Linux-Misc Digest #630, Volume #24               Sun, 28 May 00 13:13:04 EDT

Contents:
  Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers (Part 5 of 6) 
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Crossposted-To: news.answers,comp.answers
Subject: Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers (Part 5 of 6)
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 16:52:49 GMT

Archive-Name: linux/faq/part5
URL: http://www.mainmatter.com/
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Posting-Frequency: weekly
Last-modified: 05/28/2000

order hosts,bind
nameserver 199.182.101.103
nameserver 199.182.101.104
       
       This tells your networking software, when it resolves network
       domain addresses, to first look in the /etc/hosts file, and then
       use the bind service; i.e., the DNS servers, which are specified
       on the lines that begin with nameserver.
     * Locate the chat script that PPP will use to dial the modem and
       connect to your ISP. In many systems, this is either in the
       /etc/chatscripts or /etc/ppp directory, and will be called
       provider or something similar. You can store a chat script
       anywhere, provided that you tell pppd to use it rather than the
       default script. Refer to the chat and pppd manual pages, and the
       information below, for details. Here is a sample chat script:
       
ABORT        BUSY
ABORT        "NO CARRIER"
ABORT        VOICE
ABORT        "NO DIALTONE"
""           ATDT<your_isp's_phone_number>
ogin         <your_user_name>
word         <your_password>
       
       This is a chat program for a simple, script based login. The chat
       program uses the pair of strings on each line as a match/response
       pair. When it starts, it sends the string
       "ATDTyour_isp's_phone_number," where you have substituted the
       actual phone number of course. It then waits for the string ogin
       (a substring of the word login) and sends your user name. It then
       waits for word (a substring of password) and sends your password.
       If your ISP uses a different login and password prompts, and any
       additional prompts, you will need to edit the script accordingly.
       Again, refer to the chat manual page for details.
       If your ISP uses PAP or CHAP authentication, you will need to edit
       the pap-secrets or chap-secrets files in /etc/ppp directory as
       well. Refer to the manual pages for these files, as well as the
       instruction in the files themselves.
     * The configuration of pppd, the program that maintains the actual
       connection, is usually contained in two or three separate files.
       The first is usually /etc/ppp/options, which contains options that
       all of your system's PPP connections will use. (Yes, you can have
       more than one; as many as your computer has serial ports,
       generally.)
       Here is a sample /etc/ppp/options file:
       
# /etc/ppp/options

asyncmap 0
auth
crtscts
lock
noipx

# ---<End of File>---
       
       The options may be given on one line or each on a separate line.
       Many options files are much longer, and come with a description of
       each option. Here, the options mean, in order, don't remap any
       characters between the PPP client and server; always use password,
       PAP, or CHAP authentication when making a connection; use the
       modem's hardware handshake lines for flow control; lock the serial
       port when in use so no other programs can access it; and do not
       use the IPX network protocol.
     * For connection set-up on each individual serial port or PPP host,
       there will either be an /etc/ppp/options.ttyS1, for example,
       options file for /etc/ttyS1, or a file for your ISP in the
       /etc/ppp/peers directory. The default is often called
       /etc/ppp/peers/provider. Here is a sample of the default provider
       file:
       
noauth
connect "/usr/sbin/chat -v -f /etc/chatscripts/provider"
defaultroute
/dev/ttyS1
38400
persist
       
       There might be an explanation of these and other options in the
       /etc/ppp/peers/provider file itself. You can also refer to the
       pppd manual page for details. Briefly, they mean: do not use PAP
       authentication for this connection; use the chat program and the
       /etc/chatscripts/provider script, which is described above, to
       dial the phone and log in; set the network default route to the
       PPP connection (so when your network software needs to resolve an
       network address that is not on your local machine(s), it will use
       the PPP connection to the Internet); use /dev/ttyS1 as the serial
       port for the connection; set the modem speed to 38400; and keep
       the pppd daemon running even if the connection fails.
     * That is all of the configuration you need. To actually start and
       stop PPP, there are often /usr/bin/pon and /usr/bin/poff scripts
       (in Debian), or something similar, and they are usually very
       simple, and only contain the command:
       
/usr/sbin/pppd call ${1:-provider}

       This will start pppd and use the call option to call the server
       that you type on the command line, or the provider given in the
       /etc/ppp/peers/provider file if you do not specify a remote
       server. After making the call and logging in (about 30 seconds),
       you should be able to use the /sbin/ifconfig program to determine
       that the connection really did establish a PPP interface (the
       first will be ppp0, the second will be ppp1, etc., depending on
       how many simultaneous PPP connections you have. If something goes
       wrong, you can look at the /var/log/ppp.log file to determine what
       happened. You can also view the log as the connection is being
       made, by "tailing" it in another window; that is, viewing it as
       pppd logs the connection's status information. To do this, use the
       command (again, as root):
       
tail -f /var/log/ppp.log

       On some systems the PPP output is directed to /var/log/messages,
       in which case your system may not have a dedicated PPP log file.
       
   You should be also able to ping one of your ISP's domain names (e.g.,
   mail.isp.com) and receive a response.
   
   These are the most basic steps for configuring a PPP connection. You
   will also need to take into account what other network connections may
   be present (for example, if there's an Ethernet connection that has
   already been assigned the default route), as well as various security
   measures at your ISP's end. If you're having trouble making the
   dial-up connection, usually the best way to determine what may be
   going wrong is to use Seyon, minicomm, kermit, or some other program
   to dial and log in manually to the ISP, and determine just exactly
   what you have to do to log in, then duplicate that in the PPP scripts.
   
   Most Linux documentation also has additional instructions for
   configuring PPP connections. Refer to ("Where Can I Get Linux
   Material by FTP?") ("Where Can I Get the HOWTO's and Other
   Documentation?")
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.8. What Version of Linux and What Machine Name Am I Using?

   Type:
   
   uname -a
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.9. How Can I Enable or Disable Core Dumps?

   By using the ulimit command in bash, the limit command in tcsh, or the
   rlimit command in ksh. See the appropriate manual page for details.
   
   This setting affects all programs run from the shell (directly or
   indirectly), not the whole system.
   
   If you wish to enable or disable core dumping for all processes by
   default, you can change the default setting in linux/sched.h--see the
   definition of INIT_TASK, and look also in linux/resource.h.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.10. How Do I Upgrade/Recompile My Kernel?

   See the Kernel HOWTO or the README files which come with the kernel
   release on ftp.cs.helsinki.fi/pub/Software/Linux/Kernel/ and mirrors.
   (See "Where Can I Get Linux Material by FTP?") You may already have
   a version of the kernel source code installed on your system, but if
   it is part of a standard distribution it is likely to be somewhat out
   of date (this is not a problem if you only want a custom configured
   kernel, but it probably is if you need to upgrade.)
   
   With newer kernels you can (and should) make all of the following
   targets. Don't forget that you can specify multiple targets with one
   command.
   
   make clean dep install modules modules_install

   Also remember to update the module dependencies.
   
   depmod -a

   This command can be run automatically at boot time. On Debian/GNU
   Linux systems, the command is part of the /etc/init.d/modutils script,
   and can be linked appropriately in the /etc/rcx.d/ directories. For
   more information on depmod, see the manual page.
   
   Make sure you are using the most recent version of the modutils
   utilities, as well as all other supporting packages. Refer to the file
   Documentation/Changes in the kernel source tree for specifics, and be
   sure to consult the README file in the modutils package.
   
   Remember that to make the new kernel boot you must run lilo after
   copying the kernel into your root partition--the Makefile in some
   kernels have a special zlilo target for this; try:
   
   make zlilo

   On current systems, however, you can simply copy the zImage or bzImage
   file (in arch/i386/boot/ to the /boot/ directory on the root file
   system, or to a floppy using the dd command. Refer also to the
   question, How do I get LILO to boot the kernel image?
   
   Kernel version numbers with an odd minor version (ie, 1.1.x, 1.3.x)
   are the testing releases; stable production kernels have even minor
   versions (1.0.x, 1.2.x). If you want to try the testing kernels you
   should probably subscribe to the linux-kernel mailing list. ("What
   Mailing Lists Are There?")
   
   The Web site http://www.kernelnotes.org/ has lots of information and
   links to other sites that provide information about Linux kernel
   updates.
   
   Also refer to the questions, "I Upgraded the Kernel and Now My PCMCIA
   Card Doesn't Work." and "How Do I Get LILO to Boot the Kernel
   Image?"
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.11. Can I Have More than 3 Serial Ports by Sharing Interrupts?

   Yes, but you won't be able to use simultaneously two ordinary ports
   which share an interrupt (without some trickery). This is a limitation
   of the ISA Bus architecture. See the Serial HOWTO for information
   about possible solutions and workarounds for this problem.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.12. How Do I Update (For Example) the System's Perl Documentation?

   Because program source and documentation files accumulate on machines
   that have been in operation for a long time (like McGee's closet),
   it's a good idea to get acquainted with the "*nix way of doing
   things" (TM) to make sure that you know what's on your system. In
   short, let the computer do it for you in the background.
   
   The following bash shell script uses the programs find, egrep, and sed
   to search directory hierarchies for the text string =head1, which
   signals the start of a Perl POD (Plain Old Documentation) module. It
   then constructs and executes a shell script to generate the formatted
   documentation from those files.
   
   The programs that do the actual formatting are pod2man and pod2text.
   They are Perl scripts that call Perl library modules. The programs
   pod2latex and pod2html can also be added to the script, if they're
   present on the system. Place the shell script below in a file called
   makepods, and then make the file executable with the shell command:
   
   chmod +x makepods

   Then you should be able to execute it in the current directory with
   the command:
   
   ./makepods

snip here
...................................................................
#!/bin/sh
rm -f /tmp/find.tmp
#
#   makepods (C) 1999 by Robert Kiesling
#   This program is free software; it is distributed under the
#   terms of the GNU General Public License, available at
#   http://www.gnu.org/.  This software comes with no warranty,
#   and the author disclaims any responsibility for its (mis)use
#   on your system.
#
#   WARNING:
#   This program can overwrite Perl library files if you are not
#   careful!  You have been warned!
#
#   End of legal.
#   Now back to the program:
#
# List of the top-level directories that you want to search,
# separated by spaces:
#
directories='/usr /var'
#
# Extension that the formatted output files should have.
ext="txt"
#
# Program that does the actual formatting.  Possible values are
# "pod2man" and "pod2text."  Your system may have others...
#
converter="pod2text"
#
# Generate a list of files in the 'directories' hierarchy(s)
# that contain the POD format string '=head1'.
#
for i in  $directories ; do
     find $i -type f -exec grep -l '=head1' {} \; >/tmp/find.tmp
done
#
# Remove from the list the files we're not interested in;
# e.g., man pages, html pages, vim and Emacs scripts....
#
egrep -v -E '*\.([1-9]|html|vim|el?)' /tmp/find.tmp >/tmp/eg1.tmp
#
# Generate a shell script from the commands, so that stdout is in
# the current directory.  In this example, pod2man and pod2text are
# the commands used to format each input file from the list generated
# above, and the output files are given the extension defined by the
# variable "ext."
#
if [ $converter = "pod2man" ] ; then
sed     -e "s/^/$converter --section=$ext /g" \
     -e "s^\(/.*\)^\1 >\1^g" \
     -e "s^>/.*/\([^\.]*\).*$^>\1.$ext^g" </tmp/eg1.tmp >/tmp/sed1.tmp
fi
if [ $converter = "pod2text" ] ; then
sed     -e "s/^/$converter /g" \
     -e "s^\(/.*\)^\1 >\1^g" \
     -e "s^>/.*/\([^\.]*\).*$^>\1.$ext^g" </tmp/eg1.tmp >/tmp/sed1.tmp
fi

# Run the script that we've constructed.
sh /tmp/sed1.tmp

#
# Now we're done.  Clean up after ourselves.
#
rm /tmp/find.tmp /tmp/eg1.tmp /tmp/sed1.tmp

# End of makepods script
   
....................................................................

   Because the shell script searches entire directory hierarchies, it may
   take a while to run.
   
   If you're the system administrator, the shell script can be made part
   of a cron job to be run weekly, monthly, or at some other interval,
   and inform you by E-mail of any errors that occurred. If the makepods
   script is in /usr/local/sbin/, for example, and you want the formatted
   documentation to be saved in a subdirectory of /usr/local/doc/, then
   the following shell script can be called by cron if you save it (on
   this system) in /etc/cron.d/Weekly/:
   
#!/bin/sh
cd /usr/local/doc/perl/formatted-pods
/usr/local/sbin/makepods 2>/tmp/mpds.err
mail -s 'Error output of makepod ' root </tmp/mpds.err
rm -f /tmp/mpds.err

   Remember to run chmod +x to make this shell script executable as well.
   This is an example only; it is not the only way that cron jobs can be
   configured. Please consult your local documentation, YMMV (your
   mileage may vary), the author assumes no responsibility for its use,
   misuse, or abuse, etc.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.13. How Do I Configure Emacs to Start with My Default Settings?

   Create a file in your home directory named .emacs with the Emacs Lisp
   commands that you want to run every time Emacs starts up. You won't
   see the file in the directory listing. (The leading '.' tells ls not
   to display it, unless you use the -a command line switch with ls.)
   
   Any kind of Emacs Lisp statement will work in the .emacs file,
   including entire defuns. Emacs uses lisp variables and statements
   extensively, and many of the editing functions are written in Emacs
   Lisp. For example, to enable word wrapping whenever you edit a file
   that ends with .txt, add the following statement. This is from the
   Emacs Texinfo help document ( F1-i, then m Emacs Return):
   
(add-hook text-mode-hook
        '(lambda () (auto-fill-mode 1)))

   This adds a statement that calls a hook function whenever a text
   editing mode is entered for that buffer. The value of text-mode-hook,
   which is a variable, to auto-fill-mode, which is a function.
   
   If you want to turn off the menu bar at the top of each Emacs frame,
   add this statement:
   
   (menu-bar-mode -1)

   And if you want to include an Emacs Lisp program that someone has
   written, like msb.el (an enhanced, pop-up buffer menu), make sure the
   lisp file is in a directory where Emacs can find it (usually it will
   be named Site-lisp), and add these statements in the .emacs file:
   
(require 'msb)
(msb-mode 1)

   Most tasks have several possible solutions in Emacs Lisp. Any task
   that can be programmed in Emacs Lisp is valid in the .emacs file. For
   more information, consult the Texinfo documentation. There is also a
   FAQ list for Emacs (refer to What other FAQ's are there for Linux? ).
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.14. How Do I Make a Rescue Floppy?

   Make a file system on it with bin, etc, lib and dev
   directories--everything you need. Install a kernel on it and arrange
   to have LILO boot it from the floppy (see the LILO documentation, in
   lilo.u.*.ps).
   
   If you build the kernel (or tell LILO to tell the kernel) to have a
   RAM disk the same size as the floppy the RAM disk will be loaded at
   boot time and mounted as root in place of the floppy.
   
   See the Bootdisk HOWTO.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.15. How Do I Remap My Keyboard to UK, French, Etc.?

   For recent kernels, get /pub/Linux/system/Keyboards/kbd-0.90.tar.gz
   from ftp://metalab.unc.edu/. Make sure you get the appropriate
   version; you have to use the right keyboard mapping package for your
   kernel version. For older kernels you have to edit the top-level
   kernel Makefile, in /usr/src/linux/. You may find more helpful
   information in The Linux Keyboard and Console HOWTO, by Andries
   Brouwer, at ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.16. How Do I Get NUM LOCK to Default to On?

   Use the setleds program, for example (in /etc/rc.local or one of the
   /etc/rc.d/* files):
   
for t in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
do
 setleds +num < /dev/tty$t > /dev/null
done

   setleds is part of the kbd package ("How do I remap my keyboard to UK,
   French, etc.? "). Alternatively, patch your kernel. You need to
   arrange for KBD_DEFLEDS to be defined to (1 << VC_NUMLOCK) when
   compiling drivers/char/keyboard.c.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.17. How Do I Set (Or Reset) My Initial Terminal Colors?

   The following shell script should work for VGA consoles:
   
for n in 1 2 4 5 6 7 8; do
     setterm -fore yellow -bold on -back blue -store > /dev/tty$n
     done

   Substitute your favorite colors, and use /dev/ttyS$n for serial
   terminals.
   
   To make sure they are reset when people log out (if they've been
   changed):
   
   Replace the references to getty (or mingetty or uugetty or whatever)
   in /etc/inittab with references to /sbin/mygetty.
   
#!/bin/sh
setterm -fore yellow -bold on -back blue -store > $1
exec /sbin/mingetty $@

   [Jim Dennis]
     _________________________________________________________________
   
8.18. How Can I Have More Than 128Mb of Swap?

   Use several swap partitions or swap files--Linux supports up to 16
   swap areas, each of up to 128Mb.
   
   Very old kernels only supported swap partition sizes up to 16Mb.
   
   Linux on machines with 8KB paging, like Alpha and Sparc64, support a
   swap partition up to 512MB. The 128MB limitation comes from
   PAGE_SIZE*BITSPERBYTE on machines with 4KB paging, but is 512KB on
   machines with 8KB paging. The limit is due to the use of a single page
   allocation map.
   
   The file mm/swapfile.c has all of the gory details.
   
   [Peter Moulder, Gordon Weast]
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9. Miscellaneous Information and Questions Answered

9.1. How Do I Program XYZ Under Linux?

   Read the manuals, or a good book on Unix and the manual pages (type
   man man). There is a lot of GNU Info documentation, which is often
   more useful as a tutorial. Run Emacs and type F1-i, or type info info
   if you don't have or don't like Emacs. Note that the Emacs libc node
   may not exactly describe the latest Linux libc, or GNU glibc2. But the
   GNU project and LDP are always looking for volunteers to upgrade their
   library documentation.
   
   Anyway, between the existing Texinfo documentation, and the manual
   pages in sections 2 and 3, should provide enough information to get
   started.
   
   As with all free software, the best tutorial is the source code
   itself.
   
   The latest release of the Linux manual pages, a collection of useful
   GNU Info documentation, and various other information related to
   programming Linux, can be found on
   metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/man-pages/.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.2. What's All This about ELF? glibc?

   See the ELF HOWTO by Daniel Barlow--note, this is not the file
   move-to-elf, which is a blow-by-blow account of how to upgrade to ELF
   manually.
   
   Linux has two different formats for executables, object files, and
   object code libraries, known as, "ELF." (The old format is called
   "a.out.") They have advantages, including better support for shared
   libraries and dynamic linking.
   
   Both a.out and ELF binaries can coexist on a system. However, they use
   different shared C libraries, both of which have to be installed.
   
   If you want to find out whether your system can run ELF binaries, look
   in /lib for a file named, "libc.so.5." If it's there, you probably
   have ELF libraries. If you want to know whether your installation
   actually is ELF you can pick a representative program, like ls, and
   run file on it:
   
-chiark:~> file /bin/ls
/bin/ls: Linux/i386 impure executable (OMAGIC) - stripped
   
valour:~> file /bin/ls
/bin/ls: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1, stripped

   There is a patch to get 1.2.x to compile using the ELF compilers, and
   produce ELF core dumps, at ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/packages/GCC/. You
   do not need the patch merely to run ELF binaries. 1.3.x and later do
   not need the patch at all.
   
   The GNU glibc2 libraries are essentially more recent versions of ELF
   libraries that follow most of the same processes for dynamic linking
   and loading. Upgrade information is contained in ("How Do I Upgrade
   the Libraries without Trashing My System?")
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.3. How Do I Determine What Packages Are Installed on My System?

   For distributions that use RPM format packages, use the command:
   
   # rpm -qa

   You need to be logged in as root. You can save the output to a text
   file for future reference, a command like:
   
   # rpm -qa >installed-packages

   For Debian systems, the equivalent command is:
   
   # dpkg -l
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.4. What Is a .gz file? And a .tgz? And .bz2? And... ?

   .gz (and .z) files are compressed using GNU gzip. You need to use
   gunzip (which is a symlink to the gzip command that comes with most
   Linux installations) to unpack the file.
   
   .taz, .tar.Z, and .tz are tar files (made with tar) and compressed
   using compress. The standard *nix compress is proprietary software,
   but free equivalents like ncompress exist.
   
   .tgz (or .tpz) is a tar file compressed with gzip.
   
   .bz2 is a file compressed by the more recently introduced (and
   efficient) bzip2.
   
   .lsm is a Linux Software Map entry, in the form of a short text file.
   Details about the LSM project and the LSM itself are available in the
   subdirectory on ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/.
   
   .deb is a Debian Binary Package--the binary package format used by the
   Debian GNU/Linux distribution. It is manipulated using dpkg and
   dpkg-deb (available on Debian systems and from
   ftp://ftp.debian.org//).
   
   .rpm is a Red Hat RPM package, which is used in the Red Hat and
   similar distributions.
   
   The file command can often tell you what a file is.
   
   If you find that gzip complains when you try to uncompress a file, you
   probably downloaded it in ASCII mode by mistake. You must download
   most things in binary mode--remember to type "binary" as a command
   in FTP before using, "get," to download the file.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.5. What Does VFS Stand For?

   Virtual File System. It's the abstraction layer between the user and
   real file systems like ext2, Minix and MS-DOS. Among other things, its
   job is to flush the read buffer when it detects a disk change on the
   floppy disk drive.
   
   VFS: Disk change detected on device 2/0
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.6. What is a BogoMip?

   "BogoMips" is a combination of Bogus and Mips. MIPS stands for
   (depending on who you ask) Millions of Instructions per Second, or
   Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed.
   
   The number printed at boot time is the result of a kernel timing
   calibration, used for very short delay loops by some device drivers.
   
   According to the BogoMips mini-HOWTO, the rating for your machine will
   be:
   
   Table 1. Common BogoMips Ratings
   System                BogoMips      Comparison
   Intel 8088            clock * 0.004 0.02
   Intel/AMD 386SX       clock * 0.14  0.8
   Intel/AMD 386DX       clock * 0.18  1 (definition)
   Motorola 68030        clock * 0.25  1.4
   Cyrix/IBM 486         clock * 0.34  1.8
   Intel Pentium         clock * 0.40  2.2
   Intel 486             clock * 0.50  2.8
   AMD 5x86              clock * 0.50  2.8
   Mips R4000/R4400      clock * 0.50  2.8
   Nexgen Nx586          clock * 0.75  4.2
   PowerPC 601           clock * 0.84  4.7
   Alpha 21064/21064A    clock * 0.99  5.5
   Alpha 21066/21066A    clock * 0.99  5.5
   Alpha 21164/21164A    clock * 0.99  5.5
   Intel Pentium Pro     clock * 0.99  5.5
   Cyrix 5x86/6x86       clock * 1.00  5.6
   Intel Pentium II/III  clock * 1.00  5.6
   Intel Celeron         clock * 1.00  5.6
   Mips R4600            clock * 1.00  5.6
   Alpha 21264           clock * 1.99  11.1
   AMD K5/K6/K6-2/K6-III clock * 2.00  11.1
   UltraSparc II         clock * 2.00  11.1
   Pentium MMX           clock * 2.00  11.1
   PowerPC 604/604e/750  clock * 2.00  11.1
   Motorola 68060        clock * 2.01  11.2
   Motorola 68040        Not enough data (yet).
   AMD Athlon            Not enough data (yet).
   IBM S390              Not enough data (yet).
   
   If the number is wildly lower, you may have the Turbo button or CPU
   speed set incorrectly, or have some kind of caching problem (as
   described in ("When I Add More Memory, the System Slows to a
   Crawl.")
   
   For values people have seen with other, rarer, chips, or to calculate
   your own BogoMips rating, please refer to the BogoMips Mini-HOWTO, on
   ftp://metalab.unc.edu/. ("Where Can I Get the HOWTO's and Other
   Documentation?")
   
   [Wim van Dorst]
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.7. What Online/Free Periodicals Exist for Linux?

   There are a number of recent additions to the list of periodicals
   devoted to Linux and free software:
   
     * geek news. http://geeknews.cjb.net/. Headlines for articles about
       Linux, like the comp.os.linux.announce and Techweb postings, and
       general interest, like Associated Press stories.
     * Linux Gazette. http://www.linuxgazette.com/. This is the
       longest-running of the on-line periodicals, and the only one that
       publishes source code.
     * Linux Today. http://www.linuxtoday.com. News and opinion related
       to the Linux community, updated daily.
     * Linux Weekly News. http://www.lwn.net. News about the Linux
       community, updated weekly.
     * Slashdot. http://www.slashdot.org. News about the free software
       community and culture.
     * Freshmeat. http://www.freshmeat.net/. Notices of new and updated
       software for Linux and other free OS's.
       
   Please send additions to this list to the FAQ maintainer.
   
   [Jim Dennis, Robert Kiesling]
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.8. How Many People Use Linux?

   Linux is freely available, and no one is required to register with any
   central authority, so it is difficult to know. Several businesses
   survive solely on selling and supporting Linux. Linux news groups are
   some of the most heavily read on Usenet. Accurate numbers are hard to
   come by, but the number is almost certainly in the millions.
   
   However, people can register as Linux users at the Linux Counter
   project, which has been in existence since 1993. In August, 1998, the
   project counted more than 70,000 users.
   
   Visit the Web site at http://counter.li.org/ and fill in the
   registration form. If you don't want to use the Web, send E-mail to
   mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject line, "I use Linux at
   home," or "I use Linux at work."
   
   The current count is posted monthly to comp.os.linux.misc, and is
   always available from the Web site.
   
   [Harald Tveit Alvestrand]
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.9. How Many People Use Linux? (Redux.)

   In 1999, International Data Corporation released its first commercial
   forecast of Linux sales. The report quantifies Linux vendor sales in
   1996, 1997, and 1998, and forecasts through the year 2003.
   
   To obtain the report, contact IDC at mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]. Their Web
   site is http://www.itresearch.com/.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.10. How Should I Pronounce Linux?

   This is a matter of religious debate, of course!
   
   If you want to hear Linus himself say how he pronounces it, download
   english.au or swedish.au from
   ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/PEOPLE/Linus/SillySounds/. If you have a sound
   card or the PC-speaker audio driver you can hear them by typing
   
   cat english.au >/dev/audio

   The difference isn't in the pronunciation of Linux but in the language
   Linus uses to say, "hello."
   
   For the benefit of those who don't have the equipment or inclination:
   Linus pronounces Linux approximately as Leenus, where the "ee" is
   pronounced as in "feet," but rather shorter, and the "u" is like a
   much shorter version of the French "eu" sound in "peur"
   (pronouncing it as the "u" in "put" is probably passable).
     _________________________________________________________________
   
9.11. Where Is the Linux Food Page?


-- 

<a href="coffee://localhost/cream/">stop</a>   http://www.mainmatter.com/




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