new linux user with a few questions

[ookami01]

hello, thanks for taking the time to read this...

ok i've been using linux for a bout a week and i have come up with a few things i wonder about:

1. when i compile a program as root how do i make it so i can run it without being root.

2 i've downloaded and compiled a few programs from source is there some way i should have notified my linux distro (FC1... FC2, Slack, and Debian were in the mail and i couldn't wait) that they were created ie for removing programs or would i have to do it by hand. also when if i compile a newer version of a program should i uninstall the old one or just install as normal

3. I do alot of stuff from the console and i like the console alot and i don't mind editing config files. So... out of FC2, Slack, and Debian what one would be better suited for learning linux as i want to actually LEARN linux not use a GUI and never know what going on once i take my lumps and learn the command line and such then i can go with an easier distro if i want.

4. given #3 what books do you recommend although i don't want something so textbook linux that if i use someones FC2 for instance i won't know where anything is (as far as config files etc ie FC1 uses .xclients instead of .xinitrc) and i'm not afraid of a little techical reading i don't want a book thats all fluff with 3 chapters on mozillas previous webpage button

thank you sincerely

PS i'm sorry if i'm too wordy but i hope it lends itself to specifity.

[deathadder]

1.
When you install the progarm you should be able to just use it as a normal user, what program have you installed? It might be a problem with the permissions related to the program, it might be that only root as execute permissions, you could change it with 'chmod'

2
I dont quite understand what you mean by 'they were created ie for removing programs or would i have to do it by hand'. As for the second part I dont believe that you have to remove the old install, just remove the old source, so you don't get confused. You could always if you wanted run 'make uninstall' in the old source.

3.
More people would probably say Slack for this, but Debian is just as good.

4.
Really depends on what you want to learn, and how much you already know. It would probably be easier if you said, 'I want to know more about kernel recompliles' but a couple I suggest are:

Learning the Bash Shell

Rute Users Tutorial and Exposition

The documentation found on your distro of choices web

[Uranus]

Some moderator is probably going to say that you should use a more descriptive title and repost all the questions separately (have a look at the posting guidelines).
I'll try to answer your questions though, don't worry
1. Use "chmod a+x programname" or "chown :users programname" - the first allows everyone (outsiders as well) to execute the program, the second one changes the ownership of the app and allows every user in the group "users" to execute it.
2. You probably mean whether you should notify your package-manager of the home-built package: this is often not possible (at least not as much as you would like) - probably at most (like in gentoo) you can fool the package manager into believing that the app really exists on your machine, even though it didn't install the thing. You're going to have to uninstall by hand. This is the reason that most people prefer to use packages and the package manager for installation and if the program isn't packaged for your distribution even write a package/build script yourself. That way it is tracked by the package manager and you have much less trouble with dependencies and uninstalling.
On the other hand, if you want to build everything by hand and don't want a package manager, try Linux From Scratch.
3. I'd go for either Slack or Debian, Debian has much more packages but I find it a pain in the *ss to install, for Slackware you'll have to build things from source and search for homebuilt packages and stuff like that since there are _very_ little official packages. As I said, you could have a look at Linux From Scratch as well.
4. Man pages Never really read any linux books my self actually, so can't help you with that.
Sam

[ookami01]

Thank you for replying

1. i'm better now i found a few things like sudo and the sticky bit and that helped clear up my probem

2. yes Uranus thats what i meant, to reiterate so if you compile from source
without the use of a package or package manager you probably going to have do delete the source tree or whatever other files by hand

3. debian has alot of packages so deleting source and other files by hand will be at a minimum but i will definitly try slack and debian both anyway

4. Rutes is a really good book as are most of the other FAQs and Guides but i would probably like to know more about the command line and file/directory structure including special file locations.

thanks again

[Jata]

Something else which is probably worthy of mention is checkinstall:
Checkinstall
I only recently found out about it and find it invaluable. Basically it lets you install source code as if it were a package. I believe it supports Debian, Slackware and RPM packages, meaning you can use your native package manager to remove it at a later date!

[tuxnewb]

1. Ok i see you learned sudo...dont use this command to do anything but what needs to be done as a root user. If you cant run a program as a normal user you need to find it and 'chmod 755 <filename>' or as stated previously you need to 'chmod a+x <filename>' By running the program with sudo command you are giving that program root access to your computer...and in that case you are just risking a possible security threat...granted for most that may not be a big deal but security is Linux's focal point so that is why most will tell you to stay away...even if it IS EASIER.

want a good CLI check out this page..
LinuxCommand Line

By far the greatest CLI webpage on the net that I have been so lucky to have been refered to. Check it out and tell me what you think.

I think the rest of your problems were addressed.