New to Linux

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: New to Linux
started by: wireframewolf

Posted by wireframewolf on Aug. 15 2005,01:48

Hey all. You can probably tell by my topic title what this one is about, but I hope i'm not just wasting your time. Anyways, I'm a long time Windows user who recently decided to drop the MS and try a different operating system, and DSL looked like a fun thing to use. Unfortunately, my only Linux experience is a little with arch-linux, where the built in package manager took care of most things. So now I'm kind of stuck, unsure of what to do and seeking guidance.

I'm mostly looking for ways to play MP3s, build software in C/C++, browse the net, and play around with networking (which is what I plan to go to school for).

The first thing I tried was to play MP3s I have gotten off of a CD. I succesfully got them onto my hard drive, but trying to open them with XMMS yields only errors which I will guess are related to drivers. Also, I want to put gaim on my computer, but the downloads I found had the .rpm extension (which I'm guessing is also a package manager thing, but I'm not sure.)

Anyway, if anyone could point me in the right direction (heck, maybe we can discuss over Gaim if I ever get the thing working) I would much appreciate it. And hopefully I won't be a total newbie for too long.

-wireframewolf

Posted by ke4nt1 on Aug. 15 2005,02:05

Welcome to DSL.

You will find a lot of helpful people, notes, and experiences
documented within the different areas of DSL ..

DSL is a great starter distro for exploring the inner workings of linux,
without being overwhelmed by gigs and gigs of data in endless directories ..

DSL also has it's own extension system, similar to .rpm or .deb ..
The repository is located here..
< http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/damnsmall/mydsl/ >
It is full of easy-to-use addons for your DSL system.

Remember, this is a 50MB distro.
There are some things removed for size reasons,
when not required by the apps included in the original 50MB's .

The copy of gaim we have here is a recent gtk2 build.
Consequently, it is not as ram friendly as the older gtk1 versions were.
You will need two files, gtk2-0705.dsl , and gaim-gtk2-1.3.1.dsl
Use the myDSL icon on your desktop to get them.
They are in the "gtk2" section .

First, install the gtk2-0705.dsl by selecting it, and choosing download.
...downloading to /tmp is fine for now...

Then use the right click desktop menu, and select "Update to GTK2" ..

Next , grab the gaim-gtk2-1.3.1.dsl file in the same manner as the first file.

Again, after it installs , select it from the right click desktop menu,
or optionally use the desktop icon to start it.

That has gaim up and running..

Practice using a liveCD first, as you can do no harm by making mistakes.
Simply reboot to startup nice & fresh again.
Once the liveCD practices of using backups and installing apps becomes
familiar, consider upgrading to a more persistant install like a frugal type.

If you will share with us more info on your soundcard type/chiptype ,
we can assist you with that as well. Gotta have MP3's, and sound in games!!

73
ke4nt

Posted by wireframewolf on Aug. 15 2005,05:32

Thanks for help installing Gaim. I guess the GTK libraries are a standard thing for a lot of Linux apps?

Anyways, my sound card is an Audigy LS right now, though I'm building myself a mini-itx computer soon, so it's going to use that chipset. In the mean-time, I know that the sounds driver options are ALSA and OSS, but I don't really know anything about setting them up or getting them to work.

Actually, there are a few apps already on here that I know I'll never use, which I could get rid of to help stay consistant with size. Where can I see a list of what's installed, and manage my apps?

Posted by mikshaw on Aug. 15 2005,14:12

Some of the programs are Debian packages and can be removed once you have installed the dsl-dpkg.dsl extension.
< http://damnsmalllinux.org/packages.html >

Programs not listed there were installed by other means and will need to be removed manually. If you do this, I recommend keeping everything that is not inside /usr unless you really know what you're doing.