On 12/05/99, Svante Signell addressed "Q: Where to configure things in slink/potato": > Having installed slink (twice) and upgraded to potato (twice) I'm > wondering if somebody can give pointers to the appropriate tools/files > to change for configuring different utilities.
Most everything is in /etc; actually, I can't think of any configuration files outside of /etc. You can almost always find documentation in /usr/doc/<package name>. This will eventually be /usr/share/doc/<package name> I think. > 1. Kernel modules Look in /etc/modutils. See modules.conf(5) and modules(5) manpages. For tools: modconf and insmod/rmmod. > 2. Daemons As in things that run at startup -- /etc/init.d; there's a README there that points you to more in-depth documentation. Basically, the scripts in that direcotory are symlinked to /etc/rcN.d, where N=the runlevel where you'd like that script to run. The naming convention for the symlinks determines the order in which scripts are run and their function (start or kill the daemon). Most daemons set themselves up with logical defaults when you install the package. > 3. Networking /etc/init.d applies here too, plus /etc/inetd.conf. There's an /etc/ppp directory if you use ppp. There's a package called pppconfig I think that's supposed to be good for setting up your ppp. For tools, there's ipconfig and route (obsolete with 2.2 kernels). The tools you need will depend on what you want to do. Of course, you need kernel support for high-speed network cards. Other files are /etc/hosts, /etc/networks, /etc/hosts.{allow,deny,equiv}, /etc/host.conf and others. Many of these have corresponding man pages. However, you don't *have* to understand all of them to get your system functioning. > 4. Sound >From an admin perspective, all I have to do is compile the support for my specific board into the kernel, possibly as a module. It just works. On a higher level, you can try esd and other schemes, but that's up to you. (Actually, for my current MB, I had to use isapnptools to get sound working properly. But that's hopefully not too common.) > 5. X windows Config files in /etc/X11/. There are a couple utilities that help you write your configuration, XF86Setup is often suggested. If you run into problems, ask. And be specific about your system. > 6. Window managers /etc/X11/window-managers should list them all. Default is listed first. Other wm's available in X through the Debian menu. If you're interested, I wrote a tiny hack that allows you to choose your window manager interactively from /etc/X11/window-managers when you run startx. It's not official Debian, of course. Also see /usr/doc/menu for a description of the Debian Menu and ways to customize it. > 7. Printers /etc/printcap. Install magicfilter or apsfilter and it will allow you to configure for the printer you use. You may need gs-aladdin from nonfree if your printer requires support not found in the free gs. (Ghostscript) You need kernel support to use the printer port. > 8. ppp/modem See above. pppconfig is supposed to handle most of this I think. To understand how things are set up for your modem, see setserial(8). > 9. Mail You have a choice of MTA's (Mail Transport Agents). Exim is relatively easy to configure, and is the default in Potato (unstable) I think. Install the exim-doc package and look in /usr/doc/exim for more documentation, if you need it. You can use fetchmail to get mail onto your system if it doesn't sit on the 'net by default. > 10. User accounts adduser(8) manpage. Other standard utilities like passwd, etc., and standard files like /etc/passwd, /etc/group, /etc/shadow. New accounts are built from /etc/skel/. There are also manpages and such. Ask if you have problems. > 11. File systems/external drives /etc/fstab. See fstab(5). Also see mount(8). You need kernel support for any filesystems you use, of course, as well as disk support for the architecture you use (SCSI, etc.). > 12. Runlevel dependant scripts, ... See Daemons. Maybe I misunderstood what you meant by daemons above. > 13. What did I forget ... Not much :-) > - I really like the apt-get upgrade utility. dpkg is OK. dselect on the > other hand is not very user friendly. dselect only appears unfriendly because it doesn't actually hit new users over the head, holding them at gunpoint until they read and understand the pages that instruct them how to use it. You can't get very far with it under the assumption that it's like other programs. It's feature set is also behind the curve for dealing with the huge number of packages that Debian now offers. Read the built-in help pages. Take time to understand them, and dselect will become much more useful and friendly to you. Potato also offers console-apt, but IMO it's not quite as useful yet as dselect. Close though. Overall, apt-get is your best friend. :-) > - My questions sent to this list have been so far answered with very > informative and competent answers. Thank you very much. Sorry, can't take any credit for that! Jesse -- Jesse Jacobsen, Pastor [EMAIL PROTECTED] Grace Lutheran Church (ELS) http://www.jvlnet.com/~jjacobsen/ Madison, Wisconsin GnuPG public key ID: 2E3EBF13