My first fedora inst; some issues

[arfra]

Hi, I recently installed Fedora on my new job laptop. The choice of fedora was not actually mine, but my boss'. I have gentoo installed on my personal laptop and also gentoo on a server I manage at home.

There are a few things that disappointed me, so I thought I would share them here so you can improve the installing process.

I booted into the fedora dvd (after having repartitioned Vista to a smaller size),partitioned my drive (no ReiserFS?), and proceeded.
I selected and deselected packages as needed, also including kde and deselecting gnome since I like kde better.

Took a while to install 918 packages, and it rebooted.

At the first boot, first disappointment: I was dropped to a shell; kdm didn't start automatically.

I logged in as root, realizing that the installing procedure didn't ask me to create a normal user (!!).
I created a normal, unprivileged user, and lauched kdm by hand.

I logged in and started exploring kdm.

Onening a Konsole, I found out that, after su-ing, I wasn't able to call superuser programs (like ifconfig). The reason was, the path for superuser didn't include /usr/sbin and /sbin.

Also, the screen rendering was pretty slow. I found out that the nvidia driver was not installed; I had to download them from the nvidia site (why not put them in the package manager? other dists do (namely, gentoo)).

After having installed and configured the nvidia drivers, and turning on the 3D acceleration, the desktop become decently responding.

All of these issues are quite basilar (creating an unprivileged account, setting up kdm ad startup, setting up path for the shell, installing video drivers (at least for the most commons video cards). The average user could easily miss some of these steps, or having to browse the web to correctly set things up.

best regards,

Arfra

PS: this post isn't intended to flame or anything; it's just some constructive criticism.

PS: this post isn't intended to flame or anything; it's just some constructive criticism.

Aimed at whom in particular? The Fedora developers don't monitor this forum.

The reason the nVidia drivers were not installed is because they are closed source and it's Fedora's policy to ship only FOSS software.

Fedora isn't really aimed at the beginner because of some of the steps you pointed out might catch them unawares.

If you want root's path when you use su then you should use:

su -

su space dash

Wayne

[markkuk]

Originally Posted by arfra

At the first boot, first disappointment: I was dropped to a shell; kdm didn't start automatically.

Fedora uses gdm even when you install only the KDE desktop. If it isn't started automatically then either you installed in text mode or your display card isn't configured properly.

Originally Posted by arfra

I logged in as root, realizing that the installing procedure didn't ask me to create a normal user (!!).

A normal user account is created in the "firstboot" program when the system starts in GUI mode (runlevel 5) for the first time. If you boot in text mode, it's assumed that you are an expert user and can create user accounts manually.

Originally Posted by arfra

I found out that, after su-ing, I wasn't able to call superuser programs (like ifconfig). The reason was, the path for superuser didn't include /usr/sbin and /sbin.

Using "su" keeps the $PATH of your unprivileged user account. You must use "su -" to set the superuser $PATH (which includes /sbin and /usr/sbin). This works the same way in all Linux and Unix versions including Gentoo.

Originally Posted by arfra

I found out that the nvidia driver was not installed; I had to download them from the nvidia site (why not put them in the package manager?

Fedora includes only Free and Open Source software, see: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Objectives

[forkbomb]

Originally Posted by arfra

Also, the screen rendering was pretty slow. I found out that the nvidia driver was not installed; I had to download them from the nvidia site (why not put them in the package manager? other dists do (namely, gentoo)).

As other guys mentioned, it's a copyright issue.

But, strictly speaking, you can get nvidia and ati graphical drivers to be managed by your package manager, but you need a third party repository to do it. (Again, the copyright issue.)

[arfra]

Thanks for your answers. That cleared up most things.

I'm going to reinstall fedora using gnome instead of kde this time. Just to check what turns out different.

Thanks again and cheers.

ArfrA

PS:

Originally Posted by markkuk

Fedora uses gdm even when you install only the KDE desktop. If it isn't started automatically then either you installed in text mode or your display card isn't configured properly.

...or, in my case, I told the installer not to install gdm. Video card was actually configured correctly (although not using nvidia drivers, it was working at full resolution).

[A.Serbinski]

KDE should work fine for you, but you really have to realize that its only there for the sake of compatibility and completeness. Redhat/Fedora really is Gnome-based and your user experience will be much better if you stick there. And yeah, you got it, you MUST install GDM, or edit the right files manually..

And regarding the nvidia drivers.. another good reason for keeping away from the proprietary drivers is related to their bugginess. Much better to have a reliable 2d-only driver than a 3d driver that may be seriously broken (like all their 169.xx+ drivers that break VT on some mobile chips).

[arfra]

Originally Posted by A.Serbinski

...
And regarding the nvidia drivers.. another good reason for keeping away from the proprietary drivers is related to their bugginess. Much better to have a reliable 2d-only driver than a 3d driver that may be seriously broken (like all their 169.xx+ drivers that break VT on some mobile chips).

I'd agree with you, mainly considering the fact that, being this my *job* laptop, I'm not going to play 3d-games with it. Actually, the only 3d thing I've ever run on linux is probably a screensaver (yes, I can easily do without it).

My problem is, without the nvidia drivers my desktop was incredibly slow. Opening kwrite and dragging the window around the screen was a painful experience.

BTW, what 'VT' stands for in you last sentence? ( "like all their 169.xx+ drivers that break VT on some mobile chips").

The reason I ask, is because my own laptop's screen broke somehow. It would display console output, but it turns blank as soon as the resolution is turned up. (no it's not software, it would do the same with a live knoppix and with a fresh windows install).

thanks,

ArfrA