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<title>Linux Installation Primer LG #32</title>
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<center>
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<H1><font color="maroon">Linux Installation Primer</font></H1>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:rjenkins@unicom.net">Ron Jenkins</a></H4>
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</center>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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You've heard all the hype, and decided to find out what this "Linux"
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thing is all about. Or maybe you need a low cost alternative to one of
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the commercial operating systems. Perhaps you need an easy way to
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connect diverse systems and let them all communicate with each
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other..tomorrow.. or you'll be encouraged to "seek new employment
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challenges." In any case, you have a problem that needs a solution, or
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a curiosity that needs to be satisfied. Well, you have come to the
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right place. Join me as we take a journey into the exciting world of
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the Linux operating system. Please keep your hands inside the car at
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all times, and remain in your seat.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>What the heck is Linux anyway?</H3>
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<P>
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Linux is a freely distributable version of Unix developed by Linus
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Torvalds and thousands of other programmers scattered all over the
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world. What started as a hacker's system, designed primarily for the
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technically adept, has now evolved in to a viable, stable operating
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system with a robust set of applications and tools making it suitable
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for both personal and mission critical commercial use.
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<P>
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In just the past six months Linux growth has undergone an exponential
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expansion. Every day Linux gains more and more press and exposure. Many
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commercial vendors are announcing support, or ports of their products
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to the Linux operating system. I saw just the other day that Oracle and
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Informix, both major players in the Unix database world, have ports to
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Linux underway.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>Well, that's fine and dandy, but what does it mean to me?</H3>
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<P>
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This is incredibly significant, not just to the techno-geeks (yes,
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that's me) but to the entire spectrum of computer users. One of the
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benchmarks of the commercial viability of any product is the support of
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the application vendors.
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<P>
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While it's great fun for me to write my own programs and applications,
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most people just need to get some work done, on time, as easily as
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possible. Or perhaps you want to surf the net for entertainment, or
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playing games. Without the "killer apps", an operating system is doomed
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commercially.
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<P>
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What this all means to you is never before has there been an operating
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system, with a robust set of applications and development tools,
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available for little or no cost, other than the "sweat equity" required
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to learn to use it effectively.
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<P>
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An additional point to consider is that as you progress in your Linux
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education you are also increasing your skill level and, ultimately,
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your worth in the marketplace.
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<P>
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One of the strengths of Linux is that you have the power to choose the
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depth of knowledge required to accomplish your tasks. Want to just bang
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out a document or two, or play games? You can. Want to surf the
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Internet and exchange e-mail with your friends and coworker's? No
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problem. Want to learn to program in a variety of different languages?
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Go ahead.
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<P>
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The point here is Linux can do all these things, and much more.
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Additionally, with Linux, you are not required to fork over more money
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for each function you want to add.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>Okay. That sounds great, but I've heard that Unix is difficult to
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configure, hard to install, only for the pocket protector crowd, etc.</H3>
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<P>
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While this was the case at one time, here and now, in 1998, it's simply
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not true. Major advancements have been made in the installation and
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configuration process, and in most cases Linux is no more difficult to
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install than any other operating system. With the advent of package
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managers, Graphical User Interfaces, and "smart" probing of your
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system's components, installation has become largely a moot issue.
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<P>
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The truth is, you could not have picked a better time to join the Linux
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world. Granted, once you get to networking issues, there is more to it
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in a Unix machine than a Windows box, but with the new configuration
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utilities, combined with an intuitive, easy to understand process, I
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firmly feel that Linux is about as easy to configure as Windows.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>Well, if you say so, but if Linux is not a commercial product, where
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do I go if I get in trouble?</H3>
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<P>
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Luckily, there are commercial distributions of Linux available, as well
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as commercial support contractors who will be happy to help you out.
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And usually for quite a bit less than the people in Redmond, and the
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Linux vendors actually answer the phone. And call you back.
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<P>
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Now I'm going to tell you about Linux's secret weapon. Remember, those
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thousands of people I mentioned before? Well, there is a virtual
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universe, populated with people who are ready, willing, and able to
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help you out. You will find them on USENET, commonly called newsgroups,
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on Internet Relay Chat, commonly called IRC and in your local area, in
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the form of Linux User's Groups. As a matter of fact, this free
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noncommercial group of people have made such an impact on the end user
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community, that in an unprecedented move, Infoworld magazine named the
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Linux support community as a whole, as the 1997 Product of the Year!
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<H3> Okay, that all sounds good, but I've got an old 486 DX2/66 that's real
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slow. Would Linux do me any good?</H3>
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<P>
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The answer is a resounding yes! Linux will run on anything from a
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diskless workstation, to an XT, to the latest whizbang hardware. As a
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matter of fact, I've used these machines for everything from routers to
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web servers, from dialup servers to file servers. I currently run 2 486
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66's as my backup DNS machines, each hosting multiple zones.
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<P>
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This is another one of Linux's strengths. The ability to take
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"obsolete" machines and do great things with them. This is a great low
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cost method for nonprofit organizations, and cost conscious
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organizations to squeeze extra value from "old" machines.
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<P>
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The one exception to this is your video subsystem. X, the Graphical
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User Interface , is very picky about the video cards it will and will
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not support. This is primarily due to the fact that many video card
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manufacturers are reluctant to release specification information to
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Linux developers.
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<P>
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However, support is improving every day, and there are also commercial
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X servers available to address these issues. The bottom line here is to
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try to make sure your video card is supported by X if you want to run
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more than VGA at 16 colors.
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<P>
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That said, different distributions of Linux have different hardware
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requirements. And of course, I don't mean to imply that you should not
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take advantage of a newer machine if you have access to one. I simply
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want to convey to you that you don't have to have a Pentium II with 256
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Megs of RAM, or a 600Mhz Alpha to be able to use Linux.
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<P>
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As a general guideline, any 386 or better with 4MB of RAM or more
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should run quite nicely. If you plan on running X, 8MB would be better,
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16MB better still.
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<P>
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Generally speaking, the more RAM, the better. As a matter of fact, I
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often tell my clients that I would rather have a slower processor with
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more RAM, than a faster processor with less RAM.
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<P>
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Contrary to what you may have been told, the processor speed is NOT the
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primary determining factor of performance. In reality the performance
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of your system is determined by the amount of RAM you have, The speed
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of your Disk subsystem, and your processor. In that order.
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<P>
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Any type of IDE HDD, and any ATAPI CD-ROM drive will work quite nicely,
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as will most SCSI hosts and disks. However, SCSI installations can
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often be more involved, and will be covered in a separate document.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>Okay, you've sold me on the idea. What next?</H3>
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<P>
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The first thing you will need to do is pick a distribution. Linux is
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packaged as collections of programs, applications, utilities, and the
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operating system, by different people and vendors. These are called
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distributions. There are many, fine distributions out there, and
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choosing the "right" one is a nebulous process. This is somewhat
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analogous to picking the "best" vacation spot, or the "best" outfit to
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wear.
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<P>
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I will be discussing the Slackware 3.5, and RedHat 5.1, as these are
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the ones I am familiar with. Many of the descriptions and configuration
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options, most notably the autoprobing of PCI devices, and support for
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many newer video cards, are applicable ONLY to these distributions. All
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my comments and recommendations are just that - comments and
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recommendations. Your preferences may be entirely different.
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<P>
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<B>Slackware 3.5</B>
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<P>
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The first distribution I ever used, and still my favorite. It has the
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option for either a Command Line Interface (CLI) install, or a
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Graphical User Interface (GUI) install. Uses Tarballs, or .tgz package
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format. I like this because I am not "forced" to install X just to use
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my system like some of the other distributions ( see below.) I am also
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given more control over what does and does not get installed. (Upgrade
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path is not too good.) Best for people who want to really learn about
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how the system works, and like installing and compiling their own
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software. A full install will eat up ~400MB of disk space.
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<P>
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<B>RedHat 5.1</B>
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<P>
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This is the current "darling" of the commercial side of the Linux
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community. Probably the easiest to install. Forces the installation of
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the X window system, whether you want it or not. Uses the RPM package
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format to ensure all packages and programs are installed correctly
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(sort of.) Upgrade path is good. Currently has the lion's share of the
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media attention, and thus, application support. This is the one I
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recommend for people who want a working system quickly, and are less
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concerned about the internal workings of the Operating System. A full
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install will eat up ~600MB of disk space.
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<P>
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I had originally intended to do an in-depth comparison of the various
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distributions, but the August issue of the Linux Journal just arrived
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in my mailbox today, and I see that Phil has beat me to it. I
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respectfully disagree with regard to the Caldera Distribution. I am
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overwhelmed by it's cost, and underwhelmed by it's performance. Other
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than that, I would suggest you refer to his article for a more in-depth
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comparison. He has done an outstanding job, much better than I could
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have ever done.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>How do I get the software?</H3>
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<P>
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Here you have several options. All the distributions I mention are
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freely available on the Internet for download. Additionally, RedHat,
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and Slackware are available for purchase, either directly from the
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manufacturers, or through third parties. Finally, some or all of them
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are often bundled with books on Linux or can be had at your local Linux
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User's Group's Install Party, an event where people bring in their
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computers and the hosts at your Linux users Group will install the
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software for you.
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<P>
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IMPORTANT NOTE: While it is possible to install some of these
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distributions using FTP or NFS, I strongly urge you to acquire a CD-ROM
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for your first installation. See the resources section at the end of
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this document for vendors, or check your local book store.
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<P>
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While an Install Party is probably the easiest method to get your
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system up and running, You will get more out of it by doing the
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installation yourself. Messing up, and doing it yourself is the best
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way to learn.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>What sort of planning should I do beforehand?</H3>
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<P>
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Excellent question. Here are some things to consider:
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<P>
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While it is possible and feasible to have multiple operating systems
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residing on one system, I recommend using a separate machine if
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possible, or at least a separate disk or disks on your machine just for
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Linux.
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<P>
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This will give you the confidence to bang away at it, install multiple
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times, and decrease the chance of harming your primary OS or data.
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Also, in later installments, I will show you how to make this machine
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do all kinds of neat tricks, like serve up your Internet connection,
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store files and applications, even become the starting point for your
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own home network.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>I'm not rich, where can I find a cheap machine like you mention?</H3>
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<P>
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Check around in the paper, your local Linux user group, your place of
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employment or even your local community college for one of those "old"
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machines. They can often be had at little or no cost.
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<P>
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What we are aiming for here is maximizing your chances for a successful
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installation, there will be plenty of time for you to learn the more
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esoteric methods as your Unix skills increase.
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<P>
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If at all possible try to get a separate machine, preferably with two
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Hard Disk Drives, and an ATAPI compliant CD-ROM.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>That sounds like a lot of trouble. Can't I just try it out without all
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that extra stuff?</H3>
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<P>
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<P>
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If you absolutely must disregard my warnings, and intend to try out
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Linux on your primary machine, BACKUP ANYTHING YOU CAN NOT AFFORD TO
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LOSE ONTO FLOPPY DISK, TAPE, OR WHATEVER BACKUP DEVICE YOU PRESENTLY
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USE. IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE, PUT THIS DOWN AND GO GET ONE! YOU HAVE BEEN
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WARNED. Consider the Slackware distribution. It offers the option of
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running directly off of the CD-ROM.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>Okay, I have the machine or extra disk(s), what next?</H3>
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<P>
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If you have not acquired a separate machine, refer to the warning
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above. BACKUP ANYTHING YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE.
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<P>
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The first thing you will need to do is create your boot disk, and in
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some cases, a root or supplemental disk.
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<P>
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If you purchased the commercial distribution of RedHat, the required
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disks should already be included. The commercial version of Slackware
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should be bootable directly from the CD-ROM on newer systems.
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<P>
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If you obtained the software bundled with a book, you will probably
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need to create the disk or disks yourself.
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<P>
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You will need one or two DOS formatted disks for this.
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<P>
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What boot image you need will depend on which distribution you are
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installing.
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<P>
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For RedHat, look for the /images directory, which should contain two
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files named boot.img and supp.img. Normally only the boot.img disk will
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be required.
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<P>
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For Slackware, look for a directory called /bootdsks.144, and another
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called /rootdsks. Unless you have something other than IDE devices in
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your machine, the bare.i image is the one you will be looking for as
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your boot disk. In the rootdsks directory, you will need the color.gz
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image for your root disk.
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<P>
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The method used for creating your boot and/or root disks will depend on
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whether you are using a Linux (or Unix) machine, or a DOS based machine.
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<P>
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If you are on a DOS based machine, I.E. Windows 3.x, Windows 95,
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Windows 98 or Windows NT, you will need to use RAWRITE.EXE to create
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your images. This program should be included either in the same place
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as the images we just discussed, or under an /install, or /dosutils
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directory in some cases.
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<P>
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You will need to open a command prompt (sometimes called a DOS box) on
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your machine, or exit windows to get to the command prompt.
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<P>
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Then type: <tt>RAWRITE <enter></tt>
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You will be asked for the source file name:bare.i <enter>
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<P>
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You will next be asked for your target drive: A: <enter>
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<P>
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If the program errors out, and complains about "Attempting to DMA
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across 64k boundary," FTP to sunsite.unc.edu, then <tt>cd</tt> to:
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<P>
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/pub/Linux/distributions/redhat/redhat-5.1/i386/dosutils/
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<P>
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And retrieve the version of RAWRITE there. It will be smaller than the
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one you were using (~14k,) and the problem should go away. As I recall
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this is only an issue on NT and possibly Windows 98 boxes.
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<P>
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If you are on a Linux or Unix box, the command to get it done is:
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<PRE>
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dd if=<your boot or root image> of=<where to write it to> bs=1440k
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</PRE>
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So, if you are making a Slackware boot disk:
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<PRE>
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dd if=bare.i of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k <:enter>
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</PRE>
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For the root disk:
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<PRE>
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dd if=color.gz of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k <enter>
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</PRE>
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<P><HR> <P>
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<H3>Okay, I've got the proper disk(s). Now what?</H3>
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<P>
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Now insert the boot disk into your floppy drive and re-boot your
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machine.
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<P>
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At this point, you will be prompted to login as root. After you login,
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you must partition your disk or disks to prepare the HDD for
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formatting, and ultimately, the installation of your software.
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<P>
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Linux requires at least two partitions for installation. You must have
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a partition for your root or top level directory to live in, and you
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also need a partition for your swap file to live in.
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<P>
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This is just a fancy way of saying you need at least one place on your
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hard drive to store your operating system, and one place on your hard
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drive to be used as a temporary storage area for your operating system
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to put things that are not immediately needed.
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<P>
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If you are familiar with a Windows based system, the root partition is
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the equivalent of your C:\ drive, and the swap file is the equivalent
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of your pagefile.sys.
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<P>
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Just as it is always a good idea on a Windows box to store your data on
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a separate device, apart from the operating system, the same rule
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applies to Linux. This is why I urge you to have two HDD's in your
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Linux machine.
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<P>
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Depending on which distribution you choose, the process required to
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create the necessary partitions will vary. Similarly, whether you have
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one or two HDD's will also make the best partitioning scheme vary.
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<P>
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<B>Slackware:</B>
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<P>
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Use the cfdisk utility. It is fairly easy to understand, and has decent
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help.
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<P>
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<B>RedHat:</B>
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<P>
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You will probably want to use Disk Druid here.
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<P>
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For a single disk system, I would suggest two partitions:
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<P>
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One swap partition, between 16 and 32MB in size, depending on how much
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RAM you have in your machine. The utility you are using, may or may not
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ask you to specify the hex code to tell Linux that this is a swap
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partition. If prompted for it, the proper code is type 82.
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<P>
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The rest of the disk should be partitioned as Linux native.
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<P>
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Some might argue that there should be three partitions here, in case
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something goes wrong with the root partition, thus saving your data. I
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have rarely seen a disk fail in just "spots", usually if a disk commits
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suicide it's an all or nothing kind of deal.
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<P>
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I recommend two disks for precisely this sort of situation. The only
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time I have ever seen two disks fail at once was due to a lightening
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strike, which smoked the whole machine.
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<P>
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For a two disk system, I would suggest the following:
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<P>
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On the primary or first HDD (usually called hda in most distributions:)
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<P>
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Create two partitions, as stated above.
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<P>
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On the second HDD or secondary IDE interface:
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<P>
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Another swap partition of 16 or 32MB as above.
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<P>
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The rest of the drive should be partitioned Linux native.
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<P>
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After partitioning the disk or disks, you will be prompted to format
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them.
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<P>
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Depending on the distribution used, at some point you will be asked
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where you want the Linux native partition or partitions to be mounted.
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This simply is asking you where in the filesystem hierarchy each
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formatted partition should reside.
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<P>
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For single disk systems, mount your single Linux native partition as
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your root, or / partition.
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<P>
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For two disk systems, mount your first disk as described above, then
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mount the Linux native partition on your second drive as your /home
|
|
directory. This will be where all of your user specific information and
|
|
files will be stored, thus preventing an OS failure from taking all
|
|
your hard work and critical data with it.
|
|
<P>
|
|
THIS IS INTENDED TO COMPLEMENT, NOT REPLACE A DILIGENT, REGULAR BACKUP
|
|
SCHEME. I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR, RELIABLE
|
|
BACKUPS.
|
|
<P>
|
|
If I seem to be a bit paranoid about backups, I proudly state that I
|
|
am. I cannot begin to count the times my clients, friends and coworkers
|
|
have snickered, giggled, and laughed outright when I talk about this. I
|
|
am a constant source of jokes and entertainment for them. Until
|
|
something goes wrong. Then I am suddenly a savior to them.
|
|
<P>
|
|
By the way, when something like this happens to you, and it will, when
|
|
all the suits are sweating bullets, and looking to you like Moses with
|
|
the backup tablets in each hand, this is a great time for salary
|
|
negotiation.
|
|
<P><HR> <P>
|
|
<H3>Well, I've got the partitions made, and my disks are hungry for 1's
|
|
and 0's. What are my options for installation, and what programs do I
|
|
really need?</H3>
|
|
<P>
|
|
You have, with one notable exception, four possible choices for your
|
|
Linux installation. I will list them in order, from the smallest to the
|
|
largest. EXCEPTION - Option one, running directly off of the CD-ROM is
|
|
not available with the RedHat Distribution.
|
|
<P>
|
|
1. Running directly off of the CD-ROM, called a "live" filesystem.
|
|
<P>
|
|
This is the best option for just trying out Linux with a minimum impact
|
|
to your present system. Performance will be degraded, particularly if
|
|
you have a slow CD-ROM. This is the ONLY option I can safely recommend
|
|
if you are not doing this on a machine other than your primary system.
|
|
<P>
|
|
The exact actions required to accomplish this will vary between the
|
|
distributions, but will be called something like "run from CD-ROM", or
|
|
"run from live filesystem"
|
|
<P>
|
|
2. A minimal, or base installation, with just enough stuff to get you
|
|
up and running.
|
|
<P>
|
|
<B>Slackware:</B>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Select the following disk series:<BR>
|
|
A<BR>
|
|
AP (optional)<BR>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<B>RedHat:</B>
|
|
<P>
|
|
You can safely accept the defaults.
|
|
(Not much choice here, accept the default, or it won't boot. You will
|
|
be assimilated ;-).
|
|
<P>
|
|
3. A well rounded installation, consisting of the base stuff, plus some
|
|
productivity, network, and development tools
|
|
<P>
|
|
<B>Slackware:</B>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Select the following disk series:<BR>
|
|
A<BR>
|
|
AP<BR>
|
|
F<BR>
|
|
D<BR>
|
|
N<BR>
|
|
X<BR>
|
|
XAP<BR>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<B>RedHat:</B>
|
|
<P>
|
|
To the default selections, add:
|
|
<P>
|
|
X applications<BR>
|
|
Development tools<BR>
|
|
<P>
|
|
4. The entire distribution, sometimes called the "let's see how much
|
|
this sucker can take" installation.
|
|
<P>
|
|
<B>Slackware:</B>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Select the top option, "complete installation"
|
|
<P>
|
|
<B>RedHat:</B>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Select the "Everything" option.
|
|
<P>
|
|
A couple of suggestions concerning the everything install:
|
|
<P>
|
|
Below the dialog box where you chose "Everything", there will be
|
|
another box with the phrase "Choose individual packages." Select it.
|
|
<P>
|
|
You will then be taken to another dialog box listing the categories of
|
|
all the software that will be installed on the system. Scroll down to
|
|
Documentation.
|
|
<P>
|
|
For some reason RedHat wants to install the How-To's and things in
|
|
every format known to man, and in every language spoken by man.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Choose the text format and html format of the documents. The one
|
|
exception to this is if for whatever reason, you would find it useful
|
|
to have these documents in another language, in which case you should
|
|
select the appropriate language desired as well. When you are finished,
|
|
select done. This will save you a significant amount of disk space.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Common to both of the distributions, the following tasks are ones you
|
|
need to perform regardless of which distribution you use:
|
|
<P>
|
|
<H4>1. Creating boot and rescue disks.</H4>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<B>Slackware:</B>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Toward the end of the installation process, you will be asked to
|
|
configure your new Linux system. I strongly recommend making both a
|
|
lilo bootdisk, and a default, or vmlinuz bootdisk for your new machine,
|
|
and choosing NO to the install LILO option.
|
|
<P>
|
|
<B>RedHat:</B>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Toward the end of the installation, you will be asked if you want to
|
|
make a boot disk. Answer yes. Make several.
|
|
<P>
|
|
If prompted to configure either X windows, or your networking, answer
|
|
no. If you are forced to do either of these things for X, accept the
|
|
defaults. For networking, if asked for a network address, use
|
|
127.0.0.1, or choose the "loopback" option if available. We will be
|
|
configuring these things in the next installment.
|
|
<P>
|
|
<H4>2. Logging in as root for the first time and creating a user account for
|
|
yourself.</H4>
|
|
<P>
|
|
While there are times when it will be useful to be logged into your
|
|
system as root, most of the time, you will want to be logged in to your
|
|
own account on the machine.
|
|
<P>
|
|
There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that when
|
|
logged in as yourself, just about the worst thing you can do is screw
|
|
up your own account.
|
|
<P>
|
|
However, when logged in as root, most of the safeguards built into the
|
|
system go away. You can do anything, even things you should not do.
|
|
Like hose the entire filesystem. This is both the strength, and the
|
|
weakness of the superuser account.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Treat it like a loaded gun. Don't pull it out unless you mean to use
|
|
it. If you mean to use it make sure you have a clear target and put it
|
|
right back in the holster as soon as you're done.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Now that I hope I've properly scared you, here's what you need to do:
|
|
<P>
|
|
Login as root. Then create a user account for yourself:
|
|
<PRE>
|
|
adduser rjenkins
|
|
</PRE>
|
|
You will be asked a series of questions. You can safely press enter to
|
|
accept the defaults for these things.
|
|
<P>
|
|
<H4>3. Selecting and entering your root and personal user account
|
|
passwords.</H4>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Now you need to password protect the root account and your user
|
|
account. Logged in as root, use the passwd command to do this for both
|
|
the root or superuser account, and your personal account.
|
|
<PRE>
|
|
passwd root
|
|
</PRE>
|
|
And then your user account:
|
|
<PRE>
|
|
passwd rjenkins
|
|
</PRE>
|
|
A short comment on password selection and security. Good password
|
|
discipline is very important, whether you are connected to a network or
|
|
not. Briefly, here are a few guidelines:
|
|
<P>
|
|
Choose something you can easily remember, say kibble.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Now, add a punctuation mark and a number to it, say ?kibble4.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Finally, for best security, a neat trick is to take the word you can
|
|
remember easily, in this case kibble, and for each letter in the word,
|
|
move up one row on the keyboard, and over either to the left or the
|
|
right.
|
|
<P>
|
|
So for ?kibble4 if we move up and to the left, we get: ?u8ggi34.
|
|
<P>
|
|
If we go up and to the right we get: ?o9hhp44.
|
|
<P>
|
|
This is easy to remember, and will defeat all but the most
|
|
sophisticated password cracking programs.
|
|
<P><HR> <P>
|
|
<H3>Navigating the Linux system, and obtaining help and information from
|
|
the documentation.</H3>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The first thing you will want to do is learn how to navigate your
|
|
system. You will find a wealth of documentation in the /usr/doc
|
|
directory. In particular, look at the /usr/doc/how-to directory, and
|
|
check out the installation and user's guide.
|
|
<P>
|
|
If you purchased your CD bundled with a book, make use of it. There
|
|
should be enough information there, or in the doc directory to get you
|
|
started.
|
|
<P>
|
|
While the editors and document tools available will vary from
|
|
distribution to distribution, every distribution should have vi
|
|
available. You will probably either learn to love or hate it. There
|
|
does not seem to be any middle ground, but I suggest you at least learn
|
|
to use it, since it will allow you to plunk down at any Unix machine
|
|
and use it.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Much abbreviated, here's a short list of relevant commands:
|
|
<P>
|
|
To open a file:<BR>
|
|
<tt>vi filename </tt>
|
|
<P>
|
|
To insert text in a file:<BR>
|
|
Press the i key to enter insert mode, then enter your text.
|
|
<P>
|
|
To write your changes to a file:<BR>
|
|
Press the escape <Esc> key, then :w <:enter>
|
|
<P>
|
|
To close a file:<BR>
|
|
Press the escape <Esc> key, then :q <enter>
|
|
<P>
|
|
An even better option is to use the Midnight Commander, if it is
|
|
available on your system. Simply enter <tt>mc</tt>.
|
|
<P>
|
|
It looks and acts a lot like the N*rton Commander, and makes an easy
|
|
transition for anyone who has used that program, or is familiar with
|
|
the DOSSHELL.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Well, that's about it for now, Congratulations! See, that wasn't so
|
|
hard now was it? In the next installment, we'll configure the X
|
|
windowing system and your networking setup.
|
|
<P><HR><P>
|
|
<H3>Resources</H3>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Software Manufacturers:<BR>
|
|
RedHat Linux: <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">http://www.redhat.com/</A>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
Slackware: <A HREF="http://www.cdrom.com/">http://www.cdrom.com/</A>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Third Party Distributors:<BR>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cheapbytes.com/">http://www.cheapbytes.com</A> <BR>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.linuxmall.com/">http://www.linuxmall.com</A> <BR>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.infomagic.com/">http://www.infomagic.com/</A> <BR>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cdrom.com/">http://www.cdrom.com</A>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Local User Groups:<BR>
|
|
Most areas have several local computer-oriented publications available.
|
|
Have a look for a local user group in your area. There are also list of
|
|
user groups by area at <A HREF="http://www.ssc.com/glue/groups/">
|
|
http://www.ssc.com/glue/groups/</A>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<center><H5>Copyright © 1998, Ron Jenkins <BR>
|
|
Published in Issue 32 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, September 1998</H5></center>
|
|
|
|
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