newbie questions

[NitramBelac]

is there a way to get msn messenger on linux?

[niti]

is there a way to get msn messenger on linux?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You can use amsn or kopete or gaim.

[NitramBelac]

witch one would be best? and where do I get them?

[niti]

In my opinion, each of them is better than each other.

For kopete http://kopete.kde.org/index.php

 

For gaim, http://gaim.sourceforge.net/

 

For amsn, http://amsn.sourceforge.net/index.php

 

Have enjoy...

[NitramBelac]

oh, and do you also know how I can access my fat32 partition and play mp3s?

Edited May 6, 2005 by NitramBelac

[niti]

You must mount your partitions in your / directory. You can listen mp3 files with amarok after installing mpg123 package.

[ffrr]

You must mount your partitions in your / directory. You can listen mp3 files with amarok after installing mpg123 package.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Actually, mount you should mount your FAT32 partition under /mnt create a directory under this, say /mnt/bigfat then mount the FAT32 drive to there.

 

To make it mount automatically at boot time, you need an entry in fstab like...

 

/dev/sdax /mnt/bigfat vfat umask=0,iocharset=iso8859-15,codepage=850 0 0

 

where sdax is your big FAT partition (replace sdax with your drive, maybe hda2 or something)

[SoulSe]

Gaim is the best. Kopete has always been a bit of a messy project to me (and I don't use KDE), amsn is nice, cool features - but it tries to be a bit too much like MSN Messenger and isn't fantastic with the network.

 

Gaim will also allow you to concurrently connect to ICQ/AIM, Jabber, Yahoo and MSN. There are fantastic plugins available, it can be heavily customised and tweaked and looks great. It is also often upgraded and stable.

 

Try it out - the others are fun, gaim is serious.

[AussieJohn]

I haven't found it necessary to add the /mnt/bigfat part at all.

 

I open MCC go to Partitions and look for the particular Windows partition and select Mount of that particular windows partition and also title it Exchange.

 

This does not change the title for that partition within Windows itself, however I generally use the same title for that partition in Windows to make it easier to remember which one is used from within Linux.

Then I go to /etc/fstab and I modify the line for Exchange, I type in the line shown below ( must be in root ) and save the change.

My fstab line is /dev/hda6 /Exchange vfat umask=0,iocharset=iso8859-15,codepage=850 0 0.

I waltz in and out of Exchange as if it was just another directory, adding or deleting etc.

 

You would only need to change the /hda6 part to whatever the partition was shown to be when you did the mount bit in MCC earlier ( it may already be in fstab anyway).

 

Cheers. John.

[ffrr]

I haven't found it necessary to add the /mnt/bigfat part at all.

 

I open MCC go to Partitions and look for the particular Windows partition and select Mount of that particular windows partition and also title it Exchange.

 

This does not change the title for that partition within Windows itself, however I generally use the same title for that partition in Windows to make it easier to remember which one is used from within Linux.

Then I go to /etc/fstab and I modify the line for Exchange, I type in the line shown below ( must be in root ) and save the change.

My fstab line is  /dev/hda6 /Exchange vfat umask=0,iocharset=iso8859-15,codepage=850 0 0.

I waltz in and out of Exchange as if it was just another directory, adding or deleting etc.

 

You would only need to change the /hda6 part to whatever the partition was shown to be when you did the mount bit in MCC earlier ( it may already be in fstab anyway).

 

Cheers.                                    John.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

You are mounting it to a directory directly under your root called /Exchange (in your case created by MCC). This certainly works, BUT it is something of a convention to mount stuff under a subdirectory in the /mnt directory. This keeps it neat. If you want it to appear elsewhere you might use a link.

[AussieJohn]

Never had any problem to date. It already is neat, and could be linked to anyway. Sure it is mounted under root but so what. If the OS went bottom up, certainly it could take the Exchange partition together with others, but it could still do so if using the /mnt setup.

The risks are the same even though rarely likely.

 

John.

[ffrr]

Never had any problem to date. It already is neat, and could be linked to anyway. Sure it is mounted under root but so what.

 

 

As I said, it certainly works OK like that, but one of the nice things about linux is it has some conventions about the proper place for things. I like that /usr has a separate subdirectory for local stuff, hence we have /usr/bin and /usr/local/bin for programs, and a separate area for documentation /usr/doc and /usr/local/doc. I REALLY like the way it keeps users data and configuration under the users home directory, and system config in /etc and variable stuff under /var, such as logs in /var/log.

 

If would mount the fat drive under /mnt/Exchange and NOT link it to a directory under root, I'd use a directory under your home directory, and refer to it by the path ~/Exchange (instead of /Exchange).

[solarian]

I have mounted other hard drives under /

It's like /hdb_1 /hdb_2 /hdc_8 /hdc_9

Is there anything technically dangerious/wrong with that? :/

It certainly is very convenient for me.

Edited May 8, 2005 by solarian

[ffrr]

I have mounted other hard drives under /

It's like /hdb_1 /hdb_2 /hdc_8 /hdc_9

Is there anything technically dangerious/wrong with that? :/

It certainly is very convenient for me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

No, it's just messy to clutter up the first level under root with all sorts of odd directories. It's just a convention to put them in some neat place like /mnt but conventions like that are good housekeeping, and, at least on bigger systems, can save lots of time and confusion later on.

[solarian]

Oh ok, not messy at all for me.

Faster access without clicking through the additional /mnt