captain-sensible
Well-Known Member
i would like a simple maybe one page here . Maybe bullet points that can be added to and edited later for newcomers . I'll start it off
1) There are no daft questions, as long as your attitude is on par ; some are just further down the line than you, that's all. The number one requirement is that you don't give up.
There is no such thing as "failure" only feedback :^)
2) The first thing to do is learn if you don't know how to take screen shots. This is because sometimes what you tell us in words from your understanding might not be the case. With a screen shot, we can see for ourselves. this is how to use Windows 10 built in scree shot : https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4027213/windows-10-open-snipping-tool-and-take-a-screenshot
3) Either deleting Windows and just jumping straight in ; or jumping in to do a dual boot can be risky, especially if you are totally new to the command line. Therefore I recommend a "transition period" .Either install Windows subset for linux (WSL) or go for a live linux distro that you boot from a usb stick. That way you can begin to play and get comfortable with quirks of linux.
There are links on here to how to install WSL on Windows 10 and also one way of installing Linux onto a usb stick
4) use lateral thinking to avoid problems. There is a software package readily avaialble for most Linux distro called HPLIP; this is the software that lets your computer "talk" to Hewlett packard (HP) printers and thus easily set it up. With Slackware HPLIP is installed as default. Thus if you don't have a printer get a HP one. Mine is a cheap 30 quid job, but i can scan , print letters etc. Or if you don't like HP do some research for driver support but don't go and buy a niche brand then complain about missing drivers.
5) When you have your new shiny linux installed there are sometimes tweaks to be made. Then you are faced with two issues 1) new packages 2) updates
let me address updates:
updates: there are at least three types
a) you have a software package, to which there is no new release but that there are security updates to that single package. They are called "patches". in slackware they are listed eg : https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware64-14.2/patches/packages/
in this case you leave the original package as it is, but also install a patch for the package , then all is good , with just a small chnage.
b) a release of a new version of a package. eg clamav ; your package is 0.99 but there is a newer one 0.102.2 . in this case its mainly worrying about dependencies which a packge uses and whether other packages rely on this particular dep. In slackware its a simple case of a manual install of new package using :
# upgradepkg newpackage
//in this case the command you are upgrading old package and does the neccessay. Again generally no big deal.
c) A complete update from one version of your OS to another. generally you have to be very careful. In slackware's case they have config entries that say " the next lines should be commented out and if you agree with us comment them out" . But the significant lines are not commented out. !! meaning either the maintainers have no common sense or are barking. What would happen if the lines were not commented out might be this: old kernels are wiped before new ones. Thus if anything goes wrong you end up with no kernel and up the creak without a paddle ! So be careful whatever your distro
6) prevention is better than cure; so have a backup plan. Windows has "recovery" i've heard "timeshift" is good if you do something that results in something you don't like
7) security
A quick check of your system go to this site:
www.grc.com
probably you should have a default firewall; maybe it needs activating or even installing
1) There are no daft questions, as long as your attitude is on par ; some are just further down the line than you, that's all. The number one requirement is that you don't give up.
There is no such thing as "failure" only feedback :^)
2) The first thing to do is learn if you don't know how to take screen shots. This is because sometimes what you tell us in words from your understanding might not be the case. With a screen shot, we can see for ourselves. this is how to use Windows 10 built in scree shot : https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4027213/windows-10-open-snipping-tool-and-take-a-screenshot
3) Either deleting Windows and just jumping straight in ; or jumping in to do a dual boot can be risky, especially if you are totally new to the command line. Therefore I recommend a "transition period" .Either install Windows subset for linux (WSL) or go for a live linux distro that you boot from a usb stick. That way you can begin to play and get comfortable with quirks of linux.
There are links on here to how to install WSL on Windows 10 and also one way of installing Linux onto a usb stick
4) use lateral thinking to avoid problems. There is a software package readily avaialble for most Linux distro called HPLIP; this is the software that lets your computer "talk" to Hewlett packard (HP) printers and thus easily set it up. With Slackware HPLIP is installed as default. Thus if you don't have a printer get a HP one. Mine is a cheap 30 quid job, but i can scan , print letters etc. Or if you don't like HP do some research for driver support but don't go and buy a niche brand then complain about missing drivers.
5) When you have your new shiny linux installed there are sometimes tweaks to be made. Then you are faced with two issues 1) new packages 2) updates
let me address updates:
updates: there are at least three types
a) you have a software package, to which there is no new release but that there are security updates to that single package. They are called "patches". in slackware they are listed eg : https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware64-14.2/patches/packages/
in this case you leave the original package as it is, but also install a patch for the package , then all is good , with just a small chnage.
b) a release of a new version of a package. eg clamav ; your package is 0.99 but there is a newer one 0.102.2 . in this case its mainly worrying about dependencies which a packge uses and whether other packages rely on this particular dep. In slackware its a simple case of a manual install of new package using :
# upgradepkg newpackage
//in this case the command you are upgrading old package and does the neccessay. Again generally no big deal.
c) A complete update from one version of your OS to another. generally you have to be very careful. In slackware's case they have config entries that say " the next lines should be commented out and if you agree with us comment them out" . But the significant lines are not commented out. !! meaning either the maintainers have no common sense or are barking. What would happen if the lines were not commented out might be this: old kernels are wiped before new ones. Thus if anything goes wrong you end up with no kernel and up the creak without a paddle ! So be careful whatever your distro
6) prevention is better than cure; so have a backup plan. Windows has "recovery" i've heard "timeshift" is good if you do something that results in something you don't like
7) security
A quick check of your system go to this site:
GRC | ShieldsUP! — Internet Vulnerability Profiling
GRC Internet Security Detection System
probably you should have a default firewall; maybe it needs activating or even installing
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