I for one applaud you wanting a deeper understanding of the underlying protocol, rather than just wanting a quick-fix. This is one of my favorite aspects of linux; you learn so much more about how something actually works when you set it up, very much unlike, say, M$ Windows.
I myself don't have a very deep understanding of how DHCP works (I have to admit, the few times I ever used it I just went for the quick-fix), but I think I can point you to some documentation that you might find interesting. First off, you should definitely read the DHCP-mini-HOWTO, available on The Linux Documentation Project at <http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/DHCP/index.html>. It should also be on your local machine in the /usr/doc/Linux-mini-HOWTOs directory (Slackware specific). The DHCP-mini-HOWTO mostly focuses on specific configurations, but it is still a good read, and in its very small section on the DHCP protocol it points us to the second document I would recommend, a DHCP FAQ by John Wobus. But rather than the broken link in the HOWTO, you can find the FAQ online at <http://www.mark-itt.ru/Collection/FAQ/dhcp.faq.html>. Lastly, if you really want to get to the low-down nitty- gritties, read the Request For Comments (RFC) 2131 and 1541 available at <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2131.txt> and <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1541.txt> respectively. That's probably enough reading to last you for a while, and after reading it all, you can be the linux-newbie list expert on DHCP. :) Conway S. Smith --- James Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Thanks for your answer, Ray. I didn't provide much detail > because, rather than trying to set something up specifically > or trying to troubleshoot, I was trying to understand better > *in theory* something about networking - namely about how DHCP > works. I know so little about it, in fact, that I'm not sure > what sort of information to provide. I do use a Slackware > variant. As I mentioned, I know from sources connected with > this variant that some form of dhcp is enabled on it (dhcpd?) > and maybe just runs as a background process. But this is really > already further than I want to go with this. I'm just trying to > better my grasp on some of the fundamentals of how dhcp works, > what sort of info it needs/uses and the like. One of those > touchy-feely inquiries, you know, where you're not even sure > which questions to ask to get started learning? I don't know, > maybe you already know everything about everything and don't > find yourself in those sorts of situations. But I sure do > (not ashamed of admitting it, either). Anyway, this sort of > inquiry goes in stages for me: I start with some probings, > which helps me get bearings and know what further to ask, where > further to look. At some later stage of the learning process, > I can then formulate more specific questions related to some task. > But I'm just not at that stage yet with DHCP. Is a linux-newbie > list not the place to make those sorts of inquiries? > > James > > PS I had some problems getting that message to the list, since > my initial post got lost. Maybe I didn't formulate things very > clearly in the rewriting, with the disappointment of having lost > what I'd earlier started. > - > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe > linux-newbie" in the body of a message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html > Please read the FAQ at http://www.linux-learn.org/faqs ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-newbie" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.linux-learn.org/faqs
