Linux-Misc Digest #546, Volume #19 Sun, 21 Mar 99 14:13:08 EST
Contents:
Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers (Part 2 of 6) ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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Crossposted-To: news.answers,comp.answers
Subject: Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers (Part 2 of 6)
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 18:25:45 GMT
Sound HOWTO Sound Playing HOWTO
Spanish HOWTO TclTk HOWTO
teTeX HOWTO Text-Terminal HOWTO
Thai HOWTO Tips HOWTO
UMSDOS HOWTO UPS HOWTO
UUCP HOWTO Unix and Internet Fundamentals HOWTO
User Group HOWTO VAR HOWTO
VME HOWTO VMS to Linux HOWTO
Virtual Services HOWTO WWW HOWTO
WWW mSQL HOWTO XFree86 HOWTO
XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO X Window User HOWTO
The following Mini-HOWTO's are available from
http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini/:
3 Button Mouse mini-HOWTO
ADSM Backup mini-HOWTO
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Loop (ADSL) mini-HOWTO
AI-Alife mini-HOWTO
Advocacy mini-HOWTO
Apache SSL PHP/FI frontpage mini-HOWTO
Automount mini-HOWTO
Backup with MSDOS mini-HOWTO
Battery Powered mini-HOWTO
Boca mini-HOWTO
BogoMips mini-HOWTO
Bridge mini-HOWTO
Bridge+Firewall mini-HOWTO
Bzip2 mini-HOWTO
Cable Modem mini-HOWTO
Cipe+Masquerading mini-HOWTO
Clock mini-HOWTO
Coffee mini-HOWTO
Colour ls mini-HOWTO
Cyrus IMAP mini-HOWTO
DHCP mini-HOWTO
DPT Hardware RAID mini-HOWTO
Diald mini-HOWTO
Diskless mini-HOWTO
Ext2fs Undeletion mini-HOWTO
Fax Server mini-HOWTO
Firewall Piercing mini-HOWTO
GIS-GRASS mini-HOWTO
GTEK BBS-550 mini-HOWTO
Hard Disk Upgrade mini-HOWTO
IO Port Programming mini-HOWTO
IP Alias mini-HOWTO
IP Masquerade mini-HOWTO
IP Subnetworking mini-HOWTO
ISP Connectivity mini-HOWTO
Install From ZIP mini-HOWTO
Kerneld mini-HOWTO
LBX mini-HOWTO
LILO mini-HOWTO
Large Disk mini-HOWTO
Leased Line mini-HOWTO
Linux+DOS+Win95+OS2 mini-HOWTO
Linux+FreeBSD mini-HOWTO
Linux+NT-Loader mini-HOWTO
Linux+Win95 mini-HOWTO
Loadlin+Win95 mini-HOWTO
Mac Terminal mini-HOWTO
Mail Queue mini-HOWTO
Mail2News mini-HOWTO
Man Page mini-HOWTO
Modules mini-HOWTO
Multiboot using LILO mini-HOWTO
NCD X Terminal mini-HOWTO
NFS-Root mini-HOWTO
NFS-Root-Client mini-HOWTO
Netrom-Node mini-HOWTO
Netscape+Proxy mini-HOWTO
Netstation mini-HOWTO
News Leafsite mini-HOWTO
Offline Mailing mini-HOWTO
PLIP mini-HOWTO
Partition mini-HOWTO
Partition Rescue mini-HOWTO
Path mini-HOWTO
Pre-installation Checklist mini-HOWTO
Process Accounting mini-HOWTO
Proxy ARP Subnet mini-HOWTO
Public Web Browser mini-HOWTO
Qmail+MH mini-HOWTO
Quota mini-HOWTO
RCS mini-HOWTO
RPM+Slackware mini-HOWTO
RedHat CD mini-HOWTO
Remote Boot mini-HOWTO
Remote X Apps mini-HOWTO
SLIP-PPP Emulator mini-HOWTO
Sendmail Address Rewrite mini-HOWTO
Sendmail+UUCP mini-HOWTO
Secure POP via SSH mini-HOWTO
Small Memory mini-HOWTO
Software Building mini-HOWTO
Software RAID mini-HOWTO
Soundblaster AWE mini-HOWTO
StarOffice mini-HOWTO
Term Firewall mini-HOWTO
TkRat mini-HOWTO
Token Ring mini-HOWTO
Ultra-DMA mini-HOWTO
Update mini-HOWTO
Upgrade mini-HOWTO
VAIO mini-HOWTO
Vesafb mini-HOWTO
VPN mini-HOWTO
Visual Bell mini-HOWTO
Windows Modem Sharing mini-HOWTO
WordPerfect mini-HOWTO
X Big Cursor mini-HOWTO
XFree86-XInside mini-HOWTO
xterm Title mini-HOWTO
ZIP Install mini-HOWTO
ZIP Drive mini-HOWTO
The following HOWTO's are not distributed in all formats because SGML
Tools cannot format their graphics and tables:
The High Availability HOWTO
The Graphics mini-HOWTO
In addition, translations of the HOWTO's are available from
metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/translations and mirrors
worldwide. Translations in the following languages are available:
Chinese (zh) Croatian(hr)
French (fr) German (de)
Hellenic (el) Indonesian (id)
Italian (it) Japanese (jp)
Korean (ko) Polish (pl)
Spanish (es) Slovenian (sl)
Swedish (sv) Turkish (tr)
The HOWTO's are also on the Web, at the Linux Documentation Project's
Home Page, http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP.
More of these documents are always in preparation. Please get in touch
with Timothy Bynum, [EMAIL PROTECTED], the HOWTO
coordinator, if you are interested in writing one. The file
metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX contains guidelines
for writing a HOWTO. He has a Web page that lists current HOWTO
updates and additions at
wallybox.cei.net/~tjbynum/HOWTO/projects.
The Guide Series produced by the Linux Documentation Project is
available from http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP. Please read them if
you are new to Unix and Linux. Here is a list of those available so
far:
* The Linux Documentation Project Manifesto, by Matt Welsh.
* Installation and Getting Started Guide, by Matt Welsh.
* The Linux Kernel, by David Rusling.
* The Network Administrator's Guide, by Olaf Kirch.
* The Linux Programmer's Guide, by Sven Goldt, Sven van der
Meer, Scott Burkett, and Matt Welsh.
* The Linux System Administrator's Guide, Version 0.5, by Lars
Wirzenius.
There is a FAQ for Linux kernel developers at
http://www.tux.org/html/.
To find out about Linux memory management, including performance
tuning, see Rik van Riel's Web page at
http://humbolt.geo.uu.nl/Linux-MM.
There is also a FAQ specifically for the Red Hat Linux distribution,
at http://www.best.com/~aturner//RedHat-FAQ/faq_index.html.
2.2 Where should I look on the World Wide Web for Linux stuff?
In addition to the Linux Documentation Project Home Page
http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/, there are many pages that provide
beginning and advanced information about Linux.
These two pages provide a good starting point for general Linux
information: Linux International's Home Page, at
http://www.li.org, and the Linux Online's Linux Home Page at
http://www.linux.org/.
Both of these pages provide links to other sites, information about
general information, distributions, new software, documentation, and
news.
Additionally, these Web pages are devoted to Linux:
* Adventures in Linux Programming.
http://members.xoom.com/rpragana/.
* Ext2 File System capabilities (draft).
http://pocket.fluff.org/~mrw/linux/ext2.txt.
* Linux Educational Needs Posting Page.
http://www.slip.net/~brk/linuxedpp.htm.
* Linux Memory Management Home Page.
http://humbolt.geo.uu.nl/Linux-MM/.
* Linux on the Thinkpad 760ED.
http://www.e-oasis.com/linux-tp.html.
* Linux Tips and Tricks Page. http://www.patoche.org/LTT.
* Micro Channel Linux Web Page. http://www.dgmicro.com/mca.
* Parallel port scanners and SANE.
http://www2.prestel.co.uk/hex/scanners.html.
* USB Linux Home Page.
http://peloncho.fis.ucm.es/~inaky/uusbd-www/
* Linux Parallel Port Home Page.
http://www.torque.net/linux-pp.html.
2.3 What newsgroups are there for Linux?
Comp.os.linux.announce is the moderated announcements group; you
should read this if you intend to use Linux: it contains information
about software updates, new ports, user group meetings, and commercial
products. It is the ONLY newsgroup that may carry commercial postings.
Submissions for that group should be e-mailed to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
comp.os.linux.announce, however, is not archived on DejaNews or Alta
Vista. The only archive for the news group seems to be
www.iki.fi/mjr/linux/cola.html.
[Axel Boldt]
Also worth reading are the following other groups in the
comp.os.linux.* hierarchy--you may find many common problems too
recent for the documentation but are answered in the newsgroups.
comp.os.linux.advocacy
comp.os.linux.development.apps
comp.os.linux.development.system
comp.os.linux.hardware
comp.os.linux.m68k
comp.os.linux.misc
comp.os.linux.networking
comp.os.linux.setup
comp.os.linux.x
Remember that Linux is POSIX compatible, and most all of the material
in comp.unix.* and comp.windows.x.* groups will be relevant. Apart
from hardware considerations, and some obscure or very technical
low-level issues, you'll find that these groups are good places to
start.
Please read "You still haven't answered my question!" before
posting. Cross posting between different comp.os.linux.* groups is
rarely a good idea.
There may well be Linux groups local to your institution or
area--check there first.
See also "I don't have Usenet access. Where do I get
information?"
Other regional and local newsgroups also exist--you may find the
traffic more manageable there. The French Linux newsgroup is
fr.comp.os.linux. The German one is de.comp.os.linux. In Australia,
try aus.computers.linux. In Croatia there is hr.comp.linux. In Italy,
there is it.comp.linux.
2.4 Where can I get Linux material by FTP?
There are three main archive sites for Linux:
* ftp.funet.fi (Finland) : /pub/OS/Linux
* metalab.unc.edu (US) : /pub/Linux
* tsx-11.mit.edu (US) : /pub/linux
The best place to get the Linux kernel is
ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/. Linus Torvalds uploads
the most recent kernel versions to this site.
Of the U.S. distributions, Debian GNU/Linux is available at
ftp.debian.org/pub/debian. Red Hat Linux's home site is
ftp.redhat.com, and Linux Slackware's is ftp.cdrom.com.
The contents of these sites is mirrored (copied, usually approximately
daily) by a number of other sites. Please use a site close to you--it
will be faster for you and easier on the network.
* ftp.sun.ac.za/pub/linux/sunsite/ (South Africa)
* ftp.is.co.za/linux/sunsite/ (South Africa)
* ftp.cs.cuhk.hk/pub/Linux/ (Hong Kong)
* ftp://sunsite.ust.hk/pub/Linux/ (Hong Kong)
* ftp.spin.ad.jp/pub/linux/metalab.unc.edu/ (Japan)
* ftp.nuri.net/pub/Linux/ (Korea)
* ftp.jaring.my/pub/Linux/ (Malaysia)
* ftp.nus.sg/pub/unix/Linux/ (Singapore)
* ftp.nectec.or.th/pub/mirrors/linux/ (Thailand)
* mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/linux/ (Australia)
* sunsite.anu.edu.au/pub/linux/ (Australia)
* ftp.monash.edu.au/pub/linux/ (Australia)
* ftp.univie.ac.at/systems/linux/sunsite/ (Austria)
* ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/UNIX/linux/ (Czech Republic)
* ftp://sunsite.fri.uni-lj.si/pub/linux/ (Slovenia)
* ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/sunsite/ (Finland)
* ftp.univ-angers.fr/pub/Linux/ (France)
* ftp.iut-bm.univ-fcomte.fr (France)
* ftp.ibp.fr/pub/linux/sunsite/ (France)
* ftp.loria.fr/pub/linux/sunsite/ (France)
* ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Germany)
* ftp.germany.eu.net/pub/os/Linux/Mirror.SunSITE/ (Germany)
* ftp.tu-dresden.de/pub/Linux/sunsite/ (Germany)
* ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/Linux/MIRROR.sunsite/ (Germany)
* ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/mirrors/sunsite/ (Germany)
* ftp.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/linux/mirror.sunsite/ (Germany)
* ftp.ba-mannheim.de/pub/linux/mirror.sunsite/ (Germany)
* ftp.uni-paderborn.de/pub/Mirrors/metalab.unc.edu/ (Germany)
* ftp.uni-rostock.de/Linux/sunsite/ (Germany)
* tp.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/unix/systems/linux/MIRROR.sunsite
/ (Germany)
* ftp.uni-tuebingen.de/pub/linux/Mirror.sunsite/ (Germany)
* ftp.rz.uni-ulm.de/pub/mirrors/linux/sunsite/ (Germany)
* ftp.kfki.hu/pub/linux/ (Hungary)
* linux.italnet.it/pub/Linux/ (Italy)
* ftp.unina.it/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Italy)
* giotto.unipd.it/pub/unix/Linux/ (Italy)
* cnuce-arch.cnr.it/pub/Linux/ (Italy)
* ftp.flashnet.it/mirror2/metalab.unc.edu/ (Italy)
* ftp.nijenrode.nl/pub/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/ (Netherlands)
* ftp.LeidenUniv.nl/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Netherlands)
* ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Norway)
* ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/Linux/metalab.unc.edu/ (Poland)
* ftp.rediris.es/software/os/linux/sunsite/ (Spain)
* sunsite.rediris.es/software/linux/ (Spain)
* ftp.cs.us.es/pub/Linux/sunsite-mirror/ (Spain)
* ftp.etse.urv.es/pub/mirror/linux/ (Spain)
* ftp.etsimo.uniovi.es/pub/linux/ (Spain)
* ftp.luna.gui.es/pub/linux.new/ (Spain)
* ftp.switch.ch/mirror/linux/ (Switzerland)
* ftp.metu.edu.tr/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Turkey)
* unix.hensa.ac.uk/mirrors/sunsite/pub/Linux/ (UK)
* ftp.maths.warwick.ac.uk/mirrors/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/
(UK)
* ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/Linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/ (UK)
* sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/ (UK)
* ftp.dungeon.com/pub/linux/sunsite-mirror/ (UK)
* ftp.io.org/pub/mirrors/linux/sunsite/ (Canada)
* ftp.cc.gatech.edu/pub/linux/ (US)
* ftp.cdrom.com/pub/linux/sunsite/ (US)
* ftp.siriuscc.com/pub/Linux/Sunsite/ (US)
* ftp.engr.uark.edu/pub/linux/sunsite/ (US)
* ftp.infomagic.com/pub/mirrors/linux/sunsite/ (US)
* linux.if.usp.br/pub/mirror/metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/
(Brazil)
* farofa.ime.usp.br/pub/linux/ (Brazil)
Not all of these mirror all of the other "source" sites, and some
have material not available on the "source" sites.
2.5 I don't have FTP access. Where do I get Linux?
The easiest thing is probably to find a friend with FTP access. If
there is a Linux user's group near you, they may be able to help.
If you have a reasonably good email connection, you could try the
FTP-by-mail servers at [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Linux is also available via traditional mail on CD-ROM. The file
metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO, and the
file metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/Distribution-HOWTO
contain information on these distributions.
2.6 I don't have Usenet access. Where do I get information?
A digest of comp.os.linux.announce is available by mailing the word
"subscribe" (without the quotes) as the body of a message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribing to this
list is a good idea, as it carries important information and
documentation about Linux.
Please remember to use the *-request addresses for your subscribe and
unsubscribe messages; mail to the other address is posted to the news
group.
2.7 What mailing lists are there?
The Linux developers now mainly use the Majordomo server at
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Send a message with the word
"lists" (without the quotes) in the body to get a list of lists
there. Add a line with the word, "help," to get the standard
Majordomo help file that lists instructions for subscribing and
unsubscribing to the lists.
Please do not post off-topic material to the mailing lists. Most of
them are used by Linux developers to talk about technical issues and
future developments. They are not intended for new users' questions,
advertisements, or public postings that are not directly related to
the mailing list's subject matter. Comp.os.linux.announce is the place
for all public announcements. This is a common Internet policy. If you
don't observe this guideline, there's a good chance that you'll be
flamed.
There is a linux-newbie list where, "no question is too stupid."
Unfortunately, it seems that few experienced users read that list, and
it has very low volume.
2.8 Where are Linux legal issues discussed?
On the linux-legal mailing list, of course. You can subscribe to it,
as with many of the other Linux related lists, by sending a message
with the word "help" in the body of the message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
2.9 Are the newsgroups archived anywhere?
The Usenet Linux news groups are archived at
http://www.dejanews.com, http://www.reference.com, and
http://altavista.digital.com
metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/linux-announce.archive contains
archives of comp.os.linux.announce. These are mirrored from
src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet, which also archives comp.os.linux,
comp.os.linux.development.apps, and comp.os.linux.development.system.
There is an `easy to access' archive of comp.os.linux.announce on the
World Wide Web at
http://www.leo.org/archiv/linux/archiv/ann_index.html which
supports searching and browsing.
2.10 Where can I find out about Linux and the Millennium (Y2K) bug?
The Debian/GNU Linux people have a statement on their Web site at
http://www.debian.org Another place you can find Y2K information
is http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/linuxy2k.html.
Essentially, Linux uses libraries that store dates as 32-bit integers,
which count the seconds since 1970. This counter will not overflow
until the year 2038, by which time the library programmers will
(hopefully) have upgraded the system software to store dates as 64-bit
integers.
This, of course, does not mean that applications are not susceptible
to the millennium bug, if they do not use the standard library
routines.
The Free Software Foundation has a Web page about Y2K issues in GNU
software at http://www.fsf.org/software/year2000.html
There is also a Usenet newsgroup, comp.software.year-2000, for general
discussion of Y2K issues.
2.11 Where can I find out about security related issues?
Look at http://www.rootshell.com, which has information about
security problems and software.
3. Compatibility with other operating systems.
3.1 Can Linux share my disk with DOS? OS/2? 386BSD? Win95?
Yes. Linux uses the standard MS-DOS partitioning scheme, so it can
share your disk with other operating systems. Note, however, that many
other operating systems may not be exactly compatible. DOS's FDISK.EXE
and FORMAT.EXE, for example, can overwrite data in a Linux partition,
because they sometimes incorrectly use partition data from the
partition's boot sector rather than the partition table.
In order to prevent programs from doing this, it is a good idea to
zero out--under Linux--the start of a partition you created, before
you use MS-DOS--or whatever--to format it. Type:
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdXY bs=512 count=1
where hdXY is the relevant partition; e.g., /dev/hda1 for the first
partition of the first (IDE) disk.
Linux can read and write the files on your DOS and OS/2 FAT partitions
and floppies using either the DOS file system type built into the
kernel or mtools. There is kernel support for the VFAT file system
used by Windows 9x and Windows NT.
There is reportedly a GPL'd OS/2 device driver that will read and
write Linux ext2 partitions.
For information about FAT32 partition support, see
http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/chaffee/fat32.html.
See, "What software does Linux support?" for details and
status of the emulators for DOS, MS Windows, and System V programs.
See also, "Can Linux access Amiga file systems?", "Can
Linux access Macintosh file systems?", "Can Linux access BSD,
SysV, etc., UFS?", and "Can Linux access SMB file systems?"
There are said to be NTFS drivers under development, which should
support compression as a standard feature.
3.2 How do I access files on my DOS partition or floppy?
Use the DOS file system, type, for example:
$ mkdir /dos
$ mount -t msdos -o conv=text,umask=022,uid=100,gid=100 /dev/hda3 /dos
If it's a floppy, don't forget to umount it before ejecting it!
You can use the conv=text/binary/auto, umask=nnn, uid=nnn, and gid=nnn
options to control the automatic line-ending conversion, permissions
and ownerships of the files in the DOS file system as they appear
under Linux. If you mount your DOS file system by putting it in your
/etc/fstab, you can record the options (comma-separated) there,
instead of defaults.
Alternatively, you can use mtools, available in both binary and source
form on the FTP sites. ("Where can I get Linux material by
FTP?")
A kernel patch (known as the fd-patches) is available which allows
floppies with nonstandard numbers of tracks and/or sectors to be used;
this patch is included in the 1.1 alpha testing kernel series.
3.3 Does Linux support compressed ext2 file systems?
As of recently, it does. Information about them is located at
http://www.netspace.net.au/~reiter/e2compr/.
There is also a Web site for the e2compr patches The code is still
experimental and consists of patches for the 2.0 and 2.1 kernels. For
more information about the project, including the latest patches, and
the address of the mailing list, look up the URL at
http://debs.fuller.edu/e2compr/.
[Roderich Schupp]
Zlibc is a program that allows existing applications to read
compressed (GNU gzip'ed) files as if they were not compressed. Look on
metalab.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/libs/. The author is Alain Knuff.
There is also a compressing block device driver, "DouBle," by
Jean-Marc Verbavatz, which can provide on-the-fly disk compression in
the kernel. The source-only distribution is located at metalab.unc.edu
in the directory /pub/Linux/patches/diskdrives/. This driver
compresses inodes and directory information as well as files, so any
corruption of the file system is likely to be serious.
There is also a package called tcx (Transparently Compressed
Executables), which allows you to keep infrequently compressed
executables compressed and only uncompress them temporarily when in
use. It is located on metalab.unc.edu in the directory
/pub/Linux/utils/compress/.
3.4 Can I use my Stacked/DBLSPC/etc. DOS drive?
Until recently, not very easily. You can access DOS 6.X volumes from
the DOS emulator ("What software does Linux support?"), but
it's harder than accessing a normal DOS volume via the DOS kernel
option, a module, or mtools.
There is a recently added package, dmsdos, that reads and writes
compressed file systems like DoubleSpace/DriveSpace in MS-DOS 6.x and
Win95, as well as Stacker versions 3 and 4. It is a loadable kernel
module. Look at
metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/filesystems/dosfs/.
3.5 Can I access OS/2 HPFS partitions from Linux?
Yes, but Linux access to HPFS partitions is read-only. HPFS file
system access is available as an option when compiling the kernel or
as a module. See the Documentation/filesystems/hpfs.txt file in the
kernel source distribution. ("How do I upgrade/recompile my
kernel?") Then you can mount HPFS partition, using, for example:
$ mkdir /hpfs
$ mount -t hpfs /dev/hda5 /hpfs
3.6 Can Linux access Amiga file systems?
The Linux kernel has support for the Amiga Fast File System (AFFS)
version 1.3 and later, both as a compile-time option and as a module.
The file Documentation/filesystems/affs.txt in the Linux kernel source
--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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End of Linux-Misc Digest
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