As for what I was doing with DOS at that time...well, probably not much
more than changing directories and running executables:)
I think the first three DOS commands I mastered were 'cd' 'dir' and 'cls'
which become 'cd' 'ls' and 'clear' in *nix ;-)
I realize rh7.3 is a bit on the old side, but I am new to all this and
this is what I had available. I have already updated the kernel and
installed several programs and updates successfully.
OK, that sounds good. As a newbie, using the package manager may at first
seem daunting, but it's a _very_ handy tool. A minor problem is that rpms
are not compatible across distributions or even versions (hence the
separate updates directories at redhat or fedoralegacy.org). The lowest
common denominator is the tarball, compiling from source to make new
binaries. The disadvantage (outside of the fact that the task is more
complex) is that there is no package management built into tarballs. Your
package manager has no idea what you are doing (and thus won't know that
you have a more modern $FOO installed), and you have to make sure that
installing $BAR doesn't overwrite $BAZ or otherwise break something else.
But you learn this from doing, meaning installing 'stuff' that your system
doesn't have, or depend on. This could be something like a script that will
summarize web logs, or a goofy piece of eye candy for your desktop (like a
clock).
I am not all that concerned with being on the cutting edge, and seeing
this is a secondary computer, I am fine with that. I will likely be using
this mainly for basic computing needs plus an internet connection...well,
that and just to get a better feel for the linux environment.
The concern is not about being cutting edge - it's making sure that the
system can't be exploited. It used to be that Red Hat divided their
errata notices into 'Security Alerts', 'Bugfixes', and 'Enhancements'.
We'd look at the 'Security Alerts', see if the package was installed, and
if so, do the replacement soonest. We'd then do the same with the 'Bugfixes'
but that was usually a lower priority. 'Enhancements'? Well, that's a maybe.
Red Hat isn't supporting RH7.3 any more, and the limited number of fixes
that fedoralegacy.org has are backports from Fedora Core. All this really
means is that you need to be a bit more aware of problems, and either fix
those, or configure things such there they are not problems. An example
of this is 'ssh' which had been exploited. The simple fix is to remove
(or at least disable) that service. If you do need it (to connect from
outside your system, configuring your firewall to only allow such
connections from trusted hosts (other systems on your LAN, perhaps the
system at work, or your family) is nearly as good.
So, it sounds like I could be looking at a few months with tutorials and
how-to's for what I will likely be doing.
You may wish to look at the dates on the HOWTOs and such. At one point, as
much as a third of the HOWTOs were being updated every six months (an
advantage of electronic documentation over printed media), though now it's
only about a tenth. Documentation (meaning HOWTOs and LDP guides) updates
are not normally part of the errata service, so the stuff that came with
RH7.3 is a bit old.
I am using gnome right now, so the basic concepts, as you stated, are
similar. I am just learning what programs I really have available.
That's fine. As I'm sure you have discovered, there are a bewildering
number of applications available, and usually several different
selections. I'll bet there is at least four text editors, four or five
mail tools, three browsers, and who knows what else.
Thanks for your reply. does it really make much sends for me to be
looking for brand new releases if everything I have been doing on this
box is working fine?
As long as what you are doing doesn't get into security problems, probably
not. By this, I mean that you wouldn't want to be running wu-ftpd.2.6.0
(absolutely ancient - used only as an example) as an ftp server to the
world, as it has not only known issues, but known exploits in the wild.
But if you've firewalled it so that it's only accessible from the loopback,
or at most, other computers on your local LAN ONLY, then it's no-where
near an important risk. On the other hand, if you _did_ want to run an
ftp server open to the world, then you'd certainly want to be using the
current version.
Old guy