if you were expecting huge differences, you may
be disappointed. You still have a 'start' menu for running most software,
for example.
Where can I find documentation on using the individual applications? If they
are already there, what are they called or how do I get to them?
Go to the start menu and select it, and it starts, just like in MS.
Can someone tell me how to install a software like Netscape? Or how to locate
the file that was downloaded? Is there a program that will display files in a
manner similar to the Windows Explorer from Win98-SE?
See abve notes on 'synaptic'. You don't really care where the file was
downloaded - it should create an entry in the 'start' menu for you.
konqueror is a frequently used file manager - though I seldom use one.
There are others, as well. Suggest you search in 'synaptic' for 'file
manager'.
Is there a software available that resembles "News Xpress" in it’s operation?
If no, where can I find or download any decent news reader?
I don't know 'news xpress' - what does it do? I use a news reader called
'pan'. There is also similar functionality built into most browsers (try
the 'tools' menu item.
Is there a question I should be asking but don’t know enough to think of?
Probably, but I can't help you there.
Hope this helps.
You might also want to try the book "Ubuntu for Non-Geeks".
Suggestions or advice are welcome.
Thanks in advance.
.
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