mirror of https://github.com/tLDP/LDP
757 lines
29 KiB
Plaintext
757 lines
29 KiB
Plaintext
<!doctype linuxdoc system>
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<!--
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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Changelog:
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091197 SRG : Framework created
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291197 SRG : Added info on mailing lists
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301197 SRG : Added more info on mailing lists by web subscription
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as well as usenet news groups. Mostly adapted from the
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LDP web page (sunsite.unc.edu/LDP)
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101297 SRG : Added more local info, archie, mail servers and mail access
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171297 SRG : Added link to research in the Internet
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030298 SRG : Added link to how to find persons and more mailing lists
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120298 SRG : Merged in indexing from Redhat
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100598 SRG : New address for project coordinator, and notes on quality of documentation
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110598 SRG : Cleaned up list and fixed minor typos
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210598 SRG : More links to online news magazines
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190798 SRG : More links to online news magazines
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010299 SRG : More links to online news magazines
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040299 SRG : More links to online news magazines ->0.20
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180499 SRG : Renames to Metalab ->0.20a
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240699 SRG : Minor updates and note on translator ->0.21
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190999 SRG : Added link to Polish translation ->0.22
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121299 SRG : Added link to Linux Magazine ->0.23
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230100 SRG : Added link to French and Japanese translation
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and more online resources ->0.24
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310100 SRG : Added link to Portuguese translation
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100200 SRG : Corrected for link rot and typos, expanded on advanced searching ->0.26
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200200 SRG : Added Penguin Magazine to the zine list and the LDP ->0.27
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290500 SRG : Linkcheck ->0.28
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300500 SRG : Linkcheck ->0.29
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240700 SRG : Added PAML ->0.30
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291000 SRG : Added PAML ->0.31
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200502 SRG : New License ->0.32
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-->
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<article>
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<!-- Title information -->
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<title>HOWTO: How to stay updated
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<author>Kjetil Bakkeskaug, Kjell Sundby and Stein Gjoen, <tt/sgjoen@nyx.net/
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<date>v0.32, 20 May 2002
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<abstract>
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<nidx>updated, staying (see up-to-date)</nidx>
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<nidx>up-to-date</nidx>
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This document describes how to stay updated and abreast of the development
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that takes place in the Linux world of development.
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Although most of this text is Linux specific there is also a lot of general
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information on searching efficiently for specific information that can be
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useful for a wider audience.
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</abstract>
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<!-- Table of contents -->
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<toc>
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<!-- Begin the document -->
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<sect>Introduction
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<p>
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<nidx>up-to-date!introduction</nidx>
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Development in the world of Linux takes place at an incredible speed and it
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can be difficult to keep abreast with the latest development. This HOWTO
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gives you a few guidelines on how to get the information you need, fast and
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efficiently. Most are quite familiar with using the World Wide Web (WWW)
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and Usenet News but as will be shown here there are many other methods that
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can be as good or even better.
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There are now many new translations available and special thanks go
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to the translators for the job and the input they have given:
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<itemize>
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<item><url url="http://www.ict.pwr.wroc.pl/jtz/Html/mini/Update.pl.html"
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name="Polish translation"> by Tomasz Sienicki <tt/tsca (at) cryogen.com/
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<item><url url="http://www.freenix.org/unix/linux/HOWTO/"
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name="French Translation"> by Jean-Albert Ferrez <tt/Jean-Albert.Ferrez (at) epfl.ch/
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<item><url url="http://www.poli.org/LDP-PT/mini-HOWTO/"
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name="Portuguese Translation"> by Duarte Loreto <tt/dnloreto (at) esoterica.pt/
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<item><url url="http://www.linux.or.jp/JF/"
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name="Japanese translation"> by Satoru Takahashi <tt/hisai (at) din.or.jp/
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</itemize>
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<sect1>Copyright
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<p>
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This HOWTO is copyrighted 1998 Kjell Sundby, Kjetil Bakkeskaug and Stein Gjoen.
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Permission is granted to
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copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the
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GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version
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published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections,
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no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
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If you have any questions, please contact <{linux-howto@metalab.unc.edu}>
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<!-- Changed 020520
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Unless otherwise stated, Linux HOWTO documents are copyrighted by their
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respective authors. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and distributed
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in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as long as
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this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial redistribution
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is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would like to be notified of
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any such distributions.
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All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating
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any Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice.
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That is, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose
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additional restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules
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may be granted under certain conditions; please contact the Linux HOWTO
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coordinator at the address given below.
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In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as
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many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the
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HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to redistribute
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the HOWTOs.
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If you have questions, please contact the Linux HOWTO
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coordinator, at linux-howto@metalab.unc.edu via email.
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-->
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<sect1>Disclaimer
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<p>
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Use the information in this document at your own risk. We disavow any
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potential liability for the contents of this document. Use of the
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concepts, examples, and/or other content of this document is entirely
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at your own risk.
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All copyrights are owned by their owners, unless specifically noted
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otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as
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affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
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Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.
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You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before
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major installation and backups at regular intervals.
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<!--
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News Section goes here when appropriate
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-->
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<sect1>News
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<p>
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Updated links to LinuxNetMag
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Did a major link check but linkrot sets in quickly.
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Added link to Penguin Magazine.
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Added more information on the workings of mailing lists. Also proper
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indexing is now added.
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Renamed Dejanews to Deja and one chapter title. Also added note on
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translation now underway. Minor typos fixed.
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Added link to Polish translation
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Added link to Linux Focus and Linux Magazine.
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Added links to French and Japanese translations as well as several online resources.
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Link rot is setting in, numerous corrections made. Also expanded on searching choices.
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<!--
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Credits Section goes here when appropriate
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-->
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<sect1>Credits
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<p>
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<tscreen><verb>
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Tomasz Sienicki | tsca <tsca (at) cryogen.com>
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Satoru Takahashi <hisai (at) din.or.jp>
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</verb></tscreen>
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<!--
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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-->
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<sect>Documentation Installed on Your Hard Disk
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<p>
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<nidx>up-to-date!information resources</nidx>
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<!--
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Quote:
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<it>
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What do you want!?<p>
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Information!<p>
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- Number 6 in The Prisoner<p>
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-->
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When you start out with a Linux installation you will normally get quite a
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bit of information along, not just the installation pamphlet but also
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substantial online help and information files as well as HOWTO files. This
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gives you a good starting point but after a while you will find yourself
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interested in knowing more, updating your system and basically staying
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informed. For simplicity this kind of information is here divided into
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several types, the type you subscribe to, information you search for as
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well as a bit on getting more specific help efficiently.
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Even if you don't get printed information of some kind with your Linux
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packages you will along with any self respecting distribution get a
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number of directories with documentation of some kind, ranging from
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the tersest <em/README/ files for most software packages to the more
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in depth <em/HOWTOs/, of which this is one.
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Have a look in the
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<url url="file:///usr/doc"
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name="document archive">
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where most packages store their main documentation and README files etc.
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Also you will here find the
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<url url="file:///usr/doc/HOWTO"
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name="HOWTO archive">
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of ready formatted HOWTOs
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and also the
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<url url="file:///usr/doc/HOWTO/mini"
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name="mini-HOWTO archive">
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of plain text documents.
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The
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<url url="file:///usr/src/linux"
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name="kernel source">
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is, of course, the ultimate documentation. In other
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words, <em>use the source, Luke</em>.
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It should also be pointed out that the kernel comes not only with
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source code which is even commented (well, partially at least)
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but also an informative
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<url url="file:///usr/src/linux/Documentation"
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name="documentation directory">.
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If you are about to ask any questions about the kernel you should
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read this first, it will save you and many others a lot of time
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and possibly embarrassment.
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The online documentation is excellent for browsing and searching but
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don't dismiss the printed version altogether; if you cannot even
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get the machine to boot, how are you going to be able to read that
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piece of information you need to get the system going again?
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<sect>Subscription
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<p>
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<nidx>up-to-date!information resources</nidx>
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This basically means you set up a subscription of some sort and then follow
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the news as they come in. Be careful not to bite over more than you can
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chew, <em/information overload/ is more than a buzzword. There is also
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rather more junk out there than is just annoying, it is a real problem
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these days. Read critically and be prepared to unsubscribe.
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There are two distinct medias for getting continuous updates: news and
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mailing lists, though sometimes news is gatewayed to mail and vice
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versa. In general news is a larger volume, larger noise source compared to
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mailing lists. Trying to follow too many newsgroups is like drinking from a
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fire hose.
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<sect1>Usenet News
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<p>
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<nidx>up-to-date!information resources!news</nidx>
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Getting access to Usenet News is outside the scope of this HOWTO, there are
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others that will help you with getting and reading News directly from a
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Linux system. If you have never used News before you should be careful to
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read the introductory information thoroughly. In spite of looking like an
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anarchy it does have its own distinct culture, follow a newsgroup for some
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time before posting yourself. Most importantly, look out for postings
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called <em/Frequently Asked Questions/ or <em/FAQ/ as they will show you
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the ropes for the group it is posted to, and most likely give you the
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answer to what you are looking for. Asking an FAQ will earn you severe
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negative credibility points as well as a place in many killfiles.
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FAQs should be posted regularly but if you cannot find it you can always
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find it at the
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<url url="ftp://rtfm.mit.edu"
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name="main FAQ archive">
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at MIT.
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These are also available as
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<!-- <url url="http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/" -->
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<url url="http://www.faqs.org/"
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name="web pages">.
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Still, there is a lot of noise, spam and junk in News and this is where
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killfiles come in. You will need a news reader with killfile capability and
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when properly set up it will scan through a newsgroup according to a search
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key of your own design and mark all flagged postings as already read so you
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don't have to be bothered by the noise. This improves the signal-to-noise
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ratio and lets you concentrate on the important parts. Similarly, if you
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make noise in News others will killfile you so if you later were to ask for
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help they will never see your post.
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Now to business: the following is a list of useful newsgroups:
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<itemize>
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.announce" name="announcements">
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.answers" name="answers, HOWTOs, FAQs etc.">
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.development.apps" name="development of applications">
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.development.sys" name="development of the system">
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.hardware" name="hardware">
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.misc" name="misc">
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.networking" name="networking">
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.setup" name="setting up linux">
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux.x" name="X11 on linux">
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<!--
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux." name="">.
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<item><url url="news:comp.os.linux." name="">.
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-->
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</itemize>
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Many national hierarchies also have Linux groups, such as the
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<url url="news:no.linux" name="Norwegian"> Linux groups. If you
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cannot find your national or local group you might be able to use
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<url url="http://www.deja.com"
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name="Deja">
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to find the names for you.
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<sect1>Mailing Lists
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<p>
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<nidx>up-to-date!information resources!mailing lists</nidx>
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Unlike Usenet News a mailing list is centralised, someone sends a mail to
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the server and the server in return mails everyone that is subscribed to
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that particular list. These lists are generally low volume but also very
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low noise. Any breaches of the charter will be looked harshly upon. Equally
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seriously it will delay the development or the project that the list is
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dedicated to. When you subscribe you will normally get an introductory mail
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describing the charter, again you are strongly recommended to read this
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very carefully.
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There are many types of mail servers that can handle a list and you will
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need some information on how and where you can subscribe.
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One of the most common list servers is <em/Majordomo/ which is what the
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list server at
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<url url="mailto:majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu"
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name="vger.rutgers.edu">
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is running. To learn how it works you send a mail message with the word
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<tt/help/ in the body. If you send it something it cannot parse you will
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get this help message anyway.
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If you instead mail it the word <tt/lists/ you will be returned a list of
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all mailing lists it serves, and that can be a considerable number.
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Other mailing lists use several addresses, one where you send your requests
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such as <tt/subscribe/ and <tt/unsubscribe/, and one where you send your
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contributions to the list which is usually also the address from which the
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list is also redistributed to you.
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Again, sending it the message <tt/help/ or something it cannot parse will
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give you the help information.
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An example: you send the word <tt/subscribe/ to the
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address <tt/corned-beef-requests@somelistserver.org/
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and then you get mail from and contribute to the
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list address <tt/corned-beef-list@somelistserver.org/
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until you unsubscribe.
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A few tips before you start sending in to mailing lists:
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<itemize>
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<item>Do not send <tt/subscribe/ etc. to the list itself, only to the
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server address, otherwise you will look silly and you will annoy
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people. There can be several thousand subscribers to a list and if such errors were to
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pour in the noise would be too much.
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<item>When you subscribe you will often get an introductory message
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sent to you automatically. Read it carefully as this should answer
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most of the initial questions.
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<item>Do not gateway mailing lists to news without asking first as this
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can cause mailing loops as well as spam.
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</itemize>
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As mentioned above,
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<url url="mailto:majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu"
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name="vger.rutgers.edu">.
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is one of the main mailing list servers and here is an abbreviated index
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of what is available for the Linux community:
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<itemize>
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<item> linux-8086 (Linux on Intel 8086 processors)
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<item> linux-admin (Administration of Linux systems)
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<item> linux-alpha (Linux on the Alpha processor platform)
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<item> linux-apps (Applications)
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<item> linux-arm (Linux on the Arm processor platform)
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<item> linux-bbs (Linux Bulletin Board Systems)
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<item> linux-c-programming (C-programming with Linux)
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<item> linux-config (Configuration)
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<item> linux-console (Console)
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<item> linux-diald (Dial on demand daemon)
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<item> linux-doc (Linux documentation)
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<item> linux-fido (Linux fido network)
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<item> linux-fsf (Linux and the Free Software Foundation)
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<item> linux-ftp (Linux File Transfer Protocol)
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<item> linux-gcc (Linux and the GNU C compiler)
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<item> linux-gcc-digest (Digests of the above)
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<item> linux-hams Amateur Radio and Linux discussions
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<item> linux-hppa (Linux on the HP Precision Architecture processor platform)
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<item> linux-ibcs2 (Linux and the Intel Binary Compatibility system)
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<item> linux-ipx (Linux and Novell IPX networking protocol)
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<item> linux-isdn (Linux and Integrated Services Digital Network)
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<item> linux-japanese (Linux and Japanese extensions)
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<item> linux-kernel (Linux kernel)
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<item> linux-kernel-announce (Announcements for the above)
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<item> linux-kernel-digest (Digests of the linux-kernel list)
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<item> linux-kernel-patch (Linux kernel patches)
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<item> linux-laptop (Linux on laptops)
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<item> linux-linuxss
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<item> linux-lugnuts (Linux User Groups)
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<item> linux-mca (Linux and the IBM Micro Channel Architecture bus)
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<item> linux-mips (Linux on the MIPS processor platform)
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<item> linux-msdos (Linux and MSDOS)
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<item> linux-msdos-devel (Linux - MSDOS development)
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<item> linux-msdos-digest (Digest of the linux-msdos list)
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<item> linux-net (Linux and networking)
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<item> linux-new-lists (New mailing lists for Linux)
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<item> linux-newbie (Linux and the inexperienced)
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<item> linux-newbiew
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<item> linux-nys
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<item> linux-oasg
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<item> linux-oi
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<item> linux-opengl (Linux and the OpenGL graphics system)
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<item> linux-pkg
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<item> linux-ppp (Linux and the Point-to-Point Protocol)
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<item> linux-pro
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<item> linux-qag
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<item> linux-raid (Linux and Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives)
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<item> linux-scsi (Linux and Small Computer Systems Interface)
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<item> linux-serial (Linux and the serial system)
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<item> linux-seyon (Linux terminal system)
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<item> linux-smp (Linux Symmetric Multi Processing)
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<item> linux-sound
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<item> linux-standards
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<item> linux-svgalib (Linux and the SVGA library)
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<item> linux-tape (Linux and tape storage)
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<item> linux-term (A Linux communications program)
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<item> linux-userfs (Linux User File System)
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<item> linux-word
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<item> linux-x11 (Linux and the X Window System, Version 11)
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<item> linux-x25 (Linux and the X25 Networking Protocol)
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<item> sparclinux (Linux on the SPARC processor platform)
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<item> ultralinux (Linux on the Ultra-SPARC processor platform)
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</itemize>
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There are of course a number of other lists on other server. As this
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is in a constant state of flux there is little point in naming all but
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the most important here. Instead you could check out a web page that
|
|
maintains such a
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<!-- http://summer.snu.ac.kr/˜djshin/linux/mail-list/index.shtml" -->
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<url url="http://oslab.snu.ac.kr/˜djshin/linux/mail-list/index.shtml"
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name="list of lists">
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on various servers of interest to Linux users. It also offers an user friendly
|
|
interface to subscribe or unsubscribe to the various lists directly.
|
|
|
|
There is also a web page listing a huge number of lists concerning much more
|
|
than Linux at <!-- http://www.NeoSoft.com/internet/paml/" -->
|
|
<url url="http://paml.net/"
|
|
name="Publicly Available Mailing Lists">.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Magazines
|
|
<p>
|
|
<nidx>up-to-date!information resources!magazines</nidx>
|
|
Many have been disappointed at the lack of information on Linux in the
|
|
trade press. This is probably because certain commercial products would
|
|
not stand up for any comparison and the advertisers would not stand it
|
|
at all. Fortunately there is one Linux specific journal, called
|
|
the <em/Linux Journal/. More information on subscription etc. can be
|
|
found at the
|
|
<url url="http://www.ssc.com"
|
|
name="SSC">
|
|
home page. A table of contents is usually also available online.
|
|
|
|
Another commercial paper magazine is the
|
|
<url url="http://www.linux-mag.com"
|
|
name="Linux Magazine">
|
|
which also offers table of contents and some excerpts online.
|
|
|
|
Also
|
|
<!-- <url url="http://www.performance-computing.com" name="Performance Computing"> -->
|
|
<url url="http://www.unixreview.com"
|
|
name="Unix Review">
|
|
(formerly known as Performance Computing)
|
|
gives a lot of Linux coverage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Some popular e-zines are
|
|
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxgazette.com/"
|
|
name="Linux Gazette">
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxfocus.org/"
|
|
name="Linux Focus"> (available in a number of languages)
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxresearch.de/"
|
|
name="Linux Research">
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
<url url="http://linuxtoday.com/"
|
|
name="Linux Today">
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxnews.com"
|
|
name="Linux News">
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
<!-- <url url="http://www.linuxsupportline.com/˜netmag/"
|
|
name="Linux Netmag"> (available in a number of languages) -->
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxnetmag.com"
|
|
name="Linux Netmag (English)">
|
|
and
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxnetmag.de"
|
|
name="Linux Netmag (German)">
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
<url url="http://www.penguinmagazine.com"
|
|
name="Penguin Magazine">
|
|
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
and probably a few others as new ones seem to pop quite frequently.
|
|
|
|
Check out
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxhq.com"
|
|
name="LinuxHQ">
|
|
for up to date information on current news services.
|
|
|
|
New web pages with literally daily news on linux are popping up
|
|
everywhere, many are quite professional in layout as well as in
|
|
scope. One of the bigger ones is
|
|
<url url="http://freshmeat.net"
|
|
name="Freshmeat">
|
|
which serves out news daily.
|
|
|
|
For those who cannot afford the time to follow the net on an hourly
|
|
basis yet need the important news quickly there is the
|
|
<url url="http://lwn.net"
|
|
name="Linux Weekly News">,
|
|
which gives you a weekly update of important news, including
|
|
securities alerts and also announcements of new and updated
|
|
software.
|
|
|
|
You can also find directions to IRC online chat lines at
|
|
<url url="http://linux.com"
|
|
name="Linux.com">.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!--
|
|
One the other extreme there are the those who practically live on
|
|
the net and who might like to watch all sorts of news as they
|
|
are reported on
|
|
<url url="http://slashdot.org"
|
|
name="Slashdot">,
|
|
on a minute by minute basis using the ticker service or web interface.
|
|
-->
|
|
|
|
There are also a number of more hardware oriented web sites
|
|
worth visiting, such as
|
|
<url url="http://www.tomshardware.com"
|
|
name="Toms Hardware">,
|
|
<url url="http://www.Anandtech.com"
|
|
name="Anandtech">
|
|
for general hardware reviews, and
|
|
<url url="http://www.storagereview.com"
|
|
name="Storage review"> for the latest in disk, tape and other storage technology..
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect>Meetings
|
|
<p>
|
|
<nidx>up-to-date!information resources!meetings</nidx>
|
|
Linux has been created through a massive networked effort, mostly by
|
|
heavy use of the Internet. Still, there is the chance of meeting real
|
|
people, face to face, in Linux user groups (LUG) that are all over the
|
|
world. Search the lists that are published regularly, there could be
|
|
one near you.
|
|
|
|
Conferences, install fests, creating new user groups and more is regularly
|
|
announced on Usenet News
|
|
<url url="news:comp.os.linux.announce"
|
|
name="announcements">.
|
|
Such events are excellent venues for staying on top of events and also for
|
|
getting help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect>Searching
|
|
<p>
|
|
<nidx>up-to-date!information resources!search engines</nidx>
|
|
There are many avenues open when searching for something particular.
|
|
Remember you can also use the web search engines and that some, like
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item><url url="http://www.altavista.com/"
|
|
name="Altavista">
|
|
|
|
<item><url url="http://www.excite.com"
|
|
name="Excite">
|
|
|
|
<item><url url="http://hotbot.lycos.com/"
|
|
name="Hotbot">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
can also search Usenet news.
|
|
|
|
There are numerous search engines available but they are not all equal
|
|
neither in method of rating relevance nor in size of database.
|
|
For established, authoritative pages I recommend using
|
|
<url url="http://www.google.com"
|
|
name="Google">
|
|
since it scores pages by the number of links pointing to them.
|
|
People often link to pages they find important or useful and
|
|
Google uses this.
|
|
|
|
Google takes time to score a page properly so it is not that useful
|
|
for searching for the newest or more exotic topics. For that I
|
|
normally recommend either the very fast and wide spanning
|
|
<url url="http://www.alltheweb.com"
|
|
name="AllTheWeb">
|
|
or meta engines, web systems that forwards your request to
|
|
a number of other search engines, receives the results,
|
|
collates and scores before presenting you with the result.
|
|
My favourite meta engine is
|
|
<url url="http://www.go2net.com"
|
|
name="Go2Net">
|
|
formerly known as MetaCrawler.
|
|
|
|
Such preferences are all subjective and the systems improve
|
|
continuously so you need to experiment yourself. There is
|
|
no perfect search engine and as less than 10 percent of all pages
|
|
are indexed you need to try several engines if you don't succeed
|
|
at first.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Also remember that
|
|
<url url="http://www.deja.com"
|
|
name="Deja">
|
|
is a dedicated news searcher that keeps a news spool from early 1995 and onwards.
|
|
|
|
Even though more and more things take place of the web these days, do
|
|
not forget that there is a lot of information available on the various
|
|
ftp servers around the world. Some web search engines also index ftp
|
|
servers but the tool of choice is still the Archie servers, systems
|
|
that regularly scan major ftp servers around the world and keep lists
|
|
of files. These can be accessed in many ways, either by Archie clients
|
|
like <tt/archie/ or the X11 version <tt/xarchie/ which should be
|
|
available on any well maintained linux system. Failing that you can
|
|
access archie servers using telnet to any of the servers listed
|
|
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.au" name="Australia">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.univie.ac.at" name="Austria">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.belnet.be" name="Belgium">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.funet.fi" name="Finland">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.th-darmstadt.de" name="Germany">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.kornet.nm.kr" name="Korea">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.unipi.it" name="Italy">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp" name="Japan">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.icm.edu.pl" name="Poland">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.luth.se" name="Sweden">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.rediris.es" name="Spain">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.doc.ic.ac.uk" name="United Kingdom">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.bunyip.com" name="United States">
|
|
<item> <url url="telnet://archie.internic.net" name="United States">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Of course you should try to use the server closest to you, and to see
|
|
the list of current server you can either start the Archie client with
|
|
no arguments or, if telnetting, by querying the server. Online help is
|
|
available. Unfortunately not all servers are synchronised, so you
|
|
might have to search a few before finding what you are looking for.
|
|
|
|
Recently a more user friendly ftp index server entered the net, the
|
|
<url url="http://ftpsearch.lycos.com/"
|
|
name="ftpsearch">
|
|
engine, featuring many options and with a rather stark interface,
|
|
in the best Unix tradition.
|
|
|
|
Most of these offer help on efficient searching techniques, reading this
|
|
can speed up your searches enormously. Investing a little time here will
|
|
pay off in the long run.
|
|
|
|
If you have trouble getting onto the Internet but have mail then you
|
|
should have a look at the <em/access via mail/ FAQ. Naturally you can
|
|
get it over e-mail using the
|
|
<url url="mailto:mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu"
|
|
name="US, Canada and South America server">
|
|
entering only this line in the BODY of the note:
|
|
|
|
<tt>send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email</tt>
|
|
|
|
or
|
|
<url url="mailto:mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk"
|
|
name="Europe, Asia etc server">
|
|
entering only this line in the BODY of the note:
|
|
|
|
<tt/send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt/
|
|
|
|
or look through your news spool if you have one locally in
|
|
<url url="news:news.answers"
|
|
name="news.answers newsgroup">.
|
|
|
|
Finally, you might wish to get more information from a person, say an
|
|
author of a software package. usually you can find the e-mail address
|
|
in the accompanying documentation which normally would be in the
|
|
<url url="file:///usr/doc/"
|
|
name="documentation subdirectory">
|
|
but failing that and also if the given address is no longer valid you
|
|
could find help in the FAQ for
|
|
<url url="http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/FAQs/email/finding.html"
|
|
name="finding e-mail addresses">.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect>Conclusion
|
|
<p>
|
|
<nidx>up-to-date!conclusion</nidx>
|
|
Finding information fast and efficiently is more of an art than a science
|
|
and we still have not touched on the really difficult part: how do you
|
|
determine the actual <em/quality/ of the information? It is outside the
|
|
scope of this HOWTO to tell you that but it is still something you should
|
|
keep in mind. You should at least check the information is recent enough
|
|
to be current to your problem.
|
|
|
|
As a bare minimum you should ensure a minimum of validity of the
|
|
documentation to avoid misleading or malicious advice. A surprising
|
|
number of people suggests things like <tt>rm -rf / </tt> as a solution
|
|
for a given problem. Some see it as an obvious prank, the unaware can
|
|
end up destroying his or her setup. Just to avoid such things you
|
|
should check out a few things before rushing ahead:
|
|
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>Is there a name attached to the document? If people are serious
|
|
about what they write it should not be anonymous.
|
|
<item>Is it dated? Documents tend to evolve as the technology advances.
|
|
Be sure you are reading the latest version. Internet search engines can
|
|
help you here.
|
|
<item>Are there any followups? Be sure to check any followups or comments
|
|
to what you read, otherwise you might miss a warning or a correction.
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
If you keep this in mind you should not fall for too many of the scams
|
|
that circulate on the net, from get well-cards for Craig Shergold,
|
|
chain letters to the more recent problems of Trojans for Linux that
|
|
tries to trick you into mailing off your password.
|
|
|
|
There is a number of FAQs available that deals with more serious research
|
|
method topics and you can also see a comprehensive
|
|
<url url="http://cn.net.au"
|
|
name="on-line version">.
|
|
|
|
Finally, do not forget the
|
|
<url url="http://www.LinuxDoc.org/"
|
|
name="Linux Documentation Project">
|
|
site that coordinates documentation for Linux. Updates and new documents
|
|
are issued regularly, reflecting the development in the field.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quoted from someone's signature:<p>
|
|
<em>Be alert! The world needs more lerts.</em>
|
|
|
|
</article>
|
|
|