[scribus] LEARNING TO USE BASH

[Robert Marma]

Hi all,

I appreciate the advice and encouragement that all of you have offered me at 
this time, while I am learning to navigate through openSUSE.  I have decided 
that, apart from normal, daily housekeeping tasks like file copying, writing 
letters, and web browsing--all of which I can accomplish with the Gnome 
desktop--I should attempt to concentrate on learning Bash commands for more 
esoteric tasks, such as advanced disc operations and--eventually--writing simple 
scripts.  After all, these commands are at the very heart of everything that 
openSUSE and Gnome do.  In addition, as some of you have keenly observed, 
acquiring a proficiency with the command shell will allow me to manually 
download and install packages and updates and, hopefully someday, even to 
intelligently modify and improve them.  Having become comfortable years ago with 
the MS-DOS command shell and with using a BASIC interpreter, I have no doubt 
that eventually I will be able to accomplish this, but I fear it's still a long 
way down the road. 

 
Again, I realize that this forum is devoted primarily to Scribus users and their 
problems, but I was hoping to get help with two additional problems:

  (1) Has anyone in the group had any experience with media players in 
openSUSE?  I could get
      neither Banshee nor Totem--the default Gnome media players--to play ANY of 
my video
      files.  Then I recalled having used VLC in Windows a few years ago, and 
decided to check
      out their web site.  Being a Newbie, I wasn't sure about the installation 
procedure, but
      tried downloading their latest RPM, and the package installer took care of 
the rest.  To
      my utter amazement, VLC played EVERY video file format perfectly, except 
for my .mov
      files, which it also played, but in a jumpy, hesitating fashion.  To be 
perfectly honest,
      I've also had trouble getting media players to play my .mov files in 
Windows.  Even with
      additional XP or Vista codecs installed, Windows Media player usually was 
useless, and
      even iTunes and QuickTime didn't do the job, and .mov is supposed to be a 
QuickTime
      format!  The only media player that appears to play my .mov files halfway 
decently in
      Windows is Media Player Classic Home Cinema, which is also free.  
Unfortunately, they
      don't appear to offer a Linux version.  My question is: "Does anyone know 
of a reliable
      media player--or at least codecs--that will play my .mov files?"

  (2) In intend to log onto the Linux and openSUSe forums for advice, but I also 
was wondering
      if anyone knows of an instructive document or publication available for 
download--perhaps
      something along the lines of "Linux for Dummies"  or  "Bash for 
Dummies"--that would offer
      examples with illustrations for learning the Bash commands and writing 
scripts.

My goal with all of this extends far beyond simply developing Linux 
proficiency.  I've often read posts from brave souls who've actually developed 
their own scripts in order to customize Scribus functions, and I hope 
someday--God willing that I live long enough--to be included in this group.  
Anyway, I apologize for digressing from the focus of this group, and I 
appreciate the indulgence and patience you've all offered me.

Bob Marma  [ Scribus "Newbie" and Linux "Newborn" ]