Help!

[Peter Garrett]

On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 17:29:30 -0500
geeles at magma.ca wrote:

> 
> 1. I have installed the Firestarter firewall and tried what seem to be all possible
> settings but it blocks my accessing the internet through Firefox. The only way I can
> browse is to disable Firestarter, I use an eth0 interface and this has worked 
> with a firewall on another Linux distribution.

How did you install it ? Did you use the package manager,or did you
download it from "somewhere"? 

In Ubuntu you don't need to search the Web endlessly for apps - that's
what the package manager is for.

Firestarter is available in the package manager ( it's in the "universe"
repository, which is not enabled by default) - see 
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Repositories
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SynapticHowto
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/InstallingSoftware

Sounds like you installed it from "somewhere" else. If so, uninstall it,
and use the Ubuntu firestarter package after enabling your repositories
from Synaptic.
> 
> 2. Trying to install the Aegis anti-virus program produces a message that it cannot
> be installed on my system, the same message also appears when I try to install
> the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail program. 

In general you don't need anti-virus in Linux, unless you are handling mail
servers that relay mail to/from Windows machines. There are "Open"
anti-virus utilities like clamav available if you need to do this
(Clamav is again in the universe repository - but it's doubtful that you
need it)

>. There are several programs I am interested in, including Thunderbird,

Look in Applications - Add Applications under Internet - More Programs -
Thunderbird Mail Client . Check the box,  Thunderbird is in the main
repository and you can install it with a couple of clicks. Don't be
alarmed by the warning that pops up - it is just telling you it needs t
o install dependencies. Hit apply and it will install.  ( the package is
mozilla-thunderbird)

> that are 
> available as .tar.gz downloads, how can I install these and integrate them
> into the desktop?

At this stage, I suggest you enable the universe and multiverse
repositories and use the package manager. You will learn about compiling
in due course... ;-) Compiling is not necessarily difficult, but requires
that you have a better picture of how things work first. Generally, it is
not necessary, since there are more than 17 000 pre-compiled packages
available for Ubuntu.

I strongly suggest a visit to

http://help.ubuntu.com  and browsing from
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UserDocumentation

Also consult the Starter Guide in the Help browser
accessed from the "Life Preserver" icon on your new install.

As a first rule in the Ubuntu world: *first* look for available
packages through the "Synaptic" package manager. (System -Administration -
Synaptic Package Manager)  

You might also look at the "Starter Guide" accessed from the "Life
Preserver" icon on the top panel, or from System - Help.

Welcome to Ubuntu BTW :-)

Peter