Help with Linux O/S versions

[TDMVPDPOY]

so im using fedora11 or whatever its called

i dl some programs, how come they dont self install like on Windows O/S? it requires me to open up some window/file and cut/paste or manual type in some codes to install....

if they can get past this self manual crap for installations it be great...so far im still stuck with OOffice not installed into the system...so how do i go about it?

[Bender]

out of all the versions I've used over the years, Red Hat, Mandrake / Mandriva, Fedora, Ubuntu, and a couple of others, my current one is my favorite. The latest ubuntu.

It is very easy to maintain, and install programs, and no manual stuff required. In fact, I like it better than windows. I installed it on a windows vista laptop, and I haven't booted into windows since I installed it.

You select all the progs you want to install in the Package Manager, and it does everything it needs to do, and you just sit there for a bit... and its done...

edit: I think baseline bum is the linux guy around here....

[sinok]

The latest ubuntu.

Well, this one sucks....

I mean, the new Desktop Environment known as Unity il totally half baked, and still needs a lot of work. (and that's the case for all the new Desktop Environements that have been released lately:Gnome 3 and Unity a projects to come, and need to mature a lot. KDE 4 has been maturing for a while, but still needs things to be worked one...

So at the moment, I'm running KDE on an Opensuse(not newb friendly like Ubuntu, bot power user only like gentoo or arch). And it runs quite fine. (it's linux, there are still hiccups right and left like flash beeing so so...)

Moreover, they tend to push beta software on the user (pulseaudio at its beginning is quite an example), patches non validated by upstream and so on and so forth... For me the Ubuntu notoriety is quite a plage for linux, given the state of th
@TDMVPDPOY
The following comes from Fedora 11 User Guide

Managing software

Here is how to install software using Add/Remove Software in the GNOME desktop environment.
Click System > Administration > Add/Remove Software. This will open the Add/Remove Software application.
In the Search Box with the binoculars icon, type the name of the application you wish to install. If you are unsure of the specific application you need to install, you can also type keywords in this box, just like you would for an internet search engine.
Next, click the Find – The message Querying appears in the lower left corner.
Zero or more listings will appear that match your search query. Tick the box next to the description of the application or applications you wish to install. The message Downloading repository information appears in the lower left corner. The window area below the list of packages contains additional information about the selected software.
Select any additional packages to install or remove at this time by changing tick boxes next to the package name.
Finally, click the Apply button. This starts the installation process and concurrently installs or removes any additional packages where you modified the tick box. Follow any prompts to install additional packages.
Unless an error is displayed, the application is now installed on your computer.

Normally, you should not download software by yourself, as your disto provides everything required in repositories known by the OS. SO just use the package manager to install any software. Normally no self installer is needed. The package manager is there for you (or you could go the Yum way, but this one needs comman lines, efficient but not really newb friendly)

[TDMVPDPOY]

how about drivers for hardware?

[sinok]

Most of the time they are already provided as modules by the linux kernel.
On most of my latests installs, I didn't need to manually install drivers (execpt for the NVidia one, as its licence forbids distro to ship it, however, you can install it afterwards using the package manager and adding a specific repository)

What kind of hardware isn't working for you?

[ElNono]

how about drivers for hardware?

What kind of hardware?

[TDMVPDPOY]

eeepc 1001 netbook

getting the hang of it now

[ElNono]

Most of the drivers should be built-in... for specific stuff like scanners you might need to install SANE, if not installed already.

[sinok]

eeepc 1001 netbook

Usually netbooks are based on really common hardware, thus you shouldn't have any problem with a recent distro...

However, Fedora 11 is not really "recent", it dates back to june 2009, thus a bit old. However it should work correctly...

If you want to go for something up to date, grab a recent Live Image from any major distro (Opensuse, Fedora, Mint...). For the moment, you'd better pick distros proposing either KDE 4 or Gnome 2 as their main Desktop Environment.

[Bender]

re: the latest ubuntu... "Well, this one sucks...."

I guess I don't have the latest ubuntu then, I installed it in early 2010, and keep it updated, but it chugs along perfectly, and everything works, all the time... and it is very easy to administer and use...

[sinok]

I guess I don't have the latest ubuntu then, I installed it in early 2010, and keep it updated, but it chugs along perfectly, and everything works, all the time... and it is very easy to administer and use...

The latest one rolled out one month ago IIRC. In the last one they ditched Gnome as the main Desktop Environment to replace it by an homemade one called Unity that is clearly teething and not really production ready.

You must be on the last LTS(long term support) release (10.04), aka Lucyd Lynx, which is said to be quite stable... (but as I ain't sold on ubuntu, never tested this one).

[Bender]

yes, Lynx is the one I have, with gnome...