seeking wisdom regarding an os

[voidmain]

The command that is similar to "CHKDSK/SCANDISK" in DOS/Windows is "fsck".  This runs automatically when needed (a power-off without a shutdown for example).  For more information on this command do a "man fsck" from a shell prompt. It would not be wise to just run this command on a running system though which should be explained in the manual page.

And a defrag is not necessary on a Linux file system.

[ September 17, 2002: Message edited by: void main ]

[Pantso]

There's no such thing as defragment in Linux and thus no tool. A Linux file system, whether we're talking about ext2, ext3, reiserfs etc cannot be fragmented. So, no more file fragments for you  

[voidmain]

Not entirely true. All of the file systems that can be used on Linux can/will become fragmented to varying degrees, however it does not become a problem like it can in Windows. It would be very unlikely that you would ever notice a performance degradation because of it thus does not require defragmenting.

The only way I know of to actually defragment a file system is to back up the data using a file based backup utility (tar/cpio/etc), reformat the file system and restore the data.  But as I said, this is unnecessary and you will not gain any noticable performance increase in most cases.

[Pantso]

Yes I agree, but Linux file systems really make defragmentation superfluous as they prevent fragments from occcuring. However, as you said, fragments in Linux file systems are really unnoticeable in the way that they don't reduce the performance of a system like in Windows.

[bha]

okay, i felt the obligation to to let you all in on how i am currently feeling regarding my new linux os.

since, i have no experience with linux, i felt that this would be helpful to all newbies of linux.

i will state all of my concerns with the system that i have found thus far and also a few features that i love thus far. keep in mind that i have never used another os besides windows and that i've only had linux for a little over 24 hours.

here we go:

it is confusing to me so far. the many different features like gnome, kde, etc...

i have mainly been experimenting with kde.

i hate the fact that my dvd doesn't work, but i love xine. i know that there is a way to get it to play dvd's with a plugin, but installing on linux seems a little more difficult.

i have a cable connection that only allows for one computer to be hooked to it, unless you pay for more. this is a future option.

however, i planned on using a free connection like netzero or juno to cruise around online with the linux system. i am very excited to check it out online, but connecting has been impossible thus far. i can't seem to connect with netzero. setting up is a little more difficult than on windows.

i am wondering why my .txt files do not open on the system and wish that i could use dreamweaver and flash on linux.

also, i wish i could use photoshop and fireworks. these are really the only programs i feel that i need. dreamweaver is very important, as that is what i use for my website.

the media players seem to have more options and i believe that i like them more. the only thing that would suck is not using my musicmatch program. of course, i haven't even checked to see if this can be done or not.

the games are much cooler than on windows. i am of course, talking about the games that come installed on the systems.

overall, the system seems much, much, much, more stable than windows. no crashes....

i think that once i get over the confusion of little things and learn about the system more, i will appreciate it even more.

i love the fact that the software seems to be free overall, and the work and unity amongst linux users is phenomenal compare to windows.

i have some security concerns since i do not understand the basics of what i need to do yet with kernels, etc... in order to be more stable.

overall, i find linux to be pretty damn competitive to windows and i think that there is a great possibility that people will begin to understand that windows does not rule the world. i do believe that linux is in many ways superior to windows. hell, if linux went around screwing companies and people over, i am sure that they wuld be on top of the world. fortunately, they are not like this and for that i am grateful.

people use windows because that is what is there and it's easy. it's more compatible with software because microsoft has cut hands and companies off to make it that way. i think that if i could use my main software -- dreamweaver -- that i would remove window completely from my system and just run linux.

that and the compatibility with other documents that i need to run is the only thing that i feel stops me right now.

there are some problem with the system that i have right now, but most of that is due to my own ignorance regarding certain things.

i want to get online, so if anyone knows how i can accomplish this without paying for an isp (since i pay enough for cable), please speak up.

once again, i would like to thank everyone here that helped me accomplish getting linux on my system, and for those that are new to linux and are afraid of getting in there... don't be.

[Master of Reality]

i think there is a utility called kppp that sets up dialup stuff... someone else would know better about that. I have never used Dial-up in Linux, only cable.

To replace photoshop you can use The Gimp which is an excellant imaging program.

[treydogg526tx]

what burning software are you using?  if it's nero make sure that you close the wizard, and select file -->  burn image, otherwise, it is not burning the correct folders or file system.