For Project BookRead, click here.
For Father Peter Place, click here.
Welcome to

Tips

This page is a quick reference of the tricks and tips I've learnt in setting up and running Linux. It should be noted that Linux is not for everyone, but for those that have the stamina to persue it, it IS very rewarding.

What is ?

Linux is a free operating system based on UNIX by Linus Torvalds. Free does not mean that it is buggy or garbage. It is quite the opposite. Linux is very stable and far less buggy then it primaary competitor, Windows.

Linux is *not* for those click-happy users who expect to click their way through life. It is for for those that want a stable, firm, and very hardy platform that knows no limits.

There are many varients of Linus available: Red Hat, Suse, TriLinux, UltraLinux, Mandrake, Debian, SlackWare, Caldera, OpenLinux, GNU Linux, Caldera, DragonLinux, and a few others.

I have tried a few of the others and prefer SlackWare.

Here are my reasons:

It is easy to set up and easy to maintain. I have a little of every type on my system.
Its also simplistic to put on the web
I have no problems with through-put or connectivity while running other operations.
Also, with SlackWare, you don't need a tank for a computer.
SlackWare lets you try before you committ to leveling your existing drives. This was a big PLUS for me as I wasn't sure I'd like it or it would fit my needs when I first considered it

It should be noted that SlackWare is NOT the friendlyist, but, in my opinion, it IS the most flexible.

Where to get SlackWare:

The best place is MetaLabs. There are some software programs you will want. These come with SlackWare automatically, or can be gotten seperately (upgrades):

If your serious about linux, the first package you have to have is X11, commonly called XFree86 at http://www.xfree86.org. This is an awesome windowing environment. SlackWare has the standard fvwm² or fvwm95 (Windows 95 clone) as its window manager. Unlike Windows, where you are limited to one interface type, X11 gives you the ability to replace the window manager or user interface. There are several excellent ones available. My favorites are WindowMaker and the K Desktop Environment. There are many different window managers for X11. The beauty of X11 is you can have multiple managers. I had WindowMaker and KDE setup so that I can switch back and forth at will.

WindowMaker is excellent because its different. That is a big plus for me as I dislike the Windows look. Its also easy to use and very flexible. Its versatility is unparalleled to anything MicroSoft can offer. WindowMaker has a unique twist that Windows users are really at a loss over. The magnifier on Windows fails in comparision to WindowMaker's. Just press the LEFT-CTRL and LEFT-ALT along with the numeric keypad + or - and you'll instantly rotate through all available screen resolutions your video card supports. Once you find the one you want, just move your mouse and the whole desktop pans around. This is a REAL NICE feature.

K Desktop Environment is excellent in that it looks similar to Windows so new users can quickly learn how to use it, but different enough to give Linux a real good feel. KDE also has a hugh repository of themes and skins. It is excellent for versatility and freedom.

I recomend you try them both. You won't be sorry. Each is an excellent addition to X11.

If you're a heavy Windows user, it a sure bet you have RealPlayer. RealNetworks is a bit sluggish in updates for Linux, and unfortunately their Linux support could be better. In order to get RealPlayer to work in the best way possible, you will need to create a script and place it in your /usr/local/RealPlayer directory:

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LIBRARY_PATH
rvplayer $1

I called my script RealPlayer. You will need to adjust your netscape properities. For some reason X11 obliterates the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable during load. I have no idea why RealNetworks even uses it when the path to RealPlayer is already in the PATH variable.

After doing the above, it works great. You may also have to kill 16-sound in RealPlayer's setting to get good clean sound.

One of the most used peices of software I have is The GIMP. This is a phenonemal program I use it to do all my graphics. X11 wouldn't be complete without it. Here are just a few images I've done in GIMP:

I also tend to use the console alot, so I have several console tools I use. One of my favorites is Midnight Commander. It is included with SlackWare and is available here. This is an excellent file manager that also works well under X11. The built-in text editor is great. I do all my coding and homilies writing with it.

Of coursse no Linux system would be complete without a trip to the GNU Foundation. There are many other facets of Linux not even covered here. Just on InfoSeek alone, there are over 1,000,000 search topics...

Click here to see a linux machine in operation (8 am to 12 midnight CST, barring weather). This is Project BookRead's library entrance. We have over 1,750 books online!

You may be asking, "what kind of software do you have running?"

Well, thats easy, I have the following:

SlackWare v2.0.35 (Click here for my Kernel config file . I know, I'm out of date, but hey it works and does a good job at it).
Sentry, a security program (a program I wrote, Click on link for the code).
The Project BookRead viewer, See Project BookRead for code.
WindowMaker as my X11 manager.
All the latest libraries, comes with the SlackWare distribution.
A Sychronation Deamon (A must if you don't want to fry your Kernel during a power failure, flushes all buffers every 15 minutes or a user selectable. Click on link for the code).
XResources (a little jewel I wrote to watch everything, Click on link for the code).
GotMail (Another little jewel that plays a wave thru SOX (Comes in SlackWare) when you get mail, Click on link for the code).
NetScape (web browsing), everything else for Linux, in my opinion, is garbage with the exception of the text only browser LYNX (excellent software), which comes with SlackWare. NetScape is buggy though and their support isn't award winning. Its actually quite disappointing. But the software does work better then the alternative X11 clients.
Apache (A must if you want a personal web server). Comes with SlackWare. This is one of the best web servers I seen, it is excellent in operations and setup.

All my code requires my common library. It can be placed almost anywhere, just be sure to adjust the #include statements of the calling source code. This method makes it easier for me to test and make changes as needed.

E-Mail can be sent to [email protected] and I'll respond as quickly as possible.
Note that I can answer MOST questions about Linux. If I can't answer it,
I will find a doc on it ;-)

Stay tuned! Still more to come!