New to Linux.

[sesmi]

I\'m just starting Linux and i wanted to know some of the common problems over here before i start playing. thanks.

[Karyuu]

You can try reading through the forum.. :P

[sesmi]

Yea, but i\'m a little hyped up about my new OS and want to check everything out    i\'m just doing stuff and checking back here every minute or so.

[Induane]

I\'ve been in that position at one time or another.   Ahhh I remember my first linux distro... ASP...

[1Samildanach]

Dependency hell, forgetting to modify the xorg.conf when I install the NVIDIA driver or switch kernel.

I think those ar ethe two main problems I\'ve had with GNU/Linux, I haven\'t gotten planshift running yet because I haven\'t been able to get the newest update and some other stuff.

[Havox]

The new nvidia drivers instalation prompts you to automagically change the x.org settings  
As for dependencie hell not much to be done about it. The fault is not in the software imho.

[Tharizdun]

Dependancies are more of a distribution / package-management problem than a general Linux problem, in my opinion. If you stick with vendor software repositories and upgrade & install how they want you to ( rather than manually downloading & installing stuff from other places - binary rpms built for different archs or distributions, source .tar.gz files that require a ./configure && make install, planeshift etc ), then the dependancy problem will hopefully not be a major one for you.

With newer distributions or one that have a very large software base ( ie anything based on Debian like Ubuntu or Knoppix, source-based ones like Gentoo ) this problem is fairly managable even for new users.

That said, expect to break stuff as you go, especially when poking around as root, its all part of the learning process. When your fancy linux desktop stops working or your network dies horribly its always handy to have another system or OS nearby so you can google up your problem, figure what you\'ve done and what you need to do to make it all better.

Getting planeshift working on linux can be difficult though, have patience and check through all the system and driver requirements in detail before taking on the planeshift software itself.

[CleverFool]

I\'ve tried a lot of different linux distros and found one without any dependency hells. It is Debian (not Debian-based Upuntu or KNOPIX, but true Debian). apt-get just resolves all dependecies. Installed binary PlaneShift on Debian sid without any problems at all. Started at once.

[Xordan]

Debian/Ubuntu has a _lot_ of flaws dependancy wise, although users won\'t really notice them unless they\'re trying to do development on that distro (I had dependancy hell ). Gentoo is definately the best for dependancy resolving as it allows you to choose any optional dependancies which the program can have, which Debian based (and other binary distros) don\'t allow.

I try to package as many as the dependancies as I can with the linux binaries, which can help to reduce dependancy problems on a wide range of distros, but there will always be a problem with some I guess.

[hook]

Originally posted by Xordan
Debian/Ubuntu has a _lot_ of flaws dependancy wise, although users won\'t really notice them unless they\'re trying to do development on that distro (I had dependancy hell ). Gentoo is definately the best for dependancy resolving as it allows you to choose any optional dependancies which the program can have, which Debian based (and other binary distros) don\'t allow.

Yup :]

And I can say I used many different distros/package-systems in my linux-life ...from Slackware\'s (almost) nonexisting package system to RPM hell that is RedHat and its derivates, Debian\'s pretty decent (yet sometimes a bit cluttered) apt-get system and the (almost) bliss that Portage system brings to Gentoo.

I\'m sticking with Gentoo (after being a Slackware diehard for years) ...but you have to be a certain sort of person I guess

[scoswriter]

Dependenccy hell has pretty much gone away with the introduction of widespread popular RPM based systems like SuSE and Mandriva.  There are so many RPM repositories that a dependency is unlikly and they have good manangment systems for them.

Which ever system your using, just be sure you have most of you environment devel packages for image/graphics(jpeg, divx, png etc), sound, and widgets (KDE,QT, etc.).  This will  make 3rd party (non RPM based) software build/installs easy like Planeshift, but also just about anything else you install.

Truth be told, Linux is for folks that actually like, tweaking, building and customizing their OS (and hate being a target of viruses and spyware).  If your in the position that you will not be spending much time messing with sources (ie download, configure, make, make install) make sure you have a decent RPM based Distro like Fedora, SuSE, Mandriva, or Debian (DEB\'s)