Installed Linux, Now What?

mandriva can do that with rpm packages other distros might behave the same). installing something from the mandriva repositories is so easy…

mandriva can do that with rpm packages other distros might behave the same). installing something from the mandriva repositories is so easy…[/quote]

The problem is we still see installs. It should be invisible and immediate. even unnecessary.

Usually, you don’t have to download anything manually.
In most distributions there’s a “package manager” which you use to download and install software.
In Ubuntu, the package manager is called “Synaptic” (or “Kynaptic”, if you’re using Kubuntu), look for it in the menu.

You can also try klik - “an easy way to download and use software for most major distributions”.
klik.atekon.de/wiki/index.php/What_is_klik
Klik doesn’t install software per se, it just downloads and runs the application from a cmg file - similar to the dmg files on Macs.

BTW, Ubuntu is just an over-hyped yet-another-linux-distribution, IMHO.
If you want a user-friendly distribution (complete with control panels and all), try SuSE or Mandriva.

just another www.digg.com effect…
been using mandrake/mandriva since version 5.2 and each build gets only better! i dont think anything can beat madriva’s control panel…

wouldnt that possibly result to some serious security issues? you click and anything can be installed without you to know/notice what launched in the background!

I tried Mandriva before and had some problems. Maybe because I was a complete newbie and it was my first time to use Linux. Don’t you have to pay for use of their update sites?? Not too clear about that… But then I tried SuSE 10.0 with the KDE desktop and am quite happy with it. Like Mandriva, there are also some mirrors in Taiwan for very fast downloads and updates. SuSE is also really easy to install. I had no problems detecting my hardware with the 32 and 64 bit versions. The SuSE control center called YaST is really great for package management. I still prefer using the Debian based apt-get commands, or the Synaptic package manager to keep my install updated. I tried Umbutu and Kumbutu and found myself still having to manually edit some files to get some of the video functions to work properly.

The best KDE apps…

amaroK is an awesome MP3 player!
Kaffeine is not bad, but still use VLC for most things
Konquerer is a great file browser and web browser in one! I really like the pop-up preview mouse-over effect. Saves a bunch of time when scanning around for docs.

no. you can pay to become a member and have certain privileges like official support. otherwise control panel is all you need to update or add any software you want (urmpi). you can add as many repositories as you want. besides official (main, updates, contrib), i’d recommend plf (penguin liberation front) and sos.

i dont really use my computer for media/music but, indeed, amarok is a very good application with, among other things, a real good script for replaygain. :notworthy:

[quote=“Chris”]Don’t know about Frost, but here are my main uses:

Word processing and spreadsheet (taken care of)
Translation (hence my need for something like Dr. Eye)
Web browsing (taken care of)
Usenet (I need a good newsreader)
Photo editing (taken care of)
[/quote]

I think I can help you out on the newsreader. Try Pan, pan.rebelbase.com/ , its my favorite newsreader on any OS.