On Mon, 06 Sep 1999, you wrote:
> Please someone tell me: what's a good mailer? And by good, I mean having
> facilites equivalent to netscape mail. I want to have folders and I want
> incoming mail to be put into folders according to rules that I make up. I
Netscape Mail, perhaps? No need to setup fetchmail - after 3 years, i
do not have fetchmail setup, nor will I use a traditional Unix mua like
pine or elm.
Another on is xfmail , fully featured, pgp integration etc.
kmail, the KDE mail client can do all that you mention above.
> have only _just_ gotten fetchmail working and downloading mail from my POP
> box. It all goes into "INBOX". I know that linux _can_ do this sort of
> thing, but the feelgood visual tools are just not there. To run linux, you
> have to be a UNIX sysadmin and not everyone is.
> I could go on. And I shall. Even now that I have X running, the tools look
> clunky and amateurish. Windows apps have polish. I have run netscape for
> linux and the XT numpad cursor keys dont work, and home and end don't do
> what I'd expect. Why the hell not? Probably something buried deep inside
> some blecherous config file, or in a keyboard driver that I am supposed to
You may have setup your keyboard mapping incorectly.
Try KDE, http://www.kde.org/ for a better looking X.
> X freezes on my machine. Turns out that the Mandrake distrib of X may have
> problems. Arrgh! Who needs this? Isn't this exactly the kind of thing that
> linux fans give windows a hard time about?
Nah. We can use Linux wthout video drivers ;-)
> I wouldn't have said that Bill Gate$ had vision before I tried running some
> other OS, but now I'm re-evaluating. There is just nothing else that comes
> anywhere near windows for making it possible for an
> idiot^H^H^H^H^Hnon-computer person to run a computer. Bill Gate$ did have a
> vision: that of making computers acessible to people who don't like
> computers. And it's a wild success. The kind of people behind linux could
> not do, and are not doing, what Bill did.
They've had about 7 years. Bill's been going for at least 17. As
someone who's used DOS for 3.2 ==> 6.2 && 7.0, Bills not always
been good either. The first Windows press release was what, 83, and its
still confusing new users.
Of course, basing a desktop OS on Unix has its problems.
>
> Can someone, please, recommend to me a text on how linux works. The books in
Attached to this email, hope it helps.
> the bookshop are all about the command line options available to "awk", and
> I'm not interested.
>I want to know how the filesystem works,
At what depth? I'll dig out Tannebaum (sp?) Modern OS's if you want
(yes, CS student here), but a few things to know.
Its called ext2. It supports long filenames, and resists
fragmentation to some extent. There is a File System Standard
somewhere, about what goes where. It provides standard Unixlike file
permissions. Some space is reserved for the root user in emergencies
like users filling a disk. Its inefficient on floppy discs, so use FAT,
VFAT or Minix for them. In Unix, everything is a file. You can look
inside the running kernel in /proc, or see your devices in /dev.
Its a unified file system - all filesystems are subdirectories of the
root filesystem, be they devices, removable media, other partitions.
Linux will detect when its been shutdown without safely closing the
filesystem, and will run fsck, the scandisk of linux. After a certain
number of mounts /unmounts, fsck is run automatically anyway.
> what the kernel
Its transparent to the user. Also takes a book to explain it. It
provides services and manages resources for programs.
> does, which daemon processes I really need and what they do.
On a workstation, only crond, which is a scheduler used in system
maintenence. pppd is used for ppp connections.
>What would an
> absolutely minimal install contain? If it's on the web, fine.
For a package list of absolute minimalism, try the A series of discs
from the slackware distro. It'll be on the ftp site, just look at the
filenames. You WILL NOT like any system with this little (about ~40Mb)
software.
Ease of use in Linux is by throwing the kitchen sink in, to get all the
GUI tools as frontends to cli tools and all the documentation, with
modern apps (StarOffice , WordPerfect), a decent X interface
(KDE i'd say, but i'm biased ([EMAIL PROTECTED]))
A full development system is handy for things that come in source code
only.
> And HTF can I get 24 and 32 bit colour going? Windows does it fine and does
> not need to know the f*cking horizontal and vertical scan rate of my
> monitor.
see my quick refernce. Better yet, man XF86Config
Look for the DefaultColorDepth part, or add it to your video card
section.
The XF86Setup program may help you with this and your kbd problem.
Does windows know your scan rates? Try looking for technical info in
windows which you can use in linux.
Otherwise, start low and work up, and bail out of X (CTRL-ALT-BKSPACE)
at the first sign of smoking monitor syndrome. Or play it safe, its
your hardware.
> Oh by the way: I tried to compile a "hello world"program. In C.
Turns out, > I have a c compiler but dont have stdio.h anywhere on my
system.Can anybody > out there recommend a location where I can get a
full c compiler?I'd like > to reinstall mandrake, but I don't dare
because I have actual emailon my > system that may, for instance, have
stuff relevant to my job akaearning a > living aka not starving to
death and I don't want toreinstall the whole OS > and run the risk of
wiping it.
just install the glibc-devel rpm which came with Mandrake. It has
stdio.h
Install many other devel rpms as well. If you don't need them, take
them out later. (assuming no space constraints)
If you need any help, just mail me.
George Russell
--
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
George Russell's Quick Linux Reference version 0.4
This is a user reference, not a system administration reference, but in
Linux for a single user, the two are mixed at times. Its about the subset
of Unix you may need to know, not what the guru's think you should know.
My email address for corrections etc ;-)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Contents
1. Commands - minor subset
1.0 root and normal use
1.1 File commands
1.2 Useful commands
2. Shells - some usage tips
2.0 What is a shell
2.1 Scripting
2.2 Interactive use
2.3 Configuration
3. Applications - useful stuff
4. X11 - The X Windows System
4.0 What is a Window Manager
4.1 What is a Desktop Environment
4.2 How do I change my WM/Desktop
4.3 How do I start X
4.4 How to leave X
5. Installing Software
5.0 In Binary Form
5.1 From the source code
5.2 Common problems
6. Further Reading
7. Credits - those who contribute and correct
Commands
1.0 Root and Normal Usage
In DOS and Windows, normal users can do anything with the operating system.
Anyone can use any command, even dangerous ones, like fdisk, and format, and
delete any file, even important ones in c:\windows\system
In Unix and Linux, normal users are restricted in the commands which they can
execute and the access rights which they have to files. Unlimited access is
granted to only to the super-user, root, which is usually the System Administrator.
On a single user linux system, you are your own administrator.
It is unwise to run as the root user all the time - its better to create a
normal user account for yourself. Always using the root account is likely
to bite you when you make a mistake, and its a security risk as well.
Only use root when administering the system, or installing programs, or shutting
the system down. You have been warned.
1.1 File operations
Commandline switches are preceded by - and not / as in DOS. Usually - precedes
the short version of the switch, and -- precedes the long switch. e.g. -h and
--help have the same result.
copy ==> cp from to , where from and to are valid filenames or paths
move ==> mv from to , where from and to are valid filenames or paths
delete, erase ==> rm filename
rename ==> use mv as above ==> mv oldname newname
*** DANGER ***
This is a recursive forced delete. No queries. No mercy. In the root directory,
has about the same effect as formatting c: There will be total data loss. Check
the commandline for typos, and think twice.
deltree ==> rm -rf directory
*** END DANGER ***
cd ==> cd directory (change dir)
dir ==> ls
(useful switches for ls are -a (show hidden) and and --color (colours
the output depending on the type of file ie green for executable, purple
for images) -l (show permissions) Under Unix and Linux, hidden files are
those whose filenames begin with a . character.)
link ==> ln -s realname linkname
and call it a symbolic link (or symlink for short), not just a link
(creates a symbolic link or symlink to a file which acts like that file,
but is not a full copy. I have a file n, which is a link to /opt/netscape/netscape,
so I can start netscape with the command ~/n)
more, type ==> less filename
(less, like more or cat, outputs a files contents to screen. Use only on
text files. Use q to quit)
mount ==> mount mountpoint
Unlike DOS and Windows, Unix has a unified filesystem. What this means is
that each device is treated as a directory, and there is root directory,
from which all other devices, filesystems, and folders are subdirectories.
There are no drive letters, but there are some common points.
A rough equivalence table.
DOS name Linux Device Name Common Mount Point / Linux Directory
a: ==> /dev/fd0 ==> /mnt/floppy, /floppy
d: ==> /dev/cdrom ==> /mnt/cdrom, /cdrom
The table which maps Linux device names to Linux mount points is the
/etc/fstab file. Modifying this is definitely system administration.
Note that you can allow a user to a add / remove devices and filesystems.
Removing a floppy disc, without unmounting the disk, is likely to corrupt
the disc. Its contents may be lost.
This should be all thats needed to access a device. Using a command like
mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos just shows /etc/fstab is badly setup or
your not using the defaults for once. For the record, mount allows you to
spoecify a device, a mountpoint, a filesystem, and the degree of access e.g.
read / write, read only, and no execution of programs. "man mount" for
further details.
Each of the directories in the root directory has a special purpose.
/bin ==> holds binaries of small system utilities
/boot ==> holds kernel images to boot the system
/dev ==> shows the devices linux makes available
/etc ==> system wide configuration files
/home ==> Where users store their files, each with their own subdirectory
/lib ==> system libraries
/lost+found ==> used by the disk repair tool, fsck
/mnt ==> subdirectories for mounting devices and filesystems
/opt ==> optional. Holds programs which are to be kept seperated.
/proc ==> Gives information on the kernel as files
/root ==> The home directory of the root user
/sbin ==> system utilities, used to maintain the system.
/tmp ==> holds temporary files
/usr ==> where programs are installed
/var ==> for variable data, such as log files.
In Unix and Linux, the directory seperator is / and not, as in DOS \
unmount ==> umount mountpoint (it is umount, not unmount for the command)
change file permissions ==> chmod threedigitnumber filename
(File permissions in unix are awkward to explain. You can set rights
for read access, write access and execution (ie allowiing the file to be
run as a program) for yourself, others in your group (a group is a group
of users with some access rights in common) and world access rights
(those users not you or in your group) 777 is wide open, insecure,
everybody has all access rights. 666 is read / write access for
everyone. 755 is yourself with all rights, everybody else readonly. man
chmod is highly recommended, better still, a user / sysadmin howto)
locate filename ==> finds a file and gives its path, by searching a
database (fast) and not the disk itself, like find, which has a worse
syntax anyway.
updatedb ==> updates the database locate uses. Must be run by root. Is set
to run at midnight automatically, but who runs their machine 24 hours
solid? and totally thrashes the disk while it does. Peformance goes all
to hell when it runs, especially if you have little memory.
tar -xzvf filename(.tar.gz or .tgz)
(tar is a tape archiver. Used like pkzip in dos or stuffit in mac. The
x means extract, the z means uncompress using gzip, v means verbose, f just
precedes the filename)
gzip filename (also bzip2)
(Compress a file. the -d parameter uncompresses, and -9 means tightest,
but slowest, compression. bzip2 compresses better, but is slower.
gunzip also unzips. Its a symlink to gzip . There is also bunzip2, the
equivalent for bzip2)
halt (see also shutdown)
halt serves on a Linux system the role equivalent to the Start-ShutDown
dequence in Windows. It stops (kills, in Linux/Unix terminology) all
programs running in the background; closes open files; makes sure all hard
drives have been updated from temporary, cache storage; and generally makes
the system ready to be turned off.
shutdown allows a delay before it happens
1.2 Useful commands.
man command
(display the help file for the command. man pages are terse, and not
very helpful)
man -k keyword
(also apropos . Searches man pages for pages whose (titles?) contain the
keyword)
info
(The GNU equivalent of man. Early hypertext. Use a GUI info browser in
preference to info itself)
ps ==> shows all running tasks on a terminal. Useful switches are -ax
(both, shows all running programs)
pstree ==> shows all processes running, and how they are related.
*** DANGER ***
When Linux is first booted, the kernel loads a program called init. init has
the task of starting all other programs, and is always present in a running
system. What programs are automatically started is dependent upon what
run-level is selected. Run levels are defined in /etc/inittab and are in the
range 0 to 6 .
Run level 0 will halt the machine for shutdown
Run level 1 is single user, for repairing damaged systems
Run level 3 is multi user, console mode with networking
Run level 5 is multi user, X11 graphical mode with networking
Run level 6 will reboot the machine
Editing the inittab and getting it wrong is a good way to prevent your
system from booting. So is setting your system to automatically start
X11 on booting, but having X11 misconfigured or unusable with your video
card.
The programs started in each level varies from system to system, and is
handled by scripts in /etc/rc.d/ which are rather complex. Each Linux
distributor varies details of the run level setup.
Its recommended not to change these yourself, but to use a program which
provides a front-end to the files, for example linuxconf which allows you
to choose which run level to boot to.
Killing init (process 1 with pid 1) is likely to crash your system immediately.
*** END DANGER ***
top ==> shows all running processes in a monitor program, updates every
second, allows for sorting by cpu usage , memory usage etc as well as
shoowing uptime, time, and system load. Allows killing of programs.
*** DANGER ***
kill -9 pid
*** END DANGER ***
kill kills running programs. the pid is the processes ID number, which
can be found using top or ps. The -9 parameter means kill now,
completely. Using kill without the parameter can allow for a more
graceful exit.
*** DANGER ***
When using su, treat it as you would logging in as root.
su ==> logs you in as the root user without logging you out first.
When you logout of the root account, it returns you to your own account.
su - ==> logs you in as root, with all the root settings (environment variables,
etc setup, and moves you to roots home directory)
See also sudo (man sudo for details)
*** END DANGER ***
lpr filename ==> sends the file to the printer. If setup right, prints
text, images, postscript and pdf files. If not, random jumble of
characters can get printed.
cdplay ==> does what it says.
grep keyword filename ==> search a file for lines containing keyword
grep keyword - ==> searchs stdin for a keyword. Use like
rpm -qa | grep fortune -
to see if you have fortune installed from rpm
wc filename ==> word count of the file, ie lines, words and letters.
2 Shell Usage
2.0 What is a shell?
A unix shell is the unix is a program which provides the command line
interface. Its equivalent in DOS is command.com, but Unix shells such
as sh, ash, bash, tcsh, zsh, csh (and many more) are more flexible and
powerful, implemented with multitasking in mind.
Its possible to have multiple shells available, by using the alt-(F1-F6)
keys to switch between them, and logging in multiple times.
2.1 Scripting
Simple scripts are simply a text file, set as executable (chmod 755
filename), with the first line stating what shell is to interpret the
script, followed by commands. ie
--- script starts here cut below---
#!/bin/sh
# #'s are comment delimiters, and are not treated as commands
# ! is supposed to be in the 1st line
# sh is the standard scripting shell,
# even if you use bash, zsh, tcsh interactively
echo 'hello world'
echo 'good bye'
--- end of script cut above ---
Anything more complex is programming, and not for this quick reference.
The DOS equivalent is the batch language with the .bat file extension.
Unix shell scripting is more powerful and more complex.
2.2 Interactive use.
command1 ; command2 ; command3 ; <enter>
(This runs the list of commands in sequence.)
command1 && command2 && command3 <enter>
(Runs the commands in sequence, but if one command fails, no further
commands in the list are executed.)
command1 > filename
(Redirects the output of command1 to the file filename)
command1 >> filename
(as above, but adds the output to the end of the file filename, not
overwriting the file)
comand1 | command2
(sends the output of command1 to be the input of command2. For example,
"less filename | patch -p0" sends the contents of a file to the patch
command.)
cd ~
(Go to your home directory. Same as cd on its own.)
pwd
(prints present working directory)
./command
(Run the command in the current directory, not the command in the system
path.)
command &
(Run the command in the background, Useful for Xterms, wher you want to
start a GUI program and keep using the terminal)
Tab Completion. I could for example, in bash, type
cd /ho
and press tab. Bash would complete the path for me to
cd /home
If there are multiple possibilities, bash won't expand it until its
clear which one is meant.
Wildcarding. for example
cd /ho*/grr*/Des*
is a valid path, because bash expands it to
cd /home/grrussel/Desktop
and you can use
rm *xyzzy*
to delete all files with xyzzy in the name
Wildcarding works in a different fashion to that of DOS. Be aware of
this, and cautious in your use of *
Command line history. Press the up cursor key to see the last command.
Use up or down to navigate list. left and right move cursor through the
command, and allow for editing.
To go to the start of a command line
Ctrl-A
and to go to the end
Ctrl-E
These keybindings are likely to be the same as those used in emacs, ie
Ctrl-H
works as delete.
2.4 Shell configuration
Unix shells are alomost completely customisable. Customisations are usually
set in the shells rc file in your home directory. You can set keybindings,
the prompt, and alias commands with long parameter lists to more convient
forms. In the below examples, ls is set to actually run ls --color, and which
saves me some typing.
For the bash shell and tcsh shell, insert the line below in .bashrc or
.tcshrc respectively
alias 'ls=ls --color'
You can also set environment variables here, such as the system path, which
is a list of directorys that are search for commands and programs.
3 Applications
mc (see also git (GNU Interactive Tools))
(The midnight commander, a console based file manager. Does ftp,
fileviewing, opens archives for browsing, has an internal editor which
is easy to use. Be sure to select the use of the internal editor in the
configuration menu, otherwise you get vi)
*** DANGER ***
vi (also vim, elvis, gvim)
(The standard unix lightweight editor. What you get in rescue disks.
Press i to insert text. Press the escape key to enter command mode, and
to give commands in command mode, : followed by the command.
For example, the important ones
:w
writes the currently edited file
:q
exits vi. Many newbies just kill vi - they don't know the :q command,
and its so much more satisfying (once the file is saved, anyway)
Command mode is dangerous. Think about what your pressing after you've
pressed escape. dd means delete the entire line. x means delete current
character. there are so many commands, that the keyboard probably has no
unused keys. Bad stuff happens if you forget to i before randomly
pecking away at the keyboard)
*** END DANGER ***
emacs (also xemacs)
(The standard heavyweight unix editor.
EightMegabytesAndConstantlySwapping, or just a meaningless five letter
acronym. Not a modal editor, like vi. So no need to switch between
insert mode and command mode.
Save a file.
ctrl-x ctrl-s
Exit
ctrl-x ctrl-c
)
pico
( a very simple and limited editor)
nedit
(a powerfull but simple editor for X)
lynx
( a console based web browser. Excellent for html help files or
documentation)
wvdial
(a ppp setup and connection tool. Asks for phone number, username at
isp, and isp passwrd, and the rest is worked out by wvdial.)
xman
(An X11 front end to the man command)
4. X11 - The X Windows System
4.0 What is a Window Manager
A Window Manager is an application which manages Windows in the X11
environment. Window Managers provide titlebars, buttons to close / maximise /
minimise windows, menus for other operations, and the frame around a window
to allow it to be resized.
They can also provide methods of starting applications such as icon bars,
root window menus, panels, and virtual desktops, as well as setting the
wallpaper on the screen.
Some common Window Managers are
afterstep
Window Maker
Enlightenment
fvwm
kwm
icewm
Blackbox
4.1 What is a Desktop Environment
A Desktop Environment is a suite of programs which attempt to give X11 a
consistant look and feel to the user. They provide applications such as
Window Managers, File Managers, Help Browsers, and productivity software and
are configured from GUI applications.
KDE and GNOME are examples of Desktop Enivronments, so is CDE, which is
commercial. KDE and GNOME are included in most recent Linux distributions.
4.2 How do I change my WM/Desktop
The Window Manager / Desktop is used started by the command in the .xinitrc
file in the home directory.
#!/bin/sh
xterm &
xclock &
startkde
would start KDE up. Replacing the line startkde with gnome-session would
start GNOME instead, and replacing it with twm would use that instead.
Other, commonly used programs like xterm could be placed in this file.
4.3 How do I start X
From the console
startx
will load X in its default settings.
To use non defaults, or run more than one X session concurrently, you can
give startx some parameters.
startx -- :1
would start an X session on display 1 (0 is the usual display) and you could
switch between display 0 and display 1 with Alt-Ctrl-F7 and Alt-Ctrl-F8
To run X in a different colour depth, use the bits per pixel parameter.
startx -- -bpp 16
Colours depth are either 8 bit (256 colours)
16 bit (64.000 colours)
24/32 bit (millions of colours)
and 15 bit is possible, although not all programs work correctly in it.
To cycle through available resolutions (not colour depths), use
Ctrl-Alt-Plus
(on the numeric keypad)
If you use run level 5, you should login directly to X via xdm
4.4 How do I leave X
Your Window Manager / Desktop should have a logout option, but if X has hung
or your video settings are wrong, to leave X use
Alt-Ctrl-Backspace
setfont ==> resets the terminal font if X messes the display up
5. Installing Software
Installing software on Linux is not always easy. The number of Linux distributions
and rapid development means that incompatibilitys occur very frequently. The
solution is to either recompile from source code, or wait for the distributor to
package it for you.
Some libraries that have changed recently enough to cause trouble are -
libc5==>glibc2==>glibc2.1
libc5 is the old and stable C library. Programs compiled for this library should
work across all linux systems. Ususally libc5 X11 programs depend on libc5 versions
of the X11 libraries as well as various image handling libraries. For example,
Netscape Navigator 4, WordPerfect 8 do this. These libraries may not be installed on
glibc2 based systems. Only Slackware is the last major distribution based on libc5.
glibc2 is the new, now widely adopted C library. Its sensitive to the version used,
and early versions (in Redhat 5.0) were unstable. Glibc2 binaries do not work well
on libc5 systems with runtime glibc2 support, and not at all on those without it.
glibc2.1 is the very latest version. Only Redhat 6 currently uses it. It breaks many
programs, such as the JDK, Netscape, StarOffice and most C++ programs.
The kernel change from 2.0.x to 2.2.x can cause problems as well. Generally, if your
system did not come with 2.2.x as the default kernel, some programs with it may be
incompatible. An example is pppd, the program to open ppp conections to the net.
Another is real audio player, which depended on a bug in the kernel. You must update
the player for it to work with 2.2.x
In General, there is no gaurantee that a later version of a library or program will
not be incompatible.
In order to cope with these problems, Linux distributors have developed package
management. This allows for easy adding / removing of programs, and allows for
programs to test that your system provides the correct versions of things it depends
upon. The two most common are RPM (in Redhat, SuSE, Caldera) and DEB (in Debian)
5.0 In Binary Form
To install a binary RPM
I really recommend the use of front ends to rpm / dpkg . Graphical ones include
kpackage (for KDE), gnorpm (Gnome), glint and xrpm (X11). Console ones are
dselect (in Debian) and YaST (in SuSE).
Suffice to say,
rpm -i filename.rpm will try to install a package.
You must be root. You may get missing dependencies, or conflicts. Try and be sure
the rpm was made for your distribution and release of Linux.
5.1 From the source code
Source code is usually supplied in compressed tar archives.
Copy the file to /tmp
change to /tmp (cd /tmp)
Uncompress it with
tar -xzvf filename
cd to the newly created sub directory.
Use less on any interesting files such as INSTALL, README, FAQ
Most source code comes with a configure script.
./configure ; (./configure --help will list all configure options)
make ; ( compiles the program )
su to root (its explained above, somewhere)
make install (installs the software, its docs, icons, etc)
Sometimes you may find a src rpm (usually with .src.rpm as the extension)
Install as normal (rpm -i package)
This unpacks the source code and a SPEC file, which tells rpm hoe to create a
binary RPM file for you. The spec file should be in /usr/src/redhat/SPECS and
the source files in /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES
change to the SPECS directory andbuild the rpm with
rpm -bb SPECFILE
The created rpm will be placed in /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386 , and can be installed
as normal from there.
5.2 Common problems
No compilers, headers, have been installed. Dig out your CD, and install anything
vaguely relevant that you left out last time. Candidates are packages with devel in
the name, devel-lib, gcc, g++, perl, to name a few.
5.3 Version Numbering
An Alpha release - in early development, for programmers only.
A Beta release - in development, now seeking user testing.
A Pre release - final shakedown prior to a release for wide spread use.
A Stable release - for end users, no further changes except bug fixes.
Version numbers less than 1 are either Alpha or Beta.
Version 1.0 would be a major release.
Version 1.x would be a minor release.
Version 1.1.x would be a patch to a minor release.
Some software has even numbered releases as stable releases, and odd as alpha /beta.
Notably the kernel, and the GNU Image Manipulation Program do this.
Notably, the K Desktop Environment and GNU Compiler Collection do not.
For example, Linux 2.2.12 is a stable release. Linux 2.3.15 is not.
GIMP 1.0.6 is stable release. GIMP 1.1.14 is not.
But confusingly, KDE 1.1.1 is a stable release, as is GCC 2.7.2
6 Further Reading
6.1 Local Help files and HOWTO's
Try in /usr/doc/LDP
The documents in this are the results of the Linux Documentation Project, who
have produced the System Administrators Guide, the Network Administrators
Guide, a Linux Users Guide etc, available in various file formats.
Also in /usr/doc/HOWTO
These are guides for specific tasks, such as setting up hardware, or tips
on using Linux with previous experience of DOS / Windows. See especially
the DOStoLinux howto.
System help
For more detailed help on a command and its switches, try
man command
or
info command
Application help
For detailed help on a specific application, try its directory in
/usr/doc/PACKAGE_NAME
6.2 Non Local Help
Start from
http://www.linuxhq.com/
and
http://www.linux.org/
See also the usenet groups in comp.os.linux.*
Try the linux gazette,
http://www.linuxgazette.com/
(Anyone want to point out how to subscribe to this list and where to find
others?)
7 Contributers
Ray Olszewski
Ralph Gesler
Ralph Stickley
David Boyce
----------------------------
End of Reference.
Please mail any corrections / suggestions to me
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
