Re: how to... (newbie questions)

[Kent West]

Jeremy C B Nicoll wrote:

I've a HP B132L which someone else put woody on for me, but I'm nearly
totally ignorant of how things work in linux.  Can anyone tell me how
to:
a) find out precisely which version of woody it is (if there are
  different versions or patch levels or whatever)?  I don't know
  how to relate "woody" to posts I see naming particular kernel
  levels etc.
 

cat /etc/debian_version
will tell you which "version" of Debian you have. You can have various 
versions of kernel and other software on top of that Debian version. To 
see the version of your kernel, "uname -a".

b) when it boots it automatically starts X and then KDM; I think I'd 
  like none of the GUI stuff to start automatically but instead to
  start them by command if/when I want to.  How do I do that?

 

There are a multitude of different ways to do it. If you don't want a 
login manager at all, you can simply remove it with a command like 
"apt-get --purge remove kdm". If you want to simply deactivate KDM for 
the next few boots, I'd add "exit 0" as the first executable line of 
"/etc/init.d/kdm". You could also move/rename/delete the symlink to this 
file (ie "mv /etc/rc2.d/S99kdm /etc/rc2.d/NOS99.kdm", etc). You could 
use the "update-rc" tool. You could exit X and switch to a console and 
stop KDM with "/etc/init.d/kdm stop". Etc etc etc.

c) If I manage to have KDM not start, will the command: gdm
  start GDM up instead, assuming it is installed?
 

No; assuming it's installed, the system checks to see which is the 
default login manager. You can change this by running "dpkg-reconfigure 
gdm" (where gdm could be any of the installed login managers, kdm, xdm, 
wdm, etc); this procedure, which manipulates the symlink 
"/etc/alternatives/x-session-manager".

d) how do I find out what software is installed?  Eg *is* GDM/Gnome 
  in my system, and if so, where are its libraries, if I want to 
  explore its parameter files etc?
 

Again, lots of different ways. "dpkg -l" is probably the quickest, but 
you can use aptitude or dselect or synaptic to browse the Installed 
list, etc. Below you can see that I have kdm installed on my system, but 
not gdm. You can also see that gdm is installed, but the "apt-get show 
gnome" command indicates that it's a meta-package (which just exists in 
order to depend on other packages, so that those packages get installed).

[EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/westk:> dpkg -l gdm
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: 
uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version        Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================
un  gdm            <none>         (no description available)

[EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/westk:> dpkg -l gnome
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: 
uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version        Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================

Mon Mar 29     14:24:17
-------------
[EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/westk:> dpkg -l kdm
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: 
uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version        Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================
ii  kdm            3.2.1-1        KDE Display Manager

Package: gnome
Priority: optional
Section: gnome
Installed-Size: 16
Maintainer: Jordi Mallach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Architecture: all
Source: meta-gnome2
Version: 48
Depends: gnome-desktop-environment (= 48), gnome-office (= 48), 
bluefish, evolut ion | balsa, gnome-themes-extras, netspeed, rhythmbox, 
synaptic | gnome-apt, xsc reensaver
Filename: pool/main/m/meta-gnome2/gnome_48_all.deb
Size: 8162
MD5sum: 300fbe1ee569b979ab78f1b590111fa4
Description: The GNOME Desktop Environment -- extra components
This the GNOME Desktop environment, a graphical interface to use on your
Debian system. It includes a wide range of applications, including programs
for email, messaging, word processing, financial accounting and more.
Task: desktop

--
Kent


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]