Introduction to Linux
A Hands on Guide
Machtelt Garrels
Garrels.be
<tille wants no spam _at_ garrels dot be>
1.27 Edition
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Machtelt Garrels
20080606

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Introduction to Linux
Table of Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................1
1. Why this guide?...................................................................................................................................1
2. Who should read this book?.................................................................................................................1
3. New versions and availability..............................................................................................................1
4. Revision History..................................................................................................................................2
5. Contributions.......................................................................................................................................3
6. Feedback..............................................................................................................................................3
7. Copyright information.........................................................................................................................3
8. What do you need?...............................................................................................................................4
9. Conventions used in this document.....................................................................................................4
10. Organization of this document...........................................................................................................5
Chapter 1. What is Linux?.................................................................................................................................7
1.1. History..............................................................................................................................................7
1.1.1. UNIX.......................................................................................................................................7
1.1.2. Linus and Linux.......................................................................................................................8
1.1.3. Current application of Linux systems.....................................................................................9
1.2. The user interface..............................................................................................................................9
1.2.1. Is Linux difficult?....................................................................................................................9
1.2.2. Linux for non-experienced users...........................................................................................10
1.3. Does Linux have a future?..............................................................................................................10
1.3.1. Open Source..........................................................................................................................10
1.3.2. Ten years of experience at your service................................................................................11
1.4. Properties of Linux.........................................................................................................................12
1.4.1. Linux Pros.............................................................................................................................12
1.4.2. Linux Cons............................................................................................................................13
1.5. Linux Flavors..................................................................................................................................14
1.5.1. Linux and GNU.....................................................................................................................14
1.5.2. GNU/Linux............................................................................................................................15
1.5.3. Which distribution should I install?......................................................................................15
1.6. Summary.........................................................................................................................................16
1.7. Exercises.........................................................................................................................................16
Chapter 2. Quickstart.......................................................................................................................................18
2.1. Logging in, activating the user interface and logging out..............................................................18
2.1.1. Introduction...........................................................................................................................18
2.1.2. Graphical mode.....................................................................................................................18
2.1.3. Text mode..............................................................................................................................20
2.2. Absolute basics...............................................................................................................................21
2.2.1. The commands......................................................................................................................21
2.2.2. General remarks....................................................................................................................21
2.2.3. Using Bash features...............................................................................................................22
2.3. Getting help.....................................................................................................................................23
2.3.1. Be warned..............................................................................................................................23
2.3.2. The man pages.......................................................................................................................23
2.3.3. More info...............................................................................................................................25
2.4. Summary.........................................................................................................................................28
2.5. Exercises.........................................................................................................................................29
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Introduction to Linux
Table of Contents
Chapter 2. Quickstart
2.5.1. Connecting and disconnecting...............................................................................................29
2.5.2. Passwords..............................................................................................................................29
2.5.3. Directories.............................................................................................................................30
2.5.4. Files.......................................................................................................................................30
2.5.5. Getting help...........................................................................................................................31
Chapter 3. About files and the file system......................................................................................................32
3.1. General overview of the Linux file system.....................................................................................32
3.1.1. Files.......................................................................................................................................32
3.1.2. About partitioning.................................................................................................................33
3.1.3. More file system layout.........................................................................................................37
3.2. Orientation in the file system..........................................................................................................40
3.2.1. The path.................................................................................................................................40
3.2.2. Absolute and relative paths...................................................................................................41
3.2.3. The most important files and directories...............................................................................41
3.2.4. The most important configuration files.................................................................................44
3.2.5. The most common devices....................................................................................................46
3.2.6. The most common variable files...........................................................................................47
3.3. Manipulating files...........................................................................................................................48
3.3.1. Viewing file properties..........................................................................................................48
3.3.2. Creating and deleting files and directories............................................................................50
3.3.3. Finding files...........................................................................................................................53
3.3.4. More ways to view file content.............................................................................................57
3.3.5. Linking files..........................................................................................................................58
3.4. File security.....................................................................................................................................60
3.4.1. Access rights: Linux's first line of defense............................................................................60
3.4.2. The tools................................................................................................................................62
3.5. Summary.........................................................................................................................................67
3.6. Exercises.........................................................................................................................................68
3.6.1. Partitions................................................................................................................................68
3.6.2. Paths......................................................................................................................................68
3.6.3. Tour of the system.................................................................................................................69
3.6.4. Manipulating files..................................................................................................................69
3.6.5. File permissions.....................................................................................................................69
Chapter 4. Processes.........................................................................................................................................71
4.1. Processes inside out........................................................................................................................71
4.1.1. Multi-user and multi-tasking.................................................................................................71
4.1.2. Process types.........................................................................................................................71
4.1.3. Process attributes...................................................................................................................73
4.1.4. Displaying process information.............................................................................................74
4.1.5. Life and death of a process....................................................................................................76
4.1.6. SUID and SGID.....................................................................................................................78
4.2. Boot process, Init and shutdown.....................................................................................................80
4.2.1. Introduction...........................................................................................................................80
4.2.2. The boot process....................................................................................................................80
4.2.3. GRUB features......................................................................................................................80
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Introduction to Linux
Table of Contents
Chapter 4. Processes
4.2.4. Init.........................................................................................................................................81
4.2.5. Init run levels.........................................................................................................................83
4.2.6. Shutdown...............................................................................................................................84
4.3. Managing processes........................................................................................................................84
4.3.1. Work for the system admin...................................................................................................84
4.3.2. How long does it take?..........................................................................................................85
4.3.3. Performance...........................................................................................................................86
4.3.4. Load.......................................................................................................................................86
4.3.5. Can I do anything as a user?..................................................................................................86
4.4. Scheduling processes......................................................................................................................91
4.4.1. Use that idle time!.................................................................................................................91
4.4.2. The sleep command...............................................................................................................91
4.4.3. The at command....................................................................................................................92
4.4.4. Cron and crontab...................................................................................................................92
4.5. Summary.........................................................................................................................................94
4.6. Exercises.........................................................................................................................................95
4.6.1. General..................................................................................................................................95
4.6.2. Booting, init etc.....................................................................................................................95
4.6.3. Scheduling.............................................................................................................................96
Chapter 5. I/O redirection................................................................................................................................97
5.1. Simple redirections.........................................................................................................................97
5.1.1. What are standard input and standard output?......................................................................97
5.1.2. The redirection operators.......................................................................................................97
5.2. Advanced redirection features......................................................................................................100
5.2.1. Use of file descriptors..........................................................................................................100
5.2.2. Examples.............................................................................................................................101
5.3. Filters............................................................................................................................................101
5.3.1. More about grep..................................................................................................................102
5.3.2. Filtering output....................................................................................................................102
5.4. Summary.......................................................................................................................................103
5.5. Exercises.......................................................................................................................................103
Chapter 6. Text editors...................................................................................................................................105
6.1. Text editors...................................................................................................................................105
6.1.1. Why should I use an editor?................................................................................................105
6.1.2. Which editor should I use?..................................................................................................105
6.2. Using the Vim editor.....................................................................................................................106
6.2.1. Two modes..........................................................................................................................106
6.2.2. Basic commands..................................................................................................................107
6.2.3. The easy way.......................................................................................................................108
6.3. Linux in the office.........................................................................................................................108
6.3.1. History.................................................................................................................................108
6.3.2. Suites and programs............................................................................................................108
6.3.3. Remarks...............................................................................................................................109
6.4. Summary.......................................................................................................................................109
6.5. Exercises.......................................................................................................................................110
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Introduction to Linux
Table of Contents
Chapter 7. Home sweet /home.......................................................................................................................111
7.1. General good housekeeping..........................................................................................................111
7.1.1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................111
7.1.2. Make space..........................................................................................................................111
7.2. Your text environment..................................................................................................................114
7.2.1. Environment variables.........................................................................................................114
7.2.2. Shell setup files...................................................................................................................116
7.2.3. A typical set of setup files...................................................................................................117
7.2.4. The Bash prompt.................................................................................................................120
7.2.5. Shell scripts.........................................................................................................................121
7.3. The graphical environment...........................................................................................................123
7.3.1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................123
7.3.2. The X Window System.......................................................................................................124
7.3.3. X server configuration.........................................................................................................125
7.4. Region specific settings................................................................................................................126
7.4.1. Keyboard setup....................................................................................................................126
7.4.2. Fonts....................................................................................................................................126
7.4.3. Date and time zone..............................................................................................................127
7.4.4. Language.............................................................................................................................127
7.4.5. Country-specific Information..............................................................................................128
7.5. Installing new software.................................................................................................................128
7.5.1. General................................................................................................................................128
7.5.2. Package formats..................................................................................................................128
7.5.3. Automating package management and updates..................................................................131
7.5.4. Upgrading your kernel.........................................................................................................132
7.5.5. Installing extra packages from the installation CDs............................................................133
7.6. Summary.......................................................................................................................................134
7.7. Exercises.......................................................................................................................................135
7.7.1. Shell environment................................................................................................................135
7.7.2. Graphical environment........................................................................................................136
Chapter 8. Printers and printing...................................................................................................................137
8.1. Printing files..................................................................................................................................137
8.1.1. Command line printing........................................................................................................137
8.1.2. Formatting...........................................................................................................................138
8.2. The server side..............................................................................................................................139
8.2.1. General................................................................................................................................139
8.2.2. Graphical printer configuration...........................................................................................140
8.2.3. Buying a printer for Linux...................................................................................................140
8.3. Print problems...............................................................................................................................140
8.3.1. Wrong file............................................................................................................................140
8.3.2. My print hasn't come out.....................................................................................................140
8.4. Summary.......................................................................................................................................142
8.5. Exercises.......................................................................................................................................142
Chapter 9. Fundamental Backup Techniques..............................................................................................144
9.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................................144
9.1.1. Preparing your data.............................................................................................................144
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Introduction to Linux
Table of Contents
Chapter 9. Fundamental Backup Techniques
9.2. Moving your data to a backup device...........................................................................................148
9.2.1. Making a copy on a floppy disk..........................................................................................148
9.2.2. Making a copy with a CD-writer.........................................................................................150
9.2.3. Backups on/from jazz drives, USB devices and other removables.....................................151
9.2.4. Backing up data using a tape device...................................................................................151
9.2.5. Tools from your distribution...............................................................................................151
9.3. Using rsync...................................................................................................................................152
9.3.1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................152
9.3.2. An example: rsync to a USB storage device.......................................................................152
9.4. Encryption.....................................................................................................................................152
9.4.1. General remarks..................................................................................................................152
9.4.2. Generate a key.....................................................................................................................153
9.4.3. About your key....................................................................................................................154
9.4.4. Encrypt data.........................................................................................................................154
9.4.5. Decrypting files...................................................................................................................155
9.5. Summary.......................................................................................................................................155
9.6. Exercises.......................................................................................................................................156
Chapter 10. Networking.................................................................................................................................157
10.1. Networking Overview.................................................................................................................157
10.1.1. The OSI Model..................................................................................................................157
10.1.2. Some popular networking protocols..................................................................................158
10.2. Network configuration and information.....................................................................................160
10.2.1. Configuration of network interfaces..................................................................................160
10.2.2. Network configuration files...............................................................................................161
10.2.3. Network configuration commands....................................................................................161
10.2.4. Network interface names...................................................................................................163
10.2.5. Checking the host configuration with netstat....................................................................164
10.2.6. Other hosts.........................................................................................................................164
10.3. Internet/Intranet applications......................................................................................................167
10.3.1. Server types.......................................................................................................................167
10.3.2. Mail...................................................................................................................................168
10.3.3. Web...................................................................................................................................170
10.3.4. File Transfer Protocol........................................................................................................171
10.3.5. Chatting and conferencing.................................................................................................172
10.3.6. News services....................................................................................................................173
10.3.7. The Domain Name System................................................................................................174
10.3.8. DHCP................................................................................................................................174
10.3.9. Authentication services.....................................................................................................174
10.4. Remote execution of applications...............................................................................................176
10.4.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................176
10.4.2. Rsh, rlogin and telnet.........................................................................................................176
10.4.3. The X Window System.....................................................................................................177
10.4.4. The SSH suite....................................................................................................................178
10.4.5. VNC...................................................................................................................................182
10.4.6. The rdesktop protocol........................................................................................................182
10.4.7. Cygwin..............................................................................................................................182
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Introduction to Linux
Table of Contents
Chapter 10. Networking
10.5. Security.......................................................................................................................................183
10.5.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................183
10.5.2. Services.............................................................................................................................183
10.5.3. Update regularly................................................................................................................184
10.5.4. Firewalls and access policies.............................................................................................184
10.5.5. Intrusion detection.............................................................................................................185
10.5.6. More tips............................................................................................................................186
10.5.7. Have I been hacked?..........................................................................................................186
10.5.8. Recovering from intrusion.................................................................................................187
10.6. Summary.....................................................................................................................................187
10.7. Exercises.....................................................................................................................................188
10.7.1. General networking...........................................................................................................188
10.7.2. Remote connections..........................................................................................................188
10.7.3. Security..............................................................................................................................188
Chapter 11. Sound and Video........................................................................................................................189
11.1. Audio Basics...............................................................................................................................189
11.1.1. Installation.........................................................................................................................189
11.1.2. Drivers and Architecture...................................................................................................189
11.2. Sound and video playing.............................................................................................................190
11.2.1. CD playing and copying....................................................................................................190
11.2.2. Playing music files............................................................................................................190
11.2.3. Recording..........................................................................................................................192
11.3. Video playing, streams and television watching.........................................................................192
11.4. Internet Telephony......................................................................................................................193
11.4.1. What is it?..........................................................................................................................193
11.4.2. What do you need?............................................................................................................193
11.5. Summary.....................................................................................................................................194
11.6. Exercises.....................................................................................................................................195
Appendix A. Where to go from here?...........................................................................................................196
A.1. Useful Books................................................................................................................................196
A.1.1. General Linux.....................................................................................................................196
A.1.2. Editors.................................................................................................................................196
A.1.3. Shells..................................................................................................................................196
A.1.4. X Window..........................................................................................................................196
A.1.5. Networking.........................................................................................................................197
A.2. Useful sites...................................................................................................................................197
A.2.1. General information............................................................................................................197
A.2.2. Architecture Specific References.......................................................................................197
A.2.3. Distributions.......................................................................................................................197
A.2.4. Software..............................................................................................................................198
Appendix B. DOS versus Linux commands.................................................................................................199
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Introduction to Linux
Table of Contents
Appendix C. Shell Features............................................................................................................................200
C.1. Common features.........................................................................................................................200
C.2. Differing features.........................................................................................................................201
Glossary...........................................................................................................................................................204
A...........................................................................................................................................................204
B...........................................................................................................................................................204
C...........................................................................................................................................................205
D...........................................................................................................................................................205
E...........................................................................................................................................................206
F...........................................................................................................................................................206
G...........................................................................................................................................................207
H...........................................................................................................................................................207
I............................................................................................................................................................207
J............................................................................................................................................................208
K...........................................................................................................................................................208
L...........................................................................................................................................................208
M..........................................................................................................................................................209
N...........................................................................................................................................................210
O...........................................................................................................................................................210
P...........................................................................................................................................................210
Q...........................................................................................................................................................211
R...........................................................................................................................................................211
S...........................................................................................................................................................212
T...........................................................................................................................................................212
U...........................................................................................................................................................213
V...........................................................................................................................................................214
W..........................................................................................................................................................214
X...........................................................................................................................................................214
Y...........................................................................................................................................................215
Z...........................................................................................................................................................215
Index....................................................................................................................................................215
vii

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Introduction
1. Why this guide?
Many people still believe that learning Linux is difficult, or that only experts can understand how a Linux
system works. Though there is a lot of free documentation available, the documentation is widely scattered on
the Web, and often confusing, since it is usually oriented toward experienced UNIX or Linux users. Today,
thanks to the advancements in development, Linux has grown in popularity both at home and at work. The
goal of this guide is to show people of all ages that Linux can be simple and fun, and used for all kinds of
purposes.
2. Who should read this book?
This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an
exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter. For more advanced
trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system
and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience
as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. We hope these examples will help you to
get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.
Everybody who wants to get a "CLUE", a Command Line User Experience, with Linux (and UNIX in
general) will find this book useful.
3. New versions and availability
This document is published in the Guides section of the Linux Documentation Project collection at
http://www.tldp.org/guides.html; you can also download PDF and PostScript formatted versions here.
The most recent edition is available at http://tille.garrels.be/training/tldp/.
The second edition of this guide is available in print from Fultus.com Books as paperback Print On Demand
(POD) book. Fultus distributes this document through Ingram and Baker & Taylor to many bookstores,
including Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, BarnesAndNoble.com and Google's Froogle global shopping portal
and Google Book Search.
Figure 1. Introduction to Linux front cover
Introduction
1

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Introduction to Linux
The guide has been translated into Hindi by:
Alok Kumar
•
Dhananjay Sharma
•
Kapil
•
Puneet Goel
•
Ravikant Yuyutsu
•
Andrea Montagner translated the guide into Italian.
4. Revision History
Revision History
Revision 1.27
20080606
Revised by: MG
updates.
Revision 1.26
20070919
Revised by: MG
Comments from readers, license.
Revision 1.25
20070511
Revised by: MG
Comments from readers, minor updates, E-mail etiquette, updated info about availability (thanks Oleg).
Revision 1.24
2006-11-01
Revised by: MG
added index terms, prepared for second printed edition, added gpg and proxy info.
Revision 1.23
2006-07-25
Revised by: MG and FK
Updates and corrections, removed app5 again, adapted license to enable inclusion in Debian docs.
Revision 1.22
2006-04-06
Revised by: MG
chap8 revised completely, chap10: clarified examples, added ifconfig and cygwin info, revised network apps.
Revision 1.21
2006-03-14
Revised by: MG
Added exercises in chap11, corrected newline errors, command overview completed for chapter 9, minor
corrections in chap10.
Revision 1.20
2006-01-06
Revised by: MG
Split chap7: audio stuff is now in separate chapter, chap11.xml. Small revisions, updates for commands like
aptitude, more on USB storage, Internet telephony, corrections from readers.
Revision 1.13
2004-04-27
Revised by: MG
Introduction
2

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Document Outline

• Table of Contents
• Introduction
  • 1. Why this guide?
  • 2. Who should read this book?
  • 3. New versions and availability
  • 4. Revision History
  • 5. Contributions
  • 6. Feedback
  • 7. Copyright information
  • 8. What do you need?
  • 9. Conventions used in this document
  • 10. Organization of this document
• Chapter 1. What is Linux?
  • 1.1. History
    • 1.1.1. UNIX
    • 1.1.2. Linus and Linux
    • 1.1.3. Current application of Linux systems
  • 1.2. The user interface
    • 1.2.1. Is Linux difficult?
    • 1.2.2. Linux for non-experienced users
  • 1.3. Does Linux have a future?
    • 1.3.1. Open Source
    • 1.3.2. Ten years of experience at your service
  • 1.4. Properties of Linux
    • 1.4.1. Linux Pros
    • 1.4.2. Linux Cons
  • 1.5. Linux Flavors
    • 1.5.1. Linux and GNU
    • 1.5.2. GNU/Linux
    • 1.5.3. Which distribution should I install?
  • 1.6. Summary
  • 1.7. Exercises
• Chapter 2. Quickstart
  • 2.1. Logging in, activating the user interface and logging out
    • 2.1.1. Introduction
    • 2.1.2. Graphical mode
    • 2.1.3. Text mode
  • 2.2. Absolute basics
    • 2.2.1. The commands
    • 2.2.2. General remarks
    • 2.2.3. Using Bash features
  • 2.3. Getting help
    • 2.3.1. Be warned
    • 2.3.2. The man pages
    • 2.3.3. More info
  • 2.4. Summary
  • 2.5. Exercises
    • 2.5.1. Connecting and disconnecting
    • 2.5.2. Passwords
    • 2.5.3. Directories
    • 2.5.4. Files
    • 2.5.5. Getting help
• Chapter 3. About files and the file system
  • 3.1. General overview of the Linux file system
    • 3.1.1. Files
    • 3.1.2. About partitioning
    • 3.1.3. More file system layout
  • 3.2. Orientation in the file system
    • 3.2.1. The path
    • 3.2.2. Absolute and relative paths
    • 3.2.3. The most important files and directories
    • 3.2.4. The most important configuration files
    • 3.2.5. The most common devices
    • 3.2.6. The most common variable files
  • 3.3. Manipulating files
    • 3.3.1. Viewing file properties
    • 3.3.2. Creating and deleting files and directories
    • 3.3.3. Finding files
    • 3.3.4. More ways to view file content
    • 3.3.5. Linking files
  • 3.4. File security
    • 3.4.1. Access rights: Linux's first line of defense
    • 3.4.2. The tools
  • 3.5. Summary
  • 3.6. Exercises
    • 3.6.1. Partitions
    • 3.6.2. Paths
    • 3.6.3. Tour of the system
    • 3.6.4. Manipulating files
    • 3.6.5. File permissions
• Chapter 4. Processes
  • 4.1. Processes inside out
    • 4.1.1. Multi-user and multi-tasking
    • 4.1.2. Process types
    • 4.1.3. Process attributes
    • 4.1.4. Displaying process information
    • 4.1.5. Life and death of a process
    • 4.1.6. SUID and SGID
  • 4.2. Boot process, Init and shutdown
    • 4.2.1. Introduction
    • 4.2.2. The boot process
    • 4.2.3. GRUB features
    • 4.2.4. Init
    • 4.2.5. Init run levels
    • 4.2.6. Shutdown
  • 4.3. Managing processes
    • 4.3.1. Work for the system admin
    • 4.3.2. How long does it take?
    • 4.3.3. Performance
    • 4.3.4. Load
    • 4.3.5. Can I do anything as a user?
  • 4.4. Scheduling processes
    • 4.4.1. Use that idle time!
    • 4.4.2. The sleep command
    • 4.4.3. The at command
    • 4.4.4. Cron and crontab
  • 4.5. Summary
  • 4.6. Exercises
    • 4.6.1. General
    • 4.6.2. Booting, init etc.
    • 4.6.3. Scheduling
• Chapter 5. I/O redirection
  • 5.1. Simple redirections
    • 5.1.1. What are standard input and standard output?
    • 5.1.2. The redirection operators
  • 5.2. Advanced redirection features
    • 5.2.1. Use of file descriptors
    • 5.2.2. Examples
  • 5.3. Filters
    • 5.3.1. More about grep
    • 5.3.2. Filtering output
  • 5.4. Summary
  • 5.5. Exercises
• Chapter 6. Text editors
  • 6.1. Text editors
    • 6.1.1. Why should I use an editor?
    • 6.1.2. Which editor should I use?
  • 6.2. Using the Vim editor
    • 6.2.1. Two modes
    • 6.2.2. Basic commands
    • 6.2.3. The easy way
  • 6.3. Linux in the office
    • 6.3.1. History
    • 6.3.2. Suites and programs
    • 6.3.3. Remarks
  • 6.4. Summary
  • 6.5. Exercises
• Chapter 7. Home sweet /home
  • 7.1. General good housekeeping
    • 7.1.1. Introduction
    • 7.1.2. Make space
  • 7.2. Your text environment
    • 7.2.1. Environment variables
    • 7.2.2. Shell setup files
    • 7.2.3. A typical set of setup files
    • 7.2.4. The Bash prompt
    • 7.2.5. Shell scripts
  • 7.3. The graphical environment
    • 7.3.1. Introduction
    • 7.3.2. The X Window System
    • 7.3.3. X server configuration
  • 7.4. Region specific settings
    • 7.4.1. Keyboard setup
    • 7.4.2. Fonts
    • 7.4.3. Date and time zone
    • 7.4.4. Language
    • 7.4.5. Country-specific Information
  • 7.5. Installing new software
    • 7.5.1. General
    • 7.5.2. Package formats
    • 7.5.3. Automating package management and updates
    • 7.5.4. Upgrading your kernel
    • 7.5.5. Installing extra packages from the installation CDs
  • 7.6. Summary
  • 7.7. Exercises
    • 7.7.1. Shell environment
    • 7.7.2. Graphical environment
• Chapter 8. Printers and printing
  • 8.1. Printing files
    • 8.1.1. Command line printing
    • 8.1.2. Formatting
  • 8.2. The server side
    • 8.2.1. General
    • 8.2.2. Graphical printer configuration
    • 8.2.3. Buying a printer for Linux
  • 8.3. Print problems
    • 8.3.1. Wrong file
    • 8.3.2. My print hasn't come out
  • 8.4. Summary
  • 8.5. Exercises
• Chapter 9. Fundamental Backup Techniques
  • 9.1. Introduction
    • 9.1.1. Preparing your data
  • 9.2. Moving your data to a backup device
    • 9.2.1. Making a copy on a floppy disk
    • 9.2.2. Making a copy with a CD-writer
    • 9.2.3. Backups on/from jazz drives, USB devices and other removables
    • 9.2.4. Backing up data using a tape device
    • 9.2.5. Tools from your distribution
  • 9.3. Using rsync
    • 9.3.1. Introduction
    • 9.3.2. An example: rsync to a USB storage device
  • 9.4. Encryption
    • 9.4.1. General remarks
    • 9.4.2. Generate a key
    • 9.4.3. About your key
    • 9.4.4. Encrypt data
    • 9.4.5. Decrypting files
  • 9.5. Summary
  • 9.6. Exercises
• Chapter 10. Networking
  • 10.1. Networking Overview
    • 10.1.1. The OSI Model
    • 10.1.2. Some popular networking protocols
  • 10.2. Network configuration and information
    • 10.2.1. Configuration of network interfaces
    • 10.2.2. Network configuration files
    • 10.2.3. Network configuration commands
    • 10.2.4. Network interface names
    • 10.2.5. Checking the host configuration with netstat
    • 10.2.6. Other hosts
  • 10.3. Internet/Intranet applications
    • 10.3.1. Server types
    • 10.3.2. Mail
    • 10.3.3. Web
    • 10.3.4. File Transfer Protocol
    • 10.3.5. Chatting and conferencing
    • 10.3.6. News services
    • 10.3.7. The Domain Name System
    • 10.3.8. DHCP
    • 10.3.9. Authentication services
  • 10.4. Remote execution of applications
    • 10.4.1. Introduction
    • 10.4.2. Rsh, rlogin and telnet
    • 10.4.3. The X Window System
    • 10.4.4. The SSH suite
    • 10.4.5. VNC
    • 10.4.6. The rdesktop protocol
    • 10.4.7. Cygwin
  • 10.5. Security
    • 10.5.1. Introduction
    • 10.5.2. Services
    • 10.5.3. Update regularly
    • 10.5.4. Firewalls and access policies
    • 10.5.5. Intrusion detection
    • 10.5.6. More tips
    • 10.5.7. Have I been hacked?
    • 10.5.8. Recovering from intrusion
  • 10.6. Summary
  • 10.7. Exercises
    • 10.7.1. General networking
    • 10.7.2. Remote connections
    • 10.7.3. Security
• Chapter 11. Sound and Video
  • 11.1. Audio Basics
    • 11.1.1. Installation
    • 11.1.2. Drivers and Architecture
  • 11.2. Sound and video playing
    • 11.2.1. CD playing and copying
    • 11.2.2. Playing music files
    • 11.2.3. Recording
  • 11.3. Video playing, streams and television watching
  • 11.4. Internet Telephony
    • 11.4.1. What is it?
    • 11.4.2. What do you need?
  • 11.5. Summary
  • 11.6. Exercises
• Appendix A. Where to go from here?
  • A.1. Useful Books
    • A.1.1. General Linux
    • A.1.2. Editors
    • A.1.3. Shells
    • A.1.4. X Window
    • A.1.5. Networking
  • A.2. Useful sites
    • A.2.1. General information
    • A.2.2. Architecture Specific References
    • A.2.3. Distributions
    • A.2.4. Software
• Appendix B. DOS versus Linux commands
• Appendix C. Shell Features
  • C.1. Common features
  • C.2. Differing features
• Glossary
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z
  • Index

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