I'm using knoppix, and when i was using it, I switched back to the desktop only to find that all of my desktop icons were gone. A reboot fixed the problem, but this shouldn't happen on linux if it's as foolproof as people claim. Any idea of what caused that? I was using openoffice and I was also trying to run wine (unsucessfully) in the terminal before it happened.

any thoughts?



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Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, telling me, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

I'd say your first problem is you were running a KDE DE on Knoppix

But beyond that I couldn't tell you, I don't run anything besides Enlightenment or sometimes Blackbox and the very occasional Gnome.

And realistically, imo at least, a lot of the reason for using linux is to gain that first-hand understanding of how and what everything does in your system by building and installing it all, instead of just using a pre-built environment where you don't know what things do.

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[Blue Mink Bifocals !] [fsck -Rf /world/usr/] [<!-- kalimonster -->] [Capite Terram]
"If I said anything which implies that I think that we didn't do what we should have done given the choices we faced at the time, I shouldn't have said that." -William Jefferson Clinton
NPC.Interact::PressButton($'Submit');

[This message has been edited by Dormouse (edited April 17, 2004).]

Knoppix is soly a demo disk. I wouldn't trust it to be too stable. If you really want a stable distro, get Slackware. Debian is too much of a pain, and Gentoo is too time consuming for someone who doesn't want to learn everything just to use it.

I'm sorry I didn't answer your question.

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I check my e-mail.

Knoppix is NOT just a demo disk, it is a fully fuctioning system that runs off a CD.

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1 of 14 | 6-16 Never Forget. | Click.

I know that. However, I do not recommend using Knoppix for anything else besides a demo / recovery disk. It's way to cluttered, messy, bloated, and distracts you from doing things manually.

For example, when you go to the 'create persistant home directory' option, it asumes you're an idiot who doesn't know how to make a partition and only allows you to make a new one instead of using an existing one.

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I check my e-mail.

It lets you be productive.

I believe you if you say you like manually configuring things in linux and that it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, but not everyone has the nerves for that

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"Music is the universal language and the
dialect we speak in is Hip Hop!" - King Solomon

[This message has been edited by Molgrew (edited April 17, 2004).]

That's not true at all, it worked for me

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

Then perhaps I'm the idiot...

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I check my e-mail.

WTF? Debian r0><0rz j00 b0><0rz0rz0rz!!!111oneoneone

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I used to believe that we must fight the future, lest change come without our consent. I was wrong. The truth is that we must embrace the future, for only with change can we remain the same.

This coming from a Gentoo user? Debian is my second-favourite distro. If you use the Knoppix CD it can't get any easier to install. And "apt-get" is great. I don't see where the pain is

Installing Gentoo is too much of a pain.

n0ppickz ro><orz j00r bo><orz!!!11lol!!!111one!!11forty-two!11loooollll [/GBK]



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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

Well, I never got past the install. I consider that a pain. I'm not idiot, I can install Gentoo easily.

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I check my e-mail.

I've never had that problem with Windows, you should switch to it.

I hear FreeBSD is good.

Your icons disappearing probably nothing to do with Linux, but everything to do with your desktop environment or XFree86.

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[This message has been edited. Deal with it.]

[This message has been edited by Malus (edited April 17, 2004).]

<3 Tofu

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Truth is in the eye of the beholder.
Forum Rules

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In Tribute to Adam Sliger. Rest in Peace

10/7/85 - 12/9/03

I'm with Mystic on this one. I find Gentoo to be less complicated than Debian. It may be more in-depth (and maybe slightly confusing at times), but it's incredibly well documented. I tried installing Debian, and had a hell of a time getting it to work.

Also, am I the only one that doesn't like apt? I find it to be really confusing and poorly documented. One of the reasons I gave up on Debian was that I couldn't figure out how to search for a package. Apparently, apt-get (the executable itself) doesn't have a search function. It's in a separate program, which the apt-get man page makes no reference to.

Gentoo has an incredible user community. Everything about their website is very professional and well documented, and it is progressing very quickly. They have a unified message board with security announcements and everything. Whereas Debian is old and slow, with a scattered user base.

I probobly would have given Debian a better recommendation if I was acutally able to install it.

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I check my e-mail.

No, Debain has a vast userbase . . . they just dont talk to n00bs. Pure Debian isnt meant for n00bs, thats why the installer has yet to be updated. 1337s know how to use it, and thats all that matters.

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I used to believe that we must fight the future, lest change come without our consent. I was wrong. The truth is that we must embrace the future, for only with change can we remain the same.

GBK, you are portraying the steriotypical stuck up "1337" Debian user who is too cool to help besides a "RTFM" comment.

No offence intended.

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I check my e-mail.

Why yes, yes I am...

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I used to believe that we must fight the future, lest change come without our consent. I was wrong. The truth is that we must embrace the future, for only with change can we remain the same.

[This message has been edited by GBK (edited April 18, 2004).]

Mystic0, you are spreading falsehoods and lies about Knoppix/Debian, and that doesn't help anyone.

fourwood: it's apt-cache search <search term> to search for a package. The reason it's not part of apt-get, I assume, is because you're not apt-GETting anything. You're just searching your computers list of packages.

Anyway, the problem of the original poster is likely the DE just like everyone says. Linux is more stable than Windows (for me, especially). It is more secure, more flexible, and in my opinion, easier to use. I define "easier to use" as "easier to make it do what I want" - sometimes, Windows simply WON'T do what I want, no matter what.

Anyway, Knoppix is a great distro, and once you install it, you have DEBIAN not "knoppix" - it's just a debian install using selected packages from the testing/unstable package sets. Mystic0, if you knew ANYTHING about Debian, you'd know that to get newer packages, you just dist-upgrade from stable to testing or unstable. Then you get the latest packages and the system is arguably still just as stable as other distros running the same versions of said packages.

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EvilMagic.net: Brian's Web Log

...And the Lord did send Brian, and Brian did vanish all the evil-doers, and the Lord did grin...

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I used to believe that we must fight the future, lest change come without our consent. I was wrong. The truth is that we must embrace the future, for only with change can we remain the same.

apt-get? Try yum.
Config it for several sources and away you go.

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To artificial life, all reality is virtual.
HTP
babble, babble, b!tch, b!tch, rebel, rebel, party, party.

<3 Brian

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

<3



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Run Away!!

Brian: Sorry for being so harsh on Debian. You are definatly right about updrading to the testing and unstable packages. However, I think a couple of my points are still valid:

• The Debian Install scripts for Woody are terrible. They had me going in circles, and it never got back on track.
• I heard good things about the Sarge Debian installer. However, the debian mirrors did not provide any ISOs for Sarge. I shouldn't have to learn jigdo just to get an image. After all, how do I know if it is even going to work?
• Gentoo's website is professional and informative. It has a unified user base with a message board for everything. If you have a Gentoo question, it is *the* place to go. With debian, I find myself searching archives of newsgroups, which is cumbersome and slow.
• Knoppix is not the ideal distribution for a full installation because it doesn't give you package selection. Whether you like it or not, it installs the cluttered KDE along with tons of software you may never use. I just don't prefere this style of installation. Maybe this is what jigdo is for. However, jigdo doesn't seem like a practical solution for someone who just want's to 'try it out.'

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I check my e-mail.

The debian installer sucks which is why I always recommend knoppix or another liveCD based on Debian to get it installed. See above. I didn't have problems installing Debian, it was just the configuration afterwards that gave me trouble. But yes, although I can work the installer, I know and understand that it sucks big time. Yeah, as far as I know, there is no central place for debian help. The nice thing is that once the system is installed and working, you don't generally NEED help with the "debian" part of it. You may need help with certain software, but it's better to go to the source (whoever made the software). I don't know what jigdo is, but if you don't like some packages that come with knoppix, you can always apt-get remove them. The other option is to pick a liveCD distro based on knoppix that doesn't have KDE or that more closely aligns with what you want. Or of course, you could always just learn to use the debian installer

Anyway, something like 80% of linux desktop users use KDE, so most of them will want that. *shrug* I am of course a fan of a minimal system, which is why I use the debian net installer to put in the base system, then I simply apt-get install the packages I want. It's a longer way to do an install because it really doesn't install anything you don't want, but it does result in a much cleaner system.

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EvilMagic.net: Brian's Web Log

Agreed.

According to Debian's website, Jigdo is a system of downloading files and 'compiling' them into a single ISO file. It is easier on the mirrors bandwidth capacity, as you only use the files you need. This also results in a clean distro without any extra 'fluff'. It also is one of the only ways to get Debian Sarge. I havn't done it simply because I'm too lazy.

How are you having problems configuring Debian? I thought it was easy to maintain once the installation is complete.

Remember that I don't have anything against Debian; in fact, I think it is one of the best distros. It's just that my experience with it isn't the greatest.

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I check my e-mail.