Linux: The definitive guide

GNU/Linux, the definitive guide
I'm considering writing a tutorial about GNU/Linux, which lightly covers ever aspect that is deserving. I've also considered making it an Open Content Document, but that depends mostly on how popular it gets when I ever get around to writing it. Mostly, I'm doing this because I want to, and because I think I could learn a whole lot more about linux by writing a tutorial about it. Its going to be huge.

What I'm asking for here is some creative input on what I currently have. Additions, changes, if somethings not neccessary, if I've overlooked somethign very important that would need to be included in any such document, etc. I have no idea what the title will be, but thats not important at this point in time.

Here is the outline I've started with:

Code:

Introduction The Meaning of Open Source GNU/Linux, Open Source's Greatest Achievement Constituents of a GNU/Linux Distribution GNU, The Operating System Linux, The Kernel why different versions? version 2.2 version 2.4 version 2.6 The Bootloader Lilo Grub Dual Booting Tux, the Penguin Distributions, to Name a Few Debian Gentoo Mandriva Red Hat/Fedora Slackware SuSE LiveCD Distros Knoppix Slax ZipSlack Files and Directories File System Heirarchy /boot, /dev, /etc, /home, /lib, /media, /mnt, /opt, /proc, /usr, /usr/local, /usr/src, /tmp, /var Commands cd, ls, find, updatedb, locate, cat, grep, touch, mkdir, rm, rmdir, dd Attributes and Permissions directory, read, write, execute, sticky octal representation owner, group owner Commands chgrp, chmod, chown Archives tarballs, bz2, gz Fils System Table, fstab device, mount point, file system, options, fsck, boot File Systems ext ntfs reiser4 reiserfs vfat Devices Systems udev devfs (deprecated) mount umount Bash Shell Environment Variables PATH PS1 Aliases Bash Scripts Pipes and Redirection echo pipe output output to file append to file xargs Useful Features Tab Completion Other Shells csh korn sh tsh Vi text editor save undo quit and save quit without saving force command (!) find text search and replace other editors emacs joe The Manual Pages man Users and Groups root, the Super User User Priveleges Group Priveleges su sudo Adding and Removing useradd, userdel, groupadd, groupdel X Windows The X Server XFree Xorg Window Managers blackbox (deprecated) Fluxbox Enlightenment Desktop Managers GNOME KDE XFCE Terminals rxvt XTerm Konsole (KDE) ATerm (AfterStep) Some Notable Applications Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Thunderbird Gaim Gimp OpenOffice.org Wine K3B Packages Various Distribution-Specifc Tools Slackware, tgz packages. pkgtool, installpkg, removepkg, upgradepkg third-party tools slapt-get Debian, deb packages dpkg, apt-get, aptitude Mandriva, RPM pacakges URPMI RedHat/Fedora, RPM pacakges Package Dependancies dependancy hell Compiling source Networking Configuring /etc/hostname, /etc/hosts Strarting and Stopping Wireless File Sharing NFS Samba Remote user login rlogin (deprecated) SSH Linux as a server Web server Apache MySQL PHP Mail server Postfix Sendmail (deprecated) Printing & Scanning CUPS SANE Laptops Card Services cardctl Power Management Daemons APM (deprecated) ACPI Jobs and Processes Jobs ctrl+z, bg, fg, pausing, unpausing, and stoping Processes ps, kill, killall Boot Services Runlevels - inittab The Kernel Lodable Kernel Modules Installing Kernel Source Configuring a Kernel Compiling a new Kernel Hardware Drivers Video ATI NVidia Audio ALSA Programming, C/C++ Compilers gcc Make files GUI Development GTK+ Glade Qt Security (System Hardening) Programs tripwire snort bastille Configuration Services Firewalls Password Shadowing (an overview) Passwords Risks SUID-bit Programs Deprecated Programs Race Contitions Buffer Overflows Other Topics Security Mailing lists Protecting Physical Access Linux as an embedded OS (a brief overview) PDAs, Cell Phones, Tablets Lexicon Distro, Fork

I've also posted this thread here: http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/sho...955#post293955

edit: 2006-01-18 changed a few things. It's also important to note that I'm not intending to add any sort of historical informations in the guide, to keep it focused on specificly how to use GNU/Linux.

edit 2006-01-18(2): added a lot of things.

edit 2006-01-18(3): expanded some things.

Packages: What about RPMS? URPMI, etc

You could put something in about the 2.2 series kernel

I'd be careful about the Notable Applications, it all depends on what each user think is important.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathadder

Packages: What about RPMS?
You could put something in about the 2.2 series kernel

I'd be careful about the Notable Applications, it all depends on what each user think is important.

which is why I intend to throw in every popular application that I can think of which doesn't require too much knowledge to be able to operate that could benefit a newbie. That said, they will probably all be GUI apps. GIMP doesn't exactly have an intuitive GUI, but its in for obvious reasons.

I'll update the first post with the 2.2 series kernel, thats a good point. And maybe a section called "RPM Hell" ;-)
Just kidding, yes, RPMs should be in there too.

I think you can build up this guide better if you use a lot of links instead of writing your own.

For a start we do have a fairly good library of quality information here though some may be benefited from an update. It would be ideal if your effort is complementary or an integration of what we have got here rather than an alternative.

Just a thought when you are embarking on such a big project.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saikee

I think you can build up this guide better if you use a lot of links instead of writing your own.

For a start we do have a fairly good library of quality information here though some may be benefited from an update. It would be ideal if your effort is complementary or an integration of what we have got here rather than an alternative.

Just a thought when you are embarking on such a big project.

Maybe I'll publish it :-)

Even the first 2 lines had me shaking my head....you got it backwards.
Open Source may be GNU's best achievement, though whether that's true or not is a theological debate. But make sure you get the chronology and the fact there are multiple Religions straight..In the beginning, there was GNU, and it was good. Everything else came after.
Read what stallman says about GNU...even though linux came out and beat hurd (or mach or whatever) all to hell, he's still the originator of ALL this because without the GPL there would be no "Linux".

Quote:

Originally Posted by je_fro

Even the first 2 lines had me shaking my head....you got it backwards.
Open Source may be GNU's best achievement, though whether that's true or not is a theological debate. But make sure you get the chronology and the fact there are multiple Religions straight..In the beginning, there was GNU, and it was good. Everything else came after.
Read what stallman says about GNU...even though linux came out and beat hurd (or mach or whatever) all to hell, he's still the originator of ALL this because without the GPL there would be no "Linux".

you don't need a license to call a program open source. people were contributing code back before any of that. anyway, I was just trying to boast a little.

No, but Open Source was a term originated years later by Perens et.al. to put a more business-friendly face on GNU/Linux.

Quote:

Originally Posted by je_fro

No, but Open Source was a term originated years later by Perens et.al. to put a more business-friendly face on GNU/Linux.

I'm sure you're right. I'm not up to speed with the history of Open Source and Linux, I just kow that I love Open Source and I'm pretty damn good behind a keyboard :-)

...even if I ask questions in forums every now and then ;-)

edit:

maybe instead of "GNU/Linux, Open Source's Greatest Avhievement", something better would be "GNU/Linux, Open Source's Left Hand" or somethign to the effect that Linux and Open Source go "hand in hand" so to say.

Cool, just so you draw a distinction between GNU and Open Source. Otherwise I'll bet RMS himself registers in order to flame ya! :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by je_fro

Cool, just so you draw a distinction between GNU and Open Source. Otherwise I'll bet RMS himself registers in order to flame ya! :D

very off topic, but you have some creepy avatars....

:D I spent a bundle on plastic surgery to look this good! Keep your damn comments to yourself! :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by je_fro

GNU/Linux.

I was agrivated when I first started reading this (http://librenix.com/?inode=2312) (edit: try to read around the biased opinions), however, there is a very interesting point about half-way through.

Why shouldn't I call my distribution Xorg/GNU/Linux? seeing as how Xorg is a huge part of my distribution. Also, there are many places where Linux is embedded in a device and GNU is not.

Historically, the term "GNU/Linux" is respectful of the GNU project, and the fact that Linux probably wouldn't exist without it (true?)

Practically, it is silly.

No flames, please. :-)

He's got it backwards too...he should have said:
Linux has reached its current high profile largely on the back of GNU.

they were riding each others backs.