Linux 101

[simonk83]

OK, can someone tell me what the benefits and drawbacks are of using Linux, apart from security and that sort of stuff? I admit I know jack all about Linux, not a sausage, so I'm interested to hear about it.
I understand that a lot of proggies are made specifically for Windows and that some cannot be run on Linux (such as the Macromedia stuff you were talking about Matt).

Simon

[rbirdman]

There are a few people on the forum who no more about Linux then I do but I’ll try an get the ball rolling.

First thing I would mention is that just swapping to Linux doesn’t automagically fix all your security issues. No company such as RedHat are going to want to make networking difficulty so there are a number of thing s you need to do once you have a setup to make it secure.

My tip for someone thinking of swapping to Linux is to assess what app’s you currently use, check for the Linux equivalents and where possibly run them on windows to check how well they work for you. For instance OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/) do a version for windows so you can install it, try it out and see if it suits your needs. If you use Outlook for your email client you will have no difficulty adjusting to Evolution.

Benefits apart from the low cost are more choice, such as the number of distro’s, desktops and office apps etc you can choose from. As well, it provides some needed competition for bill and makes him work harder. If something goes wrong, you have the ability to get under the hood and do more to sort it out.

Drawbacks are probably a lack of official support unless you pay for it though there are a ton of different resources you can draw on. You also need to do a little more to get some things set up. For instance RedHat don’t include the flash plug-in for browsers, as it is not GPL’ed , so you need to install it yourself.

[axcairns]

I've been playing around with Linux now for about 6 months on and off. Some thoughts -

- choose your distro carefully. Good idea to start with a LiveCD distro such as Knoppix. These don't install to a hard drive but can save settings and stuff to a floppy, usb key and (in some cases) to a file on the hard drive. The best have class leading hardware detection (see more on this below). Once you have mucked around for a while there are some good entry level distros such as xandros and mandrake. These hide a lot of the crap from you and you'll often find them on magazine cover cd's. Once you are feeling more comfortable mucking around with config files you are ready to move on to the heavy hitters such as Debian, Slackware or Gentoo. THAT is when the real learning begins!

- Forget playing your old PC games (bring on the flames!). It is possible to get SOME Windows based games up and running but, in my experience, even the games that are supposed to work flawlessly require you to fudge and fiddle stuff to get it working. I made the mistake of shelling out for WineX (which is supposed to let you run most PC games) and was most disappointed with the success rate on my favourite games. I ended up building a separate PC with WinXP to satisfy my gaming urge. That said, there are a fair number of games native to linux you can run (not as many as Windows though).

- Don't expect the near-universal hardware detection you get with Windows. I have several machines ranging from a Celeron 300 laptop to a Celeron 400 desktop, Celeron 1.3GHz desktop and AMD XP2000+ desktop. All had varying degrees of hardware detection issues with various distros. I am yet to get my soundcard in the laptop working with Gentoo, the 56k modem in the celeron 400 stubbornly refuses to talk to Linux and one of my network cards was a tad exotic for Suse and one of my monitors (a plan-brand) took a lot of experimentation to get working with X in Gentoo. Make sure you write down any obscure details of your hardware (model and serial #'s, refresh rates etc) before starting to install and have a second PC with a browser handy to look up more.

- Linux itself is rock-solid (my web server has 3 months uptime and counting - my previous WinXP webserver was rebooted nightly) but, in my experience, X and/or some of the Window Managers can be a bit flaky from time to time. Even if things do go pear-shaped you just go Ctrl-Alt-Backspace which takes you out to command prompt or Session Manager and you jump straight back in with no reboot. Bear in mind most of my experience is with Gentoo which tends to be a bit bleeding edge even in it's stable branch. Unlikely you'd have the same experience with Debian (which I hear is about release the abacus into it's stable branch :D )

- Even the most n00b friendly distro will require you to edit config files from time to time. I can't remember the last time I manually edited the registry in Windows. And don't even get me started about the 'Start' menu equivalents. Few apps automatically appear in these menus and even then only for either KDE or Gnome.

- KDE and Gnome (the top two window managers/desktop environments) are pretty much on par with Windows XP for bloat and performance. If you have old hardware consider an alternative like xfce4, icewm or fluxbox.

- Eye candy like you would never believe! If you've got the memory and cpu cycles to handle it try mucking around with superkaramba or gdesklets. Weather reports, system stats, notepads, tickers, all sorts of lovely stuff on the desktop.

Cheers,


Allan

[simonk83]

Originally posted by axcairns


- choose your distro carefully. Good idea to start with a LiveCD distro such as Knoppix. These don't install to a hard drive but can save settings and stuff to a floppy, usb key and (in some cases) to a file on the hard drive.

Aha! Now that sounds more like it. Thats the main point that has been putting me off trying out Linux, the fact that I don't really want to have to install it and use a dual boot thing. Just can't be bothered. The ability to run it from a CD and be able to leave my system exactly how it is sounds very appealing.


Forget playing your old PC games

That sucks.


Don't expect the near-universal hardware detection you get with Windows.

That also sucks.


Eye candy like you would never believe! If you've got the memory and cpu cycles to handle it try mucking around with superkaramba or gdesklets. Weather reports, system stats, notepads, tickers, all sorts of lovely stuff on the desktop.

That sounds good. I like my eye candy and have Samurize scripts on my desktop already (http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~simonk/Desktop.JPG) so thats fairly appealing.

Ok, so how would I go about getting hold of a CD based distro? And which would you guys recommend for ease of use?



Simon

[axcairns]

Nice desktop! You almost wouldn't know it was Windows!

Can't go past Knoppix. It is the benchmark for LiveCD distros.

Cheers,

Allan

[simonk83]

Originally posted by axcairns
Nice desktop! You almost wouldn't know it was Windows!

Can't go past Knoppix. It is the benchmark for LiveCD distros.

Cheers,

Allan

Thanks :)

Ok, so I just get it from here: http://mirror.pacific.net.au/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-05-10-EN.iso

And burn it to CD and thats it? Seems a little too easy :) It won't mess with my current system will it? If it somehow gives me the ability to stuff up my current config I'm BOUND to do it :D

As for these superkaramba or gdesklets, which would you recommend, and how do I go about installing them if Knoppix runs from a CD?


Simon

[axcairns]

Originally posted by simonk83
Thanks :)

Ok, so I just get it from here: http://mirror.pacific.net.au/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-05-10-EN.iso

And burn it to CD and thats it? Seems a little too easy :) It won't mess with my current system will it? If it somehow gives me the ability to stuff up my current config I'm BOUND to do it :D

As for these , which would you recommend, and how do I go about installing them if Knoppix runs from a CD?


Simon

Yup thats all. Download it, burn it, pop it in the CD and reboot. Will not harm your existing OS.

Not sure if Knoppix includes either of the eye candy proggies. One of the downsides of the livecd is you don't have much flexibility outside of what is already on the cd. Morphix is a knoppix derivative that allows you to select various modules (eg. openoffice, games etc) and compile your own customised livecd.

SuperKaramba is affiliated with KDE and gdesklets with Gnome so your choice of which is driven by your choice of desktop environment. If you prefer Gnome there is a gnome variant of knoppix called (wait for it) gnoppix.

Distrowatch (http://www.distrowatch.com) is a great site for seeing what distro's are available.

Cheers,

Allan

[simonk83]

Originally posted by axcairns


SuperKaramba is affiliated with KDE
Distrowatch (http://www.distrowatch.com) is a great site for seeing what distro's are available.

Cheers,

Allan

Ok, and KDE is Knoppix I assume?

Thanks Allan. I'll have a play around tonight :)

Simon

[axcairns]

Originally posted by simonk83
Ok, and KDE is Knoppix I assume?

Thanks Allan. I'll have a play around tonight :)

Simon

KDE is a desktop environment / window manager.

Knoppix is a distro that happens to use KDE. The name is actually derived from it's creator Klaus Knopper and has nothing to do with KDE at all!

Enjoy. I've had a ball. The sheer ability to tweak and try new things is what attracted me to it. At times my todo list of things to try was a mile long.

Cheers,


Allan

[Fraser]

For what its worth... and that ain't much...

I have been with Windoze since Windows v3...and that ain't yesterday. I've got used to the flaky ways of Bill's stuff, and learned how to tweak things with DOS.

I am still toe-dipping with Linux.



I need to understand the formatting process... what re the various oartitiuons and what is their role/function?

I need to understand the Linux file suffixes and what is their role?

I

[simonk83]

Originally posted by Fraser
For what its worth... and that ain't much...

I have been with Windoze since Windows v3...and that ain't yesterday. I've got used to the flaky ways of Bill's stuff, and learned how to tweak things with DOS.

I am still toe-dipping with Linux.



I need to understand the formatting process... what re the various oartitiuons and what is their role/function?

I need to understand the Linux file suffixes and what is their role?

I '

Yep, sounds about right. I have a feeling I'll get it running, then just sit looking at the interface with no idea what to do next :)

Simon

[Fraser]

I am still toe-dipping with Linux.

I have a playpen PC that I use for technical fiddling, and for component testing and the like, and right now it has 4 HDs with various OSs, including RedHat 7.3 and Linspire4.5, and for a while I was running e-smith as a gateway/router.

I can run the thing.. (not difficult really, since development of the Gnome and KDE GUI front ends), but I need to understand what is happening under that hood!

I need to understand how to manually add packages

..and I need to understand what packages are out there. We really need a list somewhere of what packages does/emulates what?)

...So... a good Linux self-help group would be great.. Count me in!

[dagdog]

Hey Simon,

Well I'll throw my hat into the ring as well for ya :)

I've been playing with Linux for a few years now and when it comes to power and stability it's un-matched. The amount of choice you have with open source equivalents to your standard windows apps is amazing and the fact that you are free to use them and view the source is unheard of in the windows community.

I did have a little advantage though before coming to this arena and that was I'd done a reasonable amount of stuff on Unix platforms which meant most of that knowledge was easily transferred. To get by initially in Linux without having some background in the command line syntax and file-sytem structure can be a little daunting at first and as was said earlier a visit to the shell window to run, configure, monitor, kill etc your apps or processes is a regular occurrence. However don't be put off by this because again unlike windows there'a a vast amount of free documentation available to teach you what you need to know and then happily set you on your way to being a competent Linux user.

I've still got a foot in both camps at the moment because to be honest, and even the hardest of Linux fanboys should admit to this, as it stands Linux just doesn't have everything that is needed to completely replace windows as your permanent OS. Hardware, software and driver support is still not up to speed with what is available for windows and that in most parts is down to vendors failing to acknowledge the need for Linux compatible versions of their products. Eventually if it can be done when the Linux guys come up with their own compatible versions of software/drivers but this can take some time dependant on how many people are working on it. But to be fair this gap is growing narrowower all the time and the difference in the level of overall compatiblility since I first started dabbling in Linux is huge.

Again I'd agree in saying try a Live distro first. Knoppix is hard to beat, easy to use and runs well on almost any PC. The main players in the full distro market for intro users of Linux are SUSE, Mandrake and Fedora with a few others if you want to go and look yourself. Seasoned users tend to go for Debian for it's power and stability, that being because they take a lot more time to test before releasing a distro, but this can be very hard to install and grasp for a new user. In the end I've settled for SUSE having tried most of the ones available because I found that for my needs it was the most stable, the easiest to use and most consistent in terms of hardware support. If you need them I have Knoppix 3.3 (I might have 3.4 as well but I'd have to check) and SUSE 9.1 Pro (5 CDs) and I'd be more than happy to seed them on the local P2P network for you and any other Victorians interested.

Hope this helps you get a better understanding before you make the plunge. Just remember it's never as cold once you're in the water ;)

[axcairns]

Partitions -

Gentoo recommends you have three partitions in your install -

- Boot - this holds the kernel and boot manager. 64MB. Recommended to keep separate from the data so you don't screw your kernel accidentally.
- Swap - this is the same as your swap file in windows. Usually double your physical RAM amount is fine.
- Data - everything else.

Cheers,

Allan

[axcairns]

Originally posted by simonk83
'

Yep, sounds about right. I have a feeling I'll get it running, then just sit looking at the interface with no idea what to do next :)

Simon

I chose Gentoo because it forces you to get under the hood. There is no automatic install but the documentation is first class, walking you through every step. Their forums are also brilliant for getting help with problems.

Play with the live CD for a few weeks, then throw on a n00b friendly distro like Mandrake but when you are ready to start really learning try Debian or Gentoo.

Allan

[simonk83]

Thanks Dagdog. I'm actually looking for an excuse to use some quota this month (and give my 1500 connection a nice workout) so I'll probably get Knoppix 3.4 tonight.

Should be interesing. I know nothing about the commands needed and stuff so it should keep me busy (either that or I'll just spit the dummy and give up on it)

Does your internet connection require much fiddling with in Knoppix or should it pretty much just work without too much messing?

Simon

[axcairns]

Originally posted by Fraser
I am still toe-dipping with Linux.

I have a playpen PC that I use for technical fiddling, and for component testing and the like, and right now it has 4 HDs with various OSs, including RedHat 7.3 and Linspire4.5, and for a while I was running e-smith as a gateway/router.

I can run the thing.. (not difficult really, since development of the Gnome and KDE GUI front ends), but I need to understand what is happening under the that hood!

I need to understanmd how to manually add packages

..and I need to understand what packages are out there,,(We really need a list somewhere of what packages does/emulates what?)

...So... a good Linux self-help group would be great.. Count me in!

The package management thing tends to vary from distro to distro. There are a few different camps -

- RPM's - this was pioneered by Red Hat and is used by the majority of distros (RH, Suse, Mandrake etc). Ubiquitous so finding packages is easier but has criticisms on how it handles dependencies.

- DEB packages - the Debian format. Great package management tools including dependency checking. To install a package, just select it from a list or type 'apt-get packagename' at the command line and it will automatically determine what other packages are required and install the lot in the appropriate order. Very popular with a growing list of Debian based distros (including knoppix, xandros and linspire)

- Automated source packages - Gentoo and some other source based distros such as sourcemage and sourceror use source code packages but wrap scripts around it to handle the download, compile and install. Gentoo also has great tools similar to Debian for installing packages and handling dependencies ('emerge packagename').

- 'Roll your own' source packages - Linux From Scratch (and Slackware?) tends to leave you to your own devices. Locate and download the source code for a program from the author and compile it yourself (make && make install). For gurus only

Most distro's provide some layer of GUI tools on top of the native package management to allow you to select and install stuff. The differences between the binary package managers are getting narrower as different distro's address the weakness of each.

Gentoo is my personal favourite because it allows you to tweak compile parameters for your own architecture (binary distributions are generally compiled for Pentium 1!) and personal preferences ('do I want SSL support?'). It also doesn't install the world by default so you only add what you want. On the downside the install I did on my Celeron 300 laptop took me three days to get to a gui. Once your in the gui you can kick off subsequent compiles in a terminal window while you do other stuff.


Cheers,

Allan

[dagdog]

Originally posted by simonk83
Thanks Dagdog. I'm actually looking for an excuse to use some quota this month (and give my 1500 connection a nice workout) so I'll probably get Knoppix 3.4 tonight.

Should be interesing. I know nothing about the commands needed and stuff so it should keep me busy (either that or I'll just spit the dummy and give up on it)

Does your internet connection require much fiddling with in Knoppix or should it pretty much just work without too much messing?

Simon

No worries Simon, SUSE's there if you decide you want to actually install a distro, although i'm pretty sure there's a way to install Knoppix permanently as well, but don't worry you're not likely to do it by accident ;)

As far as the Net goes as long as your modem is setup to DHCP then it should all pretty much work out of the box.I've never had any issues where this kind of setup was concerned, only when you connect via dialup and there's a WinModem on the box i.e. my Work Laptop that relies on that to connect to the internet :| That's when the real fun begins, hehe :)

With Knoppix you can do your surfing with Konqueror which is installed with KDE, which is a pretty neat Explorer come browser. If you really want to blow your limit this month, there's also a version that use's the Gnome desktop called Gnoppix (http://www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/Gnoppix). You might want to try this as well to get a feel for the Gnome window manager. Both these distros are based on Debian so they're pretty solid.

I might be about later on DC++ if you need a hand. Have fun :)

[axcairns]

Originally posted by simonk83
Does your internet connection require much fiddling with in Knoppix or should it pretty much just work without too much messing?

Simon

If you're on a router and ethernet connection then it should work out of the box. If not then Knoppix will probably have a wizard that will take care of this.

Allan

[axcairns]

Originally posted by dagdog
No worries Simon, SUSE's there if you decide you want to actually install a distro, although i'm pretty sure there's a way to install Knoppix permanently as well, but don't worry you're not likely to do it by accident ;)

As far as the Net goes as long as your modem is setup to DHCP then it should all pretty much work out of the box.I've never had any issues where this kind of setup was concerned, only when you connect via dialup and there's a WinModem on the box i.e. my Work Laptop that relies on that to connect to the internet :| That's when the real fun begins, hehe :)

With Knoppix you can do your surfing with Konqueror which is installed with KDE, which is a pretty neat Explorer come browser. If you really want to blow your limit this month, there's also a version that use's the Gnome desktop called Gnoppix. You might want to try this as well to get a feel for the Gnome window manager. Both these distros are based on Debian so they're pretty solid.

I might be about later on DC++ if you need a hand. Have fun :)

Dagdog,

Have you found a good linux client for DC++? I'm still running mine on Windows and it's too flaky for my liking.

Thanks,

Allan

[dagdog]

Originally posted by axcairns
Dagdog,

Have you found a good linux client for DC++? I'm still running mine on Windows and it's too flaky for my liking.

Thanks,

Allan

Sorry Alan I haven't even bothered with DC++ on Linux yet. The furthest I've ventured is BitTorrent which is fairly straight-forward to get up and running but even that was a few months ago. Since I built my new machine I haven't got around to setting up the dual-boot and putting SUSE on, although I will be doing it soon. If I do I'll let you know, that's if you don't beat me too it :D

[simonk83]

Just had a thought. If my Internet is working straight out of the box, what do I do about anti-virus and firewall software?

Simon

[axcairns]

Originally posted by simonk83
Just had a thought. If my Internet is working straight out of the box, what do I do about anti-virus and firewall software?

Simon

Do you have NAT on your router? Linux behind NAT is pretty secure. There is a builtin firewall but I haven't played with it. Knoppix doesn't have a firewall but according to a quick look on knoppix.net most or all ports are closed by default.

Most mail viruses will be inert if opened on Linux as they are generally written for windows.

Allan

[simonk83]

Originally posted by axcairns
Do you have NAT on your router? Linux behind NAT is pretty secure. There is a builtin firewall but I haven't played with it. Knoppix doesn't have a firewall but according to a quick look on knoppix.net most or all ports are closed by default.

Most mail viruses will be inert if opened on Linux as they are generally written for windows.

Allan

Fair enough. I do have NAT.
Thanks for that :D

Simon

[mbottrell]

Hi ppl,

Yes there a literally hundred of Linux distros out there. :eek: For the new comer it can be a bit of a mine field.

Why you might ask? The reason is simple .... cause we can! :p No serious, it's because many distros are setup specifically do something very well... whilst others are better at other things. :) (Gawd that is shocking grammer!)

For those new to Linux I would recommend that you look at one of the 'name-brand' Distros...

There are a few reasons for this:[list=1]
Support is easier.. as many people use them. So they can help :)
GUI tools are normally included in the well known Distros to automate much of the job.
Each distro is about 95% the same, it's the icing and package management/administration that differs.
Name-brands generally have better automatic detection of hardware.. so less time setting up and more time 'using' ;)
[/list=1]

There are some excellent distros that new users to Linux should look at:
[list=1]
Knoppix. CD-based... can run without 'installing' or removing Windows. Handy for a try-before-you buy approach.
Redhat Fedora Core - This is the free version from Redhat + Community. Very slick, good admin tools and excellent install program. :)
SuSE - It's German... so of course it's engineered well! ;) Now owned by Novell... so you're bound to end up with a damn nice distro.
Mandrake - Another excellent Distro... good Desktop support
[/list=1] There are other more 'advanced' Distros that I don't recommend to new users... these include:[list=1]
Gentoo - you need to compile your operating system from source (or a large hunk of it). Unless you have days to burn... forget it. :p Good for a 'spare machine'... not good for your ONLY machine.
Debian - The Stable version is outdated, the Latest version is 'bleeding edge' and isn't officially supported... including Security/Bug Fixes. :(
Slackware - The old world Linux. One of the cleanest and oldest.. but does require intimate knowledge of Linux to get it humming well.[/list=1]
Again... others will dispute these calls.... however it's my personal spin having used all of them over some 9-10 odd years with Linux.. and observing many ppl come across from the Dark Side and assist them. :)

I'll go into more details in a following reply about how to obtain help for Linux. :) I'm probably going to be putting up some specific Linux forums/help/documentation shortly that will allow people to use it as a 'self-help' and community help site. :)

Would you guys/gals find this of use? Would you use such a forum/help site/document repository?

Regards,

Matt.

PS: I'll utilise my free 50MB webspace from Swiftel for this. This means it will be free content for all Swifties! :D

[Fraser]

Originally posted by axcairns
Do you have NAT on your router? Linux behind NAT is pretty secure.

...There is a builtin firewall but I haven't played with it.
Allan

I have a NAT router and hardware firewall now, but I had one hell of a job (and generally failed) trying to set up ipchains on RedHat before I settled on E-smith (which was pretty intuitive), and before I gave it all up for the hardware firewall router....

[Fraser]

Originally posted by mbottrell
I'm probably going to be putting up some specific Linux forums/help/documentation shortly that will allow people to use it as a 'self-help' and community help site. :)

Would you guys/gals find this of use? Would you use such a forum/help site/document repository?

Regards,

Matt.

PS: I'll utilise my free 50MB webspace from Swiftel for this. This means it will be free content for all Swifties! :D

Oh Yes please!

...especially if you can do a session or sessions on lan and wan servers (apache or whatever?), mail servers, FTP servers and the like.

I have a small peer-peer server running on a Windows ME platform just for fun, but WinMe was never meant for that sort of thing.

It is used as:

a communal share space for files
additional storage space for client PCs
a web-server
a mail server
an FTP server

...all for "family" use only.(i.e. no massive external demands)

The data is precious, so it has two identical hard-drives, one of which mirrors onto the other three times a week.

This will be the first machine to go true blue 100% Linux when the great day comes.

[Fraser]

Originally posted by mbottrell
Gentoo

I wasn't even aware of the name until I saw it in this conference (Same goes for Knoppix), but...

Now, how in the hell do you pronounce that?

Is it Jentoo? as in Giraffe?

or

Is it GGentoo? as in Garage?)

[axcairns]

Originally posted by Fraser
I have a NAT router and hardware firewall now, but I had one hell of a job (and generally failed) trying to set up ipchains on RedHat before I settled on E-smith (which was pretty intuitive), and before I gave it all up for the hardware firewall router....

Never had to muck around with Linux firewall. I use e-smith (aka SME Server) for my web/mail/file/PDC server. It's a great example of a distro tuned to one specific purpose and takes a lot of that crap out of your hands.

Allan

[axcairns]

Originally posted by Fraser
I wasn't even aware of the name until I saw it in this conference (Same goes for Knoppix), but...

Now, how in the hell do you pronounce that?

Is it Jentoo? as in Giraffe?

or

Is it GGentoo? as in Garage?)

As in Giraffe

:D

[axcairns]

Originally posted by Fraser
Oh Yes please!

...especially if you can do a session or sessions on lan and wan servers (apache or whatever?), mail servers, FTP servers and the like.

I have a small peer-peer server running on a Windows ME platform just for fun, but WinMe was never meant for that sort of thing.

It is used as:

a communal share space for files
additional storage space for client PCs
a web-server
a mail server
an FTP server

...all for "family" use only.(i.e. no massive external demands)

The data is precious, so it has two identical hard-drives, one of which mirrors onto the other three times a week.

This will be the first machine to go true blue 100% Linux when the great day comes.

e-smith is ideal for this. I wouldn't bother using a more general purpose distro.

Allan

[mbottrell]

There are some FANTASTIC resources for getting upto speed on Linux.

In particular:

[list=1]
Linux Documentation Project (http://www.tldp.org/) provides a range of FAQs, HOWTOs, Guides, Manual Pages and Linux Magazines! It's the #1 spot to check first. A list of Australian Mirrors (http://www.tldp.org/mirrors.html#australia) are also available
Want some Linux gear (books, T-shirts, mugs, application software or even Tux!) or just buy some ISOs instead of waiting for them to download? Try Everything Linux (http://www.everythinglinux.com.au/) or Linux Systems Labs (LSL) (http://www.lsl.com.au/)
User Groups are an excellent way to learn with others about Linux. It's like a hobby club that meets regularly to discuss Linux and things you can do with it. A good list of Linux User Groups (LUGs) can be [found here (http://twiki.linux.org.au/twiki/bin/view/Main/UserGroups)
Look through the support pages on your Distro... each distro normally has a good range of documentation and assistance up there. :)
Many distros install documentation not just the software. Take a look in /usr/doc, /usr/share/doc and other similar directories and you'll find a swag of information.
Linux comes with manual pages. Type man command in a terminal to read up on a command. Additionally you can type man -k keyword|less to get a list of manual pages relating to the keyword.
Many programs have help built in. Add an argument behind the program such as --help or help or even -h or -?
Google has a dedicated Linux search engine! :) Good to the Google Linux Search (http://www.google.com/linux)
Logfiles for most programs are normally located in the /var/log directory. Become familar with the log files in there.. .you can learn a lot reading these logs!
Most files store their configuration files in the directory /etc This is one of your most important directories... so become familar with it. Many programs can have their settings changed to suit their needs. A handy text editor (pico or nano is good for newbies) will let you do your thing!
Another handy site for newbies is Linux Help (http://www.linuxhelp.net/) and Linux Forums. (http://www.linuxforums.org/) Many resources and available and many helpful folks can be found there. :)
IRC is also a great way to get 'real-time' support. Some distros have IRC specific help channels for their distribution... so check with your Distro website... If you are after general Linux help.. .you can always try these IRC resources (http://www.linux.org/docs/irc.html)
Looking for cool new software to play with? Try Freshmeat.net (http://freshmeat.net/)
If you are having problems with a particular application, visit the website for the application, many apps have support forums, documentation and FAQs available. :)
[/list=1]
This is a starting point... There are literally millions of places out there... Just build up a list of your favourite sites/help and support areas. :)

Also be patient... it's like learning to walk all over again! :) It does take time so don't be hard on yaself... ;) Rome wasn't built in a day, and you won't be a Linux God/Godess in that time either... :) However persistance will pay off.... you'll find your efforts will be rewarded.

Tip: Wanting to know what a particular file is? (ie: binary, text file, image, etc).
Use the command file! It will happily tell you what it is.

ie: file /path/to/file/you/are/interested/in

Linux DOESN'T work like Winblows and uses file extensions to know what a file is. It reads the file and knows by it's CONTENTS! that's why executables ARE NOT *.exe or the like... Takes a bit to get your head around though it does make sense... ;)



Good luck.... and happying Tuxing! ;)

Cheers,

Matt.

[Fraser]

Originally posted by axcairns
e-smith is ideal for this. I wouldn't bother using a more general purpose distro.

Allan

Yup, but the in-house clients are all Windows machines, so some form of emulator or x-file system will be needed as a minimum to enable continuation of the file-sharing/storage issues?

... or am I still revelling in ignorance of the power of the penguin?.

[mbottrell]

Originally posted by Fraser
Yup, but the in-house clients are all Windows machines, so some form of emulator or x-file system will be needed as a minimum to enable continuation of the file-sharing/storage issues?

... or am I still revelling in ignorance of the power of the penguin?.

Welcome to Samba (http://www.samba.org/)
It allows you to use your Linux box as a Windows Server....

Can even be setup to login Windows clients and act as a PDC or BDC. :)

You can share directories or printers as well. :D

Cheers,

Matt.

[mbottrell]

Originally posted by Fraser
The data is precious, so it has two identical hard-drives, one of which mirrors onto the other three times a week.

If that's the case use Linux MIRRORING (RAID-1).
This will keep two copies of everything for you. :)
Saves doing it manually... ;) And is always updated.... It's also saved my ass more often then I can remember.

However... remember deleting off one... ensures it's immediately deleted off the other (the 2nd drive does EXACTLY what you do....) so it's not a form of backup... it's a form of redundancy.

I use a DVD-RAM formatted as a Linux partition for easy backups... though burning to DVD-RW/DVD+RW or even CD-RW/CD-R is also possible.

Cheers,

Matt.

[axcairns]

Originally posted by mbottrell
Welcome to Samba (http://www.samba.org/)
It allows you to use your Linux box as a Windows Server....

Can even be setup to login Windows clients and act as a PDC or BDC. :)

You can share directories or printers as well. :D

Cheers,

Matt.

Yeah this is how I use mine. Mine is a PDC controller but that is not necessary -

- In the e-smith configuration specify the workgroup it belongs to
- Create your user accounts
- Create an i-bay for your files
- Place the files in /home/e-smith/files/i-bays/ibayname/files (double check that - I might not have got it exactly right).
- Create a group for your home users and add them to it
- Grant the group access to the i-bay
- Map a network drive in windows explorer to \\servername\ibayname. Supply the username and password for the relevant e-smith user. You should also be able to see the ibay through network neighbourhood

Cheers,

Allan

[mbottrell]

Originally posted by simonk83
OK, can someone tell me what the benefits and drawbacks are of using Linux, apart from security and that sort of stuff? I admit I know jack all about Linux, not a sausage, so I'm interested to hear about it.
I understand that a lot of proggies are made specifically for Windows and that some cannot be run on Linux (such as the Macromedia stuff you were talking about Matt).

Simon
Seeing you started this thread... I thought I should respond.

Benefits
[list=1]
No Microsoft... :)
Much of the software is free...
Better response time, made for the Internet (not an afterthought like Windows)
Lack of viruses (though there are some... no where near as many).
Do it your way... UNIX/Linux allows you abuot 100 different ways to do a job. :) So you choose it the way you like...including tasks, desktops, applications.
Cost.... :)
Not as memory/CPU hungry... means ya hardware is still viable much longer. :)
1000's of applications available for just about everything![/list=1]
Drawbacks
[list=1]
Some 'band-name' applications aren't availble (Microsoft Office, Macromedia Devleopment Tools)... though other tools that suppliant them are available (such as OpenOffice and NVU or BlueFish!)
Game Support - though many games are now available on Linux... and more support is coming.
Sites using ActiveX objects don't load. :( Though your need for them isn't as high -- as the biggest one is Windows Update!
Windows Media Player - not available.. though one Distro just bought rights to the codecs. :) A player is in beta.
Funnily enough no Microsoft software works. (Windows Messenger -- ports available for MSN such as GAIM), Visual Basic, Access, etc.
[/list=1]

All in all... you will find software that caters for your needs.... and more and more quality software is coming out... most of which is under GPL (OpenSource). :D

The biggest drawback is probably Games. :( Most business apps and general applications have equiv. programs under Linux.

You can survive in a Windows-free world... if you can do without your games...

You can always purchase VMWare... and run Windows as a 'virtual machine)' under Linux... if you REALLY need that application.

You can also utilise Remote Desktop from Linux and just leave one computer with Windows running. I do this for MYOB and Flash development. (until both get native Linux ports).

Hope that is of some assistance.

Cheers,

Matt.

[mbottrell]

Take a look here: http://playstation2-linux.com/

:)

Yeah... can do it illegally with the X-Box, but this is officially support by Sony and the PS2! :D

Take a look : http://au.playstation.com/technology/linuxkit.jhtml

hehehe... now that is damn damn nice! :)

Cheers,

Matt.

[Fraser]

Okay Guys and gals...

You will have seen that I have stared a little "labour-of-love" in the form of a Linux Q&A.

This, hopefully, will be a living, breathing, growing Q&A for the benefit of all. So.. just like the software itself, ...if there are bits that are flawed, could be better described, or otherwise improved or added to, please let me know.

With a bit of luck it will give SimonK83, me and maybe a few others the infomation and bravery needed to take the final plunge and ditch the Big M.

[simonk83]

Thanks for all the help guys. I have burned Knoppix on a CD but still haven't got around to trying it yet (waiting for some downloads to finish) so I'll report back after my first 'run'

Simon

[simonk83]

Well, I gave it a quick go, but it didn't recognise my ethernet card (part of mobo), the screen was an odd size and a nasty refresh rate (although I think maybe it wasn't detecting my Radeon 9800 Pro properly either. I managed to find out that it actually WAS set at 1024x768 at 85hz, but it sure didn't look like it. It actually looked like what my screen does when I uninstall my graphics drivers.)

I don't know if the sound worked either. probably not :(

Simon

[mbottrell]

What type of ethernet do ya have?
Also what type of monitor?
Soundcard -- model?

You'll find that Fedora Core 2 will probably pickup a lot of that for ya. :D

You can only do soooo much on a CD... whist Knoppix is good for the 'majority'.... it ain't for EVERYTHING. :(

These days you can normally grab a 20Gb disk from somewhere... whack that in for a day or 3 to test (so you don't blow away ya Windoze disk).

I find that a much better test...

Cheers,

Matt.

[DrT33th]

Is there a guide somewhere to setting up a dual/triple/quad-boot machine?

I wouldn't mind being able to choose between Linux/linspire/winMe/win2000 and winxp off the same disk at bootup

[mbottrell]

Sure is...

Take a look at Boot Loaders and Booting the OS from The Linux Documentation Project (http://tldp.mirrors.ilisys.com.au/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/os.html#OSBOOT)

Specifically you might wish to read up on: MultiBoot with Grub (http://tldp.mirrors.ilisys.com.au/HOWTO/Multiboot-with-GRUB.html) as well as MulitBoot with Lilo (http://tldp.mirrors.ilisys.com.au/HOWTO/Multiboot-with-LILO.html) depending on which one you are using. :)

The others listed in the first URL are also very good references.

Cheers,

Matt.

[simonk83]

Originally posted by mbottrell
What type of ethernet do ya have?
Also what type of monitor?
Soundcard -- model?

You'll find that Fedora Core 2 will probably pickup a lot of that for ya. :D

You can only do soooo much on a CD... whist Knoppix is good for the 'majority'.... it ain't for EVERYTHING. :(

These days you can normally grab a 20Gb disk from somewhere... whack that in for a day or 3 to test (so you don't blow away ya Windoze disk).

I find that a much better test...

Cheers,

Matt.

Fair enough.

What type of ethernet do ya have? I'm using the inbuilt one on the P4P800 Dlx. I believe it is 3Com

Also what type of monitor? My monitor is a Hyundai ImageQuest Q770 17" CRT

Soundcard -- model? SB Audigy 2 Platinum.

Simon

[mbottrell]

Fair enough.

What type of ethernet do ya have? I'm using the inbuilt one on the P4P800 Dlx. I believe it is 3Com
3Com cards are well supported. :)

Also what type of monitor? My monitor is a Hyundai ImageQuest Q770 17" CRT
Your monitor/video card won't have an issue :) You may wish to install Binary only drivers for your vid. card to get 'optimised' performance.. but should be fine.
Soundcard -- model? SB Audigy 2 Platinum.
Is supported... though some users find they need to 'tweak' to get it working. You'll find the Fedora Anaconda installer actually does a very good job detecting your gear 99% of the time. :)

[mbottrell]

For those interested it IS possible to play many Direct-X games under Linux one.

Using software from TransGaming - WineX you can play many windows games under Linux! :)

Here is the current list of games (http://www.transgaming.com/dogamesearch.php?keywords=%25&search=Search&working=0&order=working&showall=1) (NB: It's a long list... give it time!)

Also you can use Wine (http://www.winehp.com/) for some of your regularly Windows Apps if need be!

You can also see a list of Apps that work in Wine here : http://appdb.winehq.org/

Cheers,

Matt.

PS: Whilst Wine isn't perfect... it does help the move over somewhat! :D

[mbottrell]

Wanna get help getting Windows Apps running in Linux..

Take a read of : http://frankscorner.org/

He's got lots of examples and walks you through how to do it. :)

I would get a check-list of apps I considered MUST HAVE from Windows... and then see if :


1. The app isn't already ported to Linux.
2. There is another Linux app that does it already.
3. You can run it under Wine.

You'll find almost everything will fall in one of the 3 categories... :) There isn't much these days you CANNOT do in Linux that you can do on Windows. :)

Cheers,

Matt.

[mbottrell]

Don't hold ya hat on David...

It's been talked about for a while, and nothing has really been shown to date. :(

Remember a thread of SlashDot a while ago about SpecOps... they believe it's FUD at present.

I hope they pull it off... though I wouldn't hang around waiting for it.

Most Windows users seem to forget that 99.5% of the apps they use have native Linux versions.... it's only some of the coroporate programs that aren't ported.. and normally there is good alternatives available.

Peter -- use either 'VMWare' or another PC and test out Linux for a month... you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

Have a chat to Fraser... he's only recently moved from Windows. :D

Cheers,

Matt.

[Fraser]

Yup,

Having fum here, on a machine with both Lindows Linspire and Red Hat Fedora core 2. (I still haven't completely abandoned Windows yet, as I use that at work, and need to maintain some cross-over until I am completely confident).

I had played with linux before, but never really come to grips with it. It is a learning curve, sure, but I had Fedora running last night and my nine-year-old asked why it was different from what was on her computer (WinME)... she then grabbed the mouse, navigated straight to the games, and started playing Tux racer...

When a nine-year old finds a GUI intuitive (in this case KDE), that's when Linux has made it!

[mbottrell]

Originally posted by Fraser
she then grabbed the mouse, navigated straight to the games, and started playing Tux racer...

When a nine-year old finds a GUI intuitive (in this case KDE), that's when Linux has made it!
I think ya hit the nail on the head. :D
Linux is intuitive.... the GUI is slick and easy to use if you've used any recent GUI desktop.

The largest problem I've experieced watching users move across is the following:

Newbie Linux User: Where is program X?
Linux Tech: Program X only runs on Windows. It's not available on Linux.
NLU: So I can't do operation Y?
LT: You can do operation Y, just not using program X... instead you can use program Z which does the same.
NLU: Ohh... okay.
The biggest hurdle was a decent Office Suite... OpenOffice has resolved this. Games are coming across... and if more Game Developers either write for more platforms instead of just Linux... (via a cross platform GFX engine) they will open a bigger audience than just Windows. With MacOSX these days running BSD variant... it means their program could in theory easily run on Mac, Linux and Windows if thought out correctly.

It's mainly a game of education.... Linux doesn't have the zillion dollar marketing budget Microsoft has... Linux doesn't have free giveaways and road shows... So people use what they know.

As Windows comes pre-installed on many peoples machines it's what they know. As more Linux desktops role out in the work-place over the next few years (as many corporates aren't renewing their licenses) I think you'll also see a bigger push at home as well.

Cheers,

Matt.