Please explain.....!!! 1

[Highland]

I recently installed a copy of Mandrake 9.0 and it's a STEEP learning curve for those of us used to Windows...!!! I have to say that the install process was MUCH better than any Windows O/S I have used...however, what do I do now...???!!!

After reading loads of stuff from various Web Resources does Mandrake have a functioning install of Gnome or not..??? How do I find out...??? Will this (Gnome) allow me to copy/create desktop shortcuts to apps...???

Basically, we are looking at the feasibility of replacing our Windows desktops with a Linux O/S containg one app - terminal server client...the install process has to be as seamless as possible....

A couple of questions...!!

Can the IP stack in Linux "talk" to a WINS Server, it looks like it's DNS or no IP lookup...?? (Typically we are currently using WINS and no DNS...!! Would prefer to avoid a local HOSTS file...

also can Linux be set-up to perform an automatic logon....???

Thanks for any suggestions/help....

 

[garethmitchell]

When you install Mandrake, the default GUI is KDE which performs the same function as Gnome (and in my opinion is better). Both desktop interfaces act in the same way as the GUI in Windows (but without the constant GDI.EXE errors). You can add shortcuts to applications and documetns as you would with Windoze by using the right mouse button and selecting "Create New" "Link to Application" and filling in the preferences.

There is extensive documentation installed with Mandrake and Libraries of this on the Linux websites such as linuxnewbie.org,

http://www.linux.org,

http://www.mandrakelinux.com

etc etc. You just need to put some time by to study.

I don't understand your question about WINS, but fundamentally the Linux is all about Networking. If you can IP to an address, Linux can talk to it. It can talk to Windows, UNIX, and Apple networks without too many problems.

Linux never needs to be turned off so I don't know where you are coming from with your last question. You can leave the server running and shutdown the clients independantly or you can take the server off line everyday (a bit pointless in my opinion).

You can use the Linus scheduler "cron" to wake up any task on a linux box, so you could set your local PC's up so that they run a network login or a startx (to start the window manager) at a specific time of each day. You can also make the system or the PC shutdown in the same way. The options are infinite and inexpensive!

 

[smah]

garethmitchell explained everything pretty well. I'll just add to the 'automatic logon' question. To set up automatic logon to the x windows system when you start your computer: go to the Mandrake Control center (look through the menus),root password required, Boot option, Boot Config. Near the bottom, choose the 'yes...autologon' option, select the user, and desktop interface.

 

[Highland]

Thanks for your replies.....

Gareth I was looking for info on how to set-up Linux on a client PC with minimal operator intervention required...!! ie users switch their PC on in the morning and simply logon to their ONE application...and then logoff/switch off when they decide to go home....we have over 1000 client PCs (which we cant really leave switched on overnite) and want to reduce our licensing costs with an easy to install and get working desktop O/S....yes, I appreciate most of the info I'm looking for is available on-line and it would be great to have time to study and learn a complete O/S again, just looking for info on a few functions to get Linux running with very basic functionality/set-up.....

WINS is Windows Internet Naming Service, it's similar to DNS, if anyone's interested....

http://pcwebopedia.com/TERM/W/WINS.html

smah, followed you advice and it works...thanks...