How do I customise linux? + need some help

[adit_sen]

hi all...
i finally got linux installed on my system!!! whew. After successive failures with fedora 4, suse 10 and ubuntu, finally i saw success with mandrake linux. i couldnt get my hands on the latest vesion, so i had to make do with ver 9.2

anyhow, here are a few things i need help with....

1. i need to update my gtk version. how do i do that? i tried to install adobe acrobat reader, and i got a message saying that i need a gtk version > 2.4. same goes for installing themes for gnome.

2. i can access my windows ntfs partition after i installed captive ntfs (http://www.jankratochvil.net/project/captive/). but the site says that i should also be able to write to the ntfs drive, but everytime i try to do so, i get a write protected error. how do i resolve that?

3. i am using the firefox browser, but it is not the default browser in linux. i did a bit of searching, and saw that i can change it from the gnome->preferred applications list, if i change it to 'firefox %s'. but when i do so, the settings do not get applied. the mozilla site database says that i need to have the 'symlink the firefox script must be placed in one of the default PATH's'. how to do i do that? (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Default_browser)

4. when browsing the web, the fonts that i see on screen are not smooth. they are quite rugged. how to i change that apperence?

5. for instand messaging, i use aMSN for MSN messenger, which works with no problems. but yahoo messenger for unix, which i got from the yahoo site does not seem to work. the program opens, but does not connect. is there any alternative messenger client i can use? (i've also tried gaim, but with no luck).

thats it for now i guess...

thankx...
peace..
aditya
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[praka123]

below given link is useful 4 u:
http://software.newsforge.com/articl...&tid=82&tid=94
mandrake 9.2 is old.get latest debian etch or ubuntu or Fedora 5.

[adit_sen]

thanks for the link. but that really didnt answer any of my questions.
i know that mandrake 9.2 is old. but that's the only linux distro that works properly on my laptop! i tried troubleshooting with other distro's (http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39187), but had no luck.

peace...
aditya

[desertwind]

1. Use Easyurpmi for updating packages in mandrake.

3. Have you installed firefox manually ? then create a link of the firefox executable in /usr/bin

$ ln -s /path/to/firefox/installation/bin/firefox /usr/bin

5. Use gaim, it's the best available. for ur problem try this.

$ rm -rf ~/.ymessenger

And then run Yahoo! Messenger again.

[adit_sen]

as i have been told by many people, mandrake 9.2 is an old distro. so should i switch to mandrake 10.1 or fedora core 5?
i had problems with fedora core 4 earlier, as in my sound, internet lan, and usb did not work. but i had no issues with mandrake 9.2


so please suggest accordingly.
thankx

peace...
aditya

[praka123]

always get the latest distro,it surely is got better security,speed and overall technology.if u have used linux for quiet a sometime,You can now move into real Distros with umpteen packages available and superior i am talking about Debian Sarge GNU/Linux or etch,Ubuntu Breezy/Dapper or even Gentoo which offers optimizations for ur mobo/processor platform.Fedora is described as a hobbyist distro |||y is Mandriva...

[adit_sen]

ah...now u've just confised me even more. lol. lemme put it this way... fc5 or mandrake 10.1?

[praka123]

No i dont want 2 confuse U yaar,get urself Fedora/Mandriva,i thought u've got some experiance in using Linux for sometime.now leave my words make urself comforatble with any distro u Like!
Fedora Core is the Popular one than Mandriva...U can get many rpms especially for Fedora versions from external sources..it is better compared to Mandriva...

[adit_sen]

ah. now's whr my question comes in. like is said b4, i tried fc3, fc4 and suse10, but i couldnt get my sound, lan (internet) and usb working on all of them. i tried all possible solutions for almost a month, but ended up without any luck. only mandrake 9.2 worked.
now my question is, as i want to upgrade to get the latest version, should i have a go with fc5, given my past disappointment with earlier releases, or go ahead with mandrake 10.1, given the mandrake 9.2 does not give any probs.
another thing of note, i've used fc5 b4 and love it. but i dont wanna spend another month just getting it to work.

peace..
aditya

[mehulved]

Get hold of Ubuntu live cd and check if everything works fine with it. If it does you can go in for Ubuntu cos it is easy to use and has good rate of hardware detection. Till then you can continue using current distro.

[adit_sen]

have tried ubuntu too. i cant get to install it as it just hangs after the cd boots up. not just one cd, but even the live cd gives the same problem.

[adit_sen]

Ah. Satisfaction & Relief...
I got a hold of the current ubuntu release (5.10), and installed it on my system. And the great thing was that I didnt have to configure anything at all. Everything was up and running from boot. Brilliant!!

I've already switched to linux as my primary OS...

(n thx to all ppl here for helpin me out...)

peace...
aditya

[praka123]

so what version of Ubuntu had u tried earlier?

[adit_sen]

earlier i tried ver 5.04...

[adit_sen]

everything seems to work great on ubuntu, except that i cant get my wireless lan to work.
i have a linksys 802.11b/g wireless - g notebook adatper (pcimca). how to i configure it to work in linux?

thankx
peace..
aditya