new user to linux

40 Antworten [Letzter Beitrag]
eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

Hello

I'm a brand new user to the world or linux, I'm in the stages of installing trisquel today but have a couple of questions:
1. Is trisquel an adequate OS for fist time users with no previous experience on linux? I have been reading a both but the book is based on fedora.
2. If trisquel is not an appropriate OS for first time users can I get some recommendations?
3. Are there books or resources besides this website that could help me?

Thank you all

Ctwx

I am a translator!

Offline
Beigetreten: 01/01/2015

First of all: welcome to Trisquel!

1) yes. I would say it's pretty user friendly (in the sense that you have graphical programs for almost everything) and you have the advantage of the four freedoms (see: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html)

3) Since it's based on Ubuntu, you can get a lot of information from their wiki. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ But you're welcome to ask here, use the Trisquel wiki, webpage and also the irc channel as well. :-)

Feel free to ask questions! :-)

eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

thanks Heather for the correction on linux and the advice, its good to know trisquel is based on a fork of ubuntu as I have a couple of friends you already use it.

Thanks everybody

tomlukeywood
Offline
Beigetreten: 12/05/2014

libre = free as in freedom

i think trisquel is the most user friendly libre gnu/linux distro
that there is.

but make sure you buy or have the correct hardware
as some hardware requires non-free software to run.
if you are buying a computer or computer hardware i reccomend getting it from
thinkpenguin:
http://libre.thinkpenguin.com
as all hardware sold there works with libre software

you could also build a computer as its much cheaper but
as your a new user i would not suggest that yet.

but if you want to install trisquel on your current computer
a good way to test if it will is a live cd
which would let you run trisquel without installing it
so you could test out if it works or not.
theres a good chance it will work though
and if you dont know how to make a live cd
then the pepole on this form would be happy to help
you.

also if you discover a problem its not the end
of the world as you can often get replacement parts

the most common problem with hardware
is wifi so if you boot to trisquel from
the cd and your wifi dose not work
you will need one of these:
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-g-usb-adapter

i reccomend getting that specific one as the other usb wifi cards
dont always work well with old computers(computers pre 2005)
is using a live cd which will boot trisquel from the cd and allow you
to try it out without installing it
also i reccomend getting the 2$ usb extension cable if your usb ports are close together

also just so you know fedora is not a compleatly libre distro
it includes non-libre software.

Enjoy trisquel!

wpurcell
Offline
Beigetreten: 11/07/2009

Hello eljinete!
I find Trisquel to be a very user friendly GNU/Linux distro, and I'm no rocket scientist by any stretch of the imagination.
Plus there is excellent support here and in Trisquels IRC channel. Ask any question, and you will get an answer.
Enjoy!

eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

Hello

I'm trying to install the full 64bit version on a old pentium 4 3ghz with 1ghz of ram, but encountered some problems during the install https://trisquel.info/en/forum/trisquel-70-installation-issues
Since I never really used gnu/linux I thought using this old computer that has been collecting dust would be a good start
I'm going to try the suggestions of trisquel-mini and instead of using a dvd using the usb port

onpon4
Offline
Beigetreten: 05/30/2012

Huh, I thought all Pentium 4 processors were only 32-bit.

eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

Well I just finished installing the 64bit version on my old pentium 4, so far I have tried the web browser, the word processor and had to silence the audio bot, the audio was really cool during the install as I felt I was in some kind of NOC and some rocket were doing to launch, anyway the biggest thing I noticed was the OS is to slow so I'm going to try the mini 32 bit. Thanks everyone for there help

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Offline
Beigetreten: 07/24/2010

Your CPU obviously has a 64-bit architecture, otherwise you would not even be able to run the Live CD. So, you should stick with 64 bits.

onetechbuddy
Offline
Beigetreten: 05/26/2014

You need not do a fresh install of mini straight away. Try installing LXDE desktop. It is a light weight GUI used in Trisquel Mini, Lubuntu etc. You can install it from Add/Remove Applications. After installing, log out and click on the icon beside your name in the login window and choose LXDE.

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Offline
Beigetreten: 07/24/2010

Sure, eljinete could easily install "trisquel-mini" and "trisquel-mini-recommended" from the package manager. The problematic part is to remove the unwanted packages that depend on "trisquel" and "trsquel-recommended" (to save space on the disk and in the menu). When you are a complete beginner to GNU/Linux, you do not know the name of the applications. That is why I think it is easier to reinstall.

davidnotcoulthard (nicht überprüft)
davidnotcoulthard

Yeah, especially since, as far as I know, removing the Trisquel metapackage doesn't orphan its otherwise orphan, uneeded dependencies. It'd be an awful pain to remove them and (most of all) their libraries.

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Offline
Beigetreten: 07/24/2010

'debfoster' is great to only keep what you really want on your system. However, you need to know the name of the applications you use (and not be afraid of removing the "trisquel" and "trisquel-recommended" meta-packages).

davidnotcoulthard (nicht überprüft)
davidnotcoulthard

I never have them installed to begin with.

Thanks for that debfoster suggestion. though. Didn't know about that.

eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

thats what I did, I just went an reinstalled mini 64 bit, so happy now

Dave_Hunt

I am a member!

Offline
Beigetreten: 09/19/2011

As Magic Banana says in post #13, As a relative new-comer, you'd have an easier time reinstalling Mini, than transforming a GNOME installation to a Mini, or something like it. I've been doing this a while, and would still choose this expedient option.

SuperTramp83

I am a translator!

Offline
Beigetreten: 10/31/2014

just tried dillo - fast!

eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

Hello

So I have a question, I just tried the live CD full version on my laptop and as far as I can tell everything works, even the fn keys, even the webcam. Does this mean I should be ok to blow windows from my hard drive and install trisquel?
Also I tried to use the hwinfo command but was unable to run it, is this because I was on the live CD?

Thanks

onpon4
Offline
Beigetreten: 05/30/2012

It's hard to say; there might be something that you're just not noticing. But you can just strink the partition Windows is on to something really small, and put Trisquel in the remaining space. After you've used Trisquel for a while, you'll be able to judge whether or not you're ready to purge Windows from your machine entirely.

RainTeller
Offline
Beigetreten: 09/26/2014

I'd install Trisquel as second system first, and see how things works. If everything is fine, just install it again, it's a pretty fast and painless process.

Dave_Hunt

I am a member!

Offline
Beigetreten: 09/19/2011

Answering post #21:
Sounds like you're good to go re: making that machine a full-time Trisquel box! You might have to run hwinfo as root; try
sudo hwinfo

RainTeller
Offline
Beigetreten: 09/26/2014

1. Is trisquel an adequate OS for fist time users with no previous experience on linux? I have been reading a both but the book is based on fedora.
2. If trisquel is not an appropriate OS for first time users can I get some recommendations?
3. Are there books or resources besides this website that could help me?

Hi there! :-)

Being a gnu/linux newbie myself, I hope I can offer some help.
Trisquel's been pretty much my first non-windows OS, been using it for about 6 months now, and I would never go back. I've tried many other distros while using it, and I got to say, you came to the right place, for it doesn't really get much easier than Trisquel (with the exception of Ubuntu and Mint, perhaps, but Trisquel is Ubuntu-based, so there's hardly any significant difference).

Some tips for having an easier transition:
1) Windows forces you to downloads apps from sites and install them (exe files). You won't be typically doing it in Trisquel. You will be using either Add/Remove Applications (you'll find it in the main menu if you haven't already) at first, and will sooner or later move to Synaptic (at least I did :)) which feels a bit more complex at first but is a fantastic tool.

2) Console can be scary at first if you don't have any knowledge of CLI (Command-Line Interface) tools but it is a fun, powerful, and sort of "I feel more in charge of my own OS" tool. Thing that you may be doing from time to time (although you can use Software Updater in System Settings instead):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

The first one checks for updates in repositories (that's where the software sits, you just download it and save plenty of time in comparison to Windows).
The second one actually checks for updates of the already installed packages on your Trisquel. If you accept the upgrade, it will do everything for you.
Finally, two commands you will find useful that Software Updater won't do for you (afaik):

sudo apt-get autoremove

This will check if there are any dependencies (packages) on your Trisquel that are no longer needed and remove them.

sudo apt-get -f install

This you will be using less often (I hope :)) but it simply fixes the problem of broken dependencies for you. You'll often be asked to do it by the console anyway.

apt-get is a package installer for Ubuntu/Ubuntu-based systems.
sudo executes the command on root level (full permissions).

I remember I found those things confusing at first, so I hope they will be of some help to you.

3) You will find more in Synaptic than in Add/Remove Applications. And (worth remembering :)), remember, if you seek a piece of software, it is very, very likely that it's already in Trisquel repository and you can just fetch it with the aforementioned tools.

4) There's also one more way of installing software, and it's with apt-get:
sudo apt-get install
e.g.: sudo apt-get install inkscape

That's all I have to offer from the basics that I had to learnt. :-)
Remember, whatever you are seeking, it's pretty much Ubuntu you are using, so you will be able to find answers to most of your questions already on the web (Ubuntu's site features some pretty decent help that I've been using a lot).

Best of luck!!

eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

thanks raineller that was really helpful, I have already tried to compile from source code but failed on it as I need an extra program called gmake, the source code didn't come with the ./configure file, I will check in the repositories maybe the program is already there. I will read the command pdf file as recommended

RainTeller
Offline
Beigetreten: 09/26/2014

Really glad I could be of help :)

Now, shiver me timbers if you won't find gmake in Trisquel repository. The trick is to seek for 'make', though, as this is what gmake seems to be called in Ubuntu.

This thread can be of additional help to you: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=389841

Pandya
Offline
Beigetreten: 11/11/2014

To be familiar (and expert) with command-line of linux, Beginner is recommended to read/visit book: The Linux Command Line. Pdf version is also available!

Note:

“graphical user interfaces make easy tasks easy, while command line interfaces make difficult tasks possible”

As new user of linux also take look at Filesystem Directory_structure

And I think Trisquel (GNU/Linux) is perfect OS which is based on Ubuntu LTS with only free software (Best GNOME based Desktop environment and most of GNU/GNOME Applications) So, common technical wiki/tutorial for Debian/Ubuntu can also useful here.

You can show screen-shot of free distro @ GNU which recommends Trisquel

Following is helpful for Hardware support & free Software/Resource database:

  1. Hardware Devices that Support GNU/Linux
  2. The Free Software Directory
  3. The Free Software Resources
onpon4
Offline
Beigetreten: 05/30/2012

It's not the "command line of Linux". Hardly anything that a typical GNU/Linux user does in the command line has anything to do with the kernel, if anything at all. Standard POSIX commands are all GNU. apt-get, yum, etc are all package managers developed by separate groups. Skimming through that book, it looks to me like it focuses on GNU, all the while calling it "Linux", and even trying to justify calling it "Linux" at one point by saying that it's "unfair" to other programs somehow to mention GNU.

That aside, there's a pretty good reason to reject this book: it's under a proprietary license that forbids derivative works and commercial use.

JadedCtrl
Offline
Beigetreten: 08/11/2014

Here's the FSF's version, which is under a Free Documentation license.
http://shop.fsf.org/product/Introduction_to_Command_Line/
Available for purchase or gratis download.

SuperTramp83

I am a translator!

Offline
Beigetreten: 10/31/2014

thanks jaded

Pandya
Offline
Beigetreten: 11/11/2014

OK. I agree and want to replace The Linux Command Line with Introduction to The Command Line (Also available pdf version for gratis download) in my post But I can't edit my post.

Any way Thankyou and also to jadedctrl who suggest FSF's Version under free document license.

eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

hello

I'm looking into purchasing a refurbished laptop from a small local computer shop, is there any concerns with such a purposes besides trisquel gnu/linux not working I mean should I be concerned with embedded virus in hard drive or in the hardware or even the bios? If I could I would buy new but I rather buy something used and give it a new purpose but that just me

onpon4
Offline
Beigetreten: 05/30/2012

Even if there is a Windows virus left over in the RAM or hard drive:

1. Trisquel isn't going to attempt to execute them. They're going to be completely ignored, in fact.

2. Even if Trisquel attempted to execute them, it would fail, because they're written for Windows.

Keep in mind that viruses are just a type of program. If they never execute, they aren't a threat.

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Offline
Beigetreten: 07/24/2010

He may be talking about malware in the hardware (more precisely in their firmware). The BIOS launches it.

eljinete
Offline
Beigetreten: 01/10/2015

so should I be concerned? Is there any program I can run to find out?

thanks

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Offline
Beigetreten: 07/24/2010

Well, the NSA change the firmware on hardware before it is shipped to people they *specifically* target. It is not a common threat. They do that because no application (such as an anti-virus) can detect the malware. The only solution would be to flash that firmware. But, again, you probably have nothing to worry about.

davidnotcoulthard (nicht überprüft)
davidnotcoulthard

If I ever come to China, can I come to Guiyu, grab as many laptops as I can, and mail it home?

Dave_Hunt

I am a member!

Offline
Beigetreten: 09/19/2011

I'm glad to hear you are considering buying a pre-owned laptop, thereby keeping a few bits of toxic materials out of the waste stream. Also, you're repurposing perfectly-good hardware. Before installing any new operating system onto such a machine, I'd "shred" the drive. You can do this from any GNU/Linux live image, such as Trisquel 7. Boot the live medium, open a terminal, use the "lsblk" command to learn what device refers to the hard drive. That done, you can do
sudo shred /dev/sda

for instance, assuming the hard drive is /dev/sda.

You could also do something like

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda

This would write 0 onto the entire disk, unless you stop before it finishes.

HTH,

Dave