On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 9:39 PM, Doug wrote:

Some of what you ask is personal preference. I prefer the rpm system, with Synaptic as my file manager. I use PCLOS. Some people using other distros swear at Synaptic. (I don't know why.)

Oh I see. I came to know that RPM and DEB are just package managers which has nothing to do with a home user. However, yes it is the personal taste. I would play with the LiveCD of PCLOS too or would see its installation in Oracle Virtual Box (which I installed from YaST). And the reason why to see that CD is because recently at the website http://distrowatch.com/ it has gained significant popularity. Some years back it was not even in top ten ranks (I read) but now just near to openSUSE.

If you want to learn Linux (or any of the Unixes) you will have to get some familiarity with the command line. Linux uses what is called the BASH shell--there are others, mostly similar. The shell is what contains the actual system you are using--the graphics is a layer on top of that. You can do a lot with the GUI, and a lot of the time it is simpler and faster, but at some point you are going to have to use the command line, in what's called the "terminal." (In ancient times, there was a separate unit containing a CRT display and a keyboard, and it was called a terminal. In prehistoric times, the terminal was a teletype machine.) An excellent reference to the more common commands is "Linux in a Nutshell," by Siever, Figgins, Love and Robbins, an O'Reilly book.I recently bought another copy, to give my son, and it was deeply discounted here in the US. The discount price was around $25. (I have no financial interest in the O'Reilly business.)

Command line is great and I heard from people saying that some tasks can be achieved via this which even GUI fails to do because GUI itself it doing work because of it. "Terminal" is something I would have to learn and it must be the real Linux, I believe. Further, I guess all Linux have **almost** the same commands except the few core commands which are package based, e.g., like "zypper" or "yum" or "apt-get". But overall, most of the another commands should be same, I believe which constitutes what is called as *Linux*. I would see the book "Linux in a Nutshell" and also would try to find its e-copy (if possible) before directly purchasing.

I'm sure others will have more advice for you, and these mailing lists and forums are really helpful. PCLOS has a forum which usually produces more specific answers more quickly, but that is not to disparage other media, such as this list.

Yes, the mailings lists are really helpful and I also get to know the other great way of help which is the openSUSE forums. I would also see the PCLOS forum since Linux is Linux. Thanks. -- Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. --- Charles Mingus -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org