I've Made The Switch, What Now?

[Schnoid 0]

Hello all,

 

I've finally done it. I've abandoned XP, at last. I've installed Fedora Core 3 and it's all up and running nicely.

 

I'm just wondering what to do now. Things like, which dir should i install programs to and where should i store documents, things like that.

 

Any other noob help, hints and tips and of you can give will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks very much.

 

Schnoid.

 

[danleff 0]

Now is the time to explore your system and do some reading. I suggest just getting used to Fedora and it's features first. If you are ready to dive into this, linuxquestions.org has started a wiki page to help folks learn about Linux.

 

Another good site is the Help File Library at JustLinux

 

You have a lot of aplications on your Fedora cd disks and Fedora will install them automatically for you. In this case, you do not need to worry about where to install applications to. This is done for you.

 

If you have specific questions about installing certain packages (applications) let us know and we will guide you through the process.

 

In terms of storing documents, that is up to you, to some degree. Most documents can be stored in your home directory, where you have permissions and easy access to. you can make sub-directories, as you wish to organize things.

 

You home directory is located in /home/(whatever login user name you gave the system). For me, it is /home/danleff.

 

You can open the file manager and it should open right into this directory. When you download from the web, this is a good place to point the downloads to.

[Dapper Dan 0]

Also, be careful not to make the same mistake I did when I first starting using Linux. Resisit the urge to try to make your Fedora Core three box into a clone of Windows. After you get used to it, you'll appreciate the fact that it's different from Windows, which is why one wants to leave Windows to begin with.

 

Also, Try to resist installing a bunch of "outside packages" if it can be avoided. The software available on your CD's for Core three were honed especially for your particular distro and will work the best with it. I.e., You don't need the latest version of Foo version 8.5, when your distro is using Foo version 8.0.

 

Lastly, you're gonna need to keep your box updated. In Fedora, I'm a big fan of apt-get RPM. It will make installing packages on your box much simpler, and it's a great way to keep up to date. If want apt-get RPM, let us know and we'll help you get it installed.

[Schnoid 0]

right, ok, i've downloaded the RPM for apt and i'm trying to install it. i get a message saying

 

"Packages Not Found

 

The following packages could not be found on your system. Installation cannot continue until they are installed."

 

the list is as follows:

 

lib-4.3.so

librpmdb-4.3.so

librpmio-4.3.so

 

where do i go from here? any help much appreciated.

 

cheers.

 

schnoid.

[Dapper Dan 0]

Did you try installing this package?

[kristian 0]

I am having identical problems trying to install apt and similar problems trying to install most anything else from binary rpms.

 

The rpm i have tried is identical to the one mentioned in the previous post by Dapper Dan.

 

The curious thing is that lib-4.3.so, librpmdb-4.3.so and librpmio-4.3.so are all present on my computer, so i do not understand why i am told by the package manager that they are not.

 

Most anything else i try to install from rpms made to fit fc3 provide similar results: The package manager tells me about missing dependencies, but the files mentioned are actually present and therefore should not cause any problems.

 

I have suspicions that the problems are caused by a bug in up2date, which i have used extensively to update my system, but i am not yet sure of this.

 

Please help.

[iamroot 0]

I'm using FC3 now and i have had no problems installing APT-GET on my installation.

[ScinteX 0]

Im also in the "ok it works now what" boat. Here's some things I have been up to lately:

 

Apart from installing some useful apps (MP3 support for players, DVD stuff, a few browsers etc.) I finally managed to get Sun's Java installed and working, plus Flash (Flash was easy, Java was a pain).

 

Getting my ATI card to work with 3D support. That was fun since I managed to learn all about adding mirrors to Yum (similar to APT), and my kernel. For the ATI drivers to work I had to go to a specific version of the kernel since the latest kernel (that came via yum) wasnt supported by the drivers at Livna. So I managed to rollback to the default kernel (and edit grub.conf in the process) and the install the latest kernel that livna had a driver for and then the drivers themselves. Rebooted and all is well.

 

Next up was a trip over to transgaming and getting my grubby mitts on Cedega. Now I can play most of my Windows games in Fedora, which is great (especially since I only really had my XP partition still around for the gaming element). In this process I learnt more stuff about sound cards in linux and also a bit about how graphics are handled.

 

I'm still going and I think I've got the bug now since I can't stop playing with Fedora- the late nights are now explained

 

Anyhow I'm well impressed with this whole world - it's all good.