Newbie (n00b) 101 -- A place to start

[ZabiGG]

After tearing my hair off with Vista for months (I bought a new computer, but they wouldn't let me have the OS of my choice), due to the fact that networking with my old PC and installing the software I need for work on a daily basis was sometimes a pain, sometimes not secure, and sometimes plainly impossible, I decided to give Linux a try.

The most popular choice appeared to be Ubuntu, so I leaped and did a dual install, keeping Vista for graphics-heavy games.

And I'm hooked. Haven't booted Vista once since, except to strip it down from the loads of junk that I have no longer any use for on my hard drive.

But this foray in the Ubuntu/Linux universe took A LOT of research (weeks, actually). Don't misinterpret me -- there is information aplenty out there...

... just TOO much to take in -- and no "one-stop starting place" for a poor newbie.

For instance, I wasted hours on end learning the basics of EMacs (a great tool, but very complex) when all I actually needed were the terminal commands (another beast entirely). I wouldn't have wasted days either trying to set up a chroot for 32-bit programs on my 64-bit system, because I would have known that they were compatible in Hardy without too much fuss.


So here's a place to start.

If this can help any other n00bs LOVE their new system as much as I do, here's my Ultimate n00b reference list. If such a list had existed when I first logged in to the Absolute Beginners section of this site, I would have saved days of research (and probably a lot of forum users from having to answer basic questions they had probably already answered a thousand times). So I hope it helps!

Here are what I've personally found to be the Ultimate Useful Threads and Links for the Ultimate n00b:

This forum 101
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=726219
The basics of this forum... beans and all!
new: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4995872&postcount=55
Forum sections demystified
new: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=796449
Newbie 101 Part 2: How to search this forum and get the best possible help

Distro 101
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=709685
A short and clear explanation of the difference between distro families
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution
More details about distros

Linux 101
http://www.linux-tutorial.info/
What is linux? What is a kernel? How does it work? How does it relate to Ubuntu?

Ubuntu 101
new: http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Hardy (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/)
Great guide to Hardy Heron. Very complete
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/
All there is to know about Ubuntu
http://www.appscout.com/2007/08/ubuntu_beyond_the_terminal_1.php
Great general introductory article for people who are unsure about Ubuntu
new: http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfec...ts-hardy-heron (http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-ubuntu-8.04-lts-hardy-heron)
Want to set up the perfect desktop? It's right there

Hardy 101
http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com/2008/04/faq-hardy-upgrade.html
Tips and tricks specific to Hardy Heron

EDIT May 16
Dual install 101
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/
Clear, accessible and illustrated guide

Documentation 101
https://help.ubuntu.com/
Official Ubuntu documentation site, but you need to understand the jargon and how everything works before diving into this one

Terminal (and shell -- your actual OS) 101
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=73885
A great intro to all things terminal
http://www.linuxcommand.org/index.php
Explains HOW your system works so you actually understand all of those weird command lines experienced forum users like so much

Ubuntu install and how-to 101
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=706813
A great sticky with much, much useful basic information
Ubuntu Installation from the Community Help Wiki
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation
Another great source for install 101

Tutorials and tips 101
http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=100
A convenient forum section well hidden under everything else

Typing codes 101
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ComposeKey
An alternative for heavy keyboard users used to working with ALT (and Unicode) codes instead of having to copy/paste with the mouse from the character map
http://www.hermit.org/Linux/ComposeKeys.html
List of compose key sequences

Applications 101
http://linuxappfinder.com/all
Available applications for your linux system, along with descriptions and links
http://www.monkeyblog.org/ubuntu/installing/#enabling_extra_repositories
How to install anything in Ubuntu
new: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=781352
A thoroughly complete application installation guide

Latest applications 101
http://www.getdeb.net/
You heard it first, Newbies. Now use them!

Various sound, video, wireless issues and problems (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=820667), and more!

EDIT May 15: By the way, you will encounter the following expressions a lot. This explanation is nice and short. There is more detailed information about these "supercommands" in the generous links above


Sudo- "superuser-do" for administrative/root priviledges. Use for commands and applications that run in a command line interface only.

Gksu- "graphical sudo" for commands and applications that launch a GUI from the terminal. Makes sure you don't mess up file privileges with a graphical application in superuser mode.

the equivalent of Gksu if you are using a KDE look-and-feel option is kdesu

Added May 14, 2008

Specially contributed section
Credit, where credit is due

I'm lucky enough to have very helpful eminent readers ;) From now on, new links proposed will be quoted here.



Guide to Forum Features
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=726219
Thanking, beans, titles, searching, and more. Plus another thread by aysiu to post more if you think it needs it.

Ubuntu Installation from the Community Help Wiki
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation
Community maintained page, full of tons of information useful when installing.


Another very useful site.
http://www.getdeb.net/
Although a lot of apps are aleady in the repos


For searching I recommend http://crunchbang.org/ubuntu-search-engine/
A custom Google Search Engine providing results from Ubuntu related sites


woohoo, I made the list!
Yup. It's up there, somewhere :p

EDIT, May 17 -- And the list of contributed links continues here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4980798&postcount=49). Don't forget to check it too!

Many, many thanks to all of the great people who took the time to create such useful documentation. This n00b keeps going back to learn more! And the links keep growing. You guys are awesome (gush, I have reverted back to my teenage years?)

Now, if I could only find open source equivalents to SDLX (professional CAT software with translation memories and termbases) and Antidote, I'd be in heaven! ;)

Cheers,

ZabiGG

[Pushkaraj2020]

Thanks Sir! This really helps. I am totally new to Linux. And I have heard lot of bad things about Vista. I would definitly like to switch to Linux. thanks for giving me a direction.

[ZabiGG]

My pleasure...

And I prefer Ma'am, BTW ;)

Happy reading! I'm sure enjoying mine... hehehe

Currently reading this greatly informative hands-on:

http://tille.garrels.be/training/tldp/index.html

[TomDaBomb2u]

Wow. This is fantastic! Thanks! :-)

[Malta paul]

Hi, Glad to hear you are enjoying Ubuntu, Ref Linux CAT you may like to take a look at:
http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/MegaBBS/thread-view.asp?threadid=8756&posts=2
Have fun:)

[SlappyPappy]

Thank you madame, nice linkies.

BTW if you're getting stumped and have spent over 7 minutes trying to figure out why, post a Q here and people will get back to you pretty quickly if it's a simple answer to fulfill the question.

I've done something similar to what you were doing, trying to figure out VirtualBox. I spent about a day and then finally posted a question, got a quick response and I was on my way. It's cool working hard to figure some of this stuff out but if a quick Q is all it takes, by all means ask it here!

Enjoy! :popcorn:

[H.Callahan]

Bookmarked!

Thanks!

[philinux]

Another very useful site.

http://www.getdeb.net/

Although a lot of apps are aleady in the repos

[ZabiGG]

Wow, thank you all so much for your input! And keep those links coming, I'm sure all newbies will appreciate them as much as I do ;)

Special thanks for the translator's cafe link. I'll dive into it as soon as I finish my current read.

Cheers,

ZabiGG

[ZabiGG]

BTW if you're getting stumped and have spent over 7 minutes trying to figure out why, post a Q here and people will get back to you pretty quickly if it's a simple answer to fulfill the question.

I know ;)

But I'm just a geek at heart -- although not yet very linux savvy -- and I figure knowledge is power.

I do hope there are still a few people like me who enjoy knowing instead of just copying (lol)

Happy day to you!

ZabiGG

[ZabiGG]

Oh, and another thing I forgot!

Regular users expect the threads to be tagged [SOLVED] when our questions are answered.

And it's a good habit to adopt so that people willing to help can focus on unsolved issues first.

Easily done.

- Go back to your first message
- Right on top there's a link: Thread tools
- Click and choose Mark thread solved

Cheers,

ZabiGG

[ZabiGG]

JDong issues a number of warnings in this very informative link.

Pay heed, all newbies!

http://ubuntuforums.org/announcement.php?f=326

[JoshuaRL]

Nice thread. I'm subscribed, and I'll keep it handy. Got a couple more for you too.

Guide to Forum Features
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=726219
Thanking, beans, titles, searching, and more. Plus another thread by aysiu to post more if you think it needs it.

Ubuntu Installation from the Community Help Wiki
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation
Community maintained page, full of tons of information useful when installing.

[ZabiGG]

Great! The more, the better :)

Now, I think I'm gonna start a tag glossary. Whaddaya say?

Jargon is great, but...

GUI = graphic user interface (Gnome)
CLI = command line interface (Terminal)
Output = a "printout" (or paste) of something
"print" = often refers to simple graphic output as opposed to paper output
RMS = Richard M. Stallman (creator of the EMacs editor)
Bash = scripting commands (in short, for us former? Windows users, macros)

Anyone who can tell me what IMO is gets tag -- and adds a few common abbreviations and words to the list

... Pretty please?

:P

ZabiGG

[JoshuaRL]

IMO - In my opinion.
IMHO - In my humble opinion.
BASH - Bourne Again SHell. A specific type of shell prompt that Ubuntu uses.
GRUB - GRand Unified Bootloader. All hail.

[alzie]

For searching I recommend http://crunchbang.org/ubuntu-search-engine/
A custom Google Search Engine providing results from Ubuntu related sites

And for tutorials http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/

[macogw]

woohoo, I made the list!

[billgoldberg]

Great! The more, the better :)

Now, I think I'm gonna start a tag glossary. Whaddaya say?

Jargon is great, but...

GUI = graphic user interface (Gnome)
CLI = command line interface (Terminal)
Output = a "printout" (or paste) of something
"print" = often refers to simple graphic output as opposed to paper output
RMS = Richard M. Stallman (creator of the EMacs editor)
Bash = scripting commands (in short, for us former? Windows users, macros)

Anyone who can tell me what IMO is gets tag -- and adds a few common abbreviations and words to the list

... Pretty please?

:P

ZabiGG

Gnu (as in gnu/linux) = Gnu is not unix
Wine = Wine is not an emulator

haha, I love those.

And for the newbie website list, I shamelessly suggest my blog (link in signature).

[ZabiGG]

Gosh :oops:

I am humbled by your eagerness to help our newbie tribe!

Keep up the good work. The psychocats link was already in there, and I'll correct the initial post a bit later to add the new stuff too. Love ya guys!

Now, we need advice for helpful desktop tool links... to demystify desklets, themes, background, splash pages and such.

And keep the tag rolling on that glossary! Anything useful you can think of for a newbie is welcome.

I'll compile it into a neat glossary thread when I have enough to work with.

Later :)

ZabiGG

[ZabiGG]

BTW, the tag concept keeps the thread recent, so more people who need help see it right away instead of having to sift through hundreds of posts ;)

Your help, advice and suggestions are all much appreciated!

:KS

[phr0ze]

May I suggest Stiki and Wiki. Good stuff.

[ZabiGG]

And I shall comply:

Sticky -- A permanent post that includes important basic information
Wiki -- A mini encyclopedia on a given subject (think wikipedia) ;)

Suivant, next! ...

[ZabiGG]

I was recently kindly shown the error of my newbie ways, but for a good cause. So I'm adding this to the newbie literacy advocacy topic ;) (j/k -- I'm really not that pompous)


sudo - gksudo - kdesu

The three are superuser (sometimes called Root, which is a tad confusing in light of the fact that your system also has a root), or administrator commands.

They are used to change settings and modify files that only the administrator is supposed to access.

Confused about which to use and when? Me too (lol)

This link provides a great rationale to help you preserve the safety and integrity of your system.

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/graphicalsudo


A quick primer before you read this:

- a graphical application is an application with menus and icons that your mouse has a field day in (leaving your keyboard all sad).

- gedit and nano are "editors" - applications used to modify textual system information (i.e. parameters, settings, configuration) or any form of text for that matter

- ICE authority - "The iceauth program is used to edit and display the authorization information used in connecting with ICE. This program is usually used to extract authorization records from one machine and merge them in on another" (copied from http://linux.die.net/man/1/iceauth)

- root privileges - administrator rights to modify system-critical files

Tag, anyone?

Cheers,

ZabiGG

[billgoldberg]

I was recently kindly shown the error of my newbie ways, but for a good cause. So I'm adding this to the newbie literacy advocacy topic ;) (j/k -- I'm really not that pompous)


sudo - gksudo - kdesu

The three are superuser (sometimes called Root, which is a tad confusing in light of the fact that your system also has a root), or administrator commands.

They are used to change settings and modify files that only the administrator is supposed to access.

Confused about which to use and when? Me too (lol)

This link provides a great rationale to help you preserve the safety and integrity of your system.

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/graphicalsudo


A quick primer before you read this:

- a graphical application is an application with menus and icons that your mouse has a field day in (leaving your keyboard all sad).

- gedit and nano are "editors" - applications used to modify textual system information

- ICE authority - "The iceauth program is used to edit and display the authorization information used in connecting with ICE. This program is usually used to extract authorization records from one machine and merge them in on another" (copied from http://linux.die.net/man/1/iceauth)

- root privileges - administrator rights to modify system-critical files

Tag, anyone?

Cheers,

ZabiGG

It's easy to decide when you should use sudo or gksudo

gksudo: for graphical applications (like gksudo nautilus to open nautilus as root).
sudo: for use inside the terminal (or launching a file with gedit or something).

note: you can use sudo instead of gksudo 99% of the time without problems.

[RequinB4]

Install ANYTHING in Ubuntu! (http://monkeyblog.org/ubuntu/installing/)

New Users: Problems with the transition? Linux is not Windows (http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm)

Getting the Best help on ubuntu forums (http://ubuntucat.wordpress.com/2007/08/06/getting-the-best-help-on-linux-forums/)

An explanation of sudo and root (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RootSudo)

[ZabiGG]

Did I forget to say you people are LOVELY?

I guess I'm gonna have to continue compiling links individually from the main post due to space restrictions. I'll probably get a chance to do so tonight for the new contributions...

Stay tuned!

And keep those posts coming ... (must be getting senile in my old age -- redundancy is a sign, right???)

ZabiGG

[SanjoEel]

Free Linux books (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=484846)

[ZabiGG]

Thanks Jason ;)

Another tip (I've seen it in a lot of places already, but it's worth repeating):

The best way to get an answer fast is to post your problem in the appropriate forum support section.

Desktop effects problem? Post in Desktop effects :)
Networking problem? Networking and Wireless sounds good.

Just mention you're a newbie and would like easy-to-follow instructions. The great people here will help you!

Tame the Main Support Categories, fellow newbies... They are your friends!

Go with the wind! (lol)

Z.

[JoshuaRL]

It's easy to decide when you should use sudo or gksudo

gksudo: for graphical applications (like gksudo nautilus to open nautilus as root).
sudo: for use inside the terminal (or launching a file with gedit or something).

note: you can use sudo instead of gksudo 99% of the time without problems.

I would make that a little clearer.

sudo: for commands or applications that run in the terminal
gksu(gksudo): for commands or applications that run with a GUI

For instance, if you need to edit a file:


gksu gedit /path/to/the/file/filename

is correct, while sudo wouldn't be there. Why? Gedit is graphical.

Also, when someone asks you to post a big file or output, be kind to the forums and use
UBUNTU PASTEBIN
http://paste.ubuntu.com/
Just paste the address here, we can go look at your code there.

And if you're having video card problems, someone may want to take a look at your "xorg.conf". That is a human-readable configuration file for the desktop application. The first command below is to open it, the second is to edit it if necessary:


gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
gksu gedit /etc/X11.xorg.conf

[Bodsda]

I thought i'd just post a description of names

Repository or repo's as its also known is basically a big box of toys, or rather lots of box's of toys.

sources or sources.list is the map to your box's of toys, they tell the computer where to go and find your toys.

Synaptic or Synaptic Package Manager or SPM is your interactive program for picking which toys you want.

Terminal is the command line from which you can weild emmense power mwahahaha!!!

irc - Internet Relay Chat or It's Really Cool and a great place to find help is #ubuntu or #ubuntuforums-beginners on irc.freenode.net (ubuntu servers form the list on xchat)

Xchat an irc program. Quite popular

Hope this helps

;~)

[ZabiGG]

Joshua,

Are you available to draft up a "clear and definitive" three liner that I could quote as "canonical" in the main thread?

There is a lot of confusion on this subject, and we're diving in too deep in technospeak for a newbie-focussed informational thread.

Simple and clear, and I'll make sure to point everyone in the right direction ;)


Thanks in advance,

And mea culpa for opening that can of worms... ;)

Z.

[viswanathan]

well this site wld help any1 new coz they can find almost all the books releated to whatever they r searching :-)


www.flazx.com

[ZabiGG]

Also, when someone asks you to post a big file or output, be kind to the forums and use
UBUNTU PASTEBIN
http://paste.ubuntu.com/
Just paste the address here, we can go look at your code there.

I felt this one needed to stand out :)

[ZabiGG]

well this site wld help any1 new coz they can find almost all the books releated to whatever they r searching :-)


www.flazx.com (http://www.flazx.com)

I'll look it up, thanks!

Very wise words in your signature.

;)

The infamous and terrible Z.

[SteveNorman]

These helped me with the command line

http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/

followed by:

http://steve-parker.org/sh/sh.shtml

both are current and hands on..

[ZabiGG]

You've made me a happy newbie ;)

I want more!

:KS


Z.

[hufferd]

Wow looks like lots of good information here - thanks for this post !

[Achetar]

Great thread! Would've saved me a ton of time convincing my dad to let me install it on my laptop. I was hooked after reading a couple Wikipedia articles. (A guy my dad did some work for recommended Linux to me for my programming forays)

[ZabiGG]

Thanks! Call it the blind leading the blind ;) But I'm learning! I hope you are too...

[JoshuaRL]

Joshua,

Are you available to draft up a "clear and definitive" three liner that I could quote as "canonical" in the main thread?

There is a lot of confusion on this subject, and we're diving in too deep in technospeak for a newbie-focussed informational thread.

Simple and clear, and I'll make sure to point everyone in the right direction ;)


Thanks in advance,

And mea culpa for opening that can of worms... ;)

Z.

You mean about the difference between sudo and gksu?

Sudo- "superuser-do" for administrative/root priviledges. Use for commands and applications that run in a command line interface only.

Gksu- "graphical sudo" for commands and applications that launch a GUI from the terminal. Makes sure you don't mess up file privileges with a graphical application in superuser mode.

[ZabiGG]

Hey everyone =o)

Working on Newbie (n00b) 101 Part 2 -- Getting help

Stay tuned!

EDIT June 5: Just click on "Get help" in my signature below to access it.

[SteveNorman]

This is a cool way to have your system info printed as a html file that you can open with firefox. This is very helpful if you have a configuration issue. Its also a great way to see how input/output redirection is used


sudo lshw

to save this as a printable html file do this:

sudo lshw -html > name_of_file.html

where name_of_file is whatever name you give it.

open firefox, hit:

file
open file
name_of_file.html

and you will have a printable easy to read view of your system info. This has helped solve some issues for me getting into linux, hope it helps.

[ZabiGG]

Great help, thanks!

Care to explain what input/output redirection is, and what it is used (convenient) for? :P

This newbie would love to know!

Z.

[SteveNorman]

Some terminal commands generate output, such as the ls command. You may decide you want to save the output to a file either to print on paper, to send to someone or just have a record of what you where up to at a certain point in time. You would use output redirection to accomplish this. Typing ls gives you the output on the screen. using redirection you can send the output to a file that can be viewed later, versus just having it for the moment on the screen.

I had problems with my GUI and my sound when I first loaded Ubuntu. I needed the output of lshw to help me configure things. Had I printed my results prior to any problems and stored a hard copy I would have had an easier time getting things done. Thats what sudo lshw output redirected to an html file allows you to do. There are other ways to do it,,screenshots etc. But this is a good way to learn the concept of redirection in a practical setting. It cant harm your system since it is only redirects the output for that instance of the command. in other words, typing sudo lshw after you have redirected it earlier will still give you output on the screen.

If you do tutorials on linux/unix you will see sections on input/output redirection.

When I was going through the tutorials on the command line I found input output redirection confusing. This was because I didnt understand what the point was. This exercise gave me a practical example to help understand the concept of redirection.


In this case,,you are getting the output of the command lshw to go into an html file that you can view and print.

so the command:
sudo lshw
prints system information to the screen

-adding the "-html" option tells it to print the output in html format.
-adding the > symbol tells the computer to send (redirect)the output of the command to a file instead of the screen.
-adding "name_of_file.html" tells the computer where to send the output.

Try it and see!

Try it as sudo lshw
and then again with the output redirected.

[viswanathan]

I'll look it up, thanks!

Very wise words in your signature.

;)

The infamous and terrible Z.

thanx and little tip well the best way helping a newbie is to hook him up to any irc { well channel #ubuntu is damn good } coz all they new users need is instant answers :-) . when i started up with ubuntu i didnt know about irc which made me to work more hard on getting any of my problem solved . if any 1 r interested #ubuntu channel is on server irc.freenode.net and ubott there is really helpful :KS

and g8 work madam zabigg that u r doing this keep this post alive

[ZabiGG]

Thank you very much viswanathan ;)

there are more details on the IRC channels in the Thread titled Newbie (n00b) 101 Pt. 2 -- Getting help.

The link is in my signature below.

Cheers all

:KS

[toolzb]

can we please have this stickied, im new to linux and this helped me greatly

[ZabiGG]

Toolz, that's very kind ;)

... But there are already a lot of stickies here, and that might be overkill.

Cheers,

ZabiGG

[ZabiGG]

Another series of useful links starts here...



And for the newbie website list, I shamelessly suggest my blog.

Done ;)

http://linuxowns.wordpress.com/



New Users: Problems with the transition? Linux is not Windows (http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm)
An explanation of sudo and root (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RootSudo)

Thanks, that first link is very nice!


Free Linux books (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=484846)

This one is great but slipped under my radar... TY SanJo :)

Check out cool post-installation customizations and tips by pterosky here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5028119) :KS


These helped me with the command line
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/
followed by:
http://steve-parker.org/sh/sh.shtml
both are current and hands on..

Again, Steve, you're an angel.

[SteveNorman]

Id like to see it stickied since it is so recent

[ZabiGG]

Edits on the main post and on p.5... Cheers ;)

Z.

[nowin4me]

Id like to see it stickied since it is so recent

I am anther beginner and would also like to see this sticked.

[JKyleOKC]

Here's a little more about redirection (maybe more than you wanted to know):

In Unix, and thus in Linux, just about everything gets treated as a file. That is, your monitor, your keyboard, your printer, and the files on your disk, all these look the same to the system (although some of them provide only input, some only handle output, and some do both). This greatly simplifies a lot of other stuff inside the system, and even Windows adopted much of this strategy as of Version 2.0 more than 18 years ago.

When you launch a program (or process, as it's known inside the system), two such files are created automagically: STDIN and STDOUT (actually there's a third one called STDERR but I'll ignore it for now). STDIN is automatically connected to your keyboard and STDOUT to your monitor, giving you the normal operation you expect.

However the command interpreter or shell recognizes several special characters in the command line that can modify the connections of STDIN and STDOUT. These are the redirection and piping operators. The ">" operator changes the connection of STDOUT while the "<" operates on the STDIN connection. This lets you take input from a text file into some program, and feed the output of that program to your printer.

When the ">" goes to a named conventional file, it first erases that file if it exists, then creates it anew. Sometimes, though, you'll want to add to the existing content instead of replacing it. Then you use the ">>" operator instead.

Piping is a powerful use of the redirection capability; you can place the pipe operator "|" between two program names, and the STDOUT from the leftmost program will connect to STDIN of the other. It's the same result you would get by using ">" and "<" to route the data through a temporary intermediate file, but works more simply behind the scenes.

Keep in mind that all these are features of the shell you are using rather than of Linux itself, so there could be minor variations in usage from one shell to another. However most of us are using the default "bash" shell, which is what I've based this description on.

[ZabiGG]

Wow! Great essay JKyleOKC!

Thank you very much for this informative post :)

:popcorn:

[ZabiGG]

A quick quirp to demystify the forum sections to help you decide where to post your questions.

- Absolute Beginner Talk (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=326): a place to get basic help for absolute newbies
- General Help (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=331): when you have no idea what topic your question relates to, post it here
- Apple Users (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=328): if you come from Mac OS and need pointers
- Multimedia & Video (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=334): music and video application experts are here
- Sun Sparc Users (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=340): if you come from Sun and need pointers
- x86 64-bit Users (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=343): if you have problems related directly to the 64-bit architecture
- Desktop Environments (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=329): questions about Gnome, KDE, Xfce and so on
- Hardware & Laptops (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=332): video and sound cards, printers, devices, laptops
- Multimedia Production (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=335): sound and video editing applications and tips
- Security Discussions (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=338): questions on how to ensure the safety of your system
- System76 Support (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=341): no idea... could someone please provide info on this one???
- Wubi (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=234): issues and questions about the application used to install Ubuntu from Windows
- Desktop Effects & Customization (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=330): screensavers, splash screens, icons, backgrounds, cubes...
- Installation & Upgrades (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=333): issues with installing and upgrading your OS
- Networking & Wireless (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=336): setting up a network, sharing, Ethernet card, router and the likes
- Server Platforms (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=339): server versions of Ubuntu and by-products
- Dell Ubuntu Support (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=342): Specific help for Dell computer owners

I'll run through the Discussions sections, and the HOW-TO section as soon as I have a chance...

Cheers,

Z.

[ZabiGG]

A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF HOW-TOs

http://www.ubuntuhq.com/wiki/index.php/Ubuntu_Howtos

Listed alphabetically. Use your Find feature in your favourite browser to locate the one you need.

Unfortunately, some of those relate to older versions of Ubuntu. Most times, the logical link (i.e. replacing Feisty by Hardy in the relevant command lines) is all you need to change for these tips and instructions to work.

When in doubt, check out this forum's HOWTO section here (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=100)

The most recent guides should be in there.

Cheers,

Z.

[archer6]

-- there is information aplenty out there...

... just TOO much to take in -- and no "one-stop starting place" for a poor newbie.

For instance, I wasted hours

Now there are three statements that I certainly agree with and have personally experienced.......:)

I too have been considering Linux for quite some time. After spending countless hours somewhat adrift in a sea of information about distributions, and on and on, finally I came across Ubuntu and decided to take the plunge.

I got a CD of Ubuntu 7.10 a couple of months ago. The next decision was to configure it as dual boot on my main work laptop, or to use an older laptop with only 768mb of ram and a measly 1.5MHz Celeron. Well I toyed & procrastinated for a few weeks trying to decide. Finally after deciding that it might run ok on the older laptop, I installed it, wiping every last bit of windows off the hard drive. Now I'm happy to report that I have it up and running well, and everything works!.....Yay!

So now it's a matter of learning all about Ubuntu, and I could not be happier.

Thanks a lot for the great one page resource list you have provided us. It's the perfect place for me to get started, with a good direction to follow.

Cheers

[ZabiGG]

This thread remains open for your contributions, in its brand new home in the Community Café. Check back often as it evolves with the help of this great community.

Toodles,

Z.

[Xiong Chiamiov]

I didn't see the wonderful How to install anything in Ubuntu (http://monkeyblog.org/ubuntu/installing/) guide in there.

[ZabiGG]

It's in there ;)

Under applications 101...

Cheers and thanks for helping,

Z.

[ZabiGG]

A few new additions were made to the main guide recently. Check them out, they're worth it ;)

Cheers,

The infamous Z.

[Lord Xeb]

Congrats to you sir and great job with the newbie guide!!!!

[ZabiGG]

I really need to post a pic... lol

I prefer Ma'am... said it much earlier ;)

Cheers,

Z.

[Tart]

A quick quirp to demystify the forum sections to help you decide where to post your questions.

- System76 Support (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=341): no idea... could someone please provide info on this one???

Z.

This is support forum for users with system76 machines. System76 (www.system76.com) is company that sells computers with pre-installed ubuntu.

[ZabiGG]

Many thanks, Tart, that's quite helpful :)

[ZabiGG]

June 7, 2008

Added a link on the main thread to Newbie 101 Part 3 - Guides and HOWTOs.

Lots of video, sound and wireless problems and issues can be resolved using these guides, broken down per section.

It's a work in progress, but the audio, video and wireless sections are not too far from complete.

Cheers,

Z.

[kartiksinghal]

Thanka a lot Ma'am.

[jimi_hendrix]

I know ;)

But I'm just a geek at heart -- although not yet very linux savvy -- and I figure knowledge is power.

I do hope there are still a few people like me who enjoy knowing instead of just copying (lol)

Happy day to you!

ZabiGG

ur my hero for this thread and i would thank you but u seem to have had so many thanks that ur thank you button is gone...

and yes knowledge is power i havnt had time to read those links yet but know how to do stuff = fewer problems = more power from your computer = more fun = helping others = feeling good
:guitar:

[reedatcentral]

in an earlier post you said you didn't know what the system 76 forum was. system 76 is a brand of computer that comes bundled with Ubuntu as an OS, and i can only assume that's the forum for that.

much thanks for this thread!

Edit: i just noticed someone already posted this.

[ZabiGG]

Thanks for all your great help and comments everyone, and keep them coming.

I should refresh some links pretty soon as some are now a tad obsolete, so if you have nice suggestions I could add to the refresh -- I know I've stumbled onto a number of nice and fresh links and posts these past few months, so I hope you have too -- they'll all be very welcome to help out newer members of the newbie tribe as they come along ;)

Cheers,

Z.

[Buenadriver]

Ok I have Ubuntu on a cd now what? Plain English please. Dale

[JoshuaRL]

Ok I have Ubuntu on a cd now what? Plain English please. Dale

There's a lot of great info out there on how to install. I'm guessing you want to keep Windows, in case you need anything out of it. Here's some links:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation
http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/Installing_Ubuntu_with_Windows_Dual-Boot
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/

Those should get you started. But most of those links are on this thread. So if you have any problems, start a new thread in the Absolute Beginners Forum, and you'll get a lot of quick help.

Welcome to Ubuntu!

[fiddler616]

Their's been a few links to articles from this, but all of it is useful:
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/
--------
Great thread, ma'am!

[barbedsaber]

This really needs to become a sticky thread, on the absolute beginners talk.

[JoshuaRL]

This really needs to become a sticky thread, on the absolute beginners talk.

The problem with stickies is that less is more. Once you have several, they stop being important and just become forum waste. So the admins here try to keep stickies to a minimum. But if you think this thread or one like it is that important, you can voice your opinion (like here) and even put it as a link in your sig. I'm sure madam would appreciate it.

[fiddler616]

Ok I have Ubuntu on a cd now what? Plain English please. Dale
First of all, I'd start a new thread over at Absolute beginner talk.
That said, it depends on what you want to do--if you just want to try out Ubuntu (see how you like it, see what hardware works, etc.), just pop in the CD, reboot, go into the BIOS, put booting off of CDs above booting off of hard drives, and select "Try Ubuntu" when the menu comes up.
If you want to install it, select "Install Ubuntu" off of the menu. There's a million guides out there about all the steps, including fancy screenshots and the like, but in short:
Select your language, then timezone, then keyboard.
Partition your hard drive (this is by far the hardest step). http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/starting.htm is an excellent guide on how to partition it, and as for the actual mechanics of gparted (the partitioning tool), either post back, or just look at the aforementioned million guides.
Steps 5-7 are just filling out personal information (name, username, password, computer name, the like), and reviewing all the options you selected. You then have to reboot, and you should see something about GRUB loading...stage 1.5, and then you can pick whether you want Ubuntu, Ubuntu recovery mode, memtest (you probably don't), or Windows (assuming you left it).
Sound easy? It is--the trick is getting all your hardware to work (which you should've checked with the Live CD)
Good luck!

[hufferd]

just making a note here so I can find it easy later :)

[lordCovenant]

thank you so much for this guide!

i'm an ubuntu-newbie and i find this thread very helpful!

[tdudley1]

There is some great info there. Thanks!

[po232]

Thank you for all your help and research. po232

[Retard]

I love you!

[Daxy1979]

OMG! This is awesome! Hopefully I'll even understand what half of this stuff is someday!

[Therion]

These are the Links I give out (time and time again) on how to set up Compiz Fusion (aka "The Desktop Cube Thing"):

This is a newer link and refers to Hardy Heron, but really should be pretty release-agnostic:
http://my.opera.com/ubuntunerd1/blog/how-to-install-compiz-fusion-in-ubuntu-hardy


This is my old standby link. Covers much of the same information but in a little different format and some additional fun eye-candy stuff with Compiz explained:
http://forlong.blogage.de/entries/2008/4/26/How-to-set-up-Compiz-Fusion-074


Another link that helped demystify what all those Compiz Plugins actually DO. The title for each on this page is a link to a deeply detailed mini-wiki on how to configure that particular plugin. Sometimes it's almost too much info, but the wiki-format makes it easy:
http://wiki.opencompositing.org/PluginsMain

[PumaSpeedCat]

Awesome List! They really helped me on learning! Keep up the great work!

[UbuntuNerd]

here is another good link: How to use "compiz setings manager" (http://my.opera.com/ubuntunerd1/blog/how-to-use-compiz-settings-manager)

[Irvysan]

Thanks from another newbie to ubuntu :)

[EG-girl]

Great references...Really helps...
just installed Ubuntu and love it already
& with you I'll love it more .
thanks :)

[NormanFLinux]

I vote to make this a Forum sticky - an Ubuntu NOOB FAQ or Wiki if the mods approve.

Mods, are you listening? ;-)

[samoyed]

Thanks for the useful links, hope to see more links in future Keep it up.

[JonathanDS]

Wow, thanx for all the info! =D

[darthxmark]

Thank you for all the links... i have a ton of reading to do now!

one small question... i'm using the canonical build on my dell a90n and i can't figure out what ROOT password is. I've tried Ubuntu, moblin, root, password, pass, password1... can anyone help me?

[WannabeFantasma]

Thank you for all the links... i have a ton of reading to do now!

one small question... i'm using the canonical build on my dell a90n and i can't figure out what ROOT password is. I've tried Ubuntu, moblin, root, password, pass, password1... can anyone help me?

I think it's same as your account password?

[cariboo]

The root account is disabled on a default installation of Ubuntu. If you need a root shell, open a terminal and type:


sudo -i

This will drop you to a root prompt, and allow you to do what you need.

[Pizack]

I was wondering if any of the links in the original post regarding Hardy have updated versions pertaining to Lucid Lynx (10.04). I've followed outdated guides in the past and encountered errors (usually with simple, but difficult to find, workarounds).
Thanks.

[cariboo]

There is the Ubuntu Guide (http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Lucid)

[ZabiGG]

Hi everyone, and thanks for your continued interest in n00b 101.

I've unfortunately been (way too) busy with work, family and all to post for a while, but I'll resume with a Lynx 101 (since it is an LTS) start-up guide shortly.

(Mods, should I create a brand new guide or just add to this post?)

There are many important changes and new sources of information related to this version, so stay tuned, lots of goodies and tips will be coming your way -- just let me finish configuring four new systems in addition to the three I just finalized, a brand new all-encompassing linux network, a few vpn tunnels and work, work, work (hm, hmmm... I'm the troubleshooting gal, it seems, although this is definitely not my real line of work [I usually deal in words]) -- and, yeah, I convert as many people as I can to x_buntu! or Mint or Puppy or whatever fits :)

Still thoroughly in love with the Penguin,

Z.

[MrChuckles]

Hello all,

I have not yet installed Ubuntu (or any other Distro) on my laptop. I would like to perform an install so that I can have a dual-boot machine on my 64-bit Windows Vista laptop.

Can anyone please direct me to a link walking me through the steps that also might include how to partition my hard drive and so forth.

I've been doing a lot of research and reading on GNU/Linux and am excited at getting Ubuntu 10.04 installed on my laptop.

Many thanks.

[fiddler616]

Hello all,

I have not yet installed Ubuntu (or any other Distro) on my laptop. I would like to perform an install so that I can have a dual-boot machine on my 64-bit Windows Vista laptop.

Can anyone please direct me to a link walking me through the steps that also might include how to partition my hard drive and so forth.

I've been doing a lot of research and reading on GNU/Linux and am excited at getting Ubuntu 10.04 installed on my laptop.

Many thanks.

This is a good tutorial. (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installing) However, do not follow the step about partitioning. Instead of selecting "Erase and use the entire disk", select "Install them side by side". But apart from that, it's an excellent guide.

[MrChuckles]

Thank you for the link. I will read through the information.

[LaJuan]

Thanks!!!!!!! I'm not that new to Ubuntu and have installed it many of times but, this one installation has head turned completely around!!!!!!!!!! Looks like the link you have provided will give me some insight!!!!!!!!

You the Best,

LaJuan):P

[bofak]

I downloaded this: AdbeRdr9.4-1_i486linux_enu.bin
in an attempt to install Adobe Reader.

When I click on it I get the message: "Unable to open document. File type executable (application/x-executable) is not supported."

I wish I knew what this all means.

[SpadeIV]

The Adobe Reader is in the repositories.
Just go to: Menu ->Software center -> Search: "Adobe" and click install.
It is not recommendedto install strange files from the internet, that is why you use repositories to install programmes.

Cheers

[Woodogg18]

I am a complete Linux noob and have only installed Linux a few times just to look at it and mess around with it. But once installed it's so different from windows I got lost quick. The command line scares the crap out of me, so I just gave up. Well now I just yesterday downloaded 10.10 and am giving it another shot. I bookmarked this thread and hope it helps me. I have a feeling this site is going to see a lot of me in the months to come.

[cariboo]

I am a complete Linux noob and have only installed Linux a few times just to look at it and mess around with it. But once installed it's so different from windows I got lost quick. The command line scares the crap out of me, so I just gave up. Well now I just yesterday downloaded 10.10 and am giving it another shot. I bookmarked this thread and hope it helps me. I have a feeling this site is going to see a lot of me in the months to come.

You shouldn't need the command line for any day-to-day tasks any more, as there are gui apps to do almost everything.

[MButterman]

Linux Survival is free online lessons on CLI. Make sure you have java installed.

http://linuxsurvival.com/