just got linux WOW, (need some help though)

Hi,
I just got ubuntu linux. not being an extreme linux enthusiast i did not go for something more difficult to use. I am so pleased with it. It goes so much faster than windows doesn't it. I am hoping not to dua-boot windows but if necessary then I can. I have 2 questions.
--- On linux, do I have to have a firewall. does ubuntu 5.10 (breezy badger) have one built in? if i do need one, which ones are better.

--- What programs can i use for my iPod on linux.

Please answer quickly, because if i do need a firewall i need to get one soon.
cheers
mad_pc_man

mad_pc_man said:

Hi,
I just got ubuntu linux. not being an extreme linux enthusiast i did not go for something more difficult to use. I am so pleased with it. It goes so much faster than windows doesn't it. I am hoping not to dua-boot windows but if necessary then I can. I have 2 questions.
--- On linux, do I have to have a firewall.

Click to expand...

Not nearly as important as it is in windows.

does ubuntu 5.10 (breezy badger) have one built in?

Click to expand...

No idea. Check the docs?

if i do need one, which ones are better.

Click to expand...

Generally, all the extra software you can get is built on top of iptables (which is part of the kernel), so they mostly only differ in ease of use.

For a firewall, a nice easy one is "firestarter" .. should be an installable package. It may have some features above your level, but once you install it, I belive it has a nice wizard to get you started.

There are many more advanced firewalls, but in Linux, most are just front ends for IPTables, which is a hard-core command line firewall.

As for the iPod, I'm not sure... don't have one.

For another speed up:
1. Install the "prelink" package
2. Edit the file /etc/default/prelink, and change the the line: PRELINKING=unkown to PRELINKING=yes
3. in a terminal, run "sudo /etc/cron.daily/prelink"
This will chug away for a little while "prelinking" all of your binaries(applications).. Linking is done every time you run a binary, prelinking does it all before hand, allowing the binary to bypass that when they're executed... speeding them up.

su root said:

For another speed up:
1. Install the "prelink" package
2. Edit the file /etc/default/prelink, and change the the line: PRELINKING=unkown to PRELINKING=yes
3. in a terminal, run "sudo /etc/cron.daily/prelink"
This will chug away for a little while "prelinking" all of your binaries(applications).. Linking is done every time you run a binary, prelinking does it all before hand, allowing the binary to bypass that when they're executed... speeding them up.

Click to expand...

Is that the Linux equivelant of windows prefetch?

hibner said:

Is that the Linux equivelant of windows prefetch?

Click to expand...

Similar, but completely different. There are generally three types of executables in linux:
1. Scripts
2. Static Binaries
3. Dynamic Binaries

Scripts are compiled and interpreted upon execution, they take the longest to run comparative to their size. Small scripts will be compiled rather quickly, but larger scripts will take longer.

Static binaries are programs you download that are listed as static. They're built for compatability, by having all the libraries that they require inside them. They are larger (because it has all the libraries inside it) and slower because upon execution, it loads all of it's own libaries instead of using other (possibly already loaded) libraries.

Dynamic binaries is the majority of the installed programs.. when you execute them, they "link" against other libraries (basically they contain bits of compiled code that are already programmed, so a programmer doesn't have to recode them, they can just link to them and use the function). Prelinking figures out all of these links ahead of time, so a program called the "linker" doesn't have to analyze the binary every time you execute the program.

So, it reduces the number of things that has to be done every time you execute a dynamic binary, but it doesn't prefetch the data that it commonly uses. Hope that makes sense.

(Note that, in past Linux versions, the entire code of the program was statically linked into the binary. The growth of libraries resulted in executables becoming large, and so a few better ways were found of doing it.)

Nice job, su root!

su root said:

Hope that makes sense.

Click to expand...

That made perfect sense. Thanks for the explanation.

man I gotta learn more about Linux.... time to hit the stickies

As for the ipod question, look at these:

http://packages.gentoo.org/search/?sstring=ipod

This is the gentoo package database. I know you aren't using gentoo, but this gives a good listing of available linux software. Most of these probably have debian apt builds, if not they can still be installed from source on your system.

for music play and ipod connectivity, try Amarok...THE best linux app for music, and it blows away anything availabel for windows right now.

http://amarok.kde.org/

ok thanks
i will get firestarter now and I have found gtkpod. It seems to work except for putting music on to the iPod. won't let me do that. well i guess i'll have to have a look.
cheers

I've been using amorak as my main music player in linux.

It's a little buggy, and slow when you have a large collection of music (I have a 40gb external drive dedicated for music )...but it's still nice to be able to view more info about songs than XMMS (or winamp/the like) will give you

telexen said:

I've been using amorak as my main music player in linux.

It's a little buggy, and slow when you have a large collection of music (I have a 40gb external drive dedicated for music )...but it's still nice to be able to view more info about songs than XMMS (or winamp/the like) will give you

Click to expand...

If you havn't already, try out the smart playlist generator. Find about 3 songs that describe your current mood, put them in your playlist, and turn on smart playlist (it's a button looks like a black box with a red plus sign on it). Then, based on what it knows of the song's genre, and what people online have similar tastes with, it will look through your collection and add other similar songs to your playlist, so it should never really stop playing.

Ubuntu linux by default doesn't listen to any ports. So a firewall is superfluous. There is no reason to have one at all, IMO. AS far as your Ipod goes, you can use rhythmbox, it is included by default as well. Rhythmbox is alot like iTunes, in fact it is essentially a clone of it, minus the music store.

For looking at various packages available, check out synaptic by going to the System Menu, then Administration. You should see synaptic package manager in there. Also, you could go to http://packages.ubuntu.com/ online