New to Linux

[hornet]

Hello
I am new to linux- really green around the gills I mean, so wondering whether programming skills is a prerequisite for using linux? Just installed Kubuntu and got me a Linux user guide but thats is a general Linux guide- will that be of any use in understanding Kubuntu?Or should I look around for a Kubuntu guide?As I said I have no programming aptitude, but the terminal commands can be learned by an average user cant it?The commands are same for all kinds of Linux distros I hope?I do have a couple of problems too-one is that PDF files are slow in being displayed-is that normal? Also I tried using Gimp and I couldnt get it to save the edited file under the same name by replacing the original file.Hope someone will have time to answer me.

[Fenyx]

Re: New to Linux

1. Programming skills required: Definitely not. Linux has come to the point that it's (almost) as easy to use as Windows or Mac. (I say almost because it depends on the distribution you choose, and Kubuntu is one of the newbie-friendly ones)

2. General Linux Guide: It will certainly help, although there will be Kubuntu-specific stuff that it won't cover. Kubuntu has its own documentation installed by default (K Menu -> Help -> Kubuntu Documentation) so you won't get lost. You can also take a look at http://help.ubuntu.com/community/ for loads of other (online) guides.

3. Terminal commands: Terminal commands need no programming knowledge. All you need is to be able to type and remember the most common commands you'll be using. But in most cases in Kubuntu, you won't need to use the command line. Almost everything is GUI (Graphical User Interface) now. Shake off that idea that Linux is (still) for geeks only. :P

4. PDF: Don't really know. I do sometimes notice a slight slowness, but not that slow.

5. GIMP: You have to be more specific: how are you trying to do it? what is GIMP complaining about when you try to save the file?

Oh... and welcome to Linux and Kubuntu. I hope you enjoy your stay.

[hornet]

Re: New to Linux

Thank you for the kind reply sir Is there a way can copy the Kubuntu documentation from my help section to a CD so I can get it printed out?
The PDF files I have have pics in them and whenever I open them it shows me a black page first and slowly loads up the pages afterwards.That never used to happen with Acrobat reader for some reason.
The Gimp, sir, was just used to crop an image and I tried to hit "save as" and didnt change the file name so it asked whether I wanted to replace it.On clicking "yes" it promptly tells me that permission is denied.

[penguin.ch]

Re: New to Linux

That never used to happen with Acrobat reader for some reason.

ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/unix/7x/

On clicking "yes" [GIMP] promptly tells me that permission is denied.

GIMP is innocent - you're lacking the right to overwrite the file and/or to write to it's "hosting directory".

[hornet]

Re: New to Linux

Oh!um,sir,is there a way I could um establish my right to overwrite files?And tyvm for that nice link to adobe sir.I suppose AdobeReader_enu-7.0.9-1.i386.tar.gz is what i need for Kubuntu?

[penguin.ch]

Re: New to Linux

is there a way I could um establish my right to overwrite files

http://dmiessler.com/study/unixlinux_permissions/

I suppose AdobeReader_enu-7.0.9-1.i386.tar.gz is what i need

I'd say so - even though "internally" 7.0.9 is labeled 7.0.8 as well ...

Prior to that, you should introduce "compiler & friends" to your system:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

And here comes a quick run-down of the actual installation procedure:

cd ~
wget [url]http://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/unix/7x/7.0.9/enu/AdobeReader_enu-7.0.9-1.i386.tar.gz[/url]
tar zxf ./AdobeReader_enu-7.0.9-1.i386.tar.gz
cd ./AdobeReader/
sudo ./INSTALL
acroread

For more details, please refer to the html text provided with the tarball.

[Qqmike]

Re: New to Linux


I suppose you already have this one (the Kubuntu Desktop Guide):
http://kubuntu.org/documentation.php

Command line, common commands and basic methods:
I don’t know how proficient you are in using the command line, but for beginners (like myself), this one is brief, to the point, starts from scratch and will put you well on the road for most purposes:
Tuxfiles: http://www.tuxfiles.org/

Switching to (K)ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingToUbuntu

There are many, many tutorials around everywhere. A popular one is
Psychocats: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/index.php
It may be written for Ubuntu (which is very much like Kubuntu), but the differences are almost always quite slight. It’s a good one to start with as a base, and it covers from the basics to some intermediate-to-advanced topics.

Another favorite: http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/
(Lots of neat Linux topics and a popular site for dual booting.)

And don’t forget our own set of tips/tutorials/how-to’s, right here:
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?board=13.0

[hornet]

Re: New to Linux

Hello
Thank you both for giving me the links and the hints I am trying out the links so I can learn a bit hehe.And Qqmike,sir, I am really a noob-all i ever did was go clickety-click in windows. Never used and text commands except to format my drives*gulp*.Hopefully no one will mind me putting in questions that are really bugging me- posting before I finish reading all those stuff I was given I mean.
My VCD's wont even mount- they are just not recognized- I tried searching the forums but couldnt find any posts If it's not too diffcult, and would not be too hard for me to do could someone please tell me what to do?

[askrieger]

Re: New to Linux

@hornet: Are you aware that the Acrobat Reader is available as a KUBUNTU PACKAGE, so that installation becomes a total no-brainer. All you have to do is to add the medibuntu repository to your /etc/apt/sources.list file. Then you can crank up your favorite package manager and just click. You can find instructions here.

[Ant2ne]

Re: New to Linux

what is wrong with KPDF? k->Graphics->KPDF

[askrieger]

Re: New to Linux

what is wrong with KPDF? k->Graphics->KPDF

As far as I am concerned, nothing. But the OP indicated that KPDF had a problem rendering images on his machine. Someone suggested that he get the Linux version of Acrobat. Then, no one corrected the OP's mistaken belief that he would have to install Acrobat from the tarball. I thought it would be much easier for a new user to simply download a package from medibuntu (once, he mastered the comparatively trivial skill of adding a repository to /etc/apt/sources.list).

[penguin.ch]

Re: New to Linux

Then, no one corrected the OP's mistaken belief that he would have to install Acrobat from the tarball.

That's been my idea for, due to a script provided with the tarball, installing the Reader "from source" takes less than a minute (compiler etc. preconditioned, of course) - furthermore, I simply didn't know about the separate repository ...

[askrieger]

Re: New to Linux

I didn't realize that Acrobat came with such a friendly configscript/makefile.

[hornet]

Re: New to Linux

Hello
Askrieger,sir, I'll try the link you provided just as soon as my net stabilizes-it's been playing up bad.Ty for the link
Ant2ne, sir, well, on my machine while I scroll down a pdf file, the pages show up real slow- on the default viewer I mean.
I tried my VCD's on Linux Mint and it gets mounted on that- plays on the default player too. So surely the same can be done on Kubuntu right?

[Ant2ne]

Re: New to Linux

Ant2ne, sir, well, on my machine while I scroll down a pdf file, the pages show up real slow- on the default viewer I mean.
I tried my VCD's on Linux Mint and it gets mounted on that- plays on the default player too. So surely the same can be done on Kubuntu right?

Please reply back when you get acrobat installed. I'm interested to see if it has any better performance. I use KPDF for all my pdf viewing, (mostly text with a few diagrams or small pictures) and it throws up pages very quickly. If acrobat doesn't perform better, you might look into other performance areas of your kubuntu installation (ie. xorg.conf, wrong display driver, integrated memory configured wrong). Do other graphics based programs respond quickly?