59 lines
2.7 KiB
HTML
59 lines
2.7 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9">
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<TITLE> PLIP Install HOWTO: Introduction</TITLE>
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<LINK HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO-3.html" REL=next>
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<LINK HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO-1.html" REL=previous>
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<LINK HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO.html#toc2" REL=contents>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<A HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO-3.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO-1.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO.html#toc2">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s2">2. Introduction</A></H2>
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<P>"PLIP is Parallel Line IP, that is, the transportation of IP packages
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over a parallel port." Donald Becker (becker@super.org).
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<P>Writing a PLIP install HOWTO seems useless nowadays since Ethernet
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cards are cheap: NE2000 cards cost about the same as a Null-Modem
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cable. This is true for desktop computers, but not for laptop
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computers, in which the PCMCIA card costs more than 10 times as much
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the Null-Modem cable. Moreover, there is a parallel port on every
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computer, but not always a network card.
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<P>Of course, this howto can be used to install Linux on every personal
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computer without loss of generality.
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<P>This paper is just what I've done to install a
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<A HREF="http://www.debian.org">Debian GNU/Linux</A> distribution on
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a Toshiba Portégé 620CT laptop, from a NFS exported
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cdrom drive, via a Null-Modem cable.
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<P>A Null-Modem cable is also called a Null-Printer cable.
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<P>A Null-Modem cable is also called a "LapLink" (or "Turbo Laplink")
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cable but the word "LapLink" is
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<A HREF="http://www.marksonline.com/app/tmsearch/find_mark?tok=laplink">trademarked</A> by Traveling Software under the number 75466713
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since 1986, so I won't use it anymore.
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<P>This HOWTO will be obsolete when every Linux distribution includes a
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PLIP install option. For example, the Debian installation only needs
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to add two commands to make this HOWTO obsolete (ifconfig +
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route). I hope one Debian maintainer will consider this point.
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<P>I hoped this HOWTO would become obsolete but in fact it seems that
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it will never be, because some builders of some distributions do
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include PLIP installation sometimes but forget to maintain it in new
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releases (REDHAT for example).
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<P>I would be happy to know if someone used the PLIP-Install-HOWTO
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to install other Linux distributions from other network protocols
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(ftp, http, nfs, samba, or even NT/Novell servers)
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<P>Feedback with typos, bad English, comments, money, job, joy, fears,
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cries are welcome and recommended (not all with the same eagerness).
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<P>If a translation in any language exists, please let me know, I'll be
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happy.
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<P>
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<P>
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<HR>
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<A HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO-3.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO-1.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="PLIP-Install-HOWTO.html#toc2">Contents</A>
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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