[wplug] desktop management setup

Brandon Kuczenski brandon at 301south.net
Sat Aug 28 02:34:51 EDT 2004


I just installed debian sarge on my laptop and I have a problem.   The
display is so bafflingly ugly that I can't stand to look at it.

I know exactly the problem: the resolution is wrong.  Since it's a laptop
with an LCD display, an incorrect screen resolution looks bad.  The
problem is, using the graphical tools I cannot select any resolution
higher than 800 by 600, even though the monitor is capable of 1024 by 768
(in the Debian installer, I put in 1280 by 1024 as the maximum the monitor
was capable of, which I now see is a mistake).

There's another problem: I don't know Gnome or KDE from a hole in the
ground.  Previously, I was running Redhat 9, with whatever desktop manager
it had as a default, and not only did everything look great, but because
everything looked great I never learned a damn thing about X, about window
managers, about anything, and I'm feeling pretty helpless now.  I don't
know whether the problem is in the OS, in the display driver, in the
desktop manager, in X, or in my own ignorance.  I've been running a Linux
server from a terminal window for a year, so I know my way around the
system, but the GUI interface is a complete mystery.

I see that there's an installfest coming up in 3 weeks, but I really need
the laptop before then (ideally, by monday).  I've been hassling with
computer problems for quite awhile now and since classes are starting on
Monday, I just can't afford to spend the days or weeks necessary to learn
how everything works by myself.

If there's a straightforward answer to my question (which is ill-posed, I
know), I would love to hear it, but what I would really love would be for
somebody to give me a thorough overview of how the user<->computer
interface works in Linux, because even after a year of using it, I haven't
learned a thing, and I just don't know what questions to ask.  A private
discussion would be fine, rather than clutter up the list, unless people
are interested in this in general, I suppose.

I think I can figure out Debian's package management tools myself, but
there are so many tasks on my plate before Monday that I need somebody's
intensive help.  Is anyone free between now and the end of Sunday for an
hour or two?  I'll buy you dinner or something...

Thanks for any help..
-Brandon




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