Crashdamage

You need to install and setup Samba. A search of the forum will pull up lots of references, Google no doubt thousands. Do some reading and then get back here with your questions.

You might also read this: http://forum.club.mandriva.com/viewtopic.p...8a3d34cb301b059 Google no doubt will also pull up hundreds of posts giving reasons not to do root logins. Never log in as root. Risky and totally uneccessary. Learn to use Linux correctly and you won't be sorry.

Sigh...people will never learn I guess... http://forum.club.mandriva.com/viewtopic.php?t=55562 Anyone want to place a bet on how long it is before the originator of that thread is back asking for advice on how to fix whatever he mucks up running as root?

(This is basically sort of a distallation of a couple of posts I made a while back on mandrivausers.org) That one chooses the wrong way to do something does not mean it's the right way, even for them. I've seen endless discussions about running the desktop as root and never heard a single convincing reason to do it. NOT ONE. No one's given one here either. Knowing how to log in to a GUI desktop is not a "solution" to any problem. Jeeze, why would anyone ever even want to risk it? Look, in nearly 6 years of using Linux I've never needed to do anything I couldn't do quickly and easily when logged in as a user, using either text-based tools or GUI, including any file-editing chores or whatever. Logging in as root doesn't save any time. I haven't logged into my desktop as root since the 1st day I used Linux. I was coming over from Win98 and knew nothing of permissions, etc. I immediately learned not to ever do it again and why it was pointless to do so anyway. Besides, if you get used to doing root chores logged into a GUI and using only GUI tools, what would you do if X gets trashed? Working exclusively with GUI tools is OK as far as it goes, but doesn't teach you know how to work from a console or with Midnight Commander if X is not available. For those new to Linux I can't recommend learning to be comfortable with Midnight Commander highly enough. Every Linux user, especially those who don't want to learn the command line or vim, should learn the basics of using MC. Again, I want to make this perfectly clear for any n00bs who may be reading this thread and are tempted to do the familiar Windoze kinda thing and run their desktop as root: There is absolutely NO reason or need, not for ease, not speed or any other reason I have ever heard, to EVER log into your desktop as root. Running as root is just a VERY BAD IDEA - period. You are only learning NOT to use some of the best advantages of Linux.

For years, I've used Bastille. It's a frontend to iptables like almost all Linux firewalls and so does all the usual firewalling chores like IP mask, NAT, etc. The difference is it's much more than just a firewall. Bastille is a comprehensive system-hardening security tool with an easy to configure, highly informative interface. I consider Bastille indispensible and install it on every Linux installation I do. There's just nothing else like it. Anyone who takes system security seriously should check it out.

I've used GNUcash for over 5 years for my home finances and just love it. For reasons not worth going into, I stll have to use Quicken for my business but hopefully that will change soon. Ouicken sucks SO bad in SO many ways... Anyway, GNUcash has a lot of dependencies to satify, yes. It's a fairly complicated program using a lot of different libraries. It IS possible to upgrade to GNUcash 2 (I have done it), but as you found out, not easy. So practically speaking, you really have 2 choices: 1. Just use the GNUcash version supplied with your distro. Not so bad, I still use the v1.8.9 included with Mandrake 10.1 just fine. Most of the improvent in v2.0.1 is cosmetic - a spiffier GUI due to using Gnome2 libraies instead of Gnome1. Other changes in the newer version are mostly aimed at small business use. 2. Update to a later version distro that includes Gnucash 2. If you really want the new version that would be the best way to go. If you want to stay with Mandriva (still a good choice) the new 2007 version would be the way to go. 2006 had some issues, not really serious, but 2007 should be better 'out-of-the-box' and will be supported with updates much longer.

Midnight Commander is the best thing since toilet paper. More useful than duct tape. I'd rather do without Mutt than MC, and that's going a ways...

aurthur said: Yeah, IE plugins. There are probably humdreds of custom-made IE plugins that many businesses (including mine) requre to use various websites, particularly the "real-time intergrated web portal" type sites. These are becoming more common in business all the time, their popularity is just exploding. Quite a few such sites use ActiveX, but even more use VBS, so VBS is probably more critical for using Linux as a business desktop than ActiveX is. Of course, IE, ActiveX and VBS all suck a large one, and of course I hate that Linux needs any such crap. But this stuff is already out there in massive numbers all over th world, so the ability to run legacy Winshaft apps out of the box, IE plugin compatibility, ActiveX and VBS will be necessary for Linux to mount a serious challenge to Windoze. It's just the way it is.

Simply put, I have nothing personal against Billy Bob Gates. He's probably a nice enough guy in person. And no doubt, he has given a lot of money to his foundation, and he apparently has intentions of dedicating the rest of his life mainly to running that. There is also no doubt that his company is guilty of costing everyone - businesses, institutions and private individuals - many times more billions of dollars than he will ever donate because of his lousey software and reprehensible business practices. I'm not talking about the original cost of the software - I mean the cost of security software to protect Windoze's tender ass, downtime, lost data, etc etc. Not to mention mental pain and suffering. So as far as I'm concerned, while I won't go so far as to condemn Gates & Co. to burn in Hell with Hitler, he's not gonna buy his way into Heaven either. Too much bad for the good to ever offset. But back to the original question posed by this thread... Gates leaving will mean nothing to Linux or Apple. And there is and never was any 'Vista window of opportunity'. Linux cannot effectively compete on the desktop until it can 'out of the box' (using Wine, Win4Lin, VMware or similar *which must be included in the installed distro* so those making the switch from Windoze can just install their stuff and go): 1. Run all Windoze apps - business, games, whatever. 2. Run any custom IE plugins. Any browser would probably do, but all IE plugins *must* work. 3. Run DirectX and VBS. There is so much custom business software, games and other applications that depend on these things that Linux simply cannot complete at present. Ahh, but you say Firefox wiil never run all IE plugins, and Linux will never run VBS - well, there's the rub... Until Linux distros can promise to do the above, they'll never be serious desktop competitiors and Linux will never be found pre-installed at your local CompUSA. I love using Linux and I'll never give it up at home. But until it can do the things listed above it's not for most ordinary users and I'll probably never be able to use it for my office desktops.

I haven't used 'free' qmeu/kqemu for a very long time so I can't specifically answer your question. I can say I use Win4LinPro 3.0, which is a commercial version of qmeu that includes kqemu, and sound works fine with that. It runs Win2kPro at very near native speed on my box. Really good and very easy to install. It's not real cheap, much less free, but it is on sale 'til 6/18/06 for $70 (normally $90). If you happen to have a Win4Lin9x license, it's $45.

I've mentioned these before on this forum, but I'll say it again - this best tools I've found to harden a Linux box are Portsentry (an excellent port scan detector/blocker) and Bastille (a firewalling & comprehensive system hardening tool). I've used these for years and they're easy to configure and very effective. Install and configure these properly, along with a rootkit scanner, and you should have little to worry about. Unfortunately, they are no longer included with Mandriva, though I can't understand why not, most other major distros still offer packages. But I found rpms that worked on my 10.1 box. Didn't have to resort to using Checkinstall or compiling. They can likely be installed on 2006 without much, if any, hassle. I've rarely used SSH so I'm no expert there, but tyme's suggestion of limiting IP's (and of course using a non-standard port number) sounds simple and effective to me. ffi said: I always run both a hardware AND software firewall. The resources used by a software firewall are infinitesimal, the chances of your router being bypassed by a cracker are not. 2 firewallls are always better than 1. If your unsecured XPee system never got hacked/infected, you're simply lucky. I've disinfected or reinstalled Windoze plenty of times for people who weren't so fortunate. The security of XP is horrible, only a notch better than Win98 and certainly a far step backward from even the basic security Win2k offered.

screcrow said: It's actually called mcedit, and I'd have to do some checking to be absolutely sure, but I don't believe it's based on vi at all. ffi said: It may be 1985, but it's by far faster than mousing around for most common tasks. If users would learn keystrokes, they could have much simpler systems and get a lot more done. GUIs are better for some things, but generally I try to avoid GUI interfaces, which is easier to do with Linux. If only Windoze had some of the great text apps available in Linux - like MC!

Well, if you don't like using vi or vim, Midnight Commander has a very good built-in editor. Actually, that's what I use most of the time instead of vi. My main uses for vi are as default editor for email with mutt or usenet with slrn.

Hmmm.... The links2 graphics-capable rpm could also be named something like "links-2.1xxxx" like the version I'm writing this with is. If you install the graphics-capable version it'll launch in text mode with 'links' or 'links -g' for graphical mode. You're right, links can be very handy when you bork X. So is Midnight Commander.

You need 'links2', not plain 'links', for graphics mode. I'm using a generic rpm I got somewhere now, but the Mandrake links2 rpms I used before had graphics capability.

I've tried most of the browsers mentioned so far, and to date links2 -g (the '-g' switch is for graphics mode, leave off for text-only mode) is hands down the fastest, lightest graphical browser I've used. Also the best text browser I've used. Links2 supports ssl & javascript, but not java plugins.

As tyme said, 'drivers' are called 'modules' in Linux terms. Most modules are included in tthe kernel, but some must be loaded separately. How to do that will vary depending on the module, but generally it's just a matter of following instructions carefully, same as you would installing drivers in Windoze. Software installation is actually easier in Linux than in Win. For a general overview of installing software, read this: **Basic urpmi setup and usage** Urpmi will easily and automagically take care of finding, downloading and installing software and its dependencies, if any. The "Software Management" utility in Mandriva Control Center is a simple to use GUI frontend for urpmi, the software management utility. Think of the Software Management utility in Mandriva as roughly the equivilent to the "Add/Remove Software" utility in Windows Control Center. But it's also very easy and more powerful to use urpmi from the command line. Of course you can install software from your CDs, but to best use either the GUI installer or urpmi manually, particularly if you have a broadband connection, it's best to first set up online sources for downloading, installing and updating software. To do this you need to know how to 'su' to become the 'root' adminstrator, which is very simple. Just open a terminal and at the '$' prompt do this: $ su Password: <type.your.root.password> # Note that the cursor changed from '$' to '#' indicating you now have 'root' administrator rights, so be careful! Think of this as similar to the difference between being a 'user' or an 'administrator' in Win2k/XP. If you don't fully understand the 'su' process or what root permissions mean some simple Googling will explain it. Now to setup your online software sources. Go here: http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ Follow the directions to setup your online package sources. Choose them carefully, staying with sources for your particular version of Mandriva. You'll want to add the main sources for your distro version, updates, Contrib, PLF free and non-free, and maybe the Seer of Souls and/or Thac's rpms. Warning!! Add the Cooker sources at your own risk. Cooker is beta stuff still in testing for the next release and may or may not cause you serious problems. When you've finished setting up your source mirrors you can start using the real power of urpmi. You can now install/uninstall a package using your newly-setup online sources either by using the Software Manager GUI in Mandriva Control Center, or better, by using urpmi manually from the ommand line. To install manually with urpmi open a terminal, 'su' to root, then type: # urpmi -v <packagename> ('-v' for verbose output is optional, but I like the extra info it provides and always use it) Note that usually <packagename> can be just the 'simple' version. Using the text email client Mutt for an example, instead of typing the full package name: # urpmi -v mutt-1.5.9i-8mdk.i586.rpm Use: # urpmi -v mutt That's it! That's all you have to do do install! With that simple command urpmi will automagically go to the 'Net sources you choose, find and download the latest available Mutt rpm for your version of Mandriva, grab any other packages needed to resolve all dependencies and install everything in the correct order. If urpmi cannot complete the installation, either because all the required software isn't available on the source mirrors you choose or possibly some other conflict(s), it will stop the install process before any actual changes are made to the system and give you some info about the problem. Similarly, for packages you've downloaded and saved, just use the 'cd' command to navigate to the directory where you saved them: # cd /mysaved/rpm/is.here Then (for this, you will need to use the full packagename): # urpmi -v <packagename> Uninstalling a package is simply 'urpme' instead of 'urpmi'. Be aware that while using rpms compiled for other versions of Mandriva or for other distros can sometimes be done, mixing up rpm packages between versions or distros is NOT recommended or the faint of heart. It is very possible to trash your system unless you really know what you're doing. Always try to use correct rpms for your distro and version whenever possible. In the case of Mandriva so many packages are available it's almost always possible to find what you need in a correct rpm. Think of mixing up rpm packages as similar to installing Windows software where installing something on Win98 but meant for WinXP (or vice-versa) may not work and may even break things. But unlike Windows, Linux and urpmi allows you to first do a 'test' installation in such cases instead of having to just try installing and see what happens. To do a test install, do this: # urpmi -v --test <packagename> This does a 'dry run' to check if the package(s) can be sucessfully installed but without actually changing anything on the system. If all is well, the test will end with "Installation is possible" and you can remove the '--test' switch and install normally. It's important to always install rpms, not from tarballs (.targz, .tar.gz, which are often raw source code) when using any rpm-based distro like RedHat, Suse or Mandriva, at least until you have a good understanding of just what you're doing. This is also true of '.deb' package based distros such as Debian or Ubuntu. Why? Because if you always install rpms (or .debs), then Mandriva's urpmi (or Suse's YAST, Debian's apt or whatever package manager) is able to properly keep track of everything installed on your system and so keep everything correctly configured, updated and avoid conflicts. But if you install any packages from source tarballs no information about that package or the files it installed are entered into the urpmi database. You then have a situation where urpmi may not properly keep things straight since it has no info about the installed tarballs or their contents. The chances of installing from tarballs breaking anything is fairly slight, but it can happen, so why risk it if you don't have to? Also, software installed from a rpm package is often easier to uninstall than that installed from a tarball. Sometimes a particular piece or a newer version of software may only be available as a source tarball. No problem. It's very easy make your own rpms from source tarballs with a handy utility called checkinstall, included on the Mandriva CDs. In a nutshell, checkinstall makes a simple .rpm package by replacing the traditional compile and install commands: ./configure make make install With: ./configure make checkinstall I won't go into more detail about checkinstall here. Google for more info about it or install the checkinstall package and type 'man checkinstall' in a terminal. This should be enough to get you going. For more info, open a terminal and type 'man urpmi" or do some Googling, particularly 'easy urpmi'. Lotsa info available.

You need the kernel-sources that exactly match your running kernel. To see what that is: $ cat /proc/version You should get an output that looks similar to this: $ cat /proc/version Linux version 2.6.11-7.mm.18mdk (peroyvind@n4.mandrakesoft.com) (gcc version 3.4.1 (Mandrakelinux 10.1 3.4.1-4mdk)) #2 Mon May 23 06:13:06 CEST 2005

Gannin said: Probably so, since KDE relies so much on Konqueror, but not necessarily. It's more of a "what apps I have installed" issue. Many apps, some not KDE or Gnome and some you whould never expect, rely on Gecko. You could, but why not install system-wide? I no longer have both versions installed, but they worked fine together when I still did. I always put stuff installed from generic rpms like Firefox or Thunderbird in /usr/local, then create a symlink in /usr/local/bin for all users to run them from. Plugins are copied or symlinked to /usr/local/firefox/plugins or /usr/mozilla-firefox/plugins so they're also available to all users. I guess if you're the only user on the box it doesn't much matter, but suppose later you want to create a "test" user or your girlfriend moves in...? Anyway, why *not* install globally?

The original Firefox 2005LE rpm may be needed to satisfy dependencies for other applications, depending on what is installed. Several other apps depend on the Gecko rendering engine in the original Mandriva rpm.

Software installation is actually easier than with Windoze once you get the hang of it. This should help get you going. Just skip any basic stuff you already probably know, like how to 'su' to become root, but do read all the way through it. If you still have problems or questions post back here. **Basic urpmi setup and usage** Urpmi will easily and automagically take care of finding, downloading and installing software and its dependencies, if any. The "Software Management" utility in Mandriva Control Center is a simple to use GUI frontend for urpmi, the software management utility. Think of the Software Management utility in Mandriva as roughly the equivilent to the "Add/Remove Software" utility in Windows Control Center. But it's also very easy and more powerful to use urpmi from the command line. Of course you can install software from your CDs, but to best use either the GUI installer or urpmi manually, particularly if you have a broadband connection, it's best to set up online sources for downloading, installing and updating software. To do this you need to know how to 'su' to become the 'root' adminstrator, which is very simple. Just open a terminal and at the '$' prompt do this: $ su Password: <type.your.root.password> # Note that the cursor changed from '$' to '#' indicating you now have 'root' administrator rights, so be careful! Think of this as similar to the difference between being a 'user' or an 'administrator' in Win2k/XP. If you don't fully understand the 'su' process or what root permissions mean some simple Googling will explain it. Now to setup your online software sources. Go here: http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ Follow the directions to setup your online package sources. Choose them carefully, staying with sources for your particular version of Mandriva. You'll want to add the main sources for your distro version, updates, Contrib, PLF free and non-free, and maybe the Seer of Souls and/or Thac's rpms. Warning!! Add the Cooker sources at your own risk. Cooker is beta stuff still in testing for the next release and may or may not cause you some problems. When you've finished setting up your source mirrors you can start using the real power of urpmi. You can now install/uninstall a package using your newly-setup online sources either by using the Software Manager GUI in Mandriva Control Center, or better, by using urpmi manually from the command line. To install manually with urpmi open a terminal, 'su' to root, then type: # urpmi -v <packagename> ('-v' for verbose output is optional, but I like the extra info it provides and always use it) Note that usually <packagename> can be just the 'simple' version. Using the text email client Mutt for an example, instead of typing the full package name: # urpmi -v mutt-1.5.9i-8mdk.i586.rpm Use: # urpmi -v mutt That's it! That's all you have to do do install! With that simple command urpmi will automagically go to the 'Net sources you choose, find and download the latest available Mutt rpm for your version of Mandriva, grab any other packages needed to resolve all dependencies and install everything in the correct order. If urpmi cannot complete the installation, either because all the required software isn't available on the source mirrors you choose or possibly some other conflict(s), it will stop the install process before any actual changes are made to the system and give you some info about the problem. Similarly, for packages you've downloaded and saved, just use the 'cd' command to navigate to the directory where you saved them: # cd /mysaved/rpm/is.here Then (for this, you will need to use the full packagename): # urpmi -v <packagename> Uninstalling a package is simply 'urpme' instead of 'urpmi'. Be aware that while using rpms compiled for other versions of Mandriva or for other distros can sometimes be done, mixing up rpm packages between version or distros is NOT recommended or the faint of heart. It is very possible to trash your system unless you really know what you're doing. Always try to use correct rpms for your distro and version whenever possible, which in the case of Mandriva is almost always. Think of this as similar to installing Windows software where installing something on Win98 but meant for XP (or vice-versa) may not work. But unlike Windows, Linux and urpmi allows you to first do a 'test' installation instead of having to just try installing and see what happens. To do a test install, do this: # urpmi -v --test <packagename> This does a 'dry run' to check if the package(s) can be sucessfully installed but without actually changing anything on the system. If all is well, the test will end with "Installation is possible" and you can remove the '--test' switch and install normally. It's important to always install rpms, not from tarballs (.targz, .tar.gz, which are often raw source code) when using any rpm-based distro like RedHat, Suse or Mandriva, at least until you have a good understanding of just what you're doing. This is also true of '.deb' package based distros such as Debian or Ubuntu. Why? Because if you always install rpms (or .debs), then Mandriva's urpmi (or Suse's YAST, Debian's apt or whatever package manager) is able to properly keep track of everything installed on your system and so keep everything correctly configured, updated and avoid conflicts. But if you install any packages from source tarballs no information about that package or the files it installed are entered into the urpmi database. You then have a situation where urpmi may not properly keep things straight since it has no info about the installed tarballs or their contents. The chances of installing from tarballs breaking anything is fairly slight, but it can happen, so why risk it if you don't have to? Also, software installed from a rpm package is easier to uninstall than that installed from a tarball. Sometimes a particular piece or a newer version of software may only be available as a source tarball. No problem. It's very easy make your own rpms from source tarballs with a handy utility called checkinstall, included on the Mandriva CDs. In a nutshell, checkinstall makes a simple .rpm package by replacing the traditional compile and install commands: ./configure make make install With: ./configure make checkinstall I won't go into more detail about checkinstall here. Google for more info about it or install the checkinstall package and type 'man checkinstall' in a terminal. This should be enough to get you going. For more info, open a terminal and type 'man urpmi" or do some Googling, particularly 'easy urpmi'. Lotsa info available.

For those wanting the newest stuff - don't forget there's special Club releases about every 3 months. There was the 2006CE (Christmas Edition) already and I think another is due soon.

Try reading this thread on the MandrivaClub forum: http://forum.mandrivaclub.com/viewtopic.ph...992235418ece407 There's some good info there that should help clear things up for you, at least get you started. If you have more questions it would probably be best to post back here in the 'Emulation' section.

Some would say that as long as you keep up with security updates you could run without any firewall with no significant worries, and indeed many users have for years with no problems. As for me, I take the (possibly) paranoid view that security patches aren't enough. So I disable all unecessary services, use a hardware firewall, plus Bastille for software firewalling and total system hardening, plus Portsentry. I'm not nearly as worried about patching up the system for security as keeping out the wolves in the first place. After all, you can only write and apply security patches for known holes. That won't protect you if a hacker finds the hole first.

It would help a lot if you told us what you're trying to install and where you got it. If you're trying to install generic rpms from somewhere like Mozilla.org or OpenOffice.org you follow the instructions on their website. If you have trouble, post back here with what you're trying to install and any error messages you get. Otherwise, unless you have some experience with Linux and installing rpms in particular, (and no offense, but you don't seem to) you should stay with installing rpms compiled for you distro and particular version of that distro. You can't just download rpms that might be intended for anything and install them on anything. Think similar to installing Win98 software on XP or XP software on Win98. Usually you can't - don't even try - unless the instructions *say* it's for Win 98 or for WinXP, do you? Well, just like Windoze, you need software intended for the OS version you are installing it on.