On Monday 04 November 2002 02:57 am, Russell W. Behne wrote:
Yesterday at 18:17, Tim Werner wrote:
Someone posted a documentation question earlier and got a pretty good
answer, but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to find things
out.
I guess I'm a little spoiled by MSDN. For instance, if I want to know
about file permissions, it would be Really Neat if there were a tool I
could run and enter file permissions into a search box, and get a
list of matching pages.
Try using this command:
apropos permissions
apropos will give you a list of man pages to read. Among several answers
I got for the above command were these:
access (2) - check user's permissions for a file
chmod(1) - change file access permissions
chmod(2) - change permissions of a file
So if you want to read the man (manual) page for access just do:
man access
Also, note that there's 2 man pages listed for chmod. To read chmod's
man page 2 do:
man 2 chmod
Also, to learn more about the man pages and apropos do:
man man
man apropos
Also try:
man which
man whatis
Now here's the bigest secret: Go to a bookstore and get a good book on
basic Unix commands usage for the average user. One like ``Teach
Yourself Unix In A Week'' by Taylor. (There's similar books just for
linux.) Also, a good book on Linux system administration helps a lot,
and the best books are published by O'Rielly, (We call then the `animal
books' because they each feature an animal on the front cover.)
I remember there used to be something called the Linux Documentation
Project. I'm sure they must still be working on it, but even years
ago there were more Howto's than you could shake a stick at. I kind
of expected there to be a really cool downloadable manual by now.
Maybe it's out there and I just haven't found it yet.
Try looking in /usr/share/doc/ -- all the doc's for your install are
there, and if they arn't then they're on your install disks, try
installing the documentation.
If you're using your browser to view the documentation, then
the URL is:
file:///usr/share/doc/
^
Yup, that's 3 slashes following the word `file:'!
[OT: In Netscape try these URLs for fun:
about:mozilla
about:plugins
They're called `easter-eggs', go find them; there's more, although I
can't remember the URLs for the others. Anyone know of any? ]
I get the impression that the Mandrake people are holding out for some
bucks, figuring people who won't pay for the OS might pay for the
docs. That's fine if that's what they want to do, but there must be a
mother lode of vanilla linux info out there somewhere. The stuff I
downloaded from the Mandrake site was OK but a little disorganized and
obviously incomplete.
What? You downloaded your first attempt at Linux instead of buying it?
Shame on you! :-) Actually, if it is too expensive for you then go to
www.linuxcentral.com or www.cheapbytes and buy a 3-disk set for under
$12. The Mandrake people aren't holding out on you, although I'd imagine
they are hurting for cash just like everyone else, so if it won't break
your budget try buying a distro from them once in a while. They'll show
their appreciation by continuing to produce newer distros for us.
I think the URL for the Linux Documentation Project is
www.ldp.org, if not I'm sure a Google search will turn it up.
Could someone maybe give a road map as to where the Good Documentation
is, and how to get it installed on one's machine? Or could some of
you give some of your own tips on how you look things up? It can't
all be word of mouth.
If the docs aren't installed do this. In your menu select these menu
items:
* - What to do?
* administer your system
* Add or remove programs
That will start up rpmdrake, which is the easiest way to install
remove software packages that I've ever seen, provided you actually have
all 3 disks on hand. It can also be used to install/update from the
Internet. [Eat yer heart out, Micro$loth!]
You can also open a terminal to start rpmdrake, or if using the
KDE desktop as I do, hold the Alt key and press F2, which will open
a little window, enter the word `rpmdrake', then click on Run to start
the program.
But if you use programs like this frequently, (and are lazy like
me,) just set up a new desktop icon to start /usr/X11R6/bin/DrakConf
(which has rpmdrake and many other configuration utilities built right
in.) There's many other ways of configuring different subsystems, but
you'll learn them all in due time -- explore your file system.
Gee, I really love Linux/Unix -- there's so many different ways
for you to do something, unlike Micro$loth in which you're lucky if they
even bother to give you just one way to do