Linux at work! A little help requiered.

[korggis]

Hello !
I decided to use Mandrake 10.1 on a few computers at my work place..
There is a network PtP of around 30 computers...
1. How in the world can I configure and use a network printer ?
2. Does anyone know a network browsing program that looks and feels like "My Network Places" in Windows XP ? (smb4k is out of the question...) I dont want users to right click and browse to the mount point...
(completition: I want users to see network shares and access them just like in windows... No "mount" command and any looking for the mount points...)
3. How can I get back the Start Menu in KDE ? Now I have the KDE default menu and I want back The Mandrake default one...
Classic KDE Menu has these menus:
Development, Games, Graphics, Multimedia, Internet, Office, Settings etc... (about 15 items at least)
The menu that comes up when you first install Mandrake 10.1 and enter KDE has something like this:
Settings, Applications etc ... (about five)...This menu I want back...

So if you have any ideeas I'd be pleased to hear them !
Thanks !

[deathadder]

1. How in the world can I configure and use a network printer ?

You should be able to set up CUPs to use the network printer. Mandrake most probably has a GUI tool in Mandrake Control Centre for doing this though.

2. Does anyone know a network browsing program that looks and feels like "My Network Places" in Windows XP ? (smb4k is out of the question...) I dont want users to right click and browse to the mount point...
(completition: I want users to see network shares and access them just like in windows... No "mount" command and any looking for the mount points...)

You can use Konquere, or how ever you spell it, to browse network shares, you will be able to set the share to get mounted during the boot process so all you'll need to do is have a short cut on the desktop, or somewhere else, that points to the mount point. Then all the user will have to do is open that up. To browse the share I believe you type in the address bar something like....

smb://machine/share/

Have a look at Samba.

3. How can I get back the Start Menu in KDE ? Now I have the KDE default menu and I want back The Mandrake default one...

In Mandrake Control Centre, I believe, you can select change the Theme, its be in a section called 'Look 'n' Feel', as far as I can remeber.

[plainzwalker]

xfsamba is a good tool to browse windows networks. I used to use that for my samba setup to copy/move stuff to/from windows systems.

[StarKnight83]

I believe that mandrake has a program called linneighborhood that might be what ur looking for

[korggis]

1.The printer is not such a big deal I guess... I never used a network printer in linux, just local printers...I just managed to mess around my optical devices (cd-rom and cd-rw) and Mandrak cant seem to recognize install cd's anymore... I guess I can fix that ...
2. deathadder ... There is the LISA demon that let's you write "smb:/" in Konqueror and browse the network shares... I know that... But to put people that never heard of Linux to do that and maybe some other things "not quite" so familiar with windows enviroment it is a real problem..
I could set the Konqueror home-page to "smb:/"... It worth to try it if nothing else is working...
plainzwalker.. Thx for the program.. I shall try it today and i'll give some feedback ...
StarKnight83 lineighborhood (some typo there ) is quite the same as SMB4K.. I want a program that feels and does just what "My Network Places" in Windows does ...
3. The only problem deathadder is that I cant seem to find Mandrake Control Center anymore ...

[deathadder]

Have a look in the 'Settings' tab for control center, failing that you could try and run it from the command line, however I've got no idea what the command is

I think setting Konqueror's home-page to smb:/ would be a good idea, then you could create a icon on the desktop called, Network Places, or something similiar to that. So that when the user's click on that they are shown the shares aviable. It would give it more of a Windows feel possibly

[korggis]

3. I have found it !!!!

drakconf

Still cant seem to manage to compile that program ...
Seems that Mandrake is quite an annoyning distro when it comes to development...

[korggis]

Hello again !
I just quit the idea to do something with Mandrake...
Instead I put Slackware and most of my problems went away ... No more compiling problems..
OK! The printer problem is almost done .
Office apps are no problem, since any distro comes with at least two office programs packages...
Network browsing still remains a problem...
I have tested the above suggested programs and some that I have found with google , but none of them are the way I want them to be...
So right now I'm left with two choices:
1. Use LISA deamon and "lan:/" as home page for konqueror.. And a split view as well in Konqueror...
But I have to find a way that users do not interfere with the root directory, cause they'll get so lost there...
2. Set up two folders with samba and use "smb:/" as home page in Konqueror and the same split view...
The above problem remains...

I think I shall choose the second option and leave the fist one as a back-up if something gets wrong (as a smbd or nmbd dead process)...
And I'm still opened to ideas and suggestions .


Anyone out there who tried this at his work place and managed to convince users that this is better ?