2. Introduction

Linux 2.2.0, released 25-Jan-99: Onwards to World Domination...

Perhaps you are fairly new to Linux and were hoping to find a summary of the kinds of configuration and administrative tasks that may be required of you from time to time. If this sounds like you, perhaps this document is just what you've been looking for!

2.1 Legal and Other Disclaimers

I've written this documentation and am providing it free to the Linux community as a public-service. I have made every attempt to ensure that the information contained herein is timely, accurate, and helpful, but in no way will I be held liable for any damage(s) caused directly or indirectly by any misinformation contained herein.

I will not appreciate being flamed for any errors or omissions. However, if you notice a glaring inaccuracy, or have suggestions for further improvement, please, let me know. However, please check the version number and date of this document (see the table of contents) to ensure you are looking at the most recent version. If this document is more than six months old, please check the Linux Documentation Project home page at http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/ in case a newer version is available.

This document, currently, should be considered beta. There may be a section or two that may cause you to scratch your head in bewilderment. If so, please bear with me for the time being until the rough edges have been ironed out for future versions of this document. :-)

In short, I make no guarantees for any of this information to be correct. If it helps you out, that's great!

2.2 Scope

This documentation will attempt to summarize the installation and configuration, as well as the day-to-day administrative and maintenance procedures that should be followed to keep a Linux-based server or desktop system up and running. It is geared to an audience of both corporate as well as home users. It is not intended to be a full overview of Unix operations, as there are several good texts available as well as on-line documentation which can be referred to in cases where more detailed information is required.

In general, your Linux server can operate with a minimum of user maintenance. Routine tasks, such as rotating and discarding of system logs, are automated. Therefore, for the most part, even with very little user intervention, Linux will hum along doing its job. However, in cases of custom needs or system failure this documentation may prove useful.

I currently use Linux both at home and at my place of employment. It has served me well, and has worked as a reliable Internet and file/print service for my employer for over three years now.

2.3 Choosing a Linux Distribution

There is quite a variety of Linux distributions from which to choose from. Each distribution offers the same base Linux kernel and system tools, but differ on installation method and bundled applications. Each distribution has its own advantages as well as disadvantages, so it is wise to spend a bit of time researching which features are available in a given distribution before deciding on one.

The following is a list of a few web sites you can visit, which will describe a given Linux distribution as well as provide information on how you can download or purchase it:

http://www.redhat.com/

The Red Hat distribution, by commercial vendor Red Hat Software, Inc. is one of the most popular distributions. It is fairly easy to install, has easy upgrade and package management via the ``RPM'' utility. This distribution is available for the Intel, Alpha, and Sparc platforms.

http://www.debian.org/

The Debian distribution, by non-profit organization known as "The Debian Project" is the darling of the Open Source community. It also offers easy upgrade and package management via the ``DEB'' utility. This distribution is available for the Intel, Alpha, Sparc, and Motorola (Macintosh) platforms.

http://www.suse.com/

The S.u.S.E. distribution, by commercial vendor S.u.S.E., is another popular distribution, and is the leading distribution in Europe. It includes the ``K Desktop Environment'' (KDE), a popular GUI window manager for the X Window System, and also offers easy upgrade and package management via the ``YaST'' utility. This distribution is available for the Intel platform only.

http://www.caldera.com/

The OpenLinux distribution, by commercial vendor Caldera, is aimed towards corporate users. With the new OpenLinux 2.2 release, Caldera has raised the bar with what appears to be the easiest to install distribution of Linux available today. In addition, it comes standard with the ``K Desktop Environment'' (KDE). This distribution is available for the Intel platform only.

http://www.linux-mandrake.com/

The Mandrake distribution, by commercial vendor MandrakeSoft S.A., integrates the Red Hat or Debian distributions (your choice) with the ``K Desktop Environment'' (KDE). If you're planning on installing Red Hat or Debian's distribution and are planning to use KDE, this might be the distribution for you.

http://www.slackware.org/

The Slackware distribution, by Patrick Volkerding of Walnut Creek Software, is the grandfather of modern distributions of Linux. Offers a fairly simple installation procedure, but poor upgrade and package management. Still based on the libc libraries but the next version will probably migrate to the newer glibc. Recommended for users who are more technical and familiar with Linux. This distribution is available for the Intel platform only.

Listing all the available distributions is beyond the scope of this document, so I've listed only the most popular. However, further information on the available distributions can be found in the ``Distribution-HOWTO'' guide, available at http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Distribution-HOWTO.html

Note: If you decide to buy your distribution on CD-ROM, you might be able to find better pricing at other resellers. On the other hand, you may wish to pay the higher price to the distribution vendors to ensure that their offerings continue to improve.

My distribution of choice is Red Hat Linux (it also happens to be, unarguably, the most popular distribution among Linux users). For almost three years, I was a die-hard Slackware fanatic (before that I had messed around a bit with a small distribution from tsx-11 way back in the kernel 0.90a days), and although I've tried Red Hat in the past, I never could bring myself to say anything good about their distributions. Then, I tried Red Hat 5.1, and found myself quickly converted! In my opinion, with 5.1, Red Hat finally "got it right".

Some of the reasons I have become a fan of the Red Hat distribution include the ease of installation, multi-platform support (until recently, Red Hat was the only distribution vendor to provide its distribution for Intel, Alpha, and Solaris platforms), and, above all, the RPM package manager. In addition, they put updates to included RPM's on their FTP site (at ftp://updates.redhat.com/) as they become available, which is a good way of keeping one's system up to date and free of any bugs or security problems that are discovered from time to time.

Since first loading Red Hat 5.1 on an otherwise unused computer at work for testing purposes, I have converted two of our main Internet/File & Print servers over from Slackware to Red Hat and haven't regretted it. I've also loaded it on my system and home, and installed it on three other systems as light servers as well. In addition, I have had the opportunity to not only play with the Intel-based versions but with Alpha- and Sparc-based versions as well. Recently, I've moved all the Linux systems I am responsible for over to Red Hat 5.2.

Therefore, this document has a definite Red Hat "feel" to it, and is most relevant for the Intel-based 5.2 version. However, hopefully most or at least some of the information contained in this document will be useful to users of other distributions.