A Dark Art?

[paulnrhodes]

I've just started my new life as a Linux user (Mint and cannot for the life of me get to grips with loading anything other than the OS, and the applications which came with it. All I want is a wireless connection and a copy of Adobe Reader. That can't be much to ask, can it?

[GNU-Fan]

Either you get the Acrobat reader directly from Adobe or you install a free software reader like Evince or KPDF with Mint's package manager.

[paulnrhodes]

I've downloaded the file from adobe's site, I just can't work out how to install it.

[arochester]

Wifi - MintWifi - Linux Mint

Adobe Reader - Software Portal - Linux Mint ...Click on install now

[GNU-Fan]

But be careful. As of yesterday, there seems to be security relevant bugs in the current versions of that software.
Serving insecure software - Blog - Blog & News - Company

[paulnrhodes]

That was a whole lot easier than trying to load drivers for a USB Wi-Fi Dongle!

[reed9]

Er, if you used the link provided above, I'm a little surprised it installed at all. That link was for a very very old Mint 3.1 package. You're running Mint 8, so you want the Helena stuff.
Software Portal - Linux Mint

[paulnrhodes]

I jumped the gun. It didn't work at all.

[tuxr99]

Mint comes with a pdf reader. Just open a pdf file and read it.

And no, it's not a dark art, just different than windows or mac. Give it time and patience, and it will make sense someday.

[reed9]

I think the larger point is to get the poster comfortable and familiar with the various ways of installing and managing software on his system.