Hi Steve: I'm glad the information was useful. Regarding DOS and the Unix/Linux terminal it is pretty easy to write a tome comprising several volumes describing why and how they are different. The best approach may be to state it this way Unix oversees the various nuclear and other systems which require control and monitoring 24/7 with no failure; DOS nor Windows cannot do that. Linux is Unix-like on home and standard business computers -- the functional range it has is very compelling, and given it's range of flexibility there's always been a debate regarding how much the general public -- the average person -- really needs all Linux can do. Consider that every Linux is both a server and a client; dig deeper into what that means and it becomes a bit clearer why Apple and others choose to sell their computers differently or in distinct tiers or models one kind priced as a server the other as a client.
Only with Linux can a laptop nearly 5 years old become a monster of a supersystem -- if one takes the time to master the details. It is fair to say, that one could master DOS and still only approach a fraction of the skills available with the Unix or Linux terminal. The good news is that you are in the right crowd here; people exploring and doing all kinds of things. I've not ceased being surprised learning something in this community and other Linux communities. Hopefully, you'll find Linux and YDL, in particular - especially as you master the PS3 using YDL - something of an enticing ride. Forty years ago, if you mentioned that a supercomputer just slightly larger than a lunch box would be available both as a game machine and a serious programming system -- an ambulance would have been called to commit you to a state mental hospital. Yet here it is. Get some books on Linux System Administration and go from there. Now about Flash. Flash is proprietary to Adobe. Simply stated proprietary programs belong, rightly to their inventors and the corporations who hold the licenses for those products. Linux is a product with a different idea and license called open source. One form of the open source license is known as GPL -- General Public License. The idea of GPL is this: I write a program and mention that it is a GPL program. I post it somewhere so you can use it, read it, see everything regarding it from it's source through it's binaries and merely ask that if you modify it, your work also becomes open source or GPL as well. In theory, my work can be improved or expanded by yours and yours can be likewise improved and so on. The result of our cooperation abiding by the GPL is a product more rock solid than any one of us could have done alone. Also updates have been said to be faster than proprietary efforts -- compared against Microsoft patches say. YDL and most of forms of Linux abide by one variant or another of the GPL. All the components YDL and other Linux variants use also abide by GPL. There is a program which has some function like Flash, but like the rest of Linux, it also is open source (which again Flash is not) -- this program is called gnash. You can install it by: #yum install "gnash*" The wild card symbol * will find all programs associated with gnash which may use or improve it so that they too are found and installed. Yum will list what it finds, just say yes to install and you will have installed an open source work alike program to flash. I don't want to say you can watch youtube videos with gnash; currently it barely plays slides or animations in online papers or other websites well. For videos you'll have to install various codecs which are not included with YDL nor are they sold by TSS, but by another company which holds those particular proprietary licenses. Why is there such a split between proprietary and open source systems? That's another tome, but you can google the SCO Unix v. IBM lawsuit. Enough for now, all the best... Steve Bell wrote: > Thanks very much for the help. I was able to get my keyboard to work. As you > can tell, I'm new to Linux and not used to command lines, not since my DOS > days, but am learning. Any help getting Adobe flash player to work, such as > for YouTube, would be appreciated. > > Thanks again, > Steve > > _______________________________________________ yellowdog-newbie mailing list [email protected] http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-newbie
