Why must linux disappoint?

davetshave · 11-21-2002, 07:05 AM

I like Linux. You might even say I was a 'believer'. But for some reason it seems to hate me.

I am very familiar to learning curves, yet Linux seems to present more of a learning 'cliff' as things really are so hard to find.

I installed RedHat 7.3 on a machine a work. I wanted to make it my workstation. My install cd's had some problem or another and so the install kept falling over half way.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I skipped configuring the network card during installation. Now I thought it would be pretty easy to go back and install it later. How could I be so naive?

Yes, I did look in the manuals. They recommend starting linxconf from the shell. I tried this as both a user and as root and each time the response was "linuxconf not found".

I know I could always reinstall Redhat, but I feel that is the 'losers' option as it would not increase my understanding of linux.

Thanks for any help,

David Lloyd.

jmcneese · 11-21-2002, 07:50 AM

goedemorgen, dave!

exactly what sort of help are you looking for? i am pretty certain i can answer any question you pose (i am RHCN, after all), so fire away.

for instance, were you aware of the command "setup" that can be ran when logged in as root? this is a front-end to several console based configuration wizards, including network settings. otherwise you can manually edit the /etc/sysconfig/network* scripts yourself.

m.vr.gr.

davetshave · 11-21-2002, 08:47 AM

Thanks for the excellent tip. The problem was solved without any further pain. I am submitting this response using Konqueror.

Suddenly the internet looks a whole lot uglier!

Is there no way to set the NIC up without resorting to terminal mode? I am still thinking like a windows user so my instinct is always to look for some GUI to configure stuff.

Anyways, thanks for the help.

greg252 · 11-21-2002, 09:27 AM

I too have had MANY problems with RH linux.
Mostly, my problems were because of imcompatable hardware.
Found out the hard way the RH is VERY picky.

Now that it's running, I can't complain. It works- that's about it. I have to say, it is not for the average user, yet.

Personally, I bought OS X and have fallen in love.
Think I'm going to sell 4 of my other boxes and buy an xServ.

largo · 11-21-2002, 03:15 PM

Greg,

what are you running os-X on? It does look fantastic, I want to give it a shot but am uncertain about hardware. The powermac g4 looks tempting, what would you recommend?

thanks,
-m.

greg252 · 11-22-2002, 09:33 AM

I have a rev B Imac. It is the minimum that os X will run on. 196megs of ram 6 gig HD.

All I really do on it, though is PHP/Perl/mySQL stuff- all text. Runs great for what I do--Web!

Been running it for 6 months now and it has never crashed. Was easy to setup with all apps I needed, plus BBEdit (editor of choice) has a free version- but I think I'm going to buy the full version.

Any more questions, please ask.

largo · 11-22-2002, 05:55 PM

Greg,

Thanks for the info. I've been drooling over the os and the interface more than anything the last week, went to a local hardware store and tested one out too. Unfortunately the sales person got antsy as soon as I opened a console window

I am going to watch out for a deal, too tied down during Christmas, but this looks like a fine solution (/ upgrade).

Thx again,
-m.

jmcneese · 11-25-2002, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by davetshave
Thanks for the excellent tip. The problem was solved without any further pain. I am submitting this response using Konqueror.

Suddenly the internet looks a whole lot uglier!

Is there no way to set the NIC up without resorting to terminal mode? I am still thinking like a windows user so my instinct is always to look for some GUI to configure stuff.

Anyways, thanks for the help.

dave,

the newest redhat (v8.0) has numerous graphical wizards with which the window-centric user will feel more comforable. there are several options you have for that sort of thing, but most of what you would care to have is on the installation CDs.

as to using Konquerer, i would personally drop it and use Mozilla or Galeon or Phoenix, or even Opera. all are faster and more standards compliant.

jmcneese · 11-25-2002, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by greg252
I too have had MANY problems with RH linux.
Mostly, my problems were because of imcompatable hardware.
Found out the hard way the RH is VERY picky.

picky? i have personally ran Linux (not restricted to, but including, Redhat) on a variety of hardware. everything from my palmpilot(DBZ) to Sun E4500(Sparc), Powerbook (PPC) to any number of x86 configurations (current laptop is a HP running RH8). generally speaking it's not Plug-n-Pray like some other OS's but it's hardware support is unrivalled, even by windows. if you think this is not true, ask yourself if your OS can support Bluetooth/USB2/Firewire/WiFi, multiple processors (up to 64!), 4GB allowable physical memory, 16Terabytes allowable filesystem size, etc etc ad nauseum.

it is true that, by default, there is no "device manager" control panel for you to click through and tweak. but that is not to say that those tools are not there. they are downloadable (usually as packages) and are familiar to use for a common windows user.