How to Get Basic Newbie Help

Novell Cool Solutions: Question & Answer

Posted: 7 Sep 2005

Q:
I would very much like to see a really EASY newbie forum, especially addressing how to migrate from Windows to SUSE, how to config hardware, etc in a very plain and goof proof manner.

A:
I think that you will find the SUSE manuals answer a lot of these questions. http://www.novell.com/documentation/suse93/index.html

There are also some good How Tos out there on the web on software migration, especially to Open Office. A search on the web for Open Office or OO will give you a nice list.

The GIMP has some great documentation at gimp.org, and Firefox the same at mozilla.org.

Hardware is always a problematic area if YaST doesn't recognise it. YaST is pretty easy to use and you should try that route before any other. Many hardware manufacturers haven't discovered Linux yet so we have to rely on volunteers to create drivers. Fortunately, more and more hardware is being supported and you should visit www.linux.org to find out which hardware is compatible before making a purchase.

A search on the web for "hardware ID linux drivers" could yield some interesting references, or the same search replacing "drivers" with "how to". There is so much technical knowledge involved in your request, as there are hundreds of packages in a typical Linux distro, and hundreds of hardware manufacturers out there as well. I think it is better to go looking on the web, as for each individual, one answer may confuse, where another is what they need, and vice versa for someone else.

One of my good Aussie general Linux info sites is
http://www.lesbell.com.au/Home.nsf/Linux?OpenView
Although you should first visit Novell Newbie Cool Solutions
http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/linuxnewbie/
as there are more and more answers to SUSE Newbie questions being posted all the time. Stomfi

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