Questions about linux...

[ProcalX]

Spyware .. i presume this still applies to linux, although i suspect it may "effect" in less serious ways.. what about removal?

Firewall - Software whats a good firewall to use?

Updates? - where do you get them from? (suse)

And can someone possibly give me some information on linux.. how its designed e.t.c

can you run linux.. and windows at the same time on one computer? (not dual boot) as in both at the same time.. ie for example: "windows emulating in linux" (most understanding way i can describe it)

 

[ninja fetus]

Spyware, not unless you install the package into your root directly yourself! Same thing with Virus' and all that good stuff!

Cant run windows and linux at the same time, but you can cant Wine, which utilizes MS's executible files, and Cedega that utilizes directx9.0 (costs a few bucks though)

 

[Anti-Trend]

I'll break your post up into fragments, and answer each in turn.

Spyware .. i presume this still applies to linux, although i suspect it may "effect" in less serious ways.. what about removal?

The only type of spyware you'll find in Linux as of this writing are simple browser cookies, just like in any Internet-capable OS. Configure your browser, e.g. Firefox, to flush cookies every time you quite the browser. No more cookies!

Firewall - Software whats a good firewall to use?

IPTables, included in any reputable distro. You just have to turn it on in most, which is usually a simple process.

Updates? - where do you get them from? (suse)

If you're using Suse Linux, you'd get your updates from Suse. Red Hat from Red Hat, etc. Each Linux distribution has its own method of handling updates, some of which are better/easier than others, but all work. It's actually much easier to keep your system up to date with a Linux system, since Linux updates all of the installed software on the machine. Not just central OS files, making for a more wholly secure system. In other words, not just your browser and networking tools are getting patched/updated, but your sound, graphics-editing software, etc. also!

And can someone possibly give me some information on linux.. how its designed e.t.c

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, could you be more specific? I can tell you though that Linux is a free, Unix-like operating system which is built with stability, security, multiple-users and networking in mind. All devices on a system are represented as directories, i.e. /dev/cdrom, instead of an alphabetic designation, i.e. D:\. Also, just about everything can be customized and tuned to the user's preference in a Linux system, where you have a lot more flexibility in many ways than a proprietary system, such as MS Windows. If you have a more specific question along this line, feel free to pose it.

can you run linux.. and windows at the same time on one computer? (not dual boot) as in both at the same time.. ie for example: "windows emulating in linux" (most understanding way i can describe it)

Well, the short answer is "you really don't want to, trust me", especially the 'Linux running in Windows' part. If you want to run one in the other, it should be Windows running in Linux, for stability, security and resource reasons. This can be accomplished with software like Win4Lin. However, it is much more prudent to either multi-boot (install both OSes, but seperately), or just run Linux and emulate necessary Windows software in Linux using WINE (for office-type stuff), or Cedega (for games), or some combination of both. To me, I run Linux exclusively (no Windows at all), and I run a few Windows-only games in Cedega. But for me, anything I can run in emulation is just icing on the cake, as I'm not dependant on any Windows software. Quite the contrary; there's a lot of network administration stuff which I can only do in Linux, or at least some form of *nix. So if anything I'm dependant on Linux...

 

[ProcalX]

right a few queries.. (again :good: )..

now i feel like a real noob... running linux via command is so much easier than working with linux in a GUI, I'm having to relearn like the whole thing! anyway..

for some reason on SuSe, when ever i turn my computer on / off it randomly beeps at me as if the frequency is wrong.. but i am running at 1024x768@60HZ

also.. i realise that i need to install my own choice of compilers.. for programs that i need to "make" / "./configure", so i downloaded GCC (multiple archive of compilers).. how on gods earth do you successfully install this? i read all the readme and docs related and i can't understand a bloody word its saying.. as i have no prior experience of the terms it uses..

also.. SuSe 9.1 comes with KDE installed my default, now when i've tried to add the computers from standard network.. to the domain name - it just does not want to work properly.. anyway.. wanted an alternative to KDE so installed GNome.. i then added the computer to domain.. and it works!

and why do you have to compile programs for them to work? instead of (sorry for this, i promise i do hate MS) just having an executable..!!!!!

 

[ProcalX]

and is there anything that i can install or is automatically built in that can show me what programs i have running including silent processes...? ie like the task bar.. (out of interest)

 

[Big B]

Again, this is highly dependent on the distro you have. Let's take Mandrake for example. I know they package a CD with the OS on it, and then have several extra CD's with apps and tools that are optional, and which you can specify during the install. This can take one hell of a long time to do if you don't know what you're looking for.

Also, there are two basic formats addin's come a: RPM (RedHat Package Manager) or Debian. Which one you take depends on your distro. Mandrake is a spinoff of RedHat, whereas SuSe is a Debian-based distro.

You can have a Windows like environment by using a GUI, like KDE (K Desktop Environment---probably the most Windows-like GUI).

The con about having so much customizing in your own hands is that it can be really overwhelming, and that's simply because of how much stuff is packaged with some of the more popular distro's.

 

[Anti-Trend]

right a few queries.. (again :good: )..

I'll break you questions up again, for simplicity.

...for some reason on SuSe, when ever i turn my computer on / off it randomly beeps at me as if the frequency is wrong.. but i am running at 1024x768@60HZ

Hmm, I don't follow. Is SuSe is beeping at you, your Motherboard is beeping at you, or the monitor is beeping at you? :confused:

also.. i realise that i need to install my own choice of compilers.. for programs that i need to "make" / "./configure", so i downloaded GCC (multiple archive of compilers).. how on gods earth do you successfully install this? i read all the readme and docs related and i can't understand a bloody word its saying.. as i have no prior experience of the terms it uses..

Most distros have the GCC libraries, along with 'make', and whatever other tools you need for basic compilation included. But even if your rollout doesn't have the tools pre-installed, you can add them with merely a few clicks using YAST.

also.. SuSe 9.1 comes with KDE installed my default, now when i've tried to add the computers from standard network.. to the domain name - it just does not want to work properly.. anyway.. wanted an alternative to KDE so installed GNome.. i then added the computer to domain.. and it works!

Weird, I've never heard of anything like that, and honestly the X-Interface shouldn't have made a difference in that respect. But, then again, I haven't had all that much experience with SuSE.

and why do you have to compile programs for them to work? instead of (sorry for this, i promise i do hate MS) just having an executable..!!!!!

OK, you don't often have to compile any software, contrary to popular belief. For example, I use Mandrake, and I compile maybe 1 out of every 50 programs I have installed. I chose to recompile my kernel to get more speed out of my system, and add that custom feel. But I didn't even need to do that. SuSE is a popular enough distro that you should be able to find binaries for just about anything you want to run.

 

[ProcalX]

Thanks for all the info anyway, i stupidly tried to remove my windows partition whilst i was drunk after the pub i now have no working operating system! lol even suse is stuffed, but i can't remember what i did.. anyway got 3 clean drives now LOL, lost all my DVD collection (190GB worth!!) anyway, i am currently running on feather linux, off my USB... very helpful especially for desperate times :)

 

[Big B]

Remember kids: drinking and computers don't mix. (at least you weren't modding)

 

[DannC]

My opinion for a Linux noob -
Well you just want to know everything don't you! I would suggest using Slackware linux as your first distro. Some people may say I'm crazy for saying that, but it forces you to learn how linux works wether you want to or not. RedHat,SuSE, and others tend to do everything they can make it "easy" to use. This just makes it harder.. I used RedHat as my first distro, and then later when I knew what I was doing I switched to Slackware. Wrong. When I went to Slackware I realized that I didn't know linux at all. I just knew RedHat's method of doing things (which SuSE and Mandrake are very simular). I had to re learn everything over again. After learning how to do things in Slackware, I found that life became increadibly easy. I could switch to any (yes any) linux distro, and be able to get everything done the way I want it to be done. If I wanted to learn distro specific tools, I would get Windows

On Compiling -
The reason having to compile things rather then just downloading executables is simple. Actually there are a few reasons. The first being that there are hundreds of different Linux/Unix distro's out there. It is easier to just provide the source code, and have people compile it themselves. ie: If I compile some code on my FreeBSD box, it will not run on my Solaris box, and vise versa. And neither the binaries that I compiled on bsd or solaris will run on linux. To further complicate things, you have different types of hardware (x86, sparc, alpha, powerpc, etc.). If you compile a program using linux on your mac (powerpc), it will not run on your x86 pc, even if they both have the same version of linux.
Reason 2. Most people just do a ./configure ; make; make install, and call it a day. If you get to know the make program better, you can find tune the way that your program gets compiled. ie: you can optimize it to run better on an AMD processor if you have one.

On Windows on Linux -
Not exactly the best / most stable idea out there, but I'm not going to lie, it's damn interesting.. there are a few ways you can do this. First is a program called WINE (Wine Is Not an Emulator). This program allows you to run some windows binaries under linux. If you want them to be somewhat stable you will need to tweak your settings out alot. I believe the company that makes wine, also sells a commercial version that is tweaked to be able run ms office (although i havn't tried it.).
The next program (one of my favorites) is VM-Ware. This program opens up a window that pretends to be its' own PC. It has its own fake bios, fake hard drive etc. You can go ahead and install windows XP in this with ease. It's pretty good for stability too, just very slow. You can also do it the other way around too. Installing a linux to a virtual machine that you have running on windows (again very very slow).

 

[northernpenguin]

I might as well throw in my two cents worth!

I have used various distros of Linux over the years, and for a Linux newbie, I would recommend Mandrake Linux. You can download the Mandrake iso (cd image) directly from the Mandrake site, burn the CDs (current version is 10.1 Official) and load up your PC. If you want to dual boot with Windoze, no problem, Mandrake handles up to and including XP.

With the number of applications that have been compiled for Mandrake, there is really no necessity to compile anything yourself, unless you have found an app that only provides source code or won't run on Mandrake.

I suggest you also either subscribe to Linux Journal or check out the articles on their website (http://www.linuxjournal.com).

If you don't want to download your first version, you may also purchase a copy from the MandrakeStore. (My only problem with the online store is the rapidity of their response!)

Linux forever!