"Douglas J. Hunley" wrote: > Forwarded from a newsgroup, but I'd like to know what you all think.. I've > copied the author. Please continue to copy on replies... > > ,--------------- Forwarded message (begin) > > Subject: Which One? > From: Kurtis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 23:44:35 -0500
<snip> > I sense that to learn what it is all about, I need to practice a lot, > compiling and recompiling kernels (I don't know anything about > programming beyond the Hello World stuff; basic shell scripts) and > figuring out how to download/install different applications. I'd like > to learn VI, Emacs etc., as well. In order to be innovative and try > to introduce some features that Linux offers in my work environment, > I'd like to be able to use the NSA secure kernel. Security at NSA is probably not what you think. Can you say "Orange Book", "C2", "mandatory access control"? That's the flavor of what's in their kernel. For typical sysadmin type security stuff, try bastille - scripts to harden a linux box (based on RH, but probably useful elsewhere too). > RH basically sets itself up, which is good. But having described what > I want to do I'd like to solicit feedback on which variety of Linux I > should try, and maybe specific "projects" that I could work on to get > a good, well-rounded view of Linux. I could use either an old laptop, > or P-133 in the corner from work. Thanks in advance for any ideas. I would say there are 2 things you want to learn to be a Unix guru. One is how the basic system works. That means boot loaders, kernel & modules, init, and boot scripts. What gets done, and why. The other is shell programming. How to get things done and what the common tools are to do them. Besides this list, consider installing Linux From Scratch (www.linuxfromscratch.org, and read their mail lists). Besides following the directions, read and understand them (man is your friend). Read and understand the boot scripts - what order do they run, what do they do, why? You'll get plenty of experience with the guts of Linux, not to mention INSTALL files, make, gcc, and shared libraries, your first time through. Following mail lists is a great way to pick up pointers to interesting tips or tutorials. But you learn best when you have a goal to reach. Building an LFS system is a rewarding goal and requires you to learn details, especially after you get the basic system installed. The SxS docs at http://linux.nf/stepbystep.html and the hints on the LFS site are good starters for installing anything they cover. An old machine may not be the best for LFS - you'll need 700-800MB+ of disk space and compiling takes time. But it can be done. Do you have a Linux users' group nearby? That's another good source of information and support (not to mention that Linux users know a lot of other useful stuff). Here are some easy wins to bring Linux into your office. You want a project that is useful to people but doesn't get much management support. So by using old hardware and free software, you get the project done without requiring any commitment and everyone benefits. - Music server. Large disks are fairly cheap, set up a Linux box with 10+GB, share out an audio directory using Samba, and show people how to rip CDs to mp3s. Put the mp3s on the server and everyone has a jukebox. Suitability depends on your office culture, and talk to a lawyer about copyright issues (with luck, a warning/disclaimer that puts liability on the users will be enough to keep the company happy). - Web server for intranet pages. Apache is easy to set up and will run on old hardware. Many offices would benefit from an intranet to facilitate internal communications. Even if you just put widely needed files out there, and index page to explain what they are can be useful. Something less official, like employee web pages might be nice. If your users don't know html, this isn't as useful, but many office programs can save documents as html. - On the lines of internal communications, take a look at twiki. Again, usefulness may depend on the office culture, but software developers should be comfortable with this. For less technical users, how about an IRC, ICQ, or instant messaging server? - Need pdf files, don't want to pay for Acrobat? Linux can make pdfs out of postscript, and the Windows 'print to file' feature generally produces postscript files. Samba can help automate the process. Be careful picking your project. You want it to be a success, which means it has to fit your users, your corporate culture, and your abilities. But if you have a good idea, you can start working on it little by little and wait until you can manage it to go public. I hope I haven't scared you off. I've been doing Linux hard core for only 4-5 months and I'm pretty comfortable with it. But I've also been dabbling for years, and my last programming job was heavy on shell scripting for 1.5 years. So sit back, relax, and get a BIG cup of coffee. You're going to be a while and you'll have a blast the whole time. Dave _______________________________________________ Linux-users mailing list Archives, Digests, etc at http://linux.nf/mailman/listinfo/linux-users
