Aloha Dale,
I am just learning myself but you have gotten furhter than I have. I am
still trying to figure out how to get Mplayer or Xmms installed and
working. I did a full install so don't think I am missing nay packages.
At this point it is a little frustrating.
Edward
Dale Maggee wrote:
> Greetings linux community! Please welcome your newest member! (group hug)
> I have been running Fedora core 3 for about a week now, and I LOVE IT!!!! I
> am FINALLY FREE OF MICROSHAFT!!! I feel like Mel Gibson in 'Braveheart':
> "FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"
>
> I have a bit of previous experience messing around with Red Hat 6 & 8, and
> FreeBSD 4.7, and I'm a winblows ace and a BASIC Programmer (C64 Basic,
> QBASIC, VB, Access, etc), but I'm still very green in terms of actually
> knowing how this great operating system works & being able to use it
> properly..
>
> I am having a couple of issues which I am hoping somebody will be able to
> help me out with...
>
> First, about my system:
> AMD Athlon 800
> I don't know what type of motherboard.
> 512Mb RAM (2x256Mb PC-133)
> Promise Fasttrak ATA-100 IDE controller Winblows Ex-Pee calls this a SCSI
> Controller but it connects to IDE Drives. I think it's doing this through a
> SCSI Interface (It loads a BIOS when it detects drives during startup, just
> like a SCSI card).
>
> 40 & 200GB Quantum HDD attached to the Promise Controller. (40Gb Hdd is
> /dev/hde, this is the boot drive. Ex-Pee is installed here, 200Gb HDD is
> /dev/hdf. Fedora is installed here. My partitions are:
>
> /dev/hde1/ - FAT32 - Winblows Ex-Pee. mounts to /media/dos (40Gb)
> /dev/hdf1/ - NTFS - Old, Dead Winblows Ex-Pee Installation. Not mounted yet
> as I have not installed the NTFS kernel driver yet. (20Gb). I have only kept
> this and /dev/hdf2 as I need to recover data.
> /dev/hdf2/ - NTFS - Data. Not mounted yet as I have not installed the NTFS
> kernel driver yet. (60Gb)
> /dev/hdf3/ - Ext3 - / (15Gb). I Forced LBA32 during setup as this partition
> starts way past the 1024th cylinder.
> /dev/hdf4/ - Ext3 - /home (20Gb)
> /dev/hdf5/ - Swap (500Mb)
>
> LG DVD+RW on /dev/hda
> LG DVD-Rom on /dev/hdc
>
> 128Mb ATI Radeon 9250 AGP Video Card.
>
> Creative Sound Blaster Live OEM
>
> Ok, now the issues:
>
> 0. I am having a bit of trouble deciding which to use: Gnome or KDE. KDE
> seems much prettier and more configurable (visually / behaviour wise), but
> it also seems slower and less stable. I have had a few lockups where the
> machine just hangs using KDE. Currently I've got my default session set to
> Gnome. Any comments comparing the two which might help me decide would be
> nice...
>
> What's the story with Gnome & KDE? Why don't the two join forces and build
> an uber, configurable, stable, pretty window manager? If this happened, I
> think M$ would have some SERIOUS competition!
>
> 1. I've read that Fedora comes MP3 and DVD disabled out of the box. I have
> managed to get MP3 Playback with XMMS working by copying the appropriate .so
> file from an older version of XMMS I had lying about into the XMMS plugins
> directory, but what do I need to do to get totem playing Movies and DVDs? I
> have tried:
> - Running Totem as Root (I've found that lots of things need to be done
> as root. This is a seperate question)
> - ensuring Gstreamer is installed (it is, V0.8). It even seems to have
> heaps of plugins installed...
> - Fiddling with totem preferences. I can't see anything wrong in there.
> Does anyone have any Ideas as to what I need to do? I am using a work
> internet connection, so downloading is difficult. I have been thinking I
> should download MPlayer and Xine...
>
> 2. I've read that it's not a good Idea to be logging in as root. My 'normal'
> username on my system is antisol, and this is what I log into gnome as, but
> I have found that alot of things need to be done as root. For example:
> - Burning with K3b. If I don't run this as root, it won't do anything,
> because it doesn't have sufficient permissions to /dev/hda (my CD Burner)
> - Running XMMS with 'Use Realtime Priority' option enabled (I have been
> getting the odd skip in XMMS when playing Mp3s)
> - Running the Audio Cd Player. same problem as K3b - insufficient
> permissions to the device.
>
> In KDE, There is an option with each launcher to 'run as a different user'.
> I have set this up to run as root for these applications, but there are a
> couple of issues with this: I have switched back to Gnome and cannot find
> any equivalent option so I have to run these programs from a terminal after
> typing 'su'. Also when I'm using KDE, it prompts me for a password every
> time I want to run these programs. Can this be turned off? I don't want to
> have to type in the root password everytime I want to run XMMS!
>
> What I'd like to be able to do is either give my 'antisol' user almost the
> same rights as root (i.e editing configs etc, but I think this might pose
> the same risks as logging in as root?), or to save the authentication or
> give antisol the permissions to run these programs as antisol. I have
> considered doing a recirsive chmod on /*.*, but decided that this might
> break things. Suggestions?
>
> 3. I have noticed some sort-of random lockups. This usually occurs when
> running multimedia type stuff. For Example, Tux Racer will usually play
> music and display the main 'press any key' screen, but that's it. It freezes
> at that point with the music still playing. Pressing keys does nothing,
> pressing CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to exit X does nothing, CTRL-ALT-DEL does
> nothing. When this happens I have to hit the reset button... I have left it
> there for up to 10 minutes, and the music just keeps playing. If I press any
> key INSTANTLY as soon as Tux Racer starts up, it might let me play one game
> before freezing.
>
> Also, I have Installed Unreal Tournament 2004 for Linux. This works fine but
> will occasionally just lock up as well. When UT locks up, it just freezes.
> No sound, no mouse, no keys do anything. Reset button.
>
> I have also noticed some odd lockups when doing lots of things in X. these
> aren't really lockups, though, more like 'thinking sessions'. The mouse will
> still move, System monitor either freezes or says the CPu is at 100%, but I
> can't click on anything. If I just leave it there for a couple of minutes
> though it will start responding again. This usually happens when I have
> multiple nautilus windows open and am moving/resizing one of the windows.
> It's a strange one. It happens in both gnome and KDE, but more often in KDE.
> I'm thinking some kind of memory/hardware incompatibility thing?
>
> 4. Can someone point me to a good link (or type an essay, if you're bored)
> explaining what a 'journaling' filesystem is, and why I don't need to defrag
> it? This is WAY COOL!!!
>
> I can't wait to get myself familiar and confortable with Linux. I have found
> these current versions to be excellent in terms of ease of installation and
> user-friendliness, and I think Linux is starting to approach a point where
> it should be useable for the masses. I'm very interested in starting to
> learn C so that I can maybe even contribute to it (I have become an
> open-source fanboy). Does anyone have any good general links / info /
> programs / whatever that they think I might find usefull / helpfull?
>
> Thanks for taking the time for reading all this, and thank you in advance to
> anyone who replies!
>
> Regards,
> -Dale Maggee
>
>
>

Edward,

Fedora has MP3 Playback disabled out of the box. If you run XMMS and try to
open an MP3, it will show you a message explaining this. (this message is
generated by the 'mp3 placeholder plugin' which is installed by default).
You'll need to go and download the XMMS Mp3 plugin from http://www.xmms.org.
I had an older, full version of XMMS in a zip file somewhere, so I was able
to just extract and copy the .so file inth XMMS's plugins directory. Once
this is done, you just need to restart XMMS and disable the placeholder
plugin (you could delete it if you want).

frustration is the first step on the path to enlightenment... stick with it,
read alot and I'm sure you'll get there...

HTH,
-Dale

"Edward Haddock" wrote in message
news:Ry9Ue.100$5g.97@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>
> Aloha Dale,
> I am just learning myself but you have gotten furhter than I have. I am
> still trying to figure out how to get Mplayer or Xmms installed and
> working. I did a full install so don't think I am missing nay packages.
> At this point it is a little frustrating.
> Edward
> Dale Maggee wrote:
> > Greetings linux community! Please welcome your newest member! (group
hug)
> > I have been running Fedora core 3 for about a week now, and I LOVE
IT!!!! I
> > am FINALLY FREE OF MICROSHAFT!!! I feel like Mel Gibson in 'Braveheart':
> > "FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"
> >
> > I have a bit of previous experience messing around with Red Hat 6 & 8,
and
> > FreeBSD 4.7, and I'm a winblows ace and a BASIC Programmer (C64 Basic,
> > QBASIC, VB, Access, etc), but I'm still very green in terms of actually
> > knowing how this great operating system works & being able to use it
> > properly..
> >
> > I am having a couple of issues which I am hoping somebody will be able
to
> > help me out with...
> >
> > First, about my system:
> > AMD Athlon 800
> > I don't know what type of motherboard.
> > 512Mb RAM (2x256Mb PC-133)
> > Promise Fasttrak ATA-100 IDE controller Winblows Ex-Pee calls this a
SCSI
> > Controller but it connects to IDE Drives. I think it's doing this
through a
> > SCSI Interface (It loads a BIOS when it detects drives during startup,
just
> > like a SCSI card).
> >
> > 40 & 200GB Quantum HDD attached to the Promise Controller. (40Gb Hdd is
> > /dev/hde, this is the boot drive. Ex-Pee is installed here, 200Gb HDD is
> > /dev/hdf. Fedora is installed here. My partitions are:
> >
> > /dev/hde1/ - FAT32 - Winblows Ex-Pee. mounts to /media/dos (40Gb)
> > /dev/hdf1/ - NTFS - Old, Dead Winblows Ex-Pee Installation. Not mounted
yet
> > as I have not installed the NTFS kernel driver yet. (20Gb). I have only
kept
> > this and /dev/hdf2 as I need to recover data.
> > /dev/hdf2/ - NTFS - Data. Not mounted yet as I have not installed the
NTFS
> > kernel driver yet. (60Gb)
> > /dev/hdf3/ - Ext3 - / (15Gb). I Forced LBA32 during setup as this
partition
> > starts way past the 1024th cylinder.
> > /dev/hdf4/ - Ext3 - /home (20Gb)
> > /dev/hdf5/ - Swap (500Mb)
> >
> > LG DVD+RW on /dev/hda
> > LG DVD-Rom on /dev/hdc
> >
> > 128Mb ATI Radeon 9250 AGP Video Card.
> >
> > Creative Sound Blaster Live OEM
> >
> > Ok, now the issues:
> >
> > 0. I am having a bit of trouble deciding which to use: Gnome or KDE. KDE
> > seems much prettier and more configurable (visually / behaviour wise),
but
> > it also seems slower and less stable. I have had a few lockups where the
> > machine just hangs using KDE. Currently I've got my default session set
to
> > Gnome. Any comments comparing the two which might help me decide would
be
> > nice...
> >
> > What's the story with Gnome & KDE? Why don't the two join forces and
build
> > an uber, configurable, stable, pretty window manager? If this happened,
I
> > think M$ would have some SERIOUS competition!
> >
> > 1. I've read that Fedora comes MP3 and DVD disabled out of the box. I
have
> > managed to get MP3 Playback with XMMS working by copying the appropriate
..so
> > file from an older version of XMMS I had lying about into the XMMS
plugins
> > directory, but what do I need to do to get totem playing Movies and
DVDs? I
> > have tried:
> > - Running Totem as Root (I've found that lots of things need to be
done
> > as root. This is a seperate question)
> > - ensuring Gstreamer is installed (it is, V0.8). It even seems to
have
> > heaps of plugins installed...
> > - Fiddling with totem preferences. I can't see anything wrong in
there.
> > Does anyone have any Ideas as to what I need to do? I am using a work
> > internet connection, so downloading is difficult. I have been thinking I
> > should download MPlayer and Xine...
> >
> > 2. I've read that it's not a good Idea to be logging in as root. My
'normal'
> > username on my system is antisol, and this is what I log into gnome as,
but
> > I have found that alot of things need to be done as root. For example:
> > - Burning with K3b. If I don't run this as root, it won't do
anything,
> > because it doesn't have sufficient permissions to /dev/hda (my CD
Burner)
> > - Running XMMS with 'Use Realtime Priority' option enabled (I have
been
> > getting the odd skip in XMMS when playing Mp3s)
> > - Running the Audio Cd Player. same problem as K3b - insufficient
> > permissions to the device.
> >
> > In KDE, There is an option with each launcher to 'run as a different
user'.
> > I have set this up to run as root for these applications, but there are
a
> > couple of issues with this: I have switched back to Gnome and cannot
find
> > any equivalent option so I have to run these programs from a terminal
after
> > typing 'su'. Also when I'm using KDE, it prompts me for a password every
> > time I want to run these programs. Can this be turned off? I don't want
to
> > have to type in the root password everytime I want to run XMMS!
> >
> > What I'd like to be able to do is either give my 'antisol' user almost
the
> > same rights as root (i.e editing configs etc, but I think this might
pose
> > the same risks as logging in as root?), or to save the authentication or
> > give antisol the permissions to run these programs as antisol. I have
> > considered doing a recirsive chmod on /*.*, but decided that this might
> > break things. Suggestions?
> >
> > 3. I have noticed some sort-of random lockups. This usually occurs when
> > running multimedia type stuff. For Example, Tux Racer will usually play
> > music and display the main 'press any key' screen, but that's it. It
freezes
> > at that point with the music still playing. Pressing keys does nothing,
> > pressing CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to exit X does nothing, CTRL-ALT-DEL does
> > nothing. When this happens I have to hit the reset button... I have left
it
> > there for up to 10 minutes, and the music just keeps playing. If I press
any
> > key INSTANTLY as soon as Tux Racer starts up, it might let me play one
game
> > before freezing.
> >
> > Also, I have Installed Unreal Tournament 2004 for Linux. This works fine
but
> > will occasionally just lock up as well. When UT locks up, it just
freezes.
> > No sound, no mouse, no keys do anything. Reset button.
> >
> > I have also noticed some odd lockups when doing lots of things in X.
these
> > aren't really lockups, though, more like 'thinking sessions'. The mouse
will
> > still move, System monitor either freezes or says the CPu is at 100%,
but I
> > can't click on anything. If I just leave it there for a couple of
minutes
> > though it will start responding again. This usually happens when I have
> > multiple nautilus windows open and am moving/resizing one of the
windows.
> > It's a strange one. It happens in both gnome and KDE, but more often in
KDE.
> > I'm thinking some kind of memory/hardware incompatibility thing?
> >
> > 4. Can someone point me to a good link (or type an essay, if you're
bored)
> > explaining what a 'journaling' filesystem is, and why I don't need to
defrag
> > it? This is WAY COOL!!!
> >
> > I can't wait to get myself familiar and confortable with Linux. I have
found
> > these current versions to be excellent in terms of ease of installation
and
> > user-friendliness, and I think Linux is starting to approach a point
where
> > it should be useable for the masses. I'm very interested in starting to
> > learn C so that I can maybe even contribute to it (I have become an
> > open-source fanboy). Does anyone have any good general links / info /
> > programs / whatever that they think I might find usefull / helpfull?
> >
> > Thanks for taking the time for reading all this, and thank you in
advance to
> > anyone who replies!
> >
> > Regards,
> > -Dale Maggee
> >
> >
> >

Dale,

I am pretty sure you will find the following website quite helpfull:

http://fedoranews.org/contributors/s...nley/fc4_note/

Have fun with Linux,

Arie


Dale Maggee wrote:
> Greetings linux community! Please welcome your newest member! (group hug)
> I have been running Fedora core 3 for about a week now, and I LOVE IT!!!! I
> am FINALLY FREE OF MICROSHAFT!!! I feel like Mel Gibson in 'Braveheart':
> "FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"
>
> I have a bit of previous experience messing around with Red Hat 6 & 8, and
> FreeBSD 4.7, and I'm a winblows ace and a BASIC Programmer (C64 Basic,
> QBASIC, VB, Access, etc), but I'm still very green in terms of actually
> knowing how this great operating system works & being able to use it
> properly..
>
> I am having a couple of issues which I am hoping somebody will be able to
> help me out with...
>
> First, about my system:
> AMD Athlon 800
> I don't know what type of motherboard.
> 512Mb RAM (2x256Mb PC-133)
> Promise Fasttrak ATA-100 IDE controller Winblows Ex-Pee calls this a SCSI
> Controller but it connects to IDE Drives. I think it's doing this through a
> SCSI Interface (It loads a BIOS when it detects drives during startup, just
> like a SCSI card).
>
> 40 & 200GB Quantum HDD attached to the Promise Controller. (40Gb Hdd is
> /dev/hde, this is the boot drive. Ex-Pee is installed here, 200Gb HDD is
> /dev/hdf. Fedora is installed here. My partitions are:
>
> /dev/hde1/ - FAT32 - Winblows Ex-Pee. mounts to /media/dos (40Gb)
> /dev/hdf1/ - NTFS - Old, Dead Winblows Ex-Pee Installation. Not mounted yet
> as I have not installed the NTFS kernel driver yet. (20Gb). I have only kept
> this and /dev/hdf2 as I need to recover data.
> /dev/hdf2/ - NTFS - Data. Not mounted yet as I have not installed the NTFS
> kernel driver yet. (60Gb)
> /dev/hdf3/ - Ext3 - / (15Gb). I Forced LBA32 during setup as this partition
> starts way past the 1024th cylinder.
> /dev/hdf4/ - Ext3 - /home (20Gb)
> /dev/hdf5/ - Swap (500Mb)
>
> LG DVD+RW on /dev/hda
> LG DVD-Rom on /dev/hdc
>
> 128Mb ATI Radeon 9250 AGP Video Card.
>
> Creative Sound Blaster Live OEM
>
> Ok, now the issues:
>
> 0. I am having a bit of trouble deciding which to use: Gnome or KDE. KDE
> seems much prettier and more configurable (visually / behaviour wise), but
> it also seems slower and less stable. I have had a few lockups where the
> machine just hangs using KDE. Currently I've got my default session set to
> Gnome. Any comments comparing the two which might help me decide would be
> nice...
>
> What's the story with Gnome & KDE? Why don't the two join forces and build
> an uber, configurable, stable, pretty window manager? If this happened, I
> think M$ would have some SERIOUS competition!
>
> 1. I've read that Fedora comes MP3 and DVD disabled out of the box. I have
> managed to get MP3 Playback with XMMS working by copying the appropriate .so
> file from an older version of XMMS I had lying about into the XMMS plugins
> directory, but what do I need to do to get totem playing Movies and DVDs? I
> have tried:
> - Running Totem as Root (I've found that lots of things need to be done
> as root. This is a seperate question)
> - ensuring Gstreamer is installed (it is, V0.8). It even seems to have
> heaps of plugins installed...
> - Fiddling with totem preferences. I can't see anything wrong in there.
> Does anyone have any Ideas as to what I need to do? I am using a work
> internet connection, so downloading is difficult. I have been thinking I
> should download MPlayer and Xine...
>
> 2. I've read that it's not a good Idea to be logging in as root. My 'normal'
> username on my system is antisol, and this is what I log into gnome as, but
> I have found that alot of things need to be done as root. For example:
> - Burning with K3b. If I don't run this as root, it won't do anything,
> because it doesn't have sufficient permissions to /dev/hda (my CD Burner)
> - Running XMMS with 'Use Realtime Priority' option enabled (I have been
> getting the odd skip in XMMS when playing Mp3s)
> - Running the Audio Cd Player. same problem as K3b - insufficient
> permissions to the device.
>
> In KDE, There is an option with each launcher to 'run as a different user'.
> I have set this up to run as root for these applications, but there are a
> couple of issues with this: I have switched back to Gnome and cannot find
> any equivalent option so I have to run these programs from a terminal after
> typing 'su'. Also when I'm using KDE, it prompts me for a password every
> time I want to run these programs. Can this be turned off? I don't want to
> have to type in the root password everytime I want to run XMMS!
>
> What I'd like to be able to do is either give my 'antisol' user almost the
> same rights as root (i.e editing configs etc, but I think this might pose
> the same risks as logging in as root?), or to save the authentication or
> give antisol the permissions to run these programs as antisol. I have
> considered doing a recirsive chmod on /*.*, but decided that this might
> break things. Suggestions?
>
> 3. I have noticed some sort-of random lockups. This usually occurs when
> running multimedia type stuff. For Example, Tux Racer will usually play
> music and display the main 'press any key' screen, but that's it. It freezes
> at that point with the music still playing. Pressing keys does nothing,
> pressing CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to exit X does nothing, CTRL-ALT-DEL does
> nothing. When this happens I have to hit the reset button... I have left it
> there for up to 10 minutes, and the music just keeps playing. If I press any
> key INSTANTLY as soon as Tux Racer starts up, it might let me play one game
> before freezing.
>
> Also, I have Installed Unreal Tournament 2004 for Linux. This works fine but
> will occasionally just lock up as well. When UT locks up, it just freezes.
> No sound, no mouse, no keys do anything. Reset button.
>
> I have also noticed some odd lockups when doing lots of things in X. these
> aren't really lockups, though, more like 'thinking sessions'. The mouse will
> still move, System monitor either freezes or says the CPu is at 100%, but I
> can't click on anything. If I just leave it there for a couple of minutes
> though it will start responding again. This usually happens when I have
> multiple nautilus windows open and am moving/resizing one of the windows.
> It's a strange one. It happens in both gnome and KDE, but more often in KDE.
> I'm thinking some kind of memory/hardware incompatibility thing?
>
> 4. Can someone point me to a good link (or type an essay, if you're bored)
> explaining what a 'journaling' filesystem is, and why I don't need to defrag
> it? This is WAY COOL!!!
>
> I can't wait to get myself familiar and confortable with Linux. I have found
> these current versions to be excellent in terms of ease of installation and
> user-friendliness, and I think Linux is starting to approach a point where
> it should be useable for the masses. I'm very interested in starting to
> learn C so that I can maybe even contribute to it (I have become an
> open-source fanboy). Does anyone have any good general links / info /
> programs / whatever that they think I might find usefull / helpfull?
>
> Thanks for taking the time for reading all this, and thank you in advance to
> anyone who replies!
>
> Regards,
> -Dale Maggee
>
>
>


--
Arie Spieker
Bergen op Zoom
Linux? Just for fun!

>Greetings linux community! Please welcome your newest member! (group hug)
>I have been running Fedora core 3 for about a week now, and I LOVE IT!!!! I
>am FINALLY FREE OF MICROSHAFT!!! I feel like Mel Gibson in >'Braveheart':
>"FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"

Please, don't jump on the "Linux is the be-all, end-all OS and is
superior in everything" bandwagon. Every OS has it's strengths and
weaknesses and it's all about finding the right tool for the job.
>
>0. I am having a bit of trouble deciding which to use: Gnome or KDE. KDE
>seems much prettier and more configurable (visually / behaviour wise), but
>it also seems slower and less stable. I have had a few lockups where the
>machine just hangs using KDE. Currently I've got my default session set to
>Gnome. Any comments comparing the two which might help me decide would be
>nice...
>
>What's the story with Gnome & KDE? Why don't the two join forces and build
>an uber, configurable, stable, pretty window manager? If this happened, I
>think M$ would have some SERIOUS competition!

No, if Gnome and KDE got together you would have a seriously sucky and
buggy window manager. I guess the most fundamental difference is that
KDE is written in C++ and is based on the commercial Qt library while
Gnome is written in C and based on the GPL'd GTK+ library. Both hog
resources and are slow as molasses especially in an older system like
you have. I'd go with something more lightweight like XFCE.
>
>1. I've read that Fedora comes MP3 and DVD disabled out of the box. I have
>managed to get MP3 Playback with XMMS working by copying the appropriate .so
>file from an older version of XMMS I had lying about into the XMMS plugins
>directory, but what do I need to do to get totem playing Movies and DVDs? I
>have tried:
> - Running Totem as Root (I've found that lots of things need to be done
>as root. This is a seperate question)
> - ensuring Gstreamer is installed (it is, V0.8). It even seems to have
>heaps of plugins installed...
> - Fiddling with totem preferences. I can't see anything wrong in there.
>Does anyone have any Ideas as to what I need to do? I am using a work
>internet connection, so downloading is difficult. I have been thinking I
>should download MPlayer and Xine...
>
Sorry... can't help much here.. I don't use Linux for Multimedia.

>2. I've read that it's not a good Idea to be logging in as root. My 'normal'
>username on my system is antisol, and this is what I log into gnome as, but
>I have found that alot of things need to be done as root. For example:
> - Burning with K3b. If I don't run this as root, it won't do anything,
>because it doesn't have sufficient permissions to /dev/hda (my CD Burner)
> - Running XMMS with 'Use Realtime Priority' option enabled (I have been
>getting the odd skip in XMMS when playing Mp3s)
> - Running the Audio Cd Player. same problem as K3b - insufficient
>permissions to the device.
>
This is true. You should not log in as root. su to root or better
yet use sudo when you need to run a command as root. You probably
have a group in /etc/group called cdrom. Add your user account to
this group and you should be able to access the cdrom.

>In KDE, There is an option with each launcher to 'run as a different user'.
>I have set this up to run as root for these applications, but there are a
>couple of issues with this: I have switched back to Gnome and cannot find
>any equivalent option so I have to run these programs from a terminal after
>typing 'su'. Also when I'm using KDE, it prompts me for a password every
>time I want to run these programs. Can this be turned off? I don't want to
>have to type in the root password everytime I want to run XMMS!
>
>What I'd like to be able to do is either give my 'antisol' user almost the
>same rights as root (i.e editing configs etc, but I think this might pose
>the same risks as logging in as root?), or to save the authentication or
>give antisol the permissions to run these programs as antisol. I have
>considered doing a recirsive chmod on /*.*, but decided that this might
>break things. Suggestions?
>
Very bad idea. Also, remember you're not in the DOS world anymore and
it's /*, not /*.* .

>3. I have noticed some sort-of random lockups. This usually occurs when
>running multimedia type stuff. For Example, Tux Racer will usually play
>music and display the main 'press any key' screen, but that's it. It freezes
>at that point with the music still playing. Pressing keys does nothing,
>pressing CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to exit X does nothing, CTRL-ALT-DEL does
>nothing. When this happens I have to hit the reset button... I have left it
>there for up to 10 minutes, and the music just keeps playing. If I press any
>key INSTANTLY as soon as Tux Racer starts up, it might let me play one game
>before freezing.
>
>Also, I have Installed Unreal Tournament 2004 for Linux. This works fine but
>will occasionally just lock up as well. When UT locks up, it just freezes.
>No sound, no mouse, no keys do anything. Reset button.
>
If you want to be playing 3-D games use Windows... Linux driver
support blows in this area and you will be seriously dissapointed.

>I have also noticed some odd lockups when doing lots of things in X. these
>aren't really lockups, though, more like 'thinking sessions'. The mouse will
>still move, System monitor either freezes or says the CPu is at 100%, but I
>can't click on anything. If I just leave it there for a couple of minutes
>though it will start responding again. This usually happens when I have
>multiple nautilus windows open and am moving/resizing one of the windows.
>It's a strange one. It happens in both gnome and KDE, but more often in KDE.
>I'm thinking some kind of memory/hardware incompatibility thing?
>
This is because your 800MHz CPU is having a hard time keeping up with
multitasking on a heavyweight window manager like Gnome or KDE. Get a
faster CPU/more RAM or get a lighter window manager.

>4. Can someone point me to a good link (or type an essay, if you're bored)
>explaining what a 'journaling' filesystem is, and why I don't need to defrag
>it? This is WAY COOL!!!
>
Journaling filesystems keep a log of all the most recent changes. You
can probably find some info and links here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems

>I can't wait to get myself familiar and confortable with Linux. I have found
>these current versions to be excellent in terms of ease of installation and
>user-friendliness, and I think Linux is starting to approach a point where
>it should be useable for the masses. I'm very interested in starting to
>learn C so that I can maybe even contribute to it (I have become an
>open-source fanboy). Does anyone have any good general links / info /
>programs / whatever that they think I might find usefull / helpfull?
>
Learning C and about all the Unix system calls is very helpful but may
be a bit advanced for someone just starting out. I would get more
comfortable with the environment and shell scripting or an
interpreted language like Perl first.

>Thanks for taking the time for reading all this, and thank you in advance to
>anyone who replies!
>
>Regards,
>-Dale Maggee
>
>

Dale Maggee wrote:
> Greetings linux community! Please welcome your newest member! (group hug)
> I have been running Fedora core 3 for about a week now, and I LOVE IT!!!! I
> am FINALLY FREE OF MICROSHAFT!!! I feel like Mel Gibson in 'Braveheart':
> "FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"
>


It looks like you are still using windows:

X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106

Dale,
I am doing a lot of reading and so far, I have learned a lot. A freind
and I discussed
it and he thought maybe I needed to try a different distro. Seems Fedora is
more oriented towards
server business model and plain desktops in an office. Urubuntu came up
and I might try that. Fedora is
doing better, although I am unable to do the mp3 thingy still. I will try
your advice and see what happens. I am gonna
remove Xmms with yum then reinstall. I am hoping that works. I also saw
somewhere you can boot off of a USB drive.
I am gonna investigate that as well. My systems are:
A 1 Ghz AMD Athalon
13 GB Drive
512 Meg
CD-R
CD-RW
Audio detected as ALSA...not sure what kind of card it is.
3.5 Floppy.
128 ATI Rage
NIC card of some kind
Fedora Core 4 and no other.
B 3100+ AMD Sempron
512 Meg
80 Gig.....2, One with Win XP Home...one with Fedora 4. I shut down and
physically swap them at this time.
Fedora found all the hardware including a
3.5 USB Floppy.
USB Ports
DRD-RW but it says CD
CD-RW
128 Nvidia G-Force
Built in sound "works"
Two books....."Red Hat Fedora 4 Unleashed" with DVD and Fedora Bible
With DVD and CD
This list is not as technical as some but hey....anyway.
I too want to get away from windows. Wish I could get away from the oil
companies but then, I
don't have the power for that. An OS though, if done well, would sway me.
Fedora Core 4 is close. But
as always, I struggle on.
Mahalo



"Dale Maggee" wrote in
message news:dfrcoi$dv5$1@mws-stat-syd.cdn.telstra.com.au...
> Edward,
>
> Fedora has MP3 Playback disabled out of the box. If you run XMMS and try
> to
> open an MP3, it will show you a message explaining this. (this message is
> generated by the 'mp3 placeholder plugin' which is installed by default).
> You'll need to go and download the XMMS Mp3 plugin from
> http://www.xmms.org.
> I had an older, full version of XMMS in a zip file somewhere, so I was
> able
> to just extract and copy the .so file inth XMMS's plugins directory. Once
> this is done, you just need to restart XMMS and disable the placeholder
> plugin (you could delete it if you want).
>
> frustration is the first step on the path to enlightenment... stick with
> it,
> read alot and I'm sure you'll get there...
>
> HTH,
> -Dale
>
> "Edward Haddock" wrote in message
> news:Ry9Ue.100$5g.97@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>>
>> Aloha Dale,
>> I am just learning myself but you have gotten furhter than I have. I am
>> still trying to figure out how to get Mplayer or Xmms installed and
>> working. I did a full install so don't think I am missing nay packages.
>> At this point it is a little frustrating.
>> Edward
>> Dale Maggee wrote:
>> > Greetings linux community! Please welcome your newest member! (group
> hug)
>> > I have been running Fedora core 3 for about a week now, and I LOVE
> IT!!!! I
>> > am FINALLY FREE OF MICROSHAFT!!! I feel like Mel Gibson in
>> > 'Braveheart':
>> > "FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"
>> >
>> > I have a bit of previous experience messing around with Red Hat 6 & 8,
> and
>> > FreeBSD 4.7, and I'm a winblows ace and a BASIC Programmer (C64 Basic,
>> > QBASIC, VB, Access, etc), but I'm still very green in terms of actually
>> > knowing how this great operating system works & being able to use it
>> > properly..
>> >
>> > I am having a couple of issues which I am hoping somebody will be able
> to
>> > help me out with...
>> >
>> > First, about my system:
>> > AMD Athlon 800
>> > I don't know what type of motherboard.
>> > 512Mb RAM (2x256Mb PC-133)
>> > Promise Fasttrak ATA-100 IDE controller Winblows Ex-Pee calls this a
> SCSI
>> > Controller but it connects to IDE Drives. I think it's doing this
> through a
>> > SCSI Interface (It loads a BIOS when it detects drives during startup,
> just
>> > like a SCSI card).
>> >
>> > 40 & 200GB Quantum HDD attached to the Promise Controller. (40Gb Hdd is
>> > /dev/hde, this is the boot drive. Ex-Pee is installed here, 200Gb HDD
>> > is
>> > /dev/hdf. Fedora is installed here. My partitions are:
>> >
>> > /dev/hde1/ - FAT32 - Winblows Ex-Pee. mounts to /media/dos (40Gb)
>> > /dev/hdf1/ - NTFS - Old, Dead Winblows Ex-Pee Installation. Not mounted
> yet
>> > as I have not installed the NTFS kernel driver yet. (20Gb). I have only
> kept
>> > this and /dev/hdf2 as I need to recover data.
>> > /dev/hdf2/ - NTFS - Data. Not mounted yet as I have not installed the
> NTFS
>> > kernel driver yet. (60Gb)
>> > /dev/hdf3/ - Ext3 - / (15Gb). I Forced LBA32 during setup as this
> partition
>> > starts way past the 1024th cylinder.
>> > /dev/hdf4/ - Ext3 - /home (20Gb)
>> > /dev/hdf5/ - Swap (500Mb)
>> >
>> > LG DVD+RW on /dev/hda
>> > LG DVD-Rom on /dev/hdc
>> >
>> > 128Mb ATI Radeon 9250 AGP Video Card.
>> >
>> > Creative Sound Blaster Live OEM
>> >
>> > Ok, now the issues:
>> >
>> > 0. I am having a bit of trouble deciding which to use: Gnome or KDE.
>> > KDE
>> > seems much prettier and more configurable (visually / behaviour wise),
> but
>> > it also seems slower and less stable. I have had a few lockups where
>> > the
>> > machine just hangs using KDE. Currently I've got my default session set
> to
>> > Gnome. Any comments comparing the two which might help me decide would
> be
>> > nice...
>> >
>> > What's the story with Gnome & KDE? Why don't the two join forces and
> build
>> > an uber, configurable, stable, pretty window manager? If this happened,
> I
>> > think M$ would have some SERIOUS competition!
>> >
>> > 1. I've read that Fedora comes MP3 and DVD disabled out of the box. I
> have
>> > managed to get MP3 Playback with XMMS working by copying the
>> > appropriate
> .so
>> > file from an older version of XMMS I had lying about into the XMMS
> plugins
>> > directory, but what do I need to do to get totem playing Movies and
> DVDs? I
>> > have tried:
>> > - Running Totem as Root (I've found that lots of things need to be
> done
>> > as root. This is a seperate question)
>> > - ensuring Gstreamer is installed (it is, V0.8). It even seems to
> have
>> > heaps of plugins installed...
>> > - Fiddling with totem preferences. I can't see anything wrong in
> there.
>> > Does anyone have any Ideas as to what I need to do? I am using a work
>> > internet connection, so downloading is difficult. I have been thinking
>> > I
>> > should download MPlayer and Xine...
>> >
>> > 2. I've read that it's not a good Idea to be logging in as root. My
> 'normal'
>> > username on my system is antisol, and this is what I log into gnome as,
> but
>> > I have found that alot of things need to be done as root. For example:
>> > - Burning with K3b. If I don't run this as root, it won't do
> anything,
>> > because it doesn't have sufficient permissions to /dev/hda (my CD
> Burner)
>> > - Running XMMS with 'Use Realtime Priority' option enabled (I have
> been
>> > getting the odd skip in XMMS when playing Mp3s)
>> > - Running the Audio Cd Player. same problem as K3b - insufficient
>> > permissions to the device.
>> >
>> > In KDE, There is an option with each launcher to 'run as a different
> user'.
>> > I have set this up to run as root for these applications, but there are
> a
>> > couple of issues with this: I have switched back to Gnome and cannot
> find
>> > any equivalent option so I have to run these programs from a terminal
> after
>> > typing 'su'. Also when I'm using KDE, it prompts me for a password
>> > every
>> > time I want to run these programs. Can this be turned off? I don't want
> to
>> > have to type in the root password everytime I want to run XMMS!
>> >
>> > What I'd like to be able to do is either give my 'antisol' user almost
> the
>> > same rights as root (i.e editing configs etc, but I think this might
> pose
>> > the same risks as logging in as root?), or to save the authentication
>> > or
>> > give antisol the permissions to run these programs as antisol. I have
>> > considered doing a recirsive chmod on /*.*, but decided that this might
>> > break things. Suggestions?
>> >
>> > 3. I have noticed some sort-of random lockups. This usually occurs when
>> > running multimedia type stuff. For Example, Tux Racer will usually play
>> > music and display the main 'press any key' screen, but that's it. It
> freezes
>> > at that point with the music still playing. Pressing keys does nothing,
>> > pressing CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to exit X does nothing, CTRL-ALT-DEL does
>> > nothing. When this happens I have to hit the reset button... I have
>> > left
> it
>> > there for up to 10 minutes, and the music just keeps playing. If I
>> > press
> any
>> > key INSTANTLY as soon as Tux Racer starts up, it might let me play one
> game
>> > before freezing.
>> >
>> > Also, I have Installed Unreal Tournament 2004 for Linux. This works
>> > fine
> but
>> > will occasionally just lock up as well. When UT locks up, it just
> freezes.
>> > No sound, no mouse, no keys do anything. Reset button.
>> >
>> > I have also noticed some odd lockups when doing lots of things in X.
> these
>> > aren't really lockups, though, more like 'thinking sessions'. The mouse
> will
>> > still move, System monitor either freezes or says the CPu is at 100%,
> but I
>> > can't click on anything. If I just leave it there for a couple of
> minutes
>> > though it will start responding again. This usually happens when I have
>> > multiple nautilus windows open and am moving/resizing one of the
> windows.
>> > It's a strange one. It happens in both gnome and KDE, but more often in
> KDE.
>> > I'm thinking some kind of memory/hardware incompatibility thing?
>> >
>> > 4. Can someone point me to a good link (or type an essay, if you're
> bored)
>> > explaining what a 'journaling' filesystem is, and why I don't need to
> defrag
>> > it? This is WAY COOL!!!
>> >
>> > I can't wait to get myself familiar and confortable with Linux. I have
>found
>> > these current versions to be excellent in terms of ease of installation
> and
>> > user-friendliness, and I think Linux is starting to approach a point
> where
>> > it should be useable for the masses. I'm very interested in starting to
>> > learn C so that I can maybe even contribute to it (I have become an
>> > open-source fanboy). Does anyone have any good general links / info /
>> > programs / whatever that they think I might find usefull / helpfull?
>> >
>> > Thanks for taking the time for reading all this, and thank you in
> advance to
>> > anyone who replies!
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > -Dale Maggee
>> >
>> >
>> >
>
>

Dale,
I am doing a lot of reading and so far, I have learned a lot. A freind
and I discussed
it and he thought maybe I needed to try a different distro. Seems Fedora is
more oriented towards
server business model and plain desktops in an office. Urubuntu came up
and I might try that. Fedora is
doing better, although I am unable to do the mp3 thingy still. I will try
your advice and see what happens. I am gonna
remove Xmms with yum then reinstall. I am hoping that works. I also saw
somewhere you can boot off of a USB drive.
I am gonna investigate that as well. My systems are:
A 1 Ghz AMD Athalon
13 GB Drive
512 Meg
CD-R
CD-RW
Audio detected as ALSA...not sure what kind of card it is.
3.5 Floppy.
128 ATI Rage
NIC card of some kind
Fedora Core 4 and no other.
B 3100+ AMD Sempron
512 Meg
80 Gig.....2, One with Win XP Home...one with Fedora 4. I shut down and
physically swap them at this time.
Fedora found all the hardware including a
3.5 USB Floppy.
USB Ports
DRD-RW but it says CD
CD-RW
128 Nvidia G-Force
Built in sound "works"
Two books....."Red Hat Fedora 4 Unleashed" with DVD and Fedora Bible
With DVD and CD
This list is not as technical as some but hey....anyway.
I too want to get away from windows. Wish I could get away from the oil
companies but then, I
don't have the power for that. An OS though, if done well, would sway me.
Fedora Core 4 is close. But
as always, I struggle on.
Mahalo



"Dale Maggee" wrote in
message news:dfrcoi$dv5$1@mws-stat-syd.cdn.telstra.com.au...
> Edward,
>
> Fedora has MP3 Playback disabled out of the box. If you run XMMS and try
> to
> open an MP3, it will show you a message explaining this. (this message is
> generated by the 'mp3 placeholder plugin' which is installed by default).
> You'll need to go and download the XMMS Mp3 plugin from
> http://www.xmms.org.
> I had an older, full version of XMMS in a zip file somewhere, so I was
> able
> to just extract and copy the .so file inth XMMS's plugins directory. Once
> this is done, you just need to restart XMMS and disable the placeholder
> plugin (you could delete it if you want).
>
> frustration is the first step on the path to enlightenment... stick with
> it,
> read alot and I'm sure you'll get there...
>
> HTH,
> -Dale
>
> "Edward Haddock" wrote in message
> news:Ry9Ue.100$5g.97@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>>
>> Aloha Dale,
>> I am just learning myself but you have gotten furhter than I have. I am
>> still trying to figure out how to get Mplayer or Xmms installed and
>> working. I did a full install so don't think I am missing nay packages.
>> At this point it is a little frustrating.
>> Edward
>> Dale Maggee wrote:
>> > Greetings linux community! Please welcome your newest member! (group
> hug)
>> > I have been running Fedora core 3 for about a week now, and I LOVE
> IT!!!! I
>> > am FINALLY FREE OF MICROSHAFT!!! I feel like Mel Gibson in
>> > 'Braveheart':
>> > "FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"
>> >
>> > I have a bit of previous experience messing around with Red Hat 6 & 8,
> and
>> > FreeBSD 4.7, and I'm a winblows ace and a BASIC Programmer (C64 Basic,
>> > QBASIC, VB, Access, etc), but I'm still very green in terms of actually
>> > knowing how this great operating system works & being able to use it
>> > properly..
>> >
>> > I am having a couple of issues which I am hoping somebody will be able
> to
>> > help me out with...
>> >
>> > First, about my system:
>> > AMD Athlon 800
>> > I don't know what type of motherboard.
>> > 512Mb RAM (2x256Mb PC-133)
>> > Promise Fasttrak ATA-100 IDE controller Winblows Ex-Pee calls this a
> SCSI
>> > Controller but it connects to IDE Drives. I think it's doing this
> through a
>> > SCSI Interface (It loads a BIOS when it detects drives during startup,
> just
>> > like a SCSI card).
>> >
>> > 40 & 200GB Quantum HDD attached to the Promise Controller. (40Gb Hdd is
>> > /dev/hde, this is the boot drive. Ex-Pee is installed here, 200Gb HDD
>> > is
>> > /dev/hdf. Fedora is installed here. My partitions are:
>> >
>> > /dev/hde1/ - FAT32 - Winblows Ex-Pee. mounts to /media/dos (40Gb)
>> > /dev/hdf1/ - NTFS - Old, Dead Winblows Ex-Pee Installation. Not mounted
> yet
>> > as I have not installed the NTFS kernel driver yet. (20Gb). I have only
> kept
>> > this and /dev/hdf2 as I need to recover data.
>> > /dev/hdf2/ - NTFS - Data. Not mounted yet as I have not installed the
> NTFS
>> > kernel driver yet. (60Gb)
>> > /dev/hdf3/ - Ext3 - / (15Gb). I Forced LBA32 during setup as this
> partition
>> > starts way past the 1024th cylinder.
>> > /dev/hdf4/ - Ext3 - /home (20Gb)
>> > /dev/hdf5/ - Swap (500Mb)
>> >
>> > LG DVD+RW on /dev/hda
>> > LG DVD-Rom on /dev/hdc
>> >
>> > 128Mb ATI Radeon 9250 AGP Video Card.
>> >
>> > Creative Sound Blaster Live OEM
>> >
>> > Ok, now the issues:
>> >
>> > 0. I am having a bit of trouble deciding which to use: Gnome or KDE.
>> > KDE
>> > seems much prettier and more configurable (visually / behaviour wise),
> but
>> > it also seems slower and less stable. I have had a few lockups where
>> > the
>> > machine just hangs using KDE. Currently I've got my default session set
> to
>> > Gnome. Any comments comparing the two which might help me decide would
> be
>> > nice...
>> >
>> > What's the story with Gnome & KDE? Why don't the two join forces and
> build
>> > an uber, configurable, stable, pretty window manager? If this happened,
> I
>> > think M$ would have some SERIOUS competition!
>> >
>> > 1. I've read that Fedora comes MP3 and DVD disabled out of the box. I
> have
>> > managed to get MP3 Playback with XMMS working by copying the
>> > appropriate
> .so
>> > file from an older version of XMMS I had lying about into the XMMS
> plugins
>> > directory, but what do I need to do to get totem playing Movies and
> DVDs? I
>> > have tried:
>> > - Running Totem as Root (I've found that lots of things need to be
> done
>> > as root. This is a seperate question)
>> > - ensuring Gstreamer is installed (it is, V0.8). It even seems to
> have
>> > heaps of plugins installed...
>> > - Fiddling with totem preferences. I can't see anything wrong in
> there.
>> > Does anyone have any Ideas as to what I need to do? I am using a work
>> > internet connection, so downloading is difficult. I have been thinking
>> > I
>> > should download MPlayer and Xine...
>> >
>> > 2. I've read that it's not a good Idea to be logging in as root. My
> 'normal'
>> > username on my system is antisol, and this is what I log into gnome as,
> but
>> > I have found that alot of things need to be done as root. For example:
>> > - Burning with K3b. If I don't run this as root, it won't do
> anything,
>> > because it doesn't have sufficient permissions to /dev/hda (my CD
> Burner)
>> > - Running XMMS with 'Use Realtime Priority' option enabled (I have
> been
>> > getting the odd skip in XMMS when playing Mp3s)
>> > - Running the Audio Cd Player. same problem as K3b - insufficient
>> > permissions to the device.
>> >
>> > In KDE, There is an option with each launcher to 'run as a different
> user'.
>> > I have set this up to run as root for these applications, but there are
> a
>> > couple of issues with this: I have switched back to Gnome and cannot
> find
>> > any equivalent option so I have to run these programs from a terminal
> after
>> > typing 'su'. Also when I'm using KDE, it prompts me for a password
>> > every
>> > time I want to run these programs. Can this be turned off? I don't want
> to
>> > have to type in the root password everytime I want to run XMMS!
>> >
>> > What I'd like to be able to do is either give my 'antisol' user almost
> the
>> > same rights as root (i.e editing configs etc, but I think this might
> pose
>> > the same risks as logging in as root?), or to save the authentication
>> > or
>> > give antisol the permissions to run these programs as antisol. I have
>> > considered doing a recirsive chmod on /*.*, but decided that this might
>> > break things. Suggestions?
>> >
>> > 3. I have noticed some sort-of random lockups. This usually occurs when
>> > running multimedia type stuff. For Example, Tux Racer will usually play
>> > music and display the main 'press any key' screen, but that's it. It
> freezes
>> > at that point with the music still playing. Pressing keys does nothing,
>> > pressing CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to exit X does nothing, CTRL-ALT-DEL does
>> > nothing. When this happens I have to hit the reset button... I have
>> > left
> it
>> > there for up to 10 minutes, and the music just keeps playing. If I
>> > press
> any
>> > key INSTANTLY as soon as Tux Racer starts up, it might let me play one
> game
>> > before freezing.
>> >
>> > Also, I have Installed Unreal Tournament 2004 for Linux. This works
>> > fine
> but
>> > will occasionally just lock up as well. When UT locks up, it just
> freezes.
>> > No sound, no mouse, no keys do anything. Reset button.
>> >
>> > I have also noticed some odd lockups when doing lots of things in X.
> these
>> > aren't really lockups, though, more like 'thinking sessions'. The mouse
> will
>> > still move, System monitor either freezes or says the CPu is at 100%,
> but I
>> > can't click on anything. If I just leave it there for a couple of
> minutes
>> > though it will start responding again. This usually happens when I have
>> > multiple nautilus windows open and am moving/resizing one of the
> windows.
>> > It's a strange one. It happens in both gnome and KDE, but more often in
> KDE.
>> > I'm thinking some kind of memory/hardware incompatibility thing?
>> >
>> > 4. Can someone point me to a good link (or type an essay, if you're
> bored)
>> > explaining what a 'journaling' filesystem is, and why I don't need to
> defrag
>> > it? This is WAY COOL!!!
>> >
>> > I can't wait to get myself familiar and confortable with Linux. I have
>found
>> > these current versions to be excellent in terms of ease of installation
> and
>> > user-friendliness, and I think Linux is starting to approach a point
> where
>> > it should be useable for the masses. I'm very interested in starting to
>> > learn C so that I can maybe even contribute to it (I have become an
>> > open-source fanboy). Does anyone have any good general links / info /
>> > programs / whatever that they think I might find usefull / helpfull?
>> >
>> > Thanks for taking the time for reading all this, and thank you in
> advance to
>> > anyone who replies!
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > -Dale Maggee
>> >
>> >
>> >
>
>

I am using a work internet connection... I haven't quite managed to convince
the powers that be here at work that switching to linux is a good idea...

"philo" wrote in message
news:tPOdnZsDj91YN7_eRVn-gQ@athenet.net...
> Dale Maggee wrote:
> > Greetings linux community! Please welcome your newest member! (group
hug)
> > I have been running Fedora core 3 for about a week now, and I LOVE
IT!!!! I
> > am FINALLY FREE OF MICROSHAFT!!! I feel like Mel Gibson in 'Braveheart':
> > "FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"
> >
>
>
> It looks like you are still using windows:
>
> X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
> X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
>

Dale Maggee wrote:
> I am using a work internet connection... I haven't quite managed to convince
> the powers that be here at work that switching to linux is a good idea...
>

I suppose it will be a while before Linux is widely used in the work
place...
but glad you are now getting into it...
I just loaded Vector Linux on my first laptop.
Worked perfectly the first time!

> Please, don't jump on the "Linux is the be-all, end-all OS and is
> superior in everything" bandwagon. Every OS has it's strengths and
> weaknesses and it's all about finding the right tool for the job.

I didn't think that's what I was doing - I was merely expressing my
enthusiasm for how far linux has come since the days of RedHat 5, and for my
not running any more microsoft software.

Linux is certainly not the be-all, end-all OS - there is no such thing (with
the possible exception of CBM-OS 7)

> No, if Gnome and KDE got together you would have a seriously sucky and
> buggy window manager. I guess the most fundamental difference is that
> KDE is written in C++ and is based on the commercial Qt library while
> Gnome is written in C and based on the GPL'd GTK+ library. Both hog
> resources and are slow as molasses especially in an older system like
> you have. I'd go with something more lightweight like XFCE.

800Mhz is 'older' and needs something 'lightweight'?!? What is the world
coming to??? Thanks for the advice though...

> This is true. You should not log in as root. su to root or better
> yet use sudo when you need to run a command as root. You probably
> have a group in /etc/group called cdrom. Add your user account to
> this group and you should be able to access the cdrom.

ah-ha! will check it out, Thanks!

> If you want to be playing 3-D games use Windows... Linux driver
> support blows in this area and you will be seriously dissapointed.

1. I don't want to play 3D games enough to justify reinstalling windows.

2. Linux seems to really like my ATI Radeon 9250 - All the OpenGL stuff
(screensavers and XMMS plugins) work just fine, and the only things
bothering me are that my PC isn't fast enough to run UT2004 at full detail,
and the occasional lockups I mentioned. Apart from this and lack of
software, I have not had any problems at all....

> This is because your 800MHz CPU is having a hard time keeping up with
> multitasking on a heavyweight window manager like Gnome or KDE. Get a
> faster CPU/more RAM or get a lighter window manager.

right... I have 512Mb of RAM in it, and linux is rarely using >80% of it...
I think I feel a processor coming on... but I might check out XFCE first...

> Journaling filesystems keep a log of all the most recent changes. You
> can probably find some info and links here...
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems

wow, Ext3 must be HOT - My work internet filter calls this site
'pornography'!

> Learning C and about all the Unix system calls is very helpful but may
> be a bit advanced for someone just starting out. I would get more
> comfortable with the environment and shell scripting or an
> interpreted language like Perl first.

Why not do all of the above synchronously?


Thanks for yout time Ian!