Hey!...Ive got a load of questions to ask...

[Vyder]

Well the topic title says it all...but first a little info so i can understand your answers better...

1. 17yrs old, male, Indian
2. Lived in many different places, different schools (mainly Hong Kong,Singapore and now back to India)
3. Know how to program in C++, Java (and Assembly, but so far only for AVR microcontrollers)
4. Lots of experience with robotics...line followers, micromouse,remote controlled, POV toys, etc.
5. Have an old Dell Latitude running Windows 2000 to try different distros on...

Ive just applied to a bunch of US universities and colleges and so i need a laptop...which has finally boiled down to Linux/Windows vs. Mac/Windows...

So here I am trying out linux...and here are my questions...
[After doing both the quizzes in the sticky post and seeing the poll results, ive settled on Ubuntu...the live CD looked awesome...but i hvnt installed anything yet...]

1. Whats the difference (in simple words) between KDE and GNOME?
...i didnt completely understand what i read on wikipedia about it...[this decides weather i pick ubuntu or kubuntu]
2.How do i get to the source code?
3. Is it hard to learn to modify it?...where do i start?
4. Any books you would reccomend on getting started with Linux code and stuff?
5. Finally (this could become an all out debate but...) what are Linux' plus points over Mac?

Thanks,
Vyder

[Freston]

Welcome to the forums Vyder!

The difference between KDE and Gnome are bigger than I can easily describe here in a few sentences. Both are complete Desktop Environments. Both come with a collection of tools, applications and other stuff. Both are highly configurable, although I take it KDE is more configurable than Gnome. KDE is as a result also heavier. And Gnome seems to be a bit easier for new users.
Which one you'll like best is a matter of taste though. Both are valid options, and one isn't better than the other.

The easiest road to the latest source is to just download it from the website of the particular program you want the source off. It comes as a filename_version.tar.gz or filename_version.tar.bz2, also known as a tarball.

Modifying it I guess is doable if you know your C++. Just get started, and see where it takes you.

Read here to get you started on Linux documentations. If you prefer real books, the O'Reilly books are said to be very good. Also check this

Linux plusses over a Mac?? Price, completeness (although Mac can take advantage of available FOSS as well of course), community, and we have a penguin as a mascot (everyone loves penguins). Also the Linux setup is more transparent, so it's easier to make your own. OSX on the other hand is based on FreeBSD which is pretty good in it's own right. Licensing is also a big difference between the two.

[Vyder]

Thank you...that covers almost everything...just one more

If install ubuntu now to get started...can i switch to kubuntu easily if i like that better?

The O'Reilly books are really good...ive got the ones for C++ and the html, css one...didnt know there was one for linux...

[oz]

Thank you...that covers almost everything...just one more

If install ubuntu now to get started...can i switch to kubuntu easily if i like that better?

You can install KDE onto your Ubuntu system if wish, or you can simply install Kubuntu right over Ubuntu and have a fresh installation, which is what I personally recommend.

[i92guboj]

KDE is as a result also heavier.

That's a myth. There's no practical difference in performance and size between kde and gnome. The main difference for me is that gnome is "unconfigurable" to an insane extent. While in kde you can tweak almost anything.

Simplicity is ok, but not at cost of functionality.

Anyway, this is just the same eternal idiotic debate: kde fans are kde fans and gnome fans are gnome fans. And no one is going to change his/her mind out of logical facts and sentences. So, just try them both on a live cd, play around a bit, and choose yourself.

The rest if foo.

The easiest road to the latest source is to just download it from the website of the particular program you want the source off. It comes as a filename_version.tar.gz or filename_version.tar.bz2, also known as a tarball.

Depending on your distro, you might also have an official way to get the sources using the distro's packages manager. For example, rpm based distros usually have srpm packages with the sources. You can always download the tarball manuall from the app's home web.

Modifying it I guess is doable if you know your C++. Just get started, and see where it takes you.

Well, in linux you have a full load of languages. C++ apps are probably a minority. I guess the big percentage of linux apps are pure C. But a lot of scripting is also used: bash, sh, python, perl, lisp... It depends on the application. Each developer choose that s/he likes.

The linux kernel itself is -mostly, but not 100%- written in C.

Linux plusses over a Mac?? Price, completeness (although Mac can take advantage of available FOSS as well of course), community, and we have a penguin as a mascot (everyone loves penguins). Also the Linux setup is more transparent, so it's easier to make your own. OSX on the other hand is based on FreeBSD which is pretty good in it's own right. Licensing is also a big difference between the two.

You mostly covered it all. I think it's just a matter of tastes. I find linux to be much more complete and suitable for development tasks. It's open nature definitely helps, besides being nicer philosophically speaking from my point of view.

[Manchunian]

I think there's another advantage of Linux over Mac: software repositories. Because Linux is open source, most of what you'd ever need is stored on secure, community maintained servers. This means that almost all of your software is available for download, installation and update at the click of a button. This makes Linux not only very pleasant to use, but also more reliable and virus free than Mac which, being closed source, cannot keep its software on freely-available servers.

[Vyder]

There's no practical difference in performance and size between kde and gnome. The main difference for me is that gnome is "unconfigurable" to an insane extent. While in kde you can tweak almost anything.

by "tweak anything", do you mean like visible stuff or something else...coz right now[after installing ubuntu]...im trying to make it look really cool so that my friends can die of jealousy...(plus right now my comp boots faster than an iMac and this pimped out PC my friend has got...)...basically im loving my comp and cant wait to get going...

Qs:
1.How do i get to the "command line"?...ive read all these manuals that say type this or that in the command line and i cant even find it...loi...im feeling a bit stupid right now...

2. Ive also got WindowsXP running on the same comp (rest of my family needs something more human than Ubuntu...), and so xp that to load automatically. Ubuntu help said to go to the Bootloader admin app, but it doesnt seem to exist on my system...any idea where i can find it?

Thanks again,
Vyder =D

[Manchunian]

I don't use Gnome, or Kde for matter (superspeedy Fluxbox for me!) but to get to the terminal click on application in the bar at the top of the screen. then accessories. You'll see Terminal at the bottom of the pop up menu.
I'm not sure I understand your second question. Do you mean you'd like your computer to start up in Ubuntu rather than Windows as a default? If so, that happens in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. You need to change it so that xp is the first thing on the list. This can only be done as sudo. You might not have a clue what I'm talking about here, so I suggest you get the hang of some basic terminal commands first, like cp and rm and the difference between sudo and a normal-user.

[Vyder]

Thank you,

And all this while i was looking for Command Line...

I would like the computer to automatically start in xp, but it should prompt or something for a few seconds so that i can acess ubuntu when i use the computer...

[Manchunian]

It's easy to do, but you'll need a little explanation.
1) Open the terminal
2) Copy the following command and paste it in the terminal:

sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu_backup.lst

Enter your normal user password.

This is to make a back up of your existing file - just in case (always do this whenever you change a file in your system).

3) Paste the following command in the terminal:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Enter your normal user password.

4)Scroll down to the bottom of the file and find the five lines relating to xp. Cut them and move them to the top of the list.

For example, I don't use XP, but the process is the same. On my system, if I want my computer to start by default in the kernel 2.6.24, rather than 2.6.24.2, I change the file from this:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.24.2
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24.2 root=/dev/hda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24.2
savedefault

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.24.2 (single-user mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24.2 root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24.2
savedefault

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.24
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24 root=/dev/hda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24
savedefault

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.24 (single-user mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24 root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24
savedefault

To this:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.24
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24 root=/dev/hda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24
savedefault

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.24 (single-user mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24 root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24
savedefault

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.24.2
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24.2 root=/dev/hda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24.2
savedefault

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.24.2 (single-user mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24.2 root=/dev/hda1 ro sin8-)gle
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24.2
savedefault

Note, that you will only have one paragraph relating to XP, whereas I have two relating to my old kernel. This is normal, don't worry about that

Once you've made your changes, save the file and exit. Reboot the computer.

Note, if you have any problems whatsover, delete your new menu.lst file and replace it with the old one. This is the command (write this on a piece of paper EXACTLY as I do, or print it out. Be careful not to add any spaces where I haven't put them and not to make any spelling mistakes):

sudo rm /boot/grub/menu.lst
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu_backup.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst