Linux Newbie Guide II - Getting Help
Any Linux reading materials?
The RedHat Linux distribution CDs contain lots of documentation.
Part of it is in html format and part in plain text format. You can read it all
from under DOS or MS Windows before you install Linux.
For example, a soft-copy of the RedHat manual can be viewed with any
MS Windows-based html browser, e.g. Netscape for Windows or MS Internet
Explorer. Just access the file D:dochmanualmanualindex.htm.
(assuming your CDROM is drive D under MS Windows).
Also, check the directory docLDP for the excellent Linux
Documentation Project manuals. For example, you can browse the Linux System
Administrators' Guide by accessing the file docLDPsagsag.html with
your favorite html browser.
Also, check the directory docHOWTO for the HOWTO
documents, the directory docHOWTOmini for the MINIHOWTOs and the
directory docFAQ for a set of FAQs on different topics
(FAQ="frequently asked questions"). For example, these commands will let you
read the Linux-FAQ document (plain-text format) from under DOS:
D:
cd docFAQ xt
edit
Linux-FAQ
Under Linux, you can read the same documentation from the CD using,
for example, this command:
lynx /mnt/cdrom/doc/rhmanual/manual/index.htm
This will start lynx, a simple text-mode html browser, to view the
RedHat manual. Please note that under Linux, the CD must be mounted first, and
the example above assumes that the mountpoint is the directory
/mnt/cdrom/. You can also use Netscape for Linux, StarOffice or any
other html browser to view the RedHat manual and other documentation in the html
format. You can read plain-text documents from the CD under Linux using, for
example, these commands:
cd /mnt/cdrom/doc/FAQ/txt/
less
Linux-FAQ
(The less command lets you scroll through the contents of a
text file.)
After installing linux, the documentation, whatever part of it you
installed, is in the directory /usr/doc/ or /usr/share/doc.
If you didn't install the documentation, consider installing everything now, it
may be worth it. For example, the directory /usr/doc/LDP contains the
Linux Documentation Project manuals. These commands will let you browse the
Linux System Administrators' Guide:
cd /usr/doc/LDP/sag
lynx sag.html
Also, check /usr/doc/HOWTO for the HOWTO documents, and
/usr/doc/HOWTO/mini for the MINIHOWTOs.
The location of the documentation is sometimes
/usr/share/doc.
For more or updated documentation, see http://www.ibiblio.org/mdw/index.html
Is there a help command?
Most Linux commands can be run with the "--help" option. For
example, this command will give you concise help on the Linux cp (copy)
command:
cp --help | less
More extensive info is accessed from the command line using the
so-called manual pages man topic. For example:
man cp
will display the manual page for the "cp" (copy) command. The manual
pages are the standard "help" system under Linux, and contain a wealth of
detailed, very technical information, but typically require some effort to be
understood by a newbie.
The man command uses a simple utility called less
that lets you scroll through a text. Use arrow keys to scroll, press "q" to
quit. Actually, less can do more than this. Press "h" for help when
running less, or learn more about less using the
command
man less
There is also the info command info topic. For
example:
info cp
will give you the help for the "cp" (copy) command. Often
info contains information similar to man, but more up-to-date.
Unfortunately, the info navigating utility is not very intuitive, so I
use man pages more often. There is also pinfo (a substitute for the
info command, perhaps easier to use than info).
If you don't remember exactly the name of the command that you need
to use, try apropos. For example, to obtain a list of commands which
have something to do with "copy", I execute this from the command
line:
apropos copy
In some menu driven programs, for example when configuring your
system services using ntsysv (or setup, or
linuxconf), you may press F1 for info about what the particular service
does.
The list of bash built-in commands can be obtained by typing
help on the command line. Then help on any specific bash built-in
command can be obtained by issuing, for example:
help cd
Bash is the standard command line "shell", i.e., the Linux equivalent of the
DOS command-line processor "COMMAND.COM".
The kde windows manager includes a GUI-based "help browser", which can be
started by clicking the appropriate icon on the Kpanel. This browser can be used
to access the kde-specific help as well as the system manual pages. The Gnome
desktop contains a similar help system.
If you want to learn about the many packages that come on your CDs
in rpm format, you may want to use the GUI-based kpackage (type
kpackage in an X-terminal) to browse through the packages, display the
info that they contain, and install them if you wish (the installation has to be
done as root). In place of kpackage, older distributions use
glint (RH5.2) or gnorpm (RH6.0), which are slower and less
convenient.
Any dictionary of terms?
This one is a rather maximalist one : "The New Hackers Dictionary"
aka "Jargon file": http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/jargon.html.
It is not only an excellent resource, but also highly entertaining reading.
Recommended.
To add entertainment to entertainment, here is another link I like: "A Girl's
Guide to Geek Guys": http://college.antioch.edu/~totally/geek.html.
If you are of the other sex, you might prefer: "A Guy's Guide to Geek Girls": http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~masterma/GuideToGeekGirls.html.
Web Search
Currently, the best websearch engine is Google, amazing what you can
find with it. Google is wow fast, because it runs on Linux, no
kidding. Try: http://www.google.com/. For
a test, do an egosurf (type in the search box: your last name and a word of your
choice). Google can be used to find almost anything relevant to Linux (or
anything else) on the net. Just type-in a few keywords to find the Linux
documentation you need.
Newsgroups
This can be an intimidating place to be--the world's strangest
wackos seem to be all represented in the newsgroups. I just choose to ignore the
stupid or offensive postings or e-mails. For the malicious ones, I make an
exception and inform the system administrator at their originating e-mail
provider. Advertisements which I receive after posting to a newsgroup get
deleted before reading--I know I am not the only one doing this, so please mark
your subject line clearly if you want your e-mail to be read, particularly if
your e-mail address contains the string "aol".
Despite their drawbacks, newsgroups can be a very efficient way of finding
the information you need.
Before going to the newsgroups, I would highly recommend the Google
news archives (http://groups.google.com/
, once known as DejaNews). This is a huge archive of newsgroup postings and you
can search it using nice search tools. This way, you can often find an answer to
your question without going through tons of trash, and without exposing yourself
to anger after posting a question which "was already asked ten times this week".
You may be surprised by the amount of information available through the google
archive.
There are several newsgroups devoted to Linux and they seem much
better than other newsgroups (maybe they are better policed by the Linux
experts?). Here is a short list:
news:comp.os.linux.announce
(moderated--the postings are done by a moderator, who reviews them prior to the
posting. Inspect the footer of any message for info on how to post.)
news:comp.os.linux.setup
news:comp.os.linux.hardware
news:comp.os.linux.security
news:comp.os.linux.misc (miscellaneous)
news:comp.os.linux.advocacy (Use
this one for discussion of pros and cons of Linux and perhaps a comparison of
Linux with other operating systems. This is an excellent newsgroup if you like
getting into endless arguments).
news:alt.linux.sux (Here you can read/write
really all opinions on Linux.)
news:comp.os.linux.networking
news:comp.os.linux.x (X-windows)
news:comp.os.unix (general UNIX
newsgroup)
Please note that there is a newsgroup etiquette ("netiquette"), and
you risk rejection and perhaps expose yourself to flames if you choose to break
it. The major points:
- Don't post on a topic that is unrelated to the
subject of the newsgroup;
- Don't post to many newsgroups at the same time
(cross-post);
- Use plain ASCII, don't post attachments, pictures, html,
etc.;
- Don't advertise (particularly commercial products);
- Don't
write UPPER CASE ONLY - THAT GETS YOU KILL FILED.
- Use a simple descriptive
subject ("HELP" isn't going to work) and briefly explain your problem. Include
distribution and version number, and identify the hardware (USR 56K modem is
wrong - list the model number).
Just for reference, here are some useful
abbreviations/acronyms not found in a standard Webster dictionary:
BTW = "By the way, "
AFAIK = "As far
as I know," (S/he may actually know the best, but is being cautious)
AKA = "... also known as ..."
RTFD =
"Read the 'fine' documentation!" (Impatient and probably rude since it contains
the f-word)
RTFM = "Read the 'fine' manual'
ASAP = "as soon as possible"
FYI =
"For your information," (Perhaps implying everybody else knows about it.)
FUD = "Fear, uncertainty and doubt" (a marketing
tactic).
IMHO = "In my humble opinion," (Very polite or
perhaps showing extreme self confidence.)
IMNSHO = "In
my not-so-humble opinion,"
ETA = "Estimated time of
arrival"
OTOH = "On the other hand ,"
ROTFL = "Rolling on the floor laughing."
WRT =
"With respect to ..."
c.o.l.a. = The newsgroup
com.os.linux.announce (or perhaps comp.os.linux.advocacy?)
tia = "thanks in advance!"
ty = "thank
you."
iirc = "if I remember correctly," (cannot give
the proper source, eh?)
fwiw = "For what it's worth"
(The responder feels that the answer may not be a definitive one.)
lol = "laugh out lout" (showing really good mood or happiness
from what you said)
bs = "bull shit". Same as
male-bovine excrement (mbe). (The responder feels that what you say is absolute
rubbish.).
:-) = a smile to you. Many variants are
possible, also showing other faces to express moods
:-D
= a big smile to you
: ( = sad
|-o = yawning (because of what you are saying)
:-0 = surprised
~:-| = steamed
:'-( = crying
*:-o) = clown
0:-) = angel
;-) = a wink to you ("you know
what I mean, don't you?")
:-P = raspberries (not very
respectful vibration of the tongue, expression of contempt)
:-@ = screaming
:-& = tongue-tied ("cannot
tell")
<:-| = dunce (a hat put on the head of a
stupid person)
/. = a website called "slashdot" (http://www.slashdot.org/) ("news for nerds,
stuff that matters")
oic = oh I see
k = ok
bf = "boyfriend", gf =
"girlfriend"
fu = this couldn't mean "fuck you", could
it?
S = "smiles"
brb = "(I
will) be right back"
Please mail me if you know of
other interesting abbreviations that a Linux administrator ought to know
:-) To read newsgroups (also called usenet), you have to
configure your access to a newsserver. The simplest may be to configure your
netscape ("edit"-"preferences"-"mail and newsgroups") by specifying the news
server (your Internet Service Provider, ISP, should have given the name of the
server) and then add the appropriate newsgroup to your list of local
"mailboxes". If you don't know the name of the news server, try:
"news.my_isp_provider_name.and_domain", or perhaps just
"my_isp_provider_name.and_domain".
For news reading, I prefer knode for clumsy netscape. Installation
and learning newsgroups was certainly worth my effort.
Any Linux Internet links?
There are surely thousands of Internet sites devoted to
Linux. Here are some Linux links which I like, in no particular order. If you
need something else, you should find a useful pointer on one of these
pages.
-
Source code--the ultimate resourceThe
ultimate reference under Linux is the source code. If you installed it (comes
with standard distributions; we really recommend its installation if you have
enough hard drive space), it is in /usr/src/linux (the kernel source)
and /usr/src/RPM/sources (the source code for the balance of the rpm
packages). How can the source code be of use to a newbie? Well, it contains all
the comments and documentation down to the smallest detail. For example, later
in this guide, we show how to read/set up some of the kernel runtime parameters
via the /proc filesystem. You can read the complete documentation for all the
available parameters using:
less /usr/src/linux/Documentation/proc.txt
To install kernel sources, I would select the appropriate rpm package during
my main installation. To install sources for other packages that came with my
distribution, I would put the "Source CD" into the cd drive and do something
like (as root, with RedHat CD):
[install the source code for the gnumeric spreadsheet from the cd to the
harddrive]
su
cd /mnt/cdrom/SRPMS/
rpm -ivh
gnume<Tab>
[unzip the sourcecode which I just installed]
cd /usr/src/RPM/SOUR<Tab>
tar -xvzf
gnumer<Tab>
[read the code for statistical functions in gnumeric]
cd gnumeric/src/functions
less fn-stat.c
This is truly the ultimate reference on how a particular spreadsheet function
works, no kidding.
|
|