to fix these problems. I had heard a lot about APT but this was my first

chance to try it out. APT is a great system, but it takes a little

getting used to. To get the latest software you need to have an Internet

connection or the latest Debian CDs.

To install Evolution and Gaim I typed:

apt-get install evolution/unstable

apt-get install gaim/unstable

And added automatic spell checking by entering the commands:

apt-get install aspell ispell gnome-spell aspell-en iamerican

If you dont specify /unstable the command still works but it gets a

much older version of the software. The unstable versions are more

recent and usually not literally unstable.

To change OpenOffice to English I removed the German version,

installed the English version:

apt-get remove openoffice-de-en openoffice.org-bin openoffice.org-debian-files openoffice.org-l10n-en

apt-get install openoffice.org

One more tip: You can use the script install_flashplugin.sh to

install the Macromedia Flash browser plug-in, but the script doesnt

install the software system-wide. If you plan to have multiple users on

the system, log in as root and copy the two files libflashplayer.so and

flashplayer.xpt from your .mozilla/plugin directory to

/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/.

Despite its shortcomings, which were relatively minor, and limited

installation support, I found Knoppix a great system. I have made it my

Linux distribution of choice. If you have tips on how to make it even

better, share them with me and NewsForge readers by posting a comment.

This article was first publised on

href=http://newsforge.com/newsforge/03/04/24/1920257.shtml?tid=23>Newsforge.