HIGHLIGHTS
LINUX FAQ
What is Linux?
Linux is a freely-distributed operating system originally created by Linus Torvalds. Developed under the GNU General Public License, the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone. As a result of this, other developers have taken the Linux source code and created a variety of different distributions that each have slightly different functionality.
Where can I get Linux?
There are four main distributions of Linux: Red Hat, Debian, Caldera and Slackware. There are three ways to obtain one of these: download, purchase a 'discount' CD or purchase an 'official' CD.
Downloading takes about 2 days over a 28.8kbps modem, so it is usually better to buy a CD. The FTP sites for the different distributions are as follows:
ftp.redhat.com from Red Hat Software, Inc. (won't actually accept connections but lists mirrors) ftp.debian.org from the Debian project ftp.caldera.com from Caldera, Inc. (Caldera is commercial Linux, and only offers a crippleware version for download) ftp.cdrom.com for Slackware from Patrick Volkerding
Cheap (discount) CD-ROMs containing Linux are available from www.cheapbytes.com and www.lsl.com. These usually cost about 2 U.S. dollars, do not come with hard copies of manuals and are not supported by the makers of the different distributions.
Official versions of Red Hat and Caldera are available from the two companies (www.redhat.com and www.caldera.com), come with several additional (commercial) progams and excellent support. Cheapbytes and lsl also offer 'official' versions of Red Hat. Debian is developed by a large group of hackers and volunteers and does not have an 'official' version, but several companies (including cheapbytes and those listed at www.debian.org/vendors.html) sell CDs that come with support and documentation.
Official CDs generally run from US$30 to a few hundred U.S. dollars (depending on the distribution, on which commercial programs are included and on the level of support offered).
What does Linux cost?
Well, this is the good part. Linux is free. Basically this means you can download it free of charge. However if you want Linux on a CD-ROM, you'll at least have to pay for the media.
The word "Free" is not limited to this very shallow meaning, the Free Software Foundation has another definition which you will want to read about and understand at some point. This is the true essence of free software.
How do I connect to the Internet with Linux?
This is by far the question most frequently asked to the Linux community. Not merely in chatrooms but in news groups and other Linux discussion forums. This is the reason that the procedure is well documented in the ISP-Hookup-HOWTO, and the PPP-HOWTO. However, despite the existence of these excellent documents, many people seem reluctant to read them or find them hard to understand. For this reason, budding Linux users have written CGI-scripts that generates dial-up scripts for you. These scripts will probably not work straight out of the box for you, so you'll have to tweak them a little, but that's a start. If you have a Red Hat distribution, then you don't have to worry. Red Hat comes with a tool called "netcfg" which is a part of Red Hat's "control-panel" application. This will make the scripts for you. Again, this may not work straight away for your particular ISP.
What hardware does Linux support?
Well, a lot, but it changes constantly. One annoyingly common piece of hardware that Linux does not support however, is the notorious "WinModem". If you own one of these, you are advised to return it to the place of purchase to trade it in on a real modem. If you want to be sure the hardware you want to buy is supported, then check the Hardware compatibility HOWTO. Chances are, there is a specific HOWTO for the piece of hardware you want to buy, e.g. the Ethernet-HOWTO for ethernet cards, and the SCSI-HOWTO for SCSI hardware.
What is the difference between UNIX and Linux?
1. Price
2. Spelling
3. Coolness
4. User base
Which distribution of Linux is the best?
The matter of "Which distrubution is best?" is completely based on personal preference. There is no "best" distribution. However, if you have never used Linux before, you probably have no idea what to expect, and therefore would be far better off with one which provides a degree of user friendliness and help for newbies. (Red Hat is excellent in this area.)
Among the users Linux, many say that Red Hat is by far the easiest to install and configure for those that never used Linux, or UNIX previously. If you are comfortable in UNIX, then Debian is considered the best alternative. This is informed opinion based on experience.
There are two main reasons why Debian and Red Hat are preferred over Slackware:
1. Red Hat and Debian come with high quality tools to maintain and upgrade your system with new releases of software packages.
2. Both Red Hat and Debian are actively being developed. Patches and bugfixes are quickly released and made publically available.
There are other distributions, Caldera for example, that might be worthwhile. However, this particular example is actively supported and targetted at the corporate market. Caldera also offers Netscape server products, which you may find interesting if you want to run Linux in your business, however, Apache is a free alternative to the commercial http servers.
How do I compile a .c file?
If you want to compile C source files, you have to make sure that you have a C compiler (typically gcc) and the libc-development packages installed. These are generally called the "development packages". If you have all of these installed then it's simply a matter of typing from the shell prompt:
gcc -o name_of_executable_file name_of_source_file.c
How big is Linux?
Well, pretty big if you actually want to have a useful system. If you are not interested in using The X Window System, then you can run Linux within a 100 MB partition including swap, and actually have it do useful stuff like gatewaying, web/mail/ftp serving, IP Masquerading etc. If you do want to use X, then 150 to 200 MB is required to have a more or less comfortable workstation. However, we recommend freeing up at least 500 MB for Linux, as you will soon grow out of even this space once you get hooked, and believe me you will!
How do I partition my hard disk?
Assuming you do not want to make a backup of your entire system, and re-partition cleanly with Windows 95's fdisk, you will want to use the program "fips.exe" which is a DOS/Windows utility that comes with every major Linux distribution. This program enables you to repartition you hard disk without losing any data. However, it is not guaranteed to work all the time, and you have to make sure that the end of your drive is clean - this means you have to defragment your disk with Windows' "defrag.exe" and remove the swapfile by hand. Another program, which is by far superior in functionality and useability, is PowerQuest's "Partition Magic" - this program is commercial, so you'll have to pay for it.
What does RTFM mean?
RTFM is a common acronym which means "Read The Fucking Manual" or "Read The Friendly Material", depending on who you listen to. If you get this in response to one of your questions in chatrooms, don't be offended, it simply means that the answer to your question is very well documented in the various Linux man pages, HOWTOs and FAQs.
I can't execute a file! What's wrong?
There are several possible causes for this. Firstly - is the file in your path? (echo $PATH). Note: if the file is in your current working directory (CWD), that doesn't mean it's in your path. For security reasons the current directory is not in the path of the superuser (also known as "root"). In this case you simply type: ./command. If this still doesn't work, then it is likely that the file hasn't got execute permissions, in which case you simply type: chmod 755 command or chmod +x command. See the manual page for "chmod" on what this does.
How do I set up X-Windows?
First of all, "X-Windows" does not exist. You are probably referring erroneously to The X Window System or simply "X11" or "X". X is nothing but a set of standards and network protocols, and as such there are several implementations of X. One of them is free - XFree86 - it comes with every decent Linux distribution, and is probably the one you are having trouble with. XFree86 comes with a program called "xf86config". This utility asks you some questions about your mouse, video card, and monitor. These questions are very specific, and you will likely need your hardware's documentation on hand when you run this program. If you don't succeed, chances are that you have a video card which is not currently supported by XFree86, and you'll have to get a commercial X server like AcceleratedX.
If you want to be certain of which cards XFree86 supports, visit the home page at http://www.xfree86.org.
What is the best Linux book?
The "best" Linux book is a matter of personal preference, however Matt Welsh's Linux Installation and Getting Started is considered one of the best and is freely available in various formats on the web here. The book is also for sale in printed form in bookstores or can be obtained from O'Reilly and Associates.
How do I recompile my kernel?
The answer to this question is very well documented in the Kernel-HOWTO and in the file /usr/src/Linux/README on your Linux system. If you don't have that file, then you probably do not have the kernel sources installed. You can get the kernel sources from ftp.kernel.org. If you want to know what the latest kernel version is, just click here. You will generally want the latest stable kernel, as the development kernel is experimental and may have serious problems. Unless the development kernel has a feature that is not in the stable release, and you absolutely need it, it's best to stay with the stable release.
A typical kernel compile goes as follows:
% cd /usr/src/linux
% make mrproper
% make menuconfig (This will only work if you have the curses library installed, else you have to type make config)
% make dep
% make clean
% make zImage
% make modules
% make modules_install
% cp /boot/vmlinuz /boot/vmlinuz.backup
% cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/zImage /boot/vmlinuz
% rm /vmlinuz
% ln -s /boot/vmlinuz /vmlinuz
edit /etc/lilo.conf to ensure your "image=.." line points to the correct file (/boot/vmlinuz).
% /sbin/lilo
Warning! Do not type these commands without knowing what you are doing. You should have, at the very least read the README file in /usr/src/linux