Newbie to Debian linux with a few questions?

[showgun]

First of Hello to all I am happy I have finally had the guts to try Linux I have been wanted to do this for a while but fear of the unknown <BG>

Anyway after many format and reinstall I finaly got Debian running and Winxp pro sp2 as the back up dual boot for now.

First I installed Debian V4.0 etc it took a bit but getting use to the feel and settings.

I understand KDE & Gnome are two different destop do I need to download them and install them in the above verion of Debian?

Also I would like to increase the time delay in the dual boot selectioon but the file to edit is read only how do I change this ?
Thanks

Ps I am sure I will have many other stupid questions..

[devils casper]

Hi showgun.

Welcome to the LinuxForums.

I understand KDE & Gnome are two different destop do I need to download them and install them in the above verion of Debian?

you can install any or all. KDE is default in Debian.

Also I would like to increase the time delay in the dual boot selectioon but the file to edit is read only how do I change this ?

you must have 'root' privileges to edit that file.
execute this

su 
nano /boot/grub/menu.lst

[showgun]

I have done what you said
"you must have 'root' privileges to edit that file.
execute this
Code:

su nano /boot/grub/menu.lst


What it did id bring tne file up but I still do not have any access or maybe someting I am missing.

I would like to have access to the editing files as well as creating directories where I can't at this time and delete file
All this rewuires right which I do not know how to get ?
THanks

[mattstang]

As devils_casper mentioned, you need to edit the file as root. You would do this by running:

su -

then entering the root password. You can also use sudo, if you have setup sudo access for your normal user.

Good luck, and keep working at it!

[IsaacKuo]

you can install any or all. KDE is default in Debian.

Actually, GNOME is the default in Debian 4.0 (Etch). It was also the default in Debian 3.1 (Sarge), but 3.1's workstation suite included both GNOME and KDE. In Etch, though, the default is to install only GNOME.

[devils casper]

thanx for correcting me. i have installed Debian from Alternative CD images and netinstall. being a KDE user, forgot about GNOME..

[showgun]

HI GUys thanks for all you help but this did not work for at the end I have found info in a previous post which worked for me and it was
gksudo gedit your_file

Somehow the above worked fine.

Thanks and I will download KDE when I get there <BG>

[IsaacKuo]

That will work fine if you've got a the X Window GUI up and running, but what if X itself is messed up? It's really quite easy to use commands like what was suggested above:

su
nano /boot/grub/menu.lst

You seem to have been confused because you tried to enter the above two commands as a single command. But they're actually two different commands. The first is "su", which lets you log in as root. (The computer will ask for the root password.) The second is "nano ...", which is a command to edit a text file.

The "su" command is the standard way to run programs as root. It will work in (almost) any Linux, and any Unix, and any BSD...anything. Except for Ubuntu. Unfortunately, Ubuntu chose to be different, for no good reason. As such, you will see a lot of Ubuntu documentation that use "sudo" instead. For example, the above would be done with:

sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst

Now, there are a lot of good things about "sudo", but it's not standard the way "su" is. If the only operating system in the world were Ubuntu, then that'd be fine. As it is, Ubuntu documentation can confuse users of other operating systems and vice versa.

By default, Debian 4.0 comes with the "sudo" command installed, but with no users set up for root access. You need to manually edit the sudoers file with the "visudo" command in order to grant users root access. I'd say if you're not sure you want to set up "sudo", then don't do it. The standard method of using "su" is perfectly fine.

[showgun]

Thanks this is starting and I say starting to make some sense <G> From a Windows spoon fed since the begining it will be a bit of work to learn but I gave up windows xp completely from my PC I only have Debian install. THe best way to learn I guess.

I started to learn wher things are now I would like to install some software and this seems to be a real challenge <BG>

I am also confuse about a few things like Desktop like KDE or Gnome
sometimes I feel they are complete OS when I read about them and some other time it seems like the are only an add on to Debian.

This seem confusing

I guess that will be one step at the time and "Baby steps"

THank you for the help it is needed...

[devils casper]

Check this thread. a detailed discussion on Desktop Environments.