Steve_H Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread for new users just starting out in Linux. I started out in Windows from 3.1 and went all the way through Win XP. Now I'm am fiddling with Red Hat release 9 at home. I expect to have quite a few questions. The manuals are just not helpful enough. Question number 1.Upon boot up, Red Hat displays the Gnome desktop. How do I switch to the X Window System? Or are these two related somehow? I want to try both to see their differences. Thanks!Steve H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 The X window system means that you have a GUI, Gnome is one of the GUI´s you can have, at login you can choose KDE or Gnome ( and a few others ) They have different graphics, different style, but can do the same. The more exotic ¨window-managers¨ are harder to work with for someone new, so I would stay away from them in the beginning. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_H Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 Thanks Bruno! No wonder there was no documentation on it!I asked this question because someone wrote that X Windows will mount the drives automatically. I don't see that feature. I managed to mount the floppy, use the OpenOffice Write program, type something, save it in txt format, get out of the program, and unmount the floppy. Then I was able to transfer the diskette to Win XP and read it successfully.My 5 year old loves to go through the screensavers and already has a favorite game. Does this mean a child can understand Linux? Steve H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Looks like you´re having fun Steve ! Just mess around a bit on your system, don´t be afraid to experiment or break anything . . . most of us did a second install after a few days just to put things right again. A new install is no big deal so no worries.A little tip: if you click on the /mnt directory you will see ( after 30 sec. ) the /cdrom /floppy and your /win_c directory. That last one you can browse and you could paste that textfile you made in OpenOffice right into C:\My Documents ( no floppy needed for those actions ) Als if you have a xxx.doc in My Documents you can right-click it and open it in OpenOffice, edit the doc. and save it as .doc in your /home/steve directory in RedHat !Have Fun SteveB) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_H Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 It was easy to tell how full my hard drive was in Windows. Windows supplied a handy pie chart of free space and used space. How do I tell how much space is used/free in Red Hat Linux? Thanks!Steve H(Hope you like my new avatar. It is from my clip art CD for magicians.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 SteveOpen a console and typedf -h ( enter )That´s it ! BrunoPS: Love your avatar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zox Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I am at work without Linux at the moment but I am sure there is a tool in KDE that will give you nice, even better visual preview of your used/free disk space then in Windows.The name of the utility is Kdisk or similar.I will double check when I get home, under Gnome I am not sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I am at work without Linux at the moment but I am sure there is a tool in KDE that will give you nice, even better visual preview of your used/free disk space then in Windows.The name of the utility is Kdisk or similar.I will double check when I get home, under Gnome I am not sure Correct Zox: Kdiskfree ! I know, I´m to focused on the console, but it beats looking through the menu´s. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jong357 Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Yea, I'm at school.... It's in the RH button... Disk Management or something. I think you can go to Hardware Detection too and then click on your hard drive.. Gives you a graph of sorts that displays all your partitions....Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeg4 Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Hi Steve I am another newbie to RH9 and I thought I would jump in here and give you some newbie to newbie tips . These are subject to review from the rest of the forum of course. I am also fresh from WinXP and there are many differences as you said . One thing I have found convenient is you can customize your panel ( toolbar in windows ) First right click on any icon on your panel to remove it . And you can also right click on any app. and add it to the panel . For instance I have my Network Device Control on the panel so I don't have to find it each time when I want to go online . Others like Mail prog,Browser ( I use Galeon), Word Processor,ETCYou can also auto hide or manually hide the panel , And like Win. You can move it to any side of your monitor or unlike Win. you can create a floating panel if you like .P.S. I got my system with no documentation at all . Who needs documentation anyway it's more fun to find out for yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeg4 Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Back again Steve As far as mounting your disks is concerned there is an app under System tools/disk management where you can mount your Floppy and CDrom drives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henderrob Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I'm still a newbie and my focus is on learning KDE and Gnome desktops thoroughly while I slowly try the command line and vi, emacs,etc. I have six linux books that I'll work through but still so of us will likely stay with a GUI for daily use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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