Ubuntu

[Darwinian]

Ok, so I've installed Ubuntu and managed to 'somehow' install the graphics drivers for my card so I have a decent resolution.

My first impression is that it seems quite neat and tidy but my first stumbling block is, how on earth do you install things. I've worked out that it works with 'packages' and something called Synaptic but at the moment I'm a bit stumped.

I'm trying to install a firewall but am having no luck. I found one called GuardDog but after I've downloaded it what do I do with it. Instuctions say Run some command line but run what and where?

An idiots guide would be helpful

[Rob]

Ive not used ubuntu for a while, but typically most distros come with a firewall (called iptables) pre-installed.
Look for it under System -> Administration.

Someone more familiar to the operating system will be able to tell you how to use its package manager

[Tiberius]

Ok, here is a short tutorial on installing things in Ubuntu. Ubuntu uses a package manager called "apt" to install things. For other distros the package manager might be different, but for Ubuntu you stick with apt.

The easiest way to install things for the new user is to go to Applications -> Add/Remove and find a program you want to install using that. You have to type in the root account password (which in Ubuntu is your system password) to use it, as Linux doesn't let anyone other than an administrator install things to the system directories.


A slightly trickier way but more useful is to go to System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager. Again, you have to type your password in.

Once your password is confirmed, you can either do a quick search or a thorough search for the package you need, and then select it from the list and right-click, select "Mark for Installation", or hit the spacebar (either will work). To deselect it, you have to right-click and select "Unmark". Once you have selected all the packages you wish to install, you should click the "apply" button and let the program download and install things. To uninstall things (which are marked with a green square in the list) right-click and select "mark for removal". If you really want to get rid of them forever (including config files, etc) the click "mark for complete removal".

Now the third way (and the way you will probably eventually use if you are a huge nerd) is using the command line. Ubuntu has tried to make it possible for everyone not to use the command line, but it really is the most powerful tool Linux has to offer. To open up a terminal, you go Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal, which runs a program called "gnome-terminal" (assuming you are using GNOME as your desktop manager, which is default). You will see a command prompt, and from this you can type commands into the system. Remember how we needed to type the root password in to install stuff? Well it is no different here, except we prefex any command we want to run as the root account with "sudo".

"sudo" stands for "superuser do" which means that the system will run whatever program you want as the superuser, but after it is complete will switch back to your user account. Simply prefix any command with sudo do run a program as the superuser (root) account. When you run a command with sudo, it will look in a cache for a password you have entered. The cache usually expires after 5 minutes, so if you have used sudo before in the past 5 minutes you will not have to type the password again. However if this is the first time doing it you will have to type the password when prompted. The password entry does not display any characters you have entered (not even *****) so it can look confusing, however it is working!

To install a package type: sudo apt-get install {package_name}
You can use tab completion to complete package names if you know the start of them, or you can search for packages using: apt-cache search {search terms} (No need to use sudo for this one)
"apt-get" is the installer, and "install" is the argument you give to it to install a certain package. To remove a package, you use: sudo apt-get remove {package_name}.

The apt program may ask you to confirm certain things about the install, such as whether you want to download the files. Usually the default answer is Yes, so you can simply hit enter, or you could type Y and hit enter. Either way works.

[Tiberius]

The terminal is also a great way to find out stuff about your system, and a tutorial on how to use it is here:

http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/linuxcommand.org/

I found it pretty good when learning about Linux.

[Darwinian]

Thanks for all that. That's my weekend sorted then!

[Tiberius]

It'll save time in the long run, hunting for software on the net, downloading the files, extracting them, and then installing them by a click through method

Sometimes you do have to do this on Linux, but the process is much easier. Notable exception is when you have to compile the source code, but that hardly ever happens with Ubuntu

[leo-rcc]

Btw, Ubuntu has a firewall running by default on all its versions including the server edition.

[Tiberius]

About firewalls, as leo-rcc said the default one (iptables) is already installed. "firestarter" is a good gui for it.

[Kyuuketsuki]

My first impression is that it seems quite neat and tidy but my first stumbling block is, how on earth do you install things.

TADA!!!!!!!!

And in one line you sum up my biggest dislike about Linux (and trust me, I'm fascinated by the bloody thing). You install a program and you can't find the bloody shortcut to run it, or you have to start hacking at files to make it run or you get into dependency hell. And that's after you get round the daunting task of getting presented with an OS which has everything, many of which are not quite consistent in terms of function or interface, many illogically spread across several applications where they should be in one (and no, I'm not saying windows is perfect but it is more consitent IMO) ... in short, despite the fact that I do appear to a fair bit about it, I just don't "get" Linux. It's a shame because if I could make the switch to it I probably would.

Kyu

[Tiberius]

And in one line you sum up my biggest dislike about Linux (and trust me, I'm fascinated by the bloody thing). You install a program and you can't find the bloody shortcut to run it, or you have to start hacking at files to make it run or you get into dependency hell. And that's after you get round the daunting task of getting presented with an OS which has everything, many of which are not quite consistent in terms of function or interface, many illogically spread across several applications where they should be in one (and no, I'm not saying windows is perfect but it is more consitent IMO) ... in short, despite the fact that I do appear to a fair bit about it, I just don't "get" Linux. It's a shame because if I could make the switch to it I probably would.

And in one paragraph you manage to confuse Linux users who don't know what you are talking about

It's a different OS, therefore it will have a different way of installing things. One hour reading the manual will teach you the basics, or 10 minutes asking people online will get you the same thing. I'd be perfectly willing to explain how to install things on Linux (in my opinion much easier than Windows) if you wanted Kyu.

I've never had to "hack files" to get anything to run, because the package manager does all the dependency finding for me. If you understood how the shell works you would know that the "shortcuts" you ask for simple involve typing the name of the program in and it will automatically find it for you (or you could use the menu, which automatically displays them all...). The reason for applications being "spread about" is that they are developed by different people for free. The beauty of Linux is that you can easily chain them together if you wanted to.

So Kyu, how about I get on Skype with you one afternoon and talk you through the OS? Or if you don't want to do that, I'm sure I could find you some tutorials that could make you understand.

Oh, and before you start saying I'm just being angry at you, I'm not, and I don't mean to cause any offence. It's just I've heard all these things before, and most of the problems stem from people just not realising it isn't Windows, it works in different ways, and reading the manuals explains everything to you!

My friend just switched to Ubuntu after arguing with me that Windows was "easier", and now she sends messages to me on facebook saying "oooh, I just discovered I could do X" or "I had a problem but I found the answer on Google in like 2 minutes!".