Just installed Ubuntu, what now ?

[Kevin Cole]

Boyan R. wrote:
> I've installed Ubuntu 5.10 today, without any problems.
> Since I'm not familiar with Linux, only thing I managed 
> to do until now is to change wallpaper.

Welcome.  That's a start. ;-)

> First of all, my sweex ISDN modem (Winbound w6692 chipset) doesn't work,
> and I'm affraid I can't do anything about that, so I'll just skip to
> the simplest problems first, so here is first set of my questions:
> 
> - I downloaded Konqueror - file:   krusader_1.70.0-0breezy0_i386.deb
>   How do I install it ? Archive manager can't unpack this file.

It's not that type of archive. deb files are "packages" which you can
think of as "archives plus brains". ;-)

Generally speaking, new users (and a lot of us who've been using Linux
for a while) don't download packages and then install.  Instead, it is
more typical to use a program that combines both of those steps into a
single step.  Look at the Synaptic package manager in your pull-down
menus.  There is also the Adept package manager, the "apt" family (apt-get
being probably the best known), aptitude, etc. that all perform similar
functions.  However, given that you've already gotten the deb, dpkg will
install it.

Many of the packages available on the Internet are housed in "repositories"
which are sort of the public libraries of Linux packages. Package managers
know how to fetch debs from these repositories. To broaden your choices of
installable packages, you can enable the optional repositories in your
package manager.  Look at the repository settings in synaptic.

> - Where should I install it ? Is /home/konqueror/  ok ?
>   I assume "home" dir is something like "program files" in windows

Again, since it's smarter than a plain archive, it "knows" where to
install itself, using one of the programs above.  The package management
system also keeps track of which versions of packages you've installed.
If there's a newer version available, you can upgrade much more easily
than if you had to maintain the package yourself.  Also, it tries to
keep track of dependencies.  If krusader needs to have other programs
or libraries installed in order to function, the package managers will
let you know, and offer to install the required packages for you.

As for /home/... it is for users of the system.  It's more of the
"opposite" (I suppose) of "Program Files".  The closest thing to /home
would be "My Documents" or "C:\Documents and Settings\. Each user of
your system gets their own private subdirectory in /home.  Programs
or files in a home directory aren't available to other users by default.

> - Is there anything like Console (like Windows DOS console) ?
>   I saw at my friends PC (SUSE linux) that he uses some sort of console. 

Look for "Terminal" in your pull-down menus.

Or, type Ctrl-Alt-F1 (or Ctrl-Alt-F2, or Ctrl-Alt-F3...)  Using the
Ctrl-Alt's you'll need to login again.  When you're finished, type
"exit" and if you're in one of the full-screen consoles, type Alt-F7
to return to the X windows environment.

> - How do I start Midnight commander ?

"mc" in a console window, provided it's installed.

> - If I can't, or it's too complicated, how do I install Gnome commander ?
>   I downloaded file:  gnome-commander-1.1.7.tar.bz2

"Tarballs" are more like the archives you're used to.  The above file is
"Tape ARchive" (a bit anachronistic) file compressed using bzip2.  It can
be opened up several ways. I would use the console command
"tar xjvf gnome-commander-1.1.7.tar.bz2" but then I'd have to read the
instructions (README) file that came with it to figure out how to install
it.

Instead, I'd recommend using synaptic (or one of the other package managers)
to search for, and install the product for you.

> Also, can you tell me generally, what can I do with this linux 
> (without internet)? Can I listen mp3 music and watch divx movies 
> and what programmes should I get for that? 

Read up on the wiki.  In particular, look at:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RestrictedFormats

> What else can I do (simple stuff ofc)?

That's a pretty tough question to answer... "Play games, write
a novel, learn to program, create artwork, etc." Some of that's
"simple" depending on your skills.  You might want to clarify
what you're asking here.

I hope that helps some.

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-- 
 Kevin Cole                    |  Key ID: 0xE6F332C7
 Ubuntu Linux DC LoCo Team     |     WWW: http://wiki.ubuntu.com/KevinCole
 Washington, D.C.  (USA)       |   Phone: +1.202.234.0213

 "Using vi is not a sin. It's a penance." -- St. IGNUcious, Church of Emacs
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