User Feedback :: I'm New....Can you help!



Hi guys,

I'm brand new to Linux, I wanted to boost the performance of my old laptop and XP was hogging my CPU so I turned to DSL. I am impressed with the package but I am stuck with some of the basics.

Can someone explain what a "superuser" is and how the hell I become one? I'm trying to unmount my CDROM but its telling me I need to be a Superuser.

I REALLY need to install OpenOffice but I am completely stuck. I have no internet connection under Linux so I am installing from a CD. I downloaded the tar.gz file on my Windows desktop and copied it to a CD-R. What do I do now?

I am a very advanced Windows user but Linux is new to me. If possible, could you explain this as if you were explaining it to a four year old? :D

Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Raydar.
Superuser is commonly known as "root".  It is the standard administrator account in unix-like systems.  To become root in DSL use the command "sudo su".

The regular user (dsl) has permission to mount and umount drives in DSL, so you should not need to be root to umount unless the disk was mounted as root.  In your case, I think you cannot umount the cdrom even as root, because it is in use...I'm assuming you are running DSL from the CD.  In order to use your cdrom drive, you should either boot with the "dsl toram" boot option, which will use an additional 50mb of memory, or install DSL to your harddrive.

What tar.gz file are you talking about?  If you got it from the openoffice website you will have quite a time installing it on DSL.  It would be much easier to use a mydsl extension.

Please read the "getting started" page that opens when you start the graphical environment, and take a few minutes to check out the DSL wiki.  This will answer a lot of the common new-user questions.
The superuser is the main administrator in any unix environment and it is the user root.  You can run commands as the super user simply by opening a terminal (the Aterminal icon on the desktop) and type the word sudo before any command.

sudo umount /cdrom

To unmount the cdrom though all you need to do is right click on the emlfm icon and select Emlfm as Super User and this will open emlfm as the super user.  In the right pane you should see all the files/directories in the / directory (top of the filesystem).  Right click on the cdrom on choose to unmount.

To install a mydsl app from CD simply insert the CD and mount it (you can use emlfm as the super user as described above for this just choose mount from the right click once emlfm is open).  Then click on the MyDsl Browser on the desktop (alternatively right click on desktop choose Net->MyDSL Browser).  When the mydsl browser opens select Load Local MyDSL Extension at the bottom.  You cna then navigate to /cdrom and choose the extension you would like to load.  When it is done right click on desktop and choose MyDSL->OpenOffice (I am assuming that is what it would be called since I haven't installed it, but it would be in that menu whatever it's name is).

If you are running from livecd or frugal install when you reboot you will need to reload the mydsl app again (you can automate this and that info is covered in the wiki and in the forums).  If you are running from a traditional HD install the mydsl app will be premenantly installed.

When you say that you have no internet conection under Linux what exactly do you mean?  If you are using a regular network card or modem this should not be a problem.  If you have a wireless network card there have been many discussions about that.

I know with my laptop DSL recoginzed pcmcia cards that I could not get working under windows.  Right click on the desktop and choose System->System Stats to open the Sytem info tool.  There is a hardware tab that should list your network card.  Right click on desktop and choose Setup->Net Setup which will open a submenu where you can choose regular network config, Dialup config, wireless config, etc...  If you are not sure which to use just let us know what kind of connection you have.
try apps, tools, emilfm, emilfm as a superuser and my dsl extension browser..when you get connected :)

original here.