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ver. 0.90 2000-09-01 by Stan and Peter Klimas Distributed under the General Public License http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html. Your feedback, comments, corrections, and improvements are appreciated. Send them to penguin@thepenguin.zzn.com Part 2. Linux Resources, Help and Some Links Contents: 2.1 Any Linux reading materials? 2.2 Is there a help command? 2.3 Any dictionary of terms? 2.4 Web search 2.5 Newsgroups 2.6 Linux Internet links 2.1 Any Linux reading materials? The RedHat Linux distribution CD contains lots of documentation. Part of it is in the 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:\doc\rhmanual\manual\index.htm. (assuming your CDROM is the drive D under MS Windows). Also, check the directory \doc\HOWTO for the HOWTO documents, the directory \doc\HOWTO\mini for the MINIHOWTOs and the directory \doc\FAQ 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: 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/ (The less command lets you scroll through the contents of a text file.) cd /usr/doc/LDP/sag Also, check /usr/doc/HOWTO for the HOWTO documents, and /usr/doc/HOWTO/mini for the MINIHOWTOs. For more or updated documentation, see http://metalab.unc.edu/mdw/index.html#guide. 2.2 Is there a help command?Most Linux commands can be run with the "--help" option. For example, this command will give you a 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 wealth of detailed, very technical information, but typically require an 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. 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, most notably under setup when browsing the system services, you may press F1 for info 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: 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 kackage 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 distribuitons use, glint (RH5.2) or gnorpm (RH6.0), which are slower and less convenient. 2.3 Any dictionary of terms?This one is a rather maximalist one : "The New Hackers Dictionary", http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/jargon.html. It is not only an excellent resource, but also highly entertaining reading. Recommended.As a sample, here is the the description of the pronunuciation of some ASCII characters (from entry ASCII, formated for space):As a bonus for asking the question, here is another entertaining link I like: A Girl's Guide to Geek Guys: http://college.antioch.edu/~totally/geek.html. If you are the other sex, you might prefer: A Guy's Guide to Geek Girls: http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~masterma/GuideToGeekGirls.html. 2.4 Web SearchCurrently, the best websearch engine is Google. It is wow fast, because it runs on Linux, no kidding. Try: http://www.google.com/. For a test, 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. 2.5 NewsgroupsThese can be a 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". Before going to the newsgroups, I would highly recommend DejaNews (http://www.dejanews.com/home_ps.shtml). 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 Dejanews. 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: 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: Just for fun, here are some useful abbreviations/acronyms:BTW = "By the way, " AFAIK
= As far as I know," (S/he may actually know the best, but is being cautious)
RTFD
= "Read the 'fine' documentation!" (Impatient and probably rude since it
contains the f-word)
ASAP
= "as soon as possible"
FYI"
= "For your information," (Perhaps implying everybody else knows about
it.)
IMHO
= "In my humble opinion," (Very polite or perhaps showing extreme self
confidence.)
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 an 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 say
:-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
= "will be right back"
Please mail me if you know of other interesting abbreviations that a Linux administrator ought to know :-) 2.6 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.
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