things to do with linux

NoobieOCer · 18 May 2008 at 15:21

hi, i tried ubuntu before and well i went back to windows after i ran out of things to do for fun.

but all i have done is just change the apperence thingys and some people which helped me to do some of these things said linux can do a lot more things and can be so much more thingy. XD thing thing thing

anyway i would like some people to give some cool stuff i can do with linux, maybe i want to make a sever now i don't actually know what i want a server for but may be you can give a few cool things i can make a server do. recommend me look into some applications... may be give me some links with guide to start me off

and any one can link me some where so i can learn to use the command prompt... all i know is cd, ls and thats it XD

well what i want is just some where i can start learning as i bearly even touched linux

growse · 18 May 2008 at 15:24

What do you do "for fun" on windows?

NoobieOCer · 18 May 2008 at 15:28

well i play games but thats not the point, what i want to do is to learn how to set up servers and use command promt (or shell or bash or what ever u call it) i want to understand how a computer works, i want to be able to set up media centers, manage a web site, and cool **** that i never even knew was possible with linux

i just don't actually know where to start... can u recommend a few applications i might install on ubuntu to start say a server, if you have a server what do you use it for? what kinda useful thing can i do on it ie access my computer and get it to start downloading a file while i'm at uni

pingwing · 18 May 2008 at 15:36

Try and play windows games in linux!

theres a few that will almost work with several strange methods (civ4 comes to mind). Or, if you have neverwinter nights for example, try out the linux installers for it and laugh at the weirdness! (it works pretty much perfectly though i didnt have a propper software mixer installed so the sound was a bit interesting).

Failing that just get gentoo and spend 2 weeks learning how to set up linux propperly (all the things ubuntu sort of does for you automatically) thats pretty linux fun

NoobieOCer · 18 May 2008 at 15:39

pingwing said:
Try and play windows games in linux! theres a few that will almost work with several strange methods (civ4 comes to mind). Or, if you have neverwinter nights for example, try out the linux installers for it and laugh at the weirdness! (it works pretty much perfectly though i didnt have a propper software mixer installed so the sound was a bit interesting).

Failing that just get gentoo and spend 2 weeks learning how to set up linux propperly (all the things ubuntu sort of does for you automatically) thats pretty linux fun

ummm i properly wont try the games but i once downloaded gentoo and i think i downloaded like 2 versions i had no idea what i was doing.. i just gave up =/ maybe i give it anouther go later today

actually how on earth do you play windows stuff on linux? say i have cod4 how would i even install that on a linux system? i understand you use wine or something to run the application do i use it to install the game too?

NoobieOCer · 18 May 2008 at 15:47

oo found this:
http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html#Top

edit: nvm i think its teaching me how to program in unix =/

Jamie · 18 May 2008 at 16:16

NoobieOCer said:
what kinda useful thing can i do on it ie access my computer and get it to start downloading a file while i'm at uni

Ubuntu >> get openssh-server

Depending on what operating system you're using (Putty for windows or just ssh from terminal inside MACOS or Linux)

Once you're connected you'll be presented with command line where you can wget <url> for downloads or whatever you want.

NoobieOCer said:
actually how on earth do you play windows stuff on linux? say i have cod4 how would i even install that on a linux system? i understand you use wine or something to run the application do i use it to install the game too?

Ubuntu >> Apt-get install wine

then winecfg to set your c:/ drive and CD/dvd drive. you can run installers, whatever.

dave-lew99 · 18 May 2008 at 16:17

1. Pick a task: eg set up a webserver
2. Find a guide which shows you how to do it (bonus points if you use the server/non gui edition)
3. You're done, and you *should* have learnt somthing along the way.

It only took me a couple of times following guides before i could do it without the help.

NoobieOCer · 18 May 2008 at 17:19

cool

i get started tomorrow

other than servers, media centres is there anything else i can do with linux? just need some ideas as after i set up a server/media centre thats it.. theres nothing to do...

BillytheImpaler · 18 May 2008 at 17:23

Sure. Try setting up MythTV. It's quite a challenge since it can integrate with the Apache web server and that it uses a MySQL database.

pingwing · 19 May 2008 at 01:55

Hehe (unproductive ideas), right to do gaming (as its secretly the coolest thing in linux....) id peer at wine (the free compatability layer and is pretty hard to get going) or cediga (which is aimed at directX in linux put simply). Cedega is pretty hard to get stuff to work (especially if your using an ati laptop card) and it costs like £3 for a few months subscription but its a good cause(ish). (sorry both are pretty hard to do its just Cediga is aimed at gaming)

With gentoo there's the last few releases (but they all update once you do the install propperly as it relies on portage and pretty much automatically kees up-to-date). Anyway the minimal X86 install disk (its about a 50meg download) is a good commandline place to start learning how to do linux (be prepared to download aload of source code to get things installed though) and it comes with really helpful documentation

Have fun!

russ0r · 19 May 2008 at 02:17

NoobieOCer said:
cool i get started tomorrow other than servers, media centres is there anything else i can do with linux? just need some ideas as after i set up a server/media centre thats it.. theres nothing to do...

Depends what you want to do really.
I have a headless box sat under my desk running a DHCP server and DNS server (with ad-blocking list) for my network. It also has Apache installed and is running torrentflux so I can leave it downloading torrents all day and not have to have my main computer turned on.

When I'm in the mood for experimenting with Linux I usually pop over to freshmeat and find an app that would be fun/interesting to set up...and do it.

GarethDW · 19 May 2008 at 02:39

NoobieOCer said:
cool i get started tomorrow other than servers, media centres is there anything else i can do with linux? just need some ideas as after i set up a server/media centre thats it.. theres nothing to do...

Quite the opposite... with Linux there's everything available to do, and most often without any financial outlay.

Ethics · 19 May 2008 at 10:41

Look into LAMP (Linux, Apache, MYSQL, PHP) that's a good WEBserver (you didn't say which kind of 'server' you want).

Also for a file server look at Samba, i use it on my network to supply 5 machines and it works brilliantly.

The possibilities are endless really.

take a look at what tasks you do day to day and try and write shell (i prefer bash) scripts to help you, it's a nice easy way to learn a lot of the commands.

Cew27 · 19 May 2008 at 10:45

it took me a week to tweak linux to get it looking as shiny as it is try compiling some programs from source and shell scripting

NoobieOCer · 20 May 2008 at 12:34

GarethDW said:
Quite the opposite... with Linux there's everything available to do, and most often without any financial outlay.

XD everything

cant exactly make ** own isp with linux can u? so not really everything

but yea i get started..

btw! how do u get gentoo!! i tried searching on google got to thier site click on the link and then i see some discussion topics =/

Ethics · 20 May 2008 at 13:50

Lucky i followed the links before slating you

Looks like only the beta links work, the rest redirect to the homepage

GarethDW · 20 May 2008 at 14:45

NoobieOCer said:
XD everything cant exactly make ** own isp with linux can u? so not really everything but yea i get started..

Not sure what you mean by this. Are you saying that Linux can't be used to run whatever backend system an ISP would use, and that there are only Windows apps that can be used for this? I've got no idea what systems they use, but I find it hard to believe that ISPs are tied-in to using Windows. Doesn't BigRedShark work for an ISP...? Maybe he can enlighten us.

NoobieOCer said:
btw! how do u get gentoo!! i tried searching on google got to thier site click on the link and then i see some discussion topics =/

Seems to be available from the usual mirrors... here's a link to the 32-bit version that might help

http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/www.ibiblio.org/gentoo/releases/x86/current/

pingwing · 20 May 2008 at 15:25

Heres the gentoo handbook (its not that handy aka its quite big) http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?full=1

Its very detailed for how to get gentoo working (to the basic install at least)

Oh also their main site is http://www.gentoo.org/ (i usual forget its .org....)

MotherMayI · 21 May 2008 at 01:33

Linux, while maybe more of a hobbyist/enthusiast one, is still just an OS. You can have fun learning it as much as you can with a Windows machine for the most part.

However, if you are after a challenging project to improve your skills I would definitely recommend setting up your own home server. I have done so for the exact same reasons you seem to want to - Download torrents etc., while at university.

things to do with linux

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