Once you get the $ prompt you can do whatever you need to do. So, what you want to do ? You mentioned trying to send email. I think that the basic text command to send email is mail. Therefor, if you want to email yourself, you can try: $ mail -s "$(date) - trying to email myself" $USER < /dev/null And then you can type mail to activate the basic text mail reader (in it, ? will show you some help) Hopefully, smail is configured well enough to do it. You can test it by issuing (from the $ prompt) /usr/sbin/smailtest --localonly. that is: $ /usr/sbin/smailtest --localonly and answer y to the question it will ask.
It seems to me that are missing Win 98 graphical enviorment. Linux has something like it (The X window system). But, I suggest that before you install it, you will learn more from the Linux books you have. Also, learn a bit about dselect' so that you'll be able to install some games and other applications that I believe you are curious about. Some of these doesn't necceseraly needs the graphical X enviorment, but you'll need to know more about dselect to be able to decide if this is the case for a particular program you are interested in. > I am a NEW. I have successfully installed Debian 2.0 from CD on my > computer with Win 98. I have a 1,900 Mb Linux Native and 190 Mb Linux > Swap. I am the only user on it; there is no connected network. > > I log on and get the '$' prompt and except for a few things like vi and > emacs I can do nothing. For example, I answered the queries for smail > yet from root or /usr/bin/ I get the error message saying bad command > when I enter 'smail' I even can list smail, see it listed and get the > same error message when enter smail. I list RXW permission I ls -l > > I have 4 Linux books and none of them say what I should do once I get > the $ prompt! Mounting a filesystem didn't seem to help but I may not > have done that right. There is something VERY basic I am missing, the > books don't mention it. > > Please tell me what to do, or where to go to find basic tutorial help. >