Incredibly frustrated noob :-(

[mrpsychology]

Where did you hear this? This is totally untrue.

I was on teh phone with Novell customer service and they told me that up to a year i can get patches or updates. However, I was just trying to get information on how I coujld connecct to teh internet, so it may be only a partial of what he said since it was not fully what was asked. I asked him if 10.0 was the latest and he said that they may have released 10.1. why is it that it is so hard to get linux to use the internet?

[Dapper Dan]

Hi mrpsychology,

We can't know how to help you with your internet connection unless you give us some details. Why don't you start a new thread about this, and include as much info as you can about your setup. Are you using cable? Dsl? Are you running a router? Are you using wired or wireless connection to your SuSE box? What type of device? USB? Pci? What is the make, model and version of the device? Answer as much info as you can and I'm sure we can steer you in the right direction on how to get connected.

[mrpsychology]

Hi mrpsychology,

We can't know how to help you with your internet connection unless you give us some details. Why don't you start a new thread about this, and include as much info as you can about your setup. Are you using cable? Dsl? Are you running a router? Are you using wired or wireless connection to your SuSE box? What type of device? USB? Pci? What is the make, model and version of the device? Answer as much info as you can and I'm sure we can steer you in the right direction on how to get connected.

I have 'onboard lan' on my abit motherboard, it is a pci lan gigabit.
I have Verizon online DSL with Westell dual connect that has a NAT firewall.

[CodeRoot]

Ahem, I've just read the article "Linux is Not Windows" (http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm).

Here are a couple more good articles from oneandoneis2:

http://www.oneandoneis2.org/linux/wrongms.htm
http://www.oneandoneis2.org/linux/future.htm

[highslime]

Hah, that article about Windows vs. Linux was dead on. Anyhow, I've been using Debian Sarge for maybe 3 days now. It's taken me that entire time to figure out what sort of problem I've been having with my video drivers, and I'm still not satisfied, but at least with Vesa, I can get into KDE, so I'm happy for now. (The video problem lies with my ATI Radeon 9250. I've gotten the .run file from the ATI site, but still no luck, the Xserver log's last line says Fatal Error: No Screens Found). I was told on IRC the other morning that I might be better off upgrading to Debian Etch, because supposedly it does a better job of hardware detection. But I digress.

I've been using computers since I was about 11 or so, and I'm 28 now. My introduction to computers consisted of DOS 4.0? thru 6.1. Learning the DOS commands, and how to do pretty much whatever I wanted has sorta helped me with learning the console commands. In a few ways I'm thankful that I'm having video card issues, because I wouldn't have learned what I have otherwise.

Another rant: Browsing Linux.org for the distro list, I came across Ubuntu. The description sounded great, the screenshots looked pretty, and it detected ALL of my hardware without a hitch. The problem I ran into is that firstly, the root account is disabled, so I was forced to sudo pretty much everything. Then, in my zeal to upgrade the incredibly slow Firefox 1.04(after carefully following an ubuntu how-to) to the 1.5 version, I managed to lose Firefox altogether. That was enough for me, so I reformatted and started over.

A friend of mine that runs SuSe suggested I try it, but in my scouring the net, it seems that SuSe is no longer free. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but he said SuSe 9.3 should have been free still(or whatever), but it came on 3cd's. Unfortunately I was limited to 3 cd's left as it was(and I couldn't find suse 9.3 anywhere), I talked to some friends over the net who suggested Debian.

Thus far, my Linux experience has been rather trying at times, but overall it's been rewarding. I'd tell just about anyone to try and migrate to Linux if it was feasible, but only under the condition that they keep their patience.

[Dapper Dan]

mrpsychology, from the command line as root, please do:

/sbin/lspci

Look for the line that concerns your internet hardware. Copy it down and post it here. Then maybe we can figure out a way to get you connected.

[43_63]

Hello Everyone!
I'm going to look into Linux Systems. I don't know anything about Linux, yet. It is so interesting, that I've just got to do some snooping. After investigating, a commenting post may be made later.

Thanks and God Bless,
43_63

[techwatcher]

I just wish I could find one complete manual for Linux. Used to write technical documentation, so maybe I'm weird, but it's so much easier (for me) to read a manual that starts at the beginning and has some structure to it, than to read bits and pieces from all over. Nothing hangs together yet.

Navigating directories and file permissions aren't a problem for me, and I prefer command lines, but there are so many terms people here throw around that have NO meaning for me. It only took me about 3 days of part-time questioning to learn my way around a VM environment some years ago (when I was consulting), but I fear it's going to take months before I'll have even a basic understanding of Linux, without some coherent introduction. In fact, after I switch this new XP box for a used Linux box tomorrow, I doubt I'll even be able to get online to search for answers. So long....

[Dapper Dan]

Don't put yourself in a position where you can't get on the net! Having an Internet connection is vital to solving problems and seeking the answers you'll be looking for. If you prefer the command line you'll love Linux. Just remember that all your prior computer experience isn't going to help very much with your new endeavor. Be patient, take it step by step and soon things will begin to make sense. If an idiot like me can learn and understand Linux then you should be able to. The key is not to give up. Stay the course!

Try this link out for a little help.

[ImNeat]

Hah, that article about Windows vs. Linux was dead on. Anyhow, I've been using Debian Sarge for maybe 3 days now. It's taken me that entire time to figure out what sort of problem I've been having with my video drivers, and I'm still not satisfied, but at least with Vesa, I can get into KDE, so I'm happy for now. (The video problem lies with my ATI Radeon 9250. I've gotten the .run file from the ATI site, but still no luck, the Xserver log's last line says Fatal Error: No Screens Found). I was told on IRC the other morning that I might be better off upgrading to Debian Etch, because supposedly it does a better job of hardware detection. But I digress.

I've been using computers since I was about 11 or so, and I'm 28 now. My introduction to computers consisted of DOS 4.0? thru 6.1. Learning the DOS commands, and how to do pretty much whatever I wanted has sorta helped me with learning the console commands. In a few ways I'm thankful that I'm having video card issues, because I wouldn't have learned what I have otherwise.

Another rant: Browsing Linux.org for the distro list, I came across Ubuntu. The description sounded great, the screenshots looked pretty, and it detected ALL of my hardware without a hitch. The problem I ran into is that firstly, the root account is disabled, so I was forced to sudo pretty much everything. Then, in my zeal to upgrade the incredibly slow Firefox 1.04(after carefully following an ubuntu how-to) to the 1.5 version, I managed to lose Firefox altogether. That was enough for me, so I reformatted and started over.

A friend of mine that runs SuSe suggested I try it, but in my scouring the net, it seems that SuSe is no longer free. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but he said SuSe 9.3 should have been free still(or whatever), but it came on 3cd's. Unfortunately I was limited to 3 cd's left as it was(and I couldn't find suse 9.3 anywhere), I talked to some friends over the net who suggested Debian.

Thus far, my Linux experience has been rather trying at times, but overall it's been rewarding. I'd tell just about anyone to try and migrate to Linux if it was feasible, but only under the condition that they keep their patience.

Glad to hear you're having a rewarding experience - sounds like you have a great head on your shoulders about this linux thing, that's awesome. I havn't tried Debian myself - but I did at different points in time run both ubuntu and suse. Ubuntu should have installed an update-manager that would have taken care of the firefox update without much interaction or problem. I'm surprised to hear you were faced by a difficult upgrade. Also - when using ubuntu I grew quite accustomed to sudo, and actually quite liked it. It is, though, possible to enable a root account if one desires. As far as suse goes - suse is not free, but opensuse is. You can check it out at www.opensuse.org. I believe the current version is 10.1. It's a great distro to learn on - only thing I didn't like too much was its manager yast. Keep up the good work and keep having fun =)