Frequently Asked Questions

[[Martin]]

Every Linux/Unix forum needs a FAQ thread.

First, here is a list of places to find documentation for different distros:

SuSE - http://sdb.suse.de/sdb/en/html
Redhat - http://www.redhat.com/docs
Mandrake - http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/fdoc.php3
Gentoo - http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/docs.xml
Debian - http://www.debian.org/doc
Lycoris - http://www.lycoris.org/sections.php?op=listarticles&secid=1

OpenBSD - general (intro/install/setup/migration/management)
Beginner/Intermediate: http://www.openbsd.org/faq/index.html

FreeBSD - general (the handbook - everything)
Beginner/Intermediate: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html

FreeBSD - cheat sheets.
Staying stable, setup, daemons.
Beginner: http://mostgraveconcern.com/freebsd

Free/Net/OpenBSD - general.
IRC, VI, IPv6 tunnels, Apache, X.509 certs, mail servers, etc.
Beginner/Intermediate: http://www.bsdvault.net

FreeBSD - howto collection.
Beginner: http://www.freebsdhowtos.com

This list was nicked from a bunch of places :) It's useful, hence posted.

[druid]

I found this thread a pretty good idea so I made sticky for now :D

[Bostonmess]

So what's the best beginners/retards version of Linux? I d/led over two gigs of Mandrake tother day but I'm not sure how to get it to dual boot with XP. Been thinking about just slamming a spare harddrive in and putting it on that.

[druid]

I found an old decent thread (http://forums.zgeek.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4100) about the subject. HTH.

[Bostonmess]

Nice one. So Mandrake works on NTFS, yeah?

[druid]

Originally posted by Bostonmess
Nice one. So Mandrake works on NTFS, yeah?

They should all be able to read it. File system support is so low-level. Linux itself runs on the ext2 (or ext3) filesystem.

[krste.k]

does anyone have any good resource sites for unix shell programming that i can take a look at?
primarily bash shell programming.
please pm me

[Wombatunder]

;150455']Every Linux/Unix forum needs a FAQ thread.

First, here is a list of places to find documentation for different distros:

SuSE - http://sdb.suse.de/sdb/en/html
Redhat - http://www.redhat.com/docs
Mandrake - http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/fdoc.php3 not valid (http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/fdoc.php3)
Gentoo - http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/docs.xml sort of works (http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/docs.xml)
Debian - http://www.debian.org/doc
Lycoris - http://www.lycoris.org/sections.php?op=listarticles&secid=1

OpenBSD - general (intro/install/setup/migration/management)
Beginner/Intermediate: http://www.openbsd.org/faq/index.html

FreeBSD - general (the handbook - everything)
Beginner/Intermediate: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html

FreeBSD - cheat sheets.
Staying stable, setup, daemons.
Beginner: http://mostgraveconcern.com/freebsd

Free/Net/OpenBSD - general.
IRC, VI, IPv6 tunnels, Apache, X.509 certs, mail servers, etc.
Beginner/Intermediate: http://www.bsdvault.net

FreeBSD - howto collection.
Beginner: http://www.freebsdhowtos.com

This list was nicked from a bunch of places :) It's useful, hence posted.
I found an old decent thread (http://forums.zgeek.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4100) dead link about the subject. HTH.

needs fixing

[Sean]

So what's the best beginners/retards version of Linux? I d/led over two gigs of Mandrake tother day but I'm not sure how to get it to dual boot with XP. Been thinking about just slamming a spare harddrive in and putting it on that.

Beginners should really try Ubuntu. Though Fedora Core isn't a bad start off choice..

[Shampyon]

Not-quite-Protips from a Linux user of a mere two years:

You can still get free copies of the Long Term Support version of Ubuntu (aka Dapper Drake) shipped to you. Standard amount is five discs per order.

When installing, go for a dual-boot with Windows at first - you'll want to make sure you have a system to go back to if something goes wrong. Make sure you've neatly partitioned your drives to make the dual-boot installation easier - I used Paragon Partition Manager, which I was fortunate enough to get free in a cover-disc deal.

If going for the dual boot, it's wise to use the ext3 file system rather than the (in my opinion) superior ReiserFS. Why? Because unlike with ReiserFS, there's some support for mounting ext3 partitions as drives in Windows. If you make a major mistake (as I have done many times) and need to work from Windows again, you'll still have access to your files. Note there is support for accessing ReiserFS file systems under Windows, just not as a drive (which means if you have music in ResierFS you can't add it to your Windows iTunes folder).

ALWAYS check if your hardware is supported by your chosen distribution. Specifically: Video and sound cards. Problems with a barely-supported sound card cost me several weeks of research and fiddling with settings and configuration files. You'll want to check that your peripherals are supported too. I was unable to use my scanner for the first six months of using Linux. Thankfully development caught up with my hardware, but the newer your hardware is the more likely you'll have a problem, as the Linux community doesn't get sneak peaks at the necessary code like the pay OS's do.

That's all I can think of for now.

[vladi]

ALWAYS check if your hardware is supported by your chosen distribution. Specifically: Video and sound cards. Problems with a barely-supported sound card cost me several weeks of research and fiddling with settings and configuration files. You'll want to check that your peripherals are supported too. I was unable to use my scanner for the first six months of using Linux. Thankfully development caught up with my hardware, but the newer your hardware is the more likely you'll have a problem, as the Linux community doesn't get sneak peaks at the necessary code like the pay OS's do.

That's all I can think of for now.

Yea this is a big one. Who to buy from if you want minimal hassle:

Wireless: RaLink/Intel/Atheros chipsets in that order. Intel is getting better now and no longer requires a binary daemon in user-space. Atheros still requires a binary HAL (hardware abstraction layer).
Graphics: Intel 950 100% OSS drivers with a bit of 3d-acceleration, otherwise Nvidia with binary drivers for great gaming performance.
Audio: Most embedded are well supported. Not sure about sound cards.
Printer/Scanner/Etc: HP, hands down HP.