Dear Simon,
Welcome to Linux! You'll be glad you found out about it!
> these are my querries/questions:
> is the only thing the linux operating system contains (linux debian that is)
> is an install programme(to install new packages), a C compiler, that multi
> terminal gadget, the login program and a few commands (such as listing
> directories and editing)?
No no no! You can get a HUGE amount of software for linux. You can get
X windows, email tools, editors, spreadsheets, wordprocessors, etc etc etc!
Linux is a bit more of a learning curve than Windows 95, but it is a much
better operating system, and much of the software is free so it is much
cheaper too!
> if i was to install linux debian from software that i got off the web, how
> would i go about installing Xwindows and netscape communicator from a
> "red hat" cd?
Debian comes with X-windows and provides an easy way to install netscape,
but you wouldn't do it using a redhat CD. You can install Debian stuff
directly from the net, but if you're new, you might find that a better
way would be to buy a Debian CD - they are quite cheap - you can
get them for about US$5. Have a look at the web site
http://www.debian.org/
for more details.
> is there a place on the web where a person can find out what microsoft
> programs work on linux or on WINE? eg excel, MSword and powerpoint
Yes, have a look at
http://www.winehq.com/
for details.
My understanding is that excel and MSword work quite well with wine,
though not perfectly. My advice to you however, is that if you move
to linux, to start using something called "StarOffice" instead. It is
an integrated office environment which has a wordprocessor that can
read MSword documents and a spreadsheet which is pretty good, as well
as a drawing application and a few others besides. I haven't used it
much, but when I did play around with it, it seemed pretty good. The
best thing is that it is free for personal (non-commercial) use.
> what is an image file?
In what context? An image file is a file with a photo or picture in it.
> on "red hat" there is an install manager(or something like that)
> that only ever mentions installing file packages with .rpm and the
> "debian" install program only ever mentions installing .deb file
> packages. my question is can one manager install software that is
> made for another disrubution of linux?
It is possible, but generally it is not a good idea. For most
software, you can get the same software in both debian format and in
redhat format. But I believe Debian has the most software, so there
will be some things that Debian has that Redhat doesn't have. You
should choose either the RedHat distribution or Debian to install -
not both. Personally I would strongly recommend Debian, as would most
people on this email-list :-)
> how is "red hat" different to debian? why is red hat so big(300MB) compared
> to debian(10MB)?
Debian is a LOT bigger than 10MB! Perhaps what you're talking about is
the Debian "base". That is, you can get a "bare-bones" version of Debian
working in about 10M, but it won't have very much software. If you installed
every piece of software in Debian it would be HUGE - I don't know quite
how big, but maybe 1 Gigabyte??? Anyway, most people only install some
of the packages - the ones they're going to use. It also depends how much
disk space you have. If you only have a small amount of disk space, you would
only install a small number of packages. If you have a huge disk, then you
can install lots of packages.
As for the difference between Debian and Redhat. In many ways they
are quite similar. They are both linux and both have a lot of the
same software. Redhat is a commercial organization, where as Debian
is created by a huge volunteer workforce. Both distributions are quite
good, but I believe that Debian is technically superior. Some people say
that Redhat is more user friendly, but others disagree about this. It takes
a while to get used to Debian, but once you do, you'll find that it's very
nice. The other good thing about Debian is all the help you get from
this list.
> the installation of linux off a DOS partition includes the bare minium. is
> there any way of increasing the features/commands?
Yes, install more debian packages.
> are there any shareware/freeware word processors and graphic
> programmes out there for linux?
Yes, though the correct word for most software on linux is "open
software", which is a little bit different from shareware. With open
software, not only does the software not cost anything, but the source
code is freely available - this makes a big difference because it
means that software bugs get fixed more quickly and other people can
improve existing software. So in general, open software is much
better and more advanced than shareware.
I would recommend a program called "lyx" for wordprocessing. It is a little
different from usual wordprocessors and takes a little while to get used
to it, but it's quite good. There are lots of graphics programs out there.
I would recommend something called "xfig" - it has a user interface which
looks a bit old, but it works really well once you get the hang of it - I
have produced some very professional looking diagrams with it.
But if you want some wordprocessor software and graphics software that looks
more like Windows 95 stuff, I would again recommend "Staroffice". It is not
open software, but it is free for non-commercial use.
> in linux red hat when you type "man" some instructions and help pages pop up.
> does this also happen in dabian?
In Debian you can type "man <some command>" and it will give you a help page
on that command. Or you can install "tkman" which gives you a graphical
version of man. There is also "tkinfo" which gives help in a different
format.
> how do you use the ftp: sites to download files off the internet? im
> asking this because today i tried to download root.bin and a few
> other files but the windows program kept finishing the download
> procedure before all of the data had been transfered.
Hmm. I could tell you how if you were using linux, but it's a bit of a
catch 22 situation isn't it! You could keep trying and hope that
eventually it works (try when the internet is not busy). Alternatively
you could buy a CD which might be an easier option.
> how identical is linux debian to unix? (in terms of file layout and keyboard
> commands).
Basically the same. Essentially linux is a form of unix.
Well I hope this has answered some of your questions. I moved from Windows
to Linux a few years ago and it was the best thing I did! It takes a while
to learn things and get the hang of things, and sometimes you'll have
frustrating problems, but in the end you'll be glad you persevered.
Cheers,
Mark.
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"They told me I was gullible ... and I believed them!"
