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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.
Last edited by zeroth; 01-18-2006 at 05:04 PM.
Registered Linux User #383705 - http://counter.li.org/
laptop pentium16 1400ghz Gentoo 2012.1 e23/kde6.0
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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.
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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.
Last edited by zeroth; 01-18-2006 at 12:23 PM.
Registered Linux User #383705 - http://counter.li.org/
laptop pentium16 1400ghz Gentoo 2012.1 e23/kde6.0
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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.
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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 :-)
Registered Linux User #383705 - http://counter.li.org/
laptop pentium16 1400ghz Gentoo 2012.1 e23/kde6.0
desktop pentium16 1500ghz Debian 5.01
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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".
Need help in realtime? Visit us at #linuxnewbie on irc.libera.chat
Few of us will do as much for our fellow man as he has done.
--Andrew Morton on RMS
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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.
Registered Linux User #383705 - http://counter.li.org/
laptop pentium16 1400ghz Gentoo 2012.1 e23/kde6.0
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No, but Open Source was a term originated years later by Perens et.al. to put a more business-friendly face on GNU/Linux.
Last edited by je_fro; 01-18-2006 at 09:07 PM.
Need help in realtime? Visit us at #linuxnewbie on irc.libera.chat
Few of us will do as much for our fellow man as he has done.
--Andrew Morton on RMS
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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.
Registered Linux User #383705 - http://counter.li.org/
laptop pentium16 1400ghz Gentoo 2012.1 e23/kde6.0
desktop pentium16 1500ghz Debian 5.01
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Cool, just so you draw a distinction between GNU and Open Source. Otherwise I'll bet RMS himself registers in order to flame ya!
Need help in realtime? Visit us at #linuxnewbie on irc.libera.chat
Few of us will do as much for our fellow man as he has done.
--Andrew Morton on RMS
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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!
very off topic, but you have some creepy avatars....
Registered Linux User #383705 - http://counter.li.org/
laptop pentium16 1400ghz Gentoo 2012.1 e23/kde6.0
desktop pentium16 1500ghz Debian 5.01
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I spent a bundle on plastic surgery to look this good! Keep your damn comments to yourself!
Need help in realtime? Visit us at #linuxnewbie on irc.libera.chat
Few of us will do as much for our fellow man as he has done.
--Andrew Morton on RMS
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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. :-)
Last edited by zeroth; 01-19-2006 at 05:49 PM.
Registered Linux User #383705 - http://counter.li.org/
laptop pentium16 1400ghz Gentoo 2012.1 e23/kde6.0
desktop pentium16 1500ghz Debian 5.01
-
He's got it backwards too...he should have said:
Linux has reached its current high profile largely on the back of GNU.
Need help in realtime? Visit us at #linuxnewbie on irc.libera.chat
Few of us will do as much for our fellow man as he has done.
--Andrew Morton on RMS
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they were riding each others backs.
Last edited by zeroth; 07-07-2006 at 02:47 PM.
Registered Linux User #383705 - http://counter.li.org/
laptop pentium16 1400ghz Gentoo 2012.1 e23/kde6.0
desktop pentium16 1500ghz Debian 5.01
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