LQWiki - User contributions [en]

CPAN

2007-03-23T17:22:56Z

JohnMG:

'''CPAN''' is an acronym for '''Comprehensive Perl Archive Network'''.

The CPAN houses a very large collection of [[Perl]] modules which you can use in your own programs. Most CPAN module distributions are available under the same licensing terms as Perl itself (or else the [[GPL]]). The name "CPAN" refers to both the online module archive, and also a core module included with Perl which helps you interact with the CPAN. When someone says "the CPAN", they're talking about the online module archive.

It's probably most common to use the CPAN module like this:

# perl -MCPAN -e shell
cpan> install Foo::Bar

You'll run that as root if your Perl is installed in a system-wide location. The first time you run that first command, you'll be prompted a number of questions to initially configure the module. For most of them, you just hit ENTER to accept the default.

Note, if you're running Debian and using it's stock Perl, you probably do not want to use the CPAN, since Perl modules on Debian are generally installed via apt-get instead of the CPAN shell.

* [http://www.cpan.org www.cpan.org]

CPAN

2007-03-23T17:20:57Z

JohnMG:

Toad

2006-02-23T03:09:38Z

JohnMG: home page link changed

Toad is an [[LGPL]]'d [[C_plus_plus|C++]] [[GUI toolkit]] focusing on clean design using modern standard C++.

==See also==
*[[fltk]]
*[[gtkmm]]
*[[wxWidgets]]

==External links==
*[http://www.mark13.org/?sec0=sw&sec1=toad TOAD homepage]

Bazaar-NG

2005-12-29T02:15:50Z

JohnMG:

'''Bazaar-NG''', aka '''Bazaar 2''', or just "<tt>'''bzr'''</tt>" is a modern distributed version control tool written in Python.

It's probably most well-known as being associated with the [[Ubuntu]] GNU/Linux project.

http://www.bazaar-ng.org/

http://bazaar.canonical.com/

Programming-related Commands

2005-12-29T02:12:50Z

JohnMG:

Some programming-related commands:

* compiling
** [[gcc]] -- "GNU Compiler Collection". Also C compiler.
** [[G_plus_plus|g++]] -- C++ front-end to GCC.
** [[gcj]] -- Java front-end to GCC.

* linking and libraries (see also [[Library-related_Commands_and_Files]])
** [[ld]] - the GNU linker
** [[ldd]]
** [[ld.so]]
** [[ldconfig]]
** [[ar]] - tool for creating, modifying, and extracting from archives

* dealing with [[object files]] (see also [[binutils]])
** [[nm]] - lists symbols from object files
** [[objcopy]] - copies and translates object files
** [[objdump]] - display information from object files
** [[readelf]] - displays information about ELF files

* lexical analyzer and parser
** [[bison]] (the <tt>yacc</tt> replacement)
** [[flex]] (the <tt>lex</tt> replacement)

* debugging
** [[gdb]]
** [[ddd]]

* build tools
** [[make]], [[makefile]], [[configure script]]
** [[automake]] - automatically generates 'Makefile.in's from 'Makefile.am's
** [[autoconf]] - generates configuration scripts
** [[libtool]]
** [[ant]]
** [[jam]]
** [[scons]]

* [[source code]] tagging
** [[ctags]] -- for [[vim]]- and [[NEdit]]-compatible tag files
** [[etags]] -- for [[emacs]]-compatible tag files

* [[revision control]]
** [[RCS]]
** [[CVS]]
** [[Subversion]]
** [[GNU Arch]]
** [[Bazaar-NG]] -- aka "Bazaar 2", aka "bzr"

* misc
** [[addr2line]] - converts addresses into file names and line numbers
** [[as]] - the portable GNU assembler
** [[c_plus_plus_filt|c++filt]] - demangles C++ and Java symbols
** [[file]]
** [[gprof]] - displays call graph profile data
** [[ksymoops]] - a utility to decode Linux kernel oops
** [[ranlib]] - generates index to archive
** [[size]] - lists section sizes and total size
** [[strings]] - finds printable strings in a file
** [[strip]] - discards symbols from object files

Subnet

2005-12-18T01:04:58Z

JohnMG:

All computers on the same network can directly send packets to eachother. When one sends a broadcast packet, all the rest get that packet (that is to say, they're all on the same "broadcast domain" -- aka "VLAN").

Routers connect networks together.

Typcially, a bunch of computers connected to eachother in one room form a network. Also typical is to assign them rfc1918 "reserved" addresses (look up that RFC for more info on those special IP addresses). Perhaps one computer on that network connects that network to the rest of the internet -- this computer is the so-called "gateway". It's performing routing, and is a router. Note, it's configured to not forward packets addressed to an rfc1918 address.

A '''subnet''' is a network, and is the set of all [[network interface]]s which have the same network address. You usually have one subnet per VLAN. If a machine on that subnet needs to talk to another machine on the subnet, it delivers the packet directly. Packets destined for other machines need to go through the gateway.

== Determining the network address ==

To determine the network address we use a subnet mask, or "netmask". This is a [[binary]] number that is used to "mask" an IP address into network and host address portions.

For example, an [[IPv4]] [[IP address]] and subnet mask are both 32 bits long. Take an address such as:

209.152.163.16

In binary this is:

11010001 10011000 10100011 00010000

The subnet mask is given as either a [[dotted decimal]] or a bit count. For example, the Class B subnet mask is:

255.255.0.0

In binary this is

11111111 11111111 00000000 00000000

i.e. a string of 16 1's, followed by 0's. The bit count representation is given as a forward-slash followed by the number of 1's:

/16

It is often appended to the end of the IP address.

209.152.163.16/16

The subnet mask is used to determine the network and host portions of an [[IP address]] in the following ways:

To determine the network address, apply a [[binary]] AND operation to the IP address and the subnet mask:

<pre>
11010001 10011000 10100011 00010000
11111111 11111111 00000000 00000000
-----------------------------------
11011001 10011000 00000000 00000000
</pre>

Converting this back to [[dotted decimal]] gives us a network address of:

209.152.0.0

All [[network interface]]s and computers that have this network address can be said to share the same subnet.

==More complex subnets==
Whilst this is a fairly trivial example, more complex subnets can be created by using a subnet mask that does not end on a margin between [[dotted decimal]] numbers.

A subnet mask of:

11111111 11111111 11100000 00000000

is

255.255.224.0

in [[dotted decimal]], or

/19

as a bit count. This type of subnetting is usually done by network administrators to create a number of subnetworks within a single class.

==See also==
*[[Networking basics]]

Subnet

2005-12-18T01:03:52Z

JohnMG:

All computers on the same network can directly send packets to eachother. When one sends a broadcast packet, all the rest get that packet (that is to say, they're all on the same "broadcast domain" -- aka "VLAN").

Routers connect networks together.

Typcially, a bunch of computers connected to eachother in one room form a network. Also typical is to assign them rfc1918 "reserved" addresses (look up that RFC for more info on those special IP addresses). Perhaps one computer on that network connects that network to the rest of the internet -- this computer is the so-called "gateway". It's performing routing, and is a router -- it's configured to not forward packets addressed to an rfc1918 address.

A '''subnet''' is a network, and is the set of all [[network interface]]s which have the same network address. You usually have one subnet per VLAN. If a machine on that subnet needs to talk to another machine on the subnet, it delivers the packet directly. Packets destined for other machines need to go through the gateway.

== Determining the network address ==

To determine the network address we use a subnet mask, or "netmask". This is a [[binary]] number that is used to "mask" an IP address into network and host address portions.

For example, an [[IPv4]] [[IP address]] and subnet mask are both 32 bits long. Take an address such as:

209.152.163.16

In binary this is:

11010001 10011000 10100011 00010000

The subnet mask is given as either a [[dotted decimal]] or a bit count. For example, the Class B subnet mask is:

255.255.0.0

In binary this is

11111111 11111111 00000000 00000000

i.e. a string of 16 1's, followed by 0's. The bit count representation is given as a forward-slash followed by the number of 1's:

/16

It is often appended to the end of the IP address.

209.152.163.16/16

The subnet mask is used to determine the network and host portions of an [[IP address]] in the following ways:

To determine the network address, apply a [[binary]] AND operation to the IP address and the subnet mask:

<pre>
11010001 10011000 10100011 00010000
11111111 11111111 00000000 00000000
-----------------------------------
11011001 10011000 00000000 00000000
</pre>

Converting this back to [[dotted decimal]] gives us a network address of:

209.152.0.0

All [[network interface]]s and computers that have this network address can be said to share the same subnet.

==More complex subnets==
Whilst this is a fairly trivial example, more complex subnets can be created by using a subnet mask that does not end on a margin between [[dotted decimal]] numbers.

A subnet mask of:

11111111 11111111 11100000 00000000

is

255.255.224.0

in [[dotted decimal]], or

/19

as a bit count. This type of subnetting is usually done by network administrators to create a number of subnetworks within a single class.

==See also==
*[[Networking basics]]

Library

2005-11-04T20:20:40Z

JohnMG: added some good links to the bottom

A software developer can write code that doesn't necessarily [[compile]] into a standalone program. Instead, a source code file (or a related group of files) can be compiled into a reusable compartmentalized module called a [[library]]. A given library is one file, for example: <tt>/usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.0.4</tt>. Here's what the <tt>[[file]]</tt> command has to say about that particular library on my system:
<code><pre>
bash$ file /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.0.4
/usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.0.4: ELF 32-bit LSB shared object,
Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), stripped
</pre></code>

Elsewhere, when another software developer wants to create an executable program, they almost never write the whole thing themselves -- they leverage existing ready-to-use libraries and [[link]] ''their'' code to the already-built library.

A program can be linked to a library forming one big executable, but that wastes disk space and memory since many programs on the same system might want to use the same library. That's called [[static linking]] and is only used very sparingly these days. For example, static linking might be used if some program uses a heavily modified library that ''it'' specifically requires but that no ''other'' programs would want to use. Libraries used this way are called ''static libraries'' and have the <tt>.a</tt> filename extension. (Another use of static linked programs is in setting up [[LFS]]. At first, LFS doesn't have any libraries to link to, so static executables are used as a [[toolchain]] to bootstrap the process. These static executables are later replaced with dynamically linked executables.)

The modern and customary way to use libraries is for a program to request (from the operating system) a library (or libraries) when the program starts up -- that is, at [[runtime]]. Then, the program's code [[dynamic linking|dynamically links]] to the library code right then-and-there just when it needs the library. These types of libraries are referred to as "dynamically linked libraries" or "shared libraries". On [[GNU/Linux]], we sometimes call them ''shared objects'', since their file names have the extension <tt>.so</tt> (usually plus some version numbers). On MS Windows they're called "DLL's". On Mac OS X, shared lib filenames end in <tt>.dylib</tt>.

The rest of this article discusses how a program gets linked to the shared objects it needs at runtime, and the various system executables and files that make this possible.

----

== Shared Libraries ==

=== Naming conventions ===

Shared libraries have names like <tt>libGL.so.1.2</tt>. In this example, that's the library which implements [[OpenGL]] on my [[Debian]] "stable" system. It's located in <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib</tt>, but there is a link to it in <tt>/usr/lib</tt>, along with some other [[symlinks]]:
<code><pre>
libGL.so --> libGL.so.1.2
libGL.so.1 --> libGL.so.1.2
libGL.so.1.2 --> ../X11R6/lib/libGL.so.1.2
</pre></code>

The "1" indicates major revision 1, and "2" indicates minor revision 2. All libraries with the same major revision number should present the same [[API]] to users of that library -- that is, if you can compile your code against libFoo.so.2.4, you should be able to compile it against libFoo.so.2.32 without any changes. Changes in major revision number indicate a change in the external interface presented to users of that library. Changes in minor revision number indicate bug fixes. :)

=== ldd ===

You can easily find out which shared libs a given app (or even another shared lib) requires using the <tt>ldd</tt> command. For example, for the glxgears program:
<code><pre>
bash$ ldd /usr/X11R6/bin/glxgears
libGL.so.1 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libGL.so.1 (0x4001a000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x40080000)
libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x4008e000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/libpthread.so.0 (0x40168000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/libm.so.6 (0x4017c000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x4019d000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x402ba000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x40000000)
</pre></code>

<tt>ldd</tt> first asks the object file what libs it will need to run, then for each of those asks the operating system where it plans on finding them.

=== soname ===

Now, a properly built shared object (in [[ELF]] format, which is the format GNU/Linux uses) will have a [[soname]] built into it. This is a name that is specified at the library's [[build-time]], to GCC's [[link editor]] (<tt>[[ld]]</tt>), with the <tt>-soname</tt> option. You can inspect any sensibly-built library's soname like so:
<code><pre>
bash$ objdump -p /usr/X11R6/lib/libGL.so.1.2 | grep SONAME
SONAME libGL.so.1
</pre></code>

In this case, libGL.so.1.2's soname is "libGL.so.1". The point of the soname is for the creator of the library to be able to provide version compatibility information to the system. In this case, libGL.so.1.2's soname says that libGL.so.1.2 is compatible with any program that says it needs libGL.so.1.

Programs know what libs they need to link to at runtime -- they know the soname's they want. When an OpenGL program starts up and asks the system for libGL.so.1, the system delivers libGL.so.1.2. (Recall, this is on my system. Your system may (I would hope :) have a more recent version of OpenGL installed.)

=== link editing -- for programmers only ===

This subsection is just some more background info for programmers. Users may skip it.

Note, when you link a program that requires libFoo.so, you specify <tt>-lFoo</tt> as an option to the link editor on the <tt>gcc</tt> or <tt>g++</tt> command line. What's going on at build-time is:

* you tell gcc/g++ you want to set things up so your app links to libFoo.so at runtime.
* after compiling, at link-time, gcc/g++ passes this information to its [[link editor]] <tt>[[ld]]</tt>
* <tt>ld</tt> pokes around in <tt>/lib</tt>, <tt>/usr/lib</tt>, and anywhere else you specified for it to look using the <tt>-L</tt> gcc/g++ option; and then comes up with, say, libFoo.so.1.22.
** If you have multiple incompatible libFoo.so's on your system (say, for example libFoo.so.1.22 and libFoo.so.2.0.1), either be sure to use the <tt>-L</tt> option, or else specify the lib's location explicitly (as in <tt>/usr/local/lib/libFoo.so.2.0.1</tt> (note, no <tt>-l</tt> option is needed here)).
* Your app links to this specific version of libFoo.so, and has libFoo.so's soname [[string]] embedded into itself. The reason for this will be obvious in a moment (keep reading :).

A final note: if you are writing your own shared library, remember to properly use the <tt>-soname</tt> option (for example, <tt>-soname=libFoo.so.2</tt>).

=== ldconfig ===

Above, we noted how shared libs have symlinks with names differing only by version number:
<code><pre>
libGL.so --> libGL.so.1.2
libGL.so.1 --> libGL.so.1.2
libGL.so.1.2 --> ../X11R6/lib/libGL.so.1.2
</pre></code>

The user doesn't make these links manually. Rather, the program <tt>/sbin/ldconfig</tt> takes care of it for us. When you run [[ldconfig]] it does for us the following:
* It searches through <tt>/lib</tt>, <tt>/usr/lib</tt>, and all the directories listed in <tt>/etc/ld.so.conf</tt> looking for shared objects.
* For all the libs in the directories listed in [[ld.so.conf]], it takes note of their sonames.
* It then updates <tt>/etc/ld.so.cache</tt> with this information.
* Using [[ld.so.cache]], it creates symlinks: one pointing from the soname named symlink to the actual lib, and the other pointing from the library base name (like libFoo.so) to the actual lib.

----
== Loading shared libs at runtime ==

When you run a program, a series of events happen culminating in the app being loaded into memory as well as any shared objects the program needs which weren't already loaded. Here's a walkthrough of those events:

* You execute the program.
* The [[OS]]'s [[dynamic linker]], [[ld.so]] (yes, it's a funny name for an executable), checks the executable to see which shared libs it needs, thus discovering the sonames of the needed libs.
* With sonames in-hand, <tt>ld.so</tt> consults <tt>ld.so.cache</tt> to find out the locations of the shared lib files it needs to load into memory.
* <tt>ld.so</tt> loads the required libs, and then the program is allowed to execute.

Of course, if you had 2 incompatible versions of libFoo.so on your system -- say, libFoo.so.1.4 and libFoo.so.2.0.1 -- each would have a different soname: "libFoo.so.1" and "libFoo.so.2". As such, <tt>ldconfig</tt> and <tt>ld.so</tt> would be able to tell the difference between the two, and you could have them both installed on your system simultaneously. That is, applications that depend on "libFoo.so" being installed would always get the right one at runtime.

----
== Manually adding shared libs to your system ==

Debian users can safely skip this section. ;) If you properly install a debian package using a tool like [[apt-get]], any required configuration is taken care of for you. Of course, on the other hand, if you are creating a package yourself you'll need to be doing the configuration for your users, as part of the install script. :)

If you do need to install your shared libs by-hand:
* Copy the library to where it belongs (maybe <tt>/usr/local/lib</tt> or <tt>/home/username/lib</tt>).
* Make sure ld.so.conf contains the name of the directory where you placed the library.
* Run <tt>ldconfig</tt> as [[root]].

----
== Creating your own libraries ==

If you're a programmer and want to create your own library (from, say, files foo.c and bar.c -- and maybe link it to some main.o), the compiler and linker commands you're looking to put into your [[makefile]] are:

*For a shared library:
::<tt>gcc -fPIC -c foo.c bar.c</tt>
::<tt>gcc -shared -o libFooBar.so.1.2 -Wl,-soname="libFooBar.so.1" foo.o bar.o</tt>
::<tt>gcc -o your_app main.o -L. -lFooBar</tt>
:(Replace "<tt>[[gcc]]</tt>" with "<tt>[[G_plus_plus|g++]]</tt>" if it's a [[C_plus_plus|C++]] lib you're building.)

*For a static library (or "archive"):
::<tt>ar -r libFooBar.a foo.o bar.o</tt>
::<tt>gcc -o your_app main.o libFooBar.a</tt>

See Also: [[C]], [[libtool]], [[nm]], [[objdump]], [[Programming-related_Commands]]

----
== External links ==
* [http://users.actcom.co.il/~choo/lupg/tutorials/libraries/unix-c-libraries.html Building And Using Static And Shared "C" Libraries]
* [http://www.dwheeler.com/program-library/Program-Library-HOWTO/t1.html Program Library HOWTO]
* [http://www.iecc.com/linker/linker10.html Dynamic Linking and Loading]
* [http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-shlibs.html?ca=dgr-lnxw04SharedLib Dissecting Shared Libraries]

Tcp-wrappers

2005-10-25T17:32:28Z

JohnMG:

'''tcp-wrappers''', aka TCP Wrapper, aka tcpwrappers. A standard package to filter/log incoming TCP requests, and either pass them onto their intended daemon, or else otherwise deal with the request.

On [[Debian]], see:
apt-cache show tcpd

and some docs are in
/usr/share/doc/tcpd

tcp-wrappers was originally written by Wietse Venema, the same fellow who created [[postfix]], The Coroner's Toolkit ([[TCT]]), and [[SATAN]] -- among other tools.

External links:
* http://www.centos.org/docs/4/html/rhel-rg-en-4/ch-tcpwrappers.html

Tcp-wrappers

2005-10-25T17:30:44Z

JohnMG:

Tcp-wrappers

2005-10-25T17:28:47Z

JohnMG:

'''tcp-wrappers''', aka TCP Wrapper, aka tcpwrappers.

On [[Debian]], see:
apt-cache show tcpd

and some docs are in
/usr/share/doc/tcpd

tcp-wrappers was originally written by Wietse Venema, the same fellow who created [[postfix]], The Coroner's Toolkit ([[TCT]]), and [[SATAN]] -- among other tools.

Networking

2005-10-25T17:23:02Z

JohnMG:

'''Networking''' computers is often easier than people think. This section is dedicated to helping with basic network and network application setup. 
Please refrain from just copy-pasting [[HOWTO]]s or reference documentation. But if you do that anyway, please apply formatting or your pasted text will look horribly broken!
=Connecting to a network=
* [[Networking basics]] - Setting up your first network can be tricky. Here are some tips that can help.
**[[Network Addressing]]
***Typical [[Port numbers|port numbers]] for services
**[[Set up modem|Setting up your modem]]
**[[Set up DSL|Setting up broadband]]
***[[Set up PPoE|Setting up broadband using PPoE]]
***[[Set up PPTP|Setting up broadband using PPTP client]]
***[[Set up NTL|Specifics for NTL:home]]
**[[Wireless networking]] - Setting up your linux box to access a wireless network.
* [[Advanced Networking]] - Networking for the more adventurous.
** [[Network Setup]] - Setting up Router/Default Gateway
** [[Network Troubleshooting]] - Solving Network Problems

=Network services=
* [[tcp-wrappers]] - A package to monitor and forward incoming requests for various services.
* [[Samba]] - Information on sharing files and printers between Linux and Windows machines.
* [[Netatalk]] - Information on sharing files and printers between Linux and Macintosh machines.
* [[Web server]]s - Looking to set up a webserver? Take a look here.
* [[Services under inetd and xinetd|inetd and xinetd configuration]] - internet services daemons.
* [[Remote Desktop Connection]] - Connect to other computers with VNC, XDCMP, SSH or telnet.
* [[Mail services]]
** [[SMTP services]]
** [[POP3 services]]
** [[IMAP services]]
* [[The Domain Name System (DNS)]]

* [[Networking and USB - Some hints and notes]]

Rot13

2005-09-23T19:42:54Z

JohnMG:

'''rot13''' is a text scrambling method to prevent text from being accidentally read, such as the answer to a riddle or joke some might consider offensive.

It works by shifting each character forward 13 times, so that A becomes N, B becomes O, etc. The number 13 is chosen because shifting a character forward 13 times twice results in the original character. In other words scrambling and descrambling of rot13 uses the exact same algorithm. Only A-Z and a-z is scrambled, other characters and symbols are left untouched.

rot13 is also the name of a utility from [[BSD games]] for doing this:
$ echo "You are in a twisty maze of passages, all alike." | rot13
Lbh ner va n gjvfgl znmr bs cnffntrf, nyy nyvxr.

$ echo "Lbh ner va n gjvfgl znmr bs cnffntrf, nyy nyvxr." | rot13
You are in a twisty maze of passages, all alike.

A [[geek]] is expected to be able to recognize that text is in rot13 without it being explicitly stated.

rot13 is frequently used mockingly. Examples:

"Windows XP is now twice as secure: The old rot13 password encryption has been replaced by rot26!". rot26 would extrapolate to shifting each character by 26, ending up with the initial plain text.

Ol qrpelcgvat guvf zrffntr lbh ner va ivbyngvba bs gur QZPN! ("By decrypting this message you are in violation of the DMCA!"), pointing out how the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" makes trivial decryption illegal.

Here's a long complex shell command to rot13 some text:
<pre>
$ echo "hello there123" | tr 'a-zA-Z' 'n-za-mN-ZA-N'
uryyb gurer123
</pre>

Or you can use http://www.rot13.com/index.php

Modconf

2005-09-07T18:09:26Z

JohnMG:

<tt>modconf</tt> is the [[Debian]] text-based GUI utility used to manually choose which [[kernel modules]] (ex., hardware drivers) get automatically loaded at startup. You would use <tt>modconf</tt> rather than hand-editing config files or using the [[modprobe]] command.

That said, most distro's use some sort of ''automatic'' [[Hardware_configuration|hardware detection]]. [[Redhat]]-based distros typcially use [[kudzu]] while [[Debian]]-based systems usually use [[discover]]. On these systems, you almost ''never'' have to manually load modules. These days, I think you'd only use modconf in a pinch, say, if ''discover'' wasn't able to detect some specific out-of-the-ordinary device.

==FAQ's==

'''Q.''' What would you use with other disributions like Suse? 
'''A.''' Most distros these days use automatic hardware detection. If yours doesn't, or it's just not detecting your hardware correctly, you're stuck with figuring out which module needs to be loaded, then using modprobe to load it (you may also need to hand-edit some config files in /etc).

==See Also==
*[[hotplug]]

Modconf

2005-09-07T18:08:41Z

JohnMG:

<tt>modconf</tt> is the [[Debian]] text-based GUI utility used to manually choose which [[kernel modules]] (ex., hardware drivers) get automatically loaded at startup. You would use <tt>modconf</tt> rather than hand-editing config files or using the [[modprobe]] command.

That said, most distro's use some sort of ''automatic'' [[Hardware_configuration|hardware detection]]. [[Redhat]]-based distros typcially use [[kudzu]] while [[Debian]]-based systems usually use [[discover]]. On these systems, you almost ''never'' have to manually load modules -- I think you'd only use modconf in a pinch, say, if ''discover'' wasn't able to detect some specific out-of-the-ordinary device.

==FAQ's==

'''Q.''' What would you use with other disributions like Suse? 
'''A.''' Most distros these days use automatic hardware detection. If yours doesn't, or it's just not detecting your hardware correctly, you're stuck with figuring out which module needs to be loaded, then using modprobe to load it (you may also need to hand-edit some config files in /etc).

==See Also==
*[[hotplug]]

Modprobe

2005-09-07T18:04:11Z

JohnMG:

'''modprobe''' is a [[command]] used to add or remove [[module]]s from the [[kernel]].

To see the modules presently installed, you can type:

/sbin/modprobe -l

== See also: ==
* [[lsmod]]
* [[insmod]]
* [[commands]]
* [[functionality]]
* Debian users, see also [[modconf]]

Red Hat

2005-08-22T02:23:50Z

JohnMG:

'''Red Hat''' Linux is an [[RPM]]-based, [[user friendly]] GNU/Linux [[distribution]] that gained some degree of corporate acceptance as a viable [[server]] [[operating system]] and has some market share in the corporate [[enterprise]]. Red Hat was one of the first Linux distributions to feature a graphical installer.

In 2003 Red Hat announced their plan to partially abandon their legacy as a user friendly, desktop distribution and to focus their efforts on their enterprise server products and paid support programs under a brand new name, Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Thus, Red Hat will no longer exist as a Linux distribution name. [[Fedora]] is now aimed at the desktop market while Red Hat Enterprise Linux is aimed at the coporate market and the latter has become its primary product.

In 2004, Red Hat announced that it is developing a version of GNU/Linux aimed at the desktop market. While Red Hat's focus for this product will probably be corporations, Red Hat (in competition with [[Suse]]) may also be trying to take over the home desktop market from Microsoft.

==History of Red Hat Linux==
1993:
Young incorporates ACC Corporation, was a catalog business that sold Linux and Unix software accessories and books and distributed a magazine called New York UNIX.

1994:
Marc Ewing created his own distribution of GNU/Linux which he named Red Hat Linux, which was released in October. It becomes known as the Halloween release.

1995:
Young later bought Ewing's business, merged it with ACC Corporation, and named the new company Red Hat Software.

Red Hat Linux 2.0 marked the official release of the new package management system called [[RPM]].

Feburary 1999:
[[IBM]] and Red Hat announce Linux Alliance.

This is how one of the most popular distributions came into existence.

In 2003 Red Hat announced the creation of the [[Fedora]] project. Red Hat now only provides support for its enterprise edition, while Fedora is the free testing distribution, the next in the series after Red Hat 9. Fedora can be found at http://fedora.redhat.com.

==See also==
*[[Fedora]]
*[[up2date]]

==External links==
*[http://www.redhat.com Official website]
*[http://www.redhat.com/mktg/rh10year/ Red Hat history]

Up2date

2005-08-22T02:20:21Z

JohnMG:

'''up2date''' is the command used to initialize [[Red Hat]]'s client for using their proprietary [[Red Hat Network]] (aka RHN) to update a machine. The source code for the up2date is [[GPL]]'ed, but the source code for [[RHN]] is not. Access to RHN used to be free and unlimited, but since around early 2003, Redhat, in an effort to bolster their support revenue, has started doing annoying things like limiting the amount of machines a non-paying user can have registered, or requiring frequent re-registration...etc.

See [[Current]] for an [[open source]] alternative to RHN.

These days, most folks just use [[yum]], or it's GUI front-end [[yumex]].

==See also==
*[[Fedora]]
*[[RPM]]

==External links==
*[http://rhn.redhat.com RHN]
*[http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/yum/sn-software-management-tools.html Redhat's package management doc]

{{stub}}

Yumex

2005-08-22T02:17:36Z

JohnMG:

'''yumex''' is the GUI front-end for the command line tool called [[yum]]. It's Red Hat's answer to [[Debian]]'s [[apt-get]] or [[synaptic]] tools.

Yumex

2005-08-22T02:04:16Z

JohnMG:

'''yumex''' is the GUI front-end for the command line tool called [[yum]]. It's Redhat's answer to [[Debian]]'s [[apt-get]] or [[synaptic]] tools.

Up2date

2005-08-22T02:02:34Z

JohnMG:

'''up2date''' is the command used to initialize [[Red Hat]]'s client for using the Redhat proprietary [[Red Hat Network]] (aka RHN) to update a machine. The source code for the up2date is [[GPL]]'ed, but the source code for [[RHN]] is not. Access to RHN used to be free and unlimited, but since around early 2003, Redhat, in an effort to bolster their support revenue, has started doing annoying things like limiting the amount of machines a non-paying user can have registered, or requiring frequent re-registration...etc.

See [[Current]] for an [[open source]] alternative to RHN.

These days, most folks just use [[yum]], or it's GUI front-end [[yumex]].

==See also==
*[[Fedora]]
*[[RPM]]

==External links==
*[http://rhn.redhat.com RHN]
*[http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/yum/sn-software-management-tools.html Redhat's package management doc]

{{stub}}

Fedora

2005-08-11T21:05:58Z

JohnMG:

'''Fedora Core''' is the new name for the [[Red Hat]] [[Linux]] (RHL) series of [[distribution]]s. Once Red Hat Linux reached version 9 (code-named "Shrike"), [[Red Hat]] decided that it was time to split their core product into two directions:

* ''Fedora'', which would become a community-developed cutting edge R&D distribution where the latest and greatest Linux technologies would appear first. It focuses on the hobbyist and developer desktop (desktop Linux). An operating system built exclusively from free software and is available for free download.
* ''Red Hat Enterprise Linux'', which is a less cutting-edge, more stable, better supported version of Linux based on snapshots of Fedora taken every so often (typically once every year or so). It is not free but is available at a cost of over $150.

Fedora continues Red Hat's tradition of building a super-modern, if slightly unstable, Linux desktop, and it is extremely popular. It is an excellent distro for newbies as long as they're willing to rough and tumble it with the Linux developers.

==Latest major release==
The latest major release of Fedora Core, is '''Fedora Core 4''' (aka "FC4" or "Stentz"). You can find out more information about this in the [http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/release-notes/fc4/ Fedora Core 4 release notes] and the [http://fedora.redhat.com/ Fedora Project homepage].

==Miscellaneous==
FC3 makes use of [[Project Utopia]] for autodetecting and autoloading hardware drivers.

Fedora Core 2 ("Tettnang") saw a somewhat buggy first implementation of the NSA's [http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/ Security Enhanced Linux] project however this was refined greatly for the release of FC3 and became the first major distribution to implement this finer-grained security model in any great detail.

===Fedora Core 3 - YUM configuration note===
The /etc/yum.conf file in Fedora Core 3 should typically contain a small set of general repository independent settings - to complement this, the actual repositories are now set up as separate files in /etc/yum.repos.d/

You can leave your alternative repositories (such as DAG etc..) in a disabled state by default with the:

enabled=0

option set in their respective repo files. You can then enable the repository when needed, with:

yum --enablerepo <your_repository_name> <your_command>

For example:

yum --enablerepo dag install rxvt

==See also==
*[[RedhatToFedora|Upgrading from RedHat 9 to Fedora Core 1]]
*[[Fedora, Synaptic Package Manager, finding Repositories, listing RPMs, previously installed]]
* [[FedoraCore2BootIssue|HOWTO Install Fedora Core 2 on a dual-boot system so that Windows will still boot.]]
*[[Yum]]

==External links==
*[http://fedora.redhat.com Fedora Project homepage]
*[http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/ Fedora Project wiki]
*[http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/release-notes/ release notes]
*[http://www.fedoraforum.org/ FedoraForum]
*[http://www.fedoranews.org FedoraNEWS.ORG - "a public community news information site for Fedora Users"]
*[http://www.fedorafaq.org/ Unofficial Fedora FAQ]
*[http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/updates/index.html Keeping Fedora up to date with Yum]
*[http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/html/47/1570.html Fedora Core 2 review] - from Madpenguin.org
*[http://www.redhat.com/magazine/001nov04/features/fedoracore3/ Fedora Core 3 - an overview by Warren Togami and Colin Charles]
*Officially recognized LQ [http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/f35 Fedora forum]
*Stanton-finley installation and configuration [http://www.stanton-finley.net/fedora_core_4_installation_notes.html guide]
*[http://www.simisen.com/jmg/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.GNUJavaOnFedora Some notes on using GNU's Java on FC4]

JSP

2005-08-09T17:24:19Z

JohnMG:

'''Java Server Pages'''. [[Servlet]]s are like [[CGI]] scripts, but contain lots of Java code with double-quoted html in them. JSP's are also like CGI scripts, but they look much more like html with some Java-like commands (and sometimes actual Java code too) sprinkled throughout.

Typically, JSP's (and servlets) are run by [[Tomcat]] for you when a client asks for a given resource that's mapped to a given JSP (or servlet).

JSP

2005-08-09T17:22:20Z

JohnMG:

'''Java Server Pages'''. [[Servlet]]s are like CGI scripts, but contains lots of Java code with double-quoted html in it. JSP's are too, but they look much more like html with Java-like commands (and sometimes actual Java code too) sprinkled throughout.

JSP

2005-08-09T17:22:05Z

JohnMG:

'''Java Server Pages'''. [[Servlets]] are like CGI scripts, but contains lots of Java code with double-quoted html in it. JSP's are too, but they look much more like html with Java-like commands (and sometimes actual Java code too) sprinkled throughout.

JSP

2005-08-09T17:21:04Z

JohnMG:

'''Java Server Pages'''. [[Servlets]] are like CGI scripts, JSP's are too, but they look much more like html with Java-like commands sprinkled throughout.

Hjsplit

2005-08-09T17:16:26Z

JohnMG:

'''HJSplit''' is a freeware, multi-platform file splitter. Allowing you to separate a single file into multiple, easier to swallow chunks allowing transfer through E-Mail, the web, floppies or anything of the sort. Defaults to a full graphical interface based on the [http://www.freebyte.com/linux/libraries Kylix library] but also includes a [[CLI]] based interface, and a [[GTK]] based interface.

==External links==
*[http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/ HJSplit's main webpage]
*[http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/#linux HJSplit for Linux download]

Servlet

2005-08-09T17:15:25Z

JohnMG:

A '''servlet''' is a [[Java]] technology that extends the functionality of a [[web server]]. One way to think about it is: a servlet is a Java [[applet]] that runs server side.

A servlet is the same as a [[CGI]] script, except that a CGI script is handled by [[Apache]] and run by bash/perl/python, and a servlet is handled by a "servlet container", such as [[Tomcat]] and run by a [[JVM]].

Tomcat does double-duty: it can be a web server as well as a servlet container (that is, standalone) -- or it can just be a servlet container that Apache talks to when it needs a servlet run.

Many folks use Tomcat standalone to avoid having to run and configure Apache to forward servlet requests on to Tomcat: they just access their servlets via Tomcat directly:

http://localhost:8080/path/to/your/servlet

==External Links==
*[http://java.sun.com/products/servlet/ Sun on servlets]

Servlet

2005-08-09T16:41:19Z

JohnMG:

A '''servlet''' is a [[Java]] technology that extends the functionality of a [[web server]]. One way to think about it is: a servlet is a Java [[applet]] that runs server side.

A servlet is the same as a [[CGI]] script, except that a CGI script is handled by [[Apache]] and run by bash/perl/python, and a servlet is handled by a "servlet container", such as [[Tomcat]] and run by a [[JVM]].

Tomcat does double-duty: it can be a web server as well as a servlet container -- or it can just be a servlet container that Apache talks to when it needs a servlet run.

Many folks use Tomcat this way to avoid having to run and configure Apache to forward servlet requests on to Tomcat: they just use Tomcat directly.

http://localhost:8080/path/to/your/servlet

==External Links==
*[http://java.sun.com/products/servlet/ Sun on servlets]

RHEL

2005-07-21T04:19:21Z

JohnMG:

RHEL is "Redhat Enterprise Linux". It's the [[Redhat]] commercial product that Redhat sells support for. It's also available free in the form of the Centos distribution (without any support from Redhat, of course).

External links: 
http://www.centos.org/

RHN

2005-07-21T04:16:00Z

JohnMG:

rhn stands for "red hat network". It refers to the set of servers that Redhat provides for [[RHEL]] customers to get updates from (presumably using the [[up2date]] tool.

The rhnsd daemon takes care of regularly contacting the rhn to see if updates are available. It reports its findings to the "Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool" (the sometimes red pulsating circle at the top right in the upper Gnome panel).

Red Hat Network

2005-07-21T04:11:44Z

JohnMG:

See [[RHN]]

RHEL

2005-07-21T04:11:04Z

JohnMG:

RHEL is "Redhat Enterprise Linux". It's the [[Redhat]] commercial product that Redhat sells support for. It's also available free in the form of the Centos distribution.

External links:
http://www.centos.org/

RHN

2005-07-21T04:08:57Z

JohnMG:

rhn stands for "red hat network". It refers to the set of servers that Redhat provides for [[RHEL]] customers to get updates from (presumably using the [[up2date]] tool.

Fedora

2005-07-19T05:41:13Z

JohnMG:

Eclipse

2005-07-19T05:38:16Z

JohnMG:

'''Eclipse''' is an [[open source]] [[J2EE]] [[IDE]] written in [[Java]].

Eclipse features support for Java tools such as [[Ant]] and [[JUnit]]. Plugins are avaliable to use Eclipse to program in other languages, such as [[C plus plus|C++]].

Eclipse uses the [[SWT]] toolkit rather than [[swing]] or [[AWT]]. As a consequence it takes on the [[GTK]] look and feel and fits in nicely with other Linux programs. It also tends to be faster than Java IDEs with swing-based GUIs, although the difference on modern computers is small.

Eclipse is licensed under the so-called "EPL" -- the "Eclipse Public License". Formerly, it was licensed under the IBM's "CPL".

==See also==
*[[NetBeans]]

==External links==
*[http://www.eclipse.org/ Eclipse.org mainpage]
*[http://www.nabble.com/Eclipse-f2159.html Eclipse Forum]

*[http://www.eclipse.org/legal/cpl-v10.html CPL]
*[http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html EPL]
*License [http://www.eclipse.org/legal/cpl2eplfaq.html transition] from CPL to EPL

{{stub}}

Eclipse

2005-07-19T05:37:50Z

JohnMG:

'''Eclipse''' is an [[open source]] [[J2EE]] [[IDE]] written in [[Java]].

Eclipse features support for Java tools such as [[Ant]] and [[JUnit]]. Plugins are avaliable to use Eclipse to program in other languages, such as [[C plus plus|C++]].

Eclipse uses the [[SWT]] toolkit rather than [[swing]] or [[AWT]]. As a consequence it takes on the [[GTK]] look and feel and fits in nicely with other Linux programs. It also tends to be faster than Java IDEs with swing-based GUIs, although the difference on modern computers is small.

Eclipse is licensed under the so-called "EPL" -- the "Eclipse Public License". Formerly, it was licensed under the IBM's "CPL".

==See also==
*[[NetBeans]]

==External links==
*[http://www.eclipse.org/ Eclipse.org mainpage]
*[http://www.nabble.com/Eclipse-f2159.html Eclipse Forum]

*[http://www.eclipse.org/legal/cpl-v10.html CPL]
*[http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html EPL]
*[http://www.eclipse.org/legal/cpl2eplfaq.html transition] from CPL to EPL

{{stub}}

Ant

2005-07-19T05:33:56Z

JohnMG:

'''Ant''': "'''A'''nother '''N'''eat '''T'''ool", is basically [[make]] for [[Java]], except that instead of a makefile, you use a build.xml file, and instead of the eclectic make syntax, your build.xml file is written in XML. ant was created and is maintained by the [[Apache Foundation]].

Ant is written in Java and can be extended by Java classes. While Ant may be run from the command line, it is not shell-based. XML-based configuration files create target trees where tasks like compiling and deployment are executed.

==External links==
*[http://ant.apache.org/ ant.apache.org]
*[http://www.nabble.com/Ant-f106.html Ant Forum]

{{msg:stub}}

Glue language

2005-07-02T18:44:12Z

JohnMG:

''Glue language'' is just a term used to describe a [[scripting language]] that's useful for (and maybe even optimized for) running other programs, taking their output, massaging it, sending it off to another program, and so on. You're "gluing" a bunch of [[command line]] apps together by taking output from one and piping it to another.

Shell scripting (like [[bash]]) can be considered a glue language. [[Perl]] is another.

Perl

2005-07-02T17:44:09Z

JohnMG: "use warnings" instead of -w.

'''Perl''' is the '''P'''ractical '''E'''xtraction and '''R'''eport '''L'''anguage. It's a so-called [[scripting language]] and has also been referred to as a "[[glue language]]" as well as the "duct tape of the internet". See <tt>man perl</tt> and <tt>perldoc perlintro</tt> to get started.

Detractors (or else, [[Larry_Wall|Larry]]) may refer to Perl as the ''Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister''.

== perldoc's definition ==
'''Perl''' is a high-level programming language with an eclectic heritage written by Larry Wall and a cast of thousands. It derives from the ubiquitous [[C]] programming language and to a lesser extent from sed, awk, the Unix shell, and at least a dozen other tools and languages. Perl's process, file, and text manipulation facilities make it particularly well-suited for tasks involving quick prototyping, system utilities, software tools, system management tasks, database access, graphical programming, networking, and world wide web programming. These strengths make it especially popular with system administrators and CGI script authors, but mathematicians, geneticists, journalists, and even managers also use Perl. Maybe you should, too.

== Sample Perl Program ==
<code><pre>
#!/usr/bin/perl
# This is the prototypical "Hello World!" program, this time
# written in Perl.
use strict;
use warnings;
print "Hello World!\n";
</pre></code>

The first line is the [[shebang]] line, it identifies the location of <tt>perl</tt>. If you don't know where it's located, you can type <tt>which perl</tt> to find out. If <tt>perl</tt> is not in your path or installed on your system, <tt>which</tt> will show you nothing. Most distributions come with Perl already installed.

Then there's a couple of comment lines. Note, the ''very first'' line of the script (the shebang line) is ''not'' a comment (even though it kinda' looks like one).

The <tt>use strict</tt> line is to help catch when you write code that could later make your life difficult. Always use it. See <tt>man perltrap</tt> (or <tt>perldoc perltrap</tt>) for other ways to avoid common pitfalls. <tt>use warnings</tt> helps catch possible problems also (<tt>use warnings</tt> is the more modern alternative to passing <tt>perl</tt> the <tt>-w</tt> option).

The print line displays the text and the <tt>\n</tt> is a special character indicating the new line.

== CPAN ==
One of the greatest resources for any Perl programmer is [[CPAN]] a which is a collection of perl modules which you can use in your own programs to simplify many things.

----

==Perl and CGI scripting==
Perl is commonly used for writing [[CGI]] scripts (scripts that run on a web server). If a file is suitably declared, instead of its contents being displayed, it is executed and its ''output'' displayed. Data from forms can be passed to CGI scripts.

CGI scripts are usually placed in a directory called <tt>cgi-bin</tt>. Check your distribution's (or your ISP's) documentation to discover where this directory is -- it shouldn't be in the same directory as your HTML files. Make sure the script has its permissions set to 755 (see [[chmod]] for details on setting [[file permissions]]).

===Simple CGI script===
<CODE><pre>#!/usr/bin/perl
print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
print "<HTML>\n";
print "<BODY>\n";
print "Hello, world!\n";
print "</BODY>\n";
print "</HTML>\n";
exit;</pre></CODE>

Note the first line we print indicates a [[MIME]] type for our short output HTML file. If [[httpd]] were sending a regular file, it would determine what type of file it is from the first few bytes and send a MIME type automatically; but a CGI script is expected to send its own MIME type. (That sounds like a minus, but it also means that a script can easily send additional HTTP headers if necessary.) The second line is a blank line, to terminate the headers. The remainder is just a short, "[[hello world]]" HTML file.

===A form reader===
The following programme reads and displays data from HTML forms. It's useful for debugging purposes, or for using as the basis for a more complicated script,
<CODE><pre>
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

my $input_buffer,
my (@post_names,@get_names);
my %parameters;
my ($name, $value);
my $referrer = $ENV{'HTTP_REFERER'};

foreach (split/&/, $ENV{'QUERY_STRING') {
tr/+/ /;
($name,$value) = split /=/, $_;
$name =~ s/%(..)/pack('c', hex($1))/eg;
$value =~ s/%(..)/pack('c', hex($1))/eg;
$parameters{$name} = $value;
push @get_names,$name;
};

foreach (split /&/, (read STDIN,$input_buffer,$ENV{"CONTENT_LENGTH"})) {
tr/+/ /;
($name,$value) = split (/=/, $_);
$name =~ s/%(..)/pack('c', hex($1))/eg;
$value =~ s/%(..)/pack('c', hex($1))/eg;
push @post_names,$name;
$parameters{$name} = $value;
};

print << "--STOP--";
Content-type: text/html

<HTML>
<HEAD><TITLE>General Purpose Form Reader</TITLE></HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1>General Purpose Form Reader</H1>
--STOP--

print "Referring page was \"$referrer\" \n";

if (@get_names) {
print " Items submitted by GET / query string (in order):\n";
foreach (@get_names) {
print " "$_" = "$parameters{$_}"\n";
};
};

if (@post_names) {
print " Items submitted by POST method (in order):\n";
foreach (@post_names) {
print " "$_" = "$parameters{$_}"\n";
};
};

if (!(@get_names) && !(@post_names)) {
print " Nothing was submitted!\n";
};

print "</BODY>\n</HTML>\n";</pre></CODE>

The first section simply sets up some variables. The hash called <tt>ENV</tt> is already set up for you by the web server. The next section reads the value of the query string, which is stored in the environment variable QUERY_STRING; splits it into name/value pairs; and parses special characters in the names and values -- this needs to be done ''after'' the split, in case one of the special characters evaluates to an '=' (equal) sign. Yes, I made that mistake, and now I'm telling you about it so you don't have to. The names are stored in an array (which is only really necessary for the purposes of keeping the GET and POST variables separate; feel free to drop it in a "real life" script if you don't care how the variables got there), and an associative array is constructed, with the values indexed by name.

The next section reads the POST data, if any, and stores it similarly: names into an array, values into the same associative array. This is passed through STDIN; an environment variable (CONTENT_LENGTH) is set to hold the length of the data. Again, the data consists of a set of name=value pairs, separated by & signs.

Finally, a web page is started, and the GET and POST values are printed in turn.

==See also==
*[[Programming#Scripting languages|Scripting languages section]]

== External links ==
* http://www.perl.com
* http://www.perlmonks.org
* http://www.cgi101.com

Mandriva

2005-07-02T17:38:46Z

JohnMG: footnote about Perl being used extensively for drake sys utils

'''Mandrake''' Linux was created in 1998 with the goal of making [[Linux]] easier to use for everyone. At that time, Linux was still a developer's [[operating system]] and sound knowledge of the [[CLI]] was a must.

==History==
[http://www.mandrakesoft.com MandrakeSoft] (the company which produces the Mandrake [[distribution]]) saw this as an opportunity to integrate the best graphical [[desktop environment]]s and contribute its own graphical configuration utilities and quickly became popular for its strong commitment to ease-of-use and functionality. For this reason, it is often recommended as a good desktop distribution to begin for newbies.
In order to achieve this they forked from [[Red Hat]], retained the [[RPM]]-based [[package]] management, and evolved from there.

Mandrake Linux was one of the first distributions to be optimized for [[i586]] [[processor]]s (and superior).

==Features==
Mandrake Linux is an [[rpm]]-based distribution for the Intel and PPC architectures, like [[Fedora]], [[SuSE]], [[Red Hat]] and many others. Mandrake Linux was the first rpm-based distribution to provide automatic resolution of dependencies, in an [[apt-get]]-like fashion, with [[URPMI]], which debuted in version 7.2. urpmi can easily update the entire distribution and install security updates. Apart from the official Mandrake packages, it is easy to find unofficial,additional packages on the Internet. The binary package pool for Mandrake is not as large as the [[Debian]] or [[Fedora]] one, but is nevertheless impressive. Moreover, a graphical interface to urpmi is provided in [[rpmdrake]] (and the MandrakeUpdate tool specifically for security updates).

The main target of Mandrake Linux is the desktop, where it generally provides very good functionality and ease of use. [[KDE]] is the default desktop, but [[Gnome]], [[WindowMaker]] and others can be installed easily too. Practically all useful desktop applications ([[OpenOffice]], [[Mozilla]], [[mplayer]] and so on) are installed and well configured by default. A number of graphical tools make configuration of the system easy, however automatic hardware detection is often very good and there is usually no need of major tweaks, at least for use as an average desktop. All standard [[development]] tools and languages are also included or ready to install.

Although many see Mandrake as a desktop-only distribution , it is also possible to run a Mandrake Linux server. Successful cases of the use of Mandrake in business settings (in both desktop and server roles) are documented at [http://mandrakebizcases.com/ this site].

==Installation==
Mandrake developed a graphical installation process recognized by many as one of the best available, with advanced and efficient hardware detection (although today other distributions, like [[SuSE]] and [[Fedora]] provide similar tools).
Mandrake installation usually needs no more than booting from the first distribution CD-ROM and following instructions.

==Development process==
As of today Mandrake follows a [[Debian]]-like three-step development process for every release (although much faster than Debian). Every new release begins simply as being [[Mandrake Cooker]], that is the continuously changing current development line, and can be roughly seen as the analogue of Debian unstable. When the packages and set up of Cooker begins to reach reasonable stability, the so-called [[Mandrake Community]] is released (often preceded by a couple of release candidates). Mandrake Community normally still contains bugs and unstable packages, and it is intended as a fairly usable but testing release. After months of testing, feedback and improvements on the Community release, the [[Official]] version is released. [[Mandrake Official]] is intended to be the stable version.

The [[GPL]] (General Public License) governs the development and redistribution of Mandrake Linux and Mandrake Linux is community-driven to a large degree. Non-MandrakeSoft contributors have write access to packages in the main distribution, commit access to Mandrake's own tools in [[CVS]], full bug tracking rights in [http://qa.mandrakesoft.com Mandrake's bugzilla] and the [http://qa.mandrakesoft.com/wiki Mandrake Development wiki]. Over half the packages in the entire distribution (combining "main" and "contrib") are maintained by the community. For non-developers, support is available from the unofficial [http://mandrake.vmlinuz.ca Mandrake community wiki] and the [http://www.mandrakeusers.org Mandrake Users Board].

==Criticism==
Although Mandrake is one of the best distributions available, especially for newbies and for the desktop, is (like any other distribution) far from being perfect. Mandrake is well known for heavy customization of [[kernel]] and packages. While this often is a plus by adding new functionality, it can also lead to inferior stability (especially in the Community releases) when confronted with other distributions like [[Slackware]] or [[Debian]]. The large hardware support by default Mandrake Linux provides also means installation of a large and heavy kernel. Also many [[kernel module|kernel modules]] are active by default after the installation, weighing on the system. Even with a lightweight [[GUI]] like [[Fluxbox]] Mandrake is noticeably slow on old computers, and cannot be seriously advised as a desktop on a PC with less than 128 Mbyte of RAM and 400 MHz clock rate. These are fairly low requirements (lower than that of [[Windows XP]] for example), but [[Slackware]],for example, can run a reasonably fast graphical desktop on a 150 MHz Pentium with 64 Mbyte of RAM. However Slackware is much harder to install and configure, and has less hardware support by default.

==Miscellanea==
Many of the system configuration utilities for Mandrake are written in [[Perl]] (dunno how to make this a footnote: http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2005/02/24/mandrakelinux.html )

==Distributions similar to Mandrake==
*[[Red Hat]]
*[[SuSE]]
*[[Lorma]]
*[[Libranet]]

==Latest major release==
The latest major release of Mandrakelinux is '''Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official'''. You can find out more about it on the [http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/101 10.1 official overview page]. For general features, see the [http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/features.php3 Mandrakelinux features page]. You can download 10.1 official from the [http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3 Mandrakelinux download page].

==External links==
*[http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en-us/ Official website]
*[http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en-us/concept.php3 Further information]
*[http://www.madpenguin.org/Article742.html?m=show&id=1226 Mandrake 9.2 review] - from Madpenguin.org
*[http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/html/47/1040.html Mandrake 10 review] - from Madpenguin.org
*[http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ Easy URPMI]

Configuring X

2005-05-22T23:13:11Z

JohnMG: /dev/mouse vs. /dev/input/mice

Configuration of the [[XFree86]] or [[Xorg]] (commonly called just [[X]] or [[X11]]) server is hopefully done automatically by your GNU/Linux distribution. If it fails at this or it just plain doesn't do it, you have the somewhat messy task of setting it up yourself. This often ends up being a great frustration for most users.

''Note, this page should probably be updated to reflect the greater usage of Xorg these days.''

== Various Tools That Make Things Easier ==
There are a number programs that automatically configure XFree86 for you. Your first stop should be the tool your distribution provides (for example, [[Debian]] systems give you [[dpkg-reconfigure]] ''x-package-name'').

You can also use the tools that come with XFree86:
;'''xf86config''': A text-based tool that asks you a bunch of questions. Downside: rewrites your configuration on every use. If you messed it up, you need to have a backup copy of the XF86Config file around.
;'''xf86cfg''': Starts a session of XFree86 with a minimal configuration so it you can configure graphically. If it doesn't work, you can use it's text-mode: 'xf86cfg --textmode'


Some video card makers provide their own tools for you to use, and some distributions also provide their own tools - for example, Mandrake.

== The XF86Config file ==

This is what XFree86 reads upon startup, so that it knows what devices it needs to load drivers for. (Sometimes it is called XF86Config-4, depending on your distribution -- see below.) These devices typically include a mouse, a keyboard, one (or more) video cards, and one (or more) monitors. The mouse and keyboard are typically easy enough to configure, and newer XFree86 setups will commonly know what card is in the machine. However, older versions of XFree86 (3.x and earlier) needed to have specific details about the video card chipset put into the file.

== Manual editing of XF86Config ==

This should only be used if your previous attempts at using either xf86config or xf86cfg do not work. Or if you're just making a small change to an already working X config file.

First, figure out what you're favorite (or least hated) [[cli]] text [[editor]] is. You'll need to edit the file as [[root]], and then restart X after your edit (logging out then logging back in does this).

== Customizing your system ==

<ol>Here are your options:
<li>Use the tool your distribution provides
<li>Use xf86config
<li>Use xf86cfg
<li>Edit the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file by hand.
<li>Use a third party configuration tool, for example, if you use the ati-drivers, they come with an fglrxconfig tool that inserts special options for the ati cards.
</ol>

NOTE: If you are using version 4.x chances are your file will be named XF86Config-4. This takes precedence over the old XF86Config file, which was used with XFree86-3.x.

=== Finer points -- video card settings ===
If you're using a flat panel monitor, X may automatically enable subpixel font rendering. Subpixel font rendering is undesirable for some because of the very slight color artifacts it creates. To shut it off, you can use [[fontconfig]]. On [[Debian]] systems, the command is ''dpkg-reconfigure fontconfig''.

With [[Gnome]], there's a desktop settings program that lets you configure how fonts are rendered.

In newer versions of the [[radeon]] man page, there should be an option called 'SubPixelOrder', but I don't know the connection between that and fontconfig.

For video cards with 2 outputs (e.g., A [[DVI]] port along with a 15-pin VGA port), you may add an option to your "Device" section that looks like:

Option "MonitorLayout" "TMDS, NONE"

Again, see ''man radeon'' (or the relevant man page for the driver you're using) for more details.

== Mouse configuration ==

The mouse often is the most difficult to get working for new users. You'll want to verify you have a working mouse at <tt>/dev/mouse</tt> (users with [[USB]] will use <tt>/dev/input/mice</tt> instead). If not, you need to create the link. The easiest way to find out, is just to type:

cat /dev/mouse

Now move your mouse around and you should have random characters fly up your screen. Press "Control-C" to quit.
If you don't see strange characters, and you perhaps get back "no such file", then you need to tell your computer you actually have one. See [http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Configuring_mice_(Serial%2C_PS/2%2C_USB) Configuring mice (Serial, PS/2, USB] for further help.
Come back here when you need to continue.

Within the configuration when asked for the protocol, most people will use PS/2, or IMPS/2 for usb mice.
However, if you have an older serial mouse, then you perhaps need to choose "Microsoft" (the most common for two-button mice) or "MouseSystems" if you have a three-button mouse. You will find that if one doesn't work, then the other will. There may even be a switch on the mouse labeled "PC/MS" to select the protocol.

Another option is to see if XFree86 discovers the correct protocol for itself - by putting in "auto". This works for really modern mice (the Explorer types, for example).

A very common problem is getting the scroll wheel to work, if you have one. This is generally very easy to do.
There will be a section labeled "InputDevice" that relates to the mouse. Within that section, add the line:

<tt>Option "ZAxis Mapping" "4 5"</tt>

For older mice that only have two buttons, or do NOT have a clickable wheel (some scroll wheel mice), you may also select to turn on "Emulate3Buttons" by adding the following line:

<tt>Option "Emulate3Buttons"
Option "Emulate3Timeout" "50"</tt>

If you have a mouse with three buttons (or even more, perhaps) then you won't need these two lines. This also applies if your scroll wheel also clicks as well as rolling.

== Keyboard ==

There is support for many different keyboards - more commonly this will affect what keys do when you hit them. If you don't specify a change in the type of keyboard you have, XFree86 will assume that you are using a USA keyboard, and all your keys will react as if they are on a USA keyboard.

Choosing a keyboard mapping that supports the closest country to yours will help you out when you want to enter non-US characters that you find typically in the French, Spanish, Russian, or perhaps even Greek keyboards.

There are several HOWTO documents that cover "localising" your keyboard and setup, available at [http://www.tldp.org The Linuxdoc Project], and they're written either in English, or in the language of the country that they address.

(This section needs to be expanded)

== Video cards ==

(Add a description of correct configuration of video driver selection)

If your card has an ATI Radeon chipset, see 'man radeon'. See the [[DRI]] website for a list of supported cards/chipsets.

== Monitors ==

(Add a description of selecting correct monitor devices)

== Running XFree86 ==

Once you have all your hardware details specified correctly, you are ready to test out XFree86. For most users, you will have to be the root user to do this step.
You are probably at the root prompt already, so type "startx" and wait.

After a few seconds, you ought to see a grey screen with a cross (X) in the middle. It is also possible that KDE may load after this, but we're not counting on that yet.
If you get this grey screen, and it sits around, and the cross moves when you move the mouse, then congratulations. Your XFree86 works - but you may need to do a few minor tweaks with regard to resolution or whatever. Hit "Control-Alt-Backspace" together, you will then be put back to the console screen.All you need to do now is fire up KDE or GNOME (or some other window manager).

If you end up with a KDE or GNOME screen, then choose "Logout" from the startup menu. Again, congratulations.
You may need to tweak things like available resolutions, and bitdepths, but that is for further discussion in another section.

== What? No graphics? ==

If you GET something that looks more like text, and stays at your console, then you need to work out (from what XFree86 said) what section you need to alter.
XFree86 also leaves a log file in /var/log/XFree86.0.log for you to look at, but this is a pretty long file to look at for people new to the process.

(Needs to be filled in further)
Common reasons for this include:
<dl>
<dt>XFree86 couldn't figure out what your card was.</dt>
<dd>This is common when you have an older version of XFree and a really new video card. Examples of this can include having an Intel 845 graphics chipset, and not having a Intel 845 driver within your version of XFree86.
This is a very specific example of a card that will not work (properly) with an Intel 830 driver).
Mostly, upgrading either XFree86 itself, or the whole distribution itself will generally cure this. If you already HAVE the latest, then you have some work to do.</dd>
<dt>It found your card, but "no suitable screens were found"</dt>
<dd>This can happen if you didn't correctly specify what resolutions you wanted to make available. This can also include selecting correct bitdepths (8, 16, 24 or 32-bit resolutions). When you have a modern flat-panel display, it's even more important you get the available resolutions correct.</dd>
</dl>

TODO: We will probably need to break up sections of the X configuration process (now done) and organize it nicely. This is just a slightly less rough overview. Categories about video cards and screens need to be filled out, as well as the troubleshooting section.

===screensaver===
Typing xscreensaver at the prompt will launch a diaolog to edit your preferences. You can also go in manually; grep for xscreensaver, it'll be something like <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/XScreenSaver</tt>

==See also==
*[[Using multiple monitors with XFree86]]
*[[OpenGL]]

Configuring X

2005-05-22T23:09:11Z

JohnMG:

Configuration of the [[XFree86]] or [[Xorg]] (commonly called just [[X]] or [[X11]]) server is hopefully done automatically by your GNU/Linux distribution. If it fails at this or it just plain doesn't do it, you have the somewhat messy task of setting it up yourself. This often ends up being a great frustration for most users.

''Note, this page should probably be updated to reflect the greater usage of Xorg these days.''

== Various Tools That Make Things Easier ==
There are a number programs that automatically configure XFree86 for you. Your first stop should be the tool your distribution provides (for example, [[Debian]] systems give you [[dpkg-reconfigure]] ''x-package-name'').

You can also use the tools that come with XFree86:
;'''xf86config''': A text-based tool that asks you a bunch of questions. Downside: rewrites your configuration on every use. If you messed it up, you need to have a backup copy of the XF86Config file around.
;'''xf86cfg''': Starts a session of XFree86 with a minimal configuration so it you can configure graphically. If it doesn't work, you can use it's text-mode: 'xf86cfg --textmode'


Some video card makers provide their own tools for you to use, and some distributions also provide their own tools - for example, Mandrake.

== The XF86Config file ==

This is what XFree86 reads upon startup, so that it knows what devices it needs to load drivers for. (Sometimes it is called XF86Config-4, depending on your distribution -- see below.) These devices typically include a mouse, a keyboard, one (or more) video cards, and one (or more) monitors. The mouse and keyboard are typically easy enough to configure, and newer XFree86 setups will commonly know what card is in the machine. However, older versions of XFree86 (3.x and earlier) needed to have specific details about the video card chipset put into the file.

== Manual editing of XF86Config ==

This should only be used if your previous attempts at using either xf86config or xf86cfg do not work. Or if you're just making a small change to an already working X config file.

First, figure out what you're favorite (or least hated) [[cli]] text [[editor]] is. You'll need to edit the file as [[root]], and then restart X after your edit (logging out then logging back in does this).

== Customizing your system ==

<ol>Here are your options:
<li>Use the tool your distribution provides
<li>Use xf86config
<li>Use xf86cfg
<li>Edit the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file by hand.
<li>Use a third party configuration tool, for example, if you use the ati-drivers, they come with an fglrxconfig tool that inserts special options for the ati cards.
</ol>

NOTE: If you are using version 4.x chances are your file will be named XF86Config-4. This takes precedence over the old XF86Config file, which was used with XFree86-3.x.

=== Finer points -- video card settings ===
If you're using a flat panel monitor, X may automatically enable subpixel font rendering. Subpixel font rendering is undesirable for some because of the very slight color artifacts it creates. To shut it off, you can use [[fontconfig]]. On [[Debian]] systems, the command is ''dpkg-reconfigure fontconfig''.

With [[Gnome]], there's a desktop settings program that lets you configure how fonts are rendered.

In newer versions of the [[radeon]] man page, there should be an option called 'SubPixelOrder', but I don't know the connection between that and fontconfig.

For video cards with 2 outputs (e.g., A [[DVI]] port along with a 15-pin VGA port), you may add an option to your "Device" section that looks like:

Option "MonitorLayout" "TMDS, NONE"

Again, see ''man radeon'' (or the relevant man page for the driver you're using) for more details.

== Mouse configuration ==

The mouse often is the most difficult to get working for new users. You'll want to verify you have a working mouse at /dev/mouse. If not, you need to create the link. The easiest way to find out, is just to type:
cat /dev/mouse

Now move your mouse around and you should have random characters fly up your screen. Press "Control-C" to quit.
If you don't see strange characters, and you perhaps get back "no such file", then you need to tell your computer you actually have one. See [http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Configuring_mice_(Serial%2C_PS/2%2C_USB) Configuring mice (Serial, PS/2, USB] for further help.
Come back here when you need to continue.

Within the configuration when asked for the protocol, most people will use PS/2, or IMPS/2 for usb mice.
However, if you have an older serial mouse, then you perhaps need to choose "Microsoft" (the most common for two-button mice) or "MouseSystems" if you have a three-button mouse. You will find that if one doesn't work, then the other will. There may even be a switch on the mouse labeled "PC/MS" to select the protocol.

Another option is to see if XFree86 discovers the correct protocol for itself - by putting in "auto". This works for really modern mice (the Explorer types, for example).

A very common problem is getting the scroll wheel to work, if you have one. This is generally very easy to do.
There will be a section labeled "InputDevice" that relates to the mouse. Within that section, add the line:

<tt>Option "ZAxis Mapping" "4 5"</tt>

For older mice that only have two buttons, or do NOT have a clickable wheel (some scroll wheel mice), you may also select to turn on "Emulate3Buttons" by adding the following line:

<tt>Option "Emulate3Buttons"
Option "Emulate3Timeout" "50"</tt>

If you have a mouse with three buttons (or even more, perhaps) then you won't need these two lines. This also applies if your scroll wheel also clicks as well as rolling.

== Keyboard ==

There is support for many different keyboards - more commonly this will affect what keys do when you hit them. If you don't specify a change in the type of keyboard you have, XFree86 will assume that you are using a USA keyboard, and all your keys will react as if they are on a USA keyboard.

Choosing a keyboard mapping that supports the closest country to yours will help you out when you want to enter non-US characters that you find typically in the French, Spanish, Russian, or perhaps even Greek keyboards.

There are several HOWTO documents that cover "localising" your keyboard and setup, available at [http://www.tldp.org The Linuxdoc Project], and they're written either in English, or in the language of the country that they address.

(This section needs to be expanded)

== Video cards ==

(Add a description of correct configuration of video driver selection)

If your card has an ATI Radeon chipset, see 'man radeon'. See the [[DRI]] website for a list of supported cards/chipsets.

== Monitors ==

(Add a description of selecting correct monitor devices)

== Running XFree86 ==

Once you have all your hardware details specified correctly, you are ready to test out XFree86. For most users, you will have to be the root user to do this step.
You are probably at the root prompt already, so type "startx" and wait.

After a few seconds, you ought to see a grey screen with a cross (X) in the middle. It is also possible that KDE may load after this, but we're not counting on that yet.
If you get this grey screen, and it sits around, and the cross moves when you move the mouse, then congratulations. Your XFree86 works - but you may need to do a few minor tweaks with regard to resolution or whatever. Hit "Control-Alt-Backspace" together, you will then be put back to the console screen.All you need to do now is fire up KDE or GNOME (or some other window manager).

If you end up with a KDE or GNOME screen, then choose "Logout" from the startup menu. Again, congratulations.
You may need to tweak things like available resolutions, and bitdepths, but that is for further discussion in another section.

== What? No graphics? ==

If you GET something that looks more like text, and stays at your console, then you need to work out (from what XFree86 said) what section you need to alter.
XFree86 also leaves a log file in /var/log/XFree86.0.log for you to look at, but this is a pretty long file to look at for people new to the process.

(Needs to be filled in further)
Common reasons for this include:
<dl>
<dt>XFree86 couldn't figure out what your card was.</dt>
<dd>This is common when you have an older version of XFree and a really new video card. Examples of this can include having an Intel 845 graphics chipset, and not having a Intel 845 driver within your version of XFree86.
This is a very specific example of a card that will not work (properly) with an Intel 830 driver).
Mostly, upgrading either XFree86 itself, or the whole distribution itself will generally cure this. If you already HAVE the latest, then you have some work to do.</dd>
<dt>It found your card, but "no suitable screens were found"</dt>
<dd>This can happen if you didn't correctly specify what resolutions you wanted to make available. This can also include selecting correct bitdepths (8, 16, 24 or 32-bit resolutions). When you have a modern flat-panel display, it's even more important you get the available resolutions correct.</dd>
</dl>

TODO: We will probably need to break up sections of the X configuration process (now done) and organize it nicely. This is just a slightly less rough overview. Categories about video cards and screens need to be filled out, as well as the troubleshooting section.

===screensaver===
Typing xscreensaver at the prompt will launch a diaolog to edit your preferences. You can also go in manually; grep for xscreensaver, it'll be something like <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/XScreenSaver</tt>

==See also==
*[[Using multiple monitors with XFree86]]
*[[OpenGL]]

Businesscard

2005-04-23T16:26:10Z

JohnMG:

A nice way to install [[Debian]] is to just download a teency-weency install program (the [[Debian-Installer]]) plus a minimal base package, install that, and then later get everything else you need/want from the net.

Happily, this has already been set up for you. :) No I'm not talking about the [[netinst]] image, but an even smaller one called the "businesscard" CD image.

Get the businesscard iso image here: http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

Debian

2005-04-23T16:18:31Z

JohnMG: just some minor fixes/tweaks

'''Debian''' is a free and complete [[operating system]]. Debian GNU/Linux uses the Linux [[kernel]] (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the [[GNU]] project; hence the name [[GNU/Linux]].

Although it's a non-commercial project Debian is one of the most popular and well-respected Linux [[distributions]]. Advanced users are attracted to its stability, powerful [[package]] management and pure [[Open Source]] stance.

It also supports the largest number of different hardware [[platforms]] - a total of 11. Aside from standard [[PC]]s, Debian versions are also often used on [[Macs]] ([[M68k]] and [[PPC]]) and systems from [[SUN]] ([[SPARC]]).

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel, however, work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, primarily for the [[Hurd]]. The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. The Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project. Aside from Debian/Hurd, enterprising people can try out Debian/FreeBSD and Debian/NetBSD.

When you first install Debian, you get a "base system". The base system contains very little -- typically just enough to download the rest of whatever is needed for the system. Users may then use [[Apt]] to get most other packages, such as the [[X Window System]]. This format allows Debian to be installed on many older computers where space is scarce, and only the packages that will be used need be installed. While CD images for Woody Stable exist, the preferred method for systems with an internet connection is to use the base system (which can be downloaded in the form of a [[netinst]] CD for Woody or Sarge), and install whatever is necessary over the network using Apt. An even smaller image than the netinst image is the "businesscard iso".

For installing software after the base install, there are several front-ends to Apt to make the job easier (or at least to help you guess what packages are named). The most common of which is <tt>[[dselect]]</tt> since it is always on every Debian distribution (and even predates Apt). dselect is not recommended for beginners. Other Debian package management tools include [[aptitude]] and [[synaptic]].

Debian was begun in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, as a new distribution which would be made openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU.

"Debian" is pronounced "deb ee in" and rhymes with "simian". It comes from the names of the creator of Debian, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra.

==Stable, Testing, Unstable, and Experimental==
Stable, Testing, and Unstable releases are available; currently codenamed "Woody", "Sarge", and "Sid", respectively. When the current testing cycle ends, Sarge will become Stable, and the new name for Testing will be "Etch". Under current policy, Sid will remain "Sid" forever because someone noticed that not only is it named after the neighbor kid in "Toy Story" who breaks toys, but it also stands for Still In Development.

Experimental is non-complete distribution used for testing highly experimental software. Debian follows very strict guidelines regarding which [[package]]s are allowed in each version, and this is what makes Stable stable. These guidelines are spelled out in the [http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ Debian Policy Manual], which includes the Debian Free Software Guidelines.

To upgrade from one of Debian's branches to another, see [[Upgrading to a different Debian branch]]

===Stable===
The current Stable release is named "Woody". The stable release is not called stable because it crashes less, but because only [[bugfix]]es are [[backport]]ed to it. This means that any programs or scripts that were developed for the Stable release are unlikely to break. But this comes at a price: the Woody release is currently 2+ years old. This misunderstanding over the purpose of the stable release contributes to the perception of Debian being more primitive than other distributions. The old installer for Woody is called [[Boot-floppies]].

===Testing===
The current Testing release is named "Sarge". The Testing release starts as a copy of the new Stable release, and then has new features added to it from Sid. At any given time, the testing release is about as stable as an x.0 release of any other distribution. Because of this, the testing release, not the stable release, is better choice for most individual users. However, the Debian development team is a bit slower about releasing security updates for the testing branch. The installer for Sarge is called [[debian-installer]].

===Unstable===
Under current policy, Sid will remain "Sid" forever because someone noticed that not only is it named after the neighbor kid in "Toy Story" who breaks toys, but it also stands for Still In Development. It is not recommended that you use Sid unless you enjoy filling out bug reports (and maybe fixing those bugs!).

===Experimental===
The experimental distribution is a special distribution. It is not a full (self-contained) distribution- it is meant to be a temporary staging area for highly experimental software. Dependencies missing are most likely found in Unstable (SID). Debian warns that these packages are likely unstable or buggy and are to be used at your own risk. If you decide to use packages from Experimental, you are encouraged to contact the package maintainers directly in case of problems.

==Debian-specific Installation, Configuration, Commands, and Files==
*Installation
**[[Debian install tips]], [[boot-floppies]], [[debian-installer]]
**[[netinst]], [[businesscard]] CD image
**[[netboot]]
**[[jigdo]]

*Configuration
**[[Debian:Fonts|Fonts]]
**System
***[[debconf]], [[dpkg-reconfigure]]
***[[modconf]]
***[[update-rc.d]], [[rcconf]], [[sysvconfig]]
***[[update-alternatives]]
**[[Debian:CGI|CGI]]

* Package Management
** [[dpkg]], [[dpkg-deb]]
** [[apt]], [[apt-get]], [[apt-cache]], [[apt-setup]], [[apt-cdrom]], [[apt-listchanges]], [[auto-apt]]
** The apt [[sources.list]] file
** [[aptitude]], [[synaptic]], [[dselect]]
** [[netselect]], [[apt-spy]]

* Hardware detection
** [[discover]]
** [[hotplug]]

==See also==
*[[Obtaining security updates]] -- Security information is available in the Debian section
*[[Debian package management tricks]]

==External links==
*[http://www.debian.org Official website]
*[http://wiki.debian.net Debian wiki]
*[http://people.debian.org/~debacle/refcard/refcard.pdf Debian Reference Card]
*[http://www.nl.debian.org/doc/manuals/securing-debian-howto/ Securing Debian Manual]
*[http://www.togaware.com/linux/survivor/ Debian GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide]
*[http://uclinux.info/wiki/index.php/Using_a_Sound_Blaster_Live_Sound_Card_with_Debian Using a Sound Blaster Live Sound Card with Debian]

==Forums==
*[http://www.debianforum.de Debian German Forum, very good]
*[http://www.debianplaza.net The unofficial Debian Forums]

Project Utopia

2004-12-29T15:20:04Z

JohnMG:

'''Project Utopia''' is the name for the aggregation and integration of a number of projects centrered on autodetecting and autoloading drivers for computer hardware (particulary hot-swappable hardware such as [[USB]] and [[IEEE1394]] (aka. "[[Firewire]]") devices). The project seems to be most closely associated with [[Gnome]] and [[Fedora]].

It encompasses: [[HAL]], [[sysfs]], [[udev]], [[D-BUS]], [[hotplug]], and apps like [[gnome-volume-manager]].

I do not know if it has any connection with [[kudzu]] (or [[discover]] for that matter).

Here's some possibly-useful links:

* http://mail.gnome.org/archives/utopia-list/2004-April/msg00001.html
* http://www.sebastian-bergmann.de/blog/archives/391-GNOME-and-Project-Utopia.html
* http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gnome.utopia
* http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software_2fProjectUtopiaBuildDebian
* http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software_2fhal

* http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/utopia-list
* http://mail.gnome.org/archives/utopia-list/
* http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/5315
* http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/09/02/driver_ease.html?page=last&x-maxdepth=0

Apt-get

2004-12-28T19:43:13Z

JohnMG:

'''apt-get''' is the command to initialize [[Debian]]'s native package management utility/application "[[Apt]]". Note: Apt is no longer exclusively available for Debian. It has been ported to a number of other [[distribution]]s.

You use the apt-get command to install and remove software packages from your system (one at a time or many at once), as well as update your system's internal listing of what packages are available from your currently selected list or repositories.

===Tips===
to install a package:
:<code>apt-get install NameOfPackage</code>

to remove a package:
:<code>apt-get remove NameOfPackage</code>

to update the repository (list of avalible .deb's):
:<code>apt-get update</code>

to upgrade your system (can be useful in maintaining an up-to-date system):
:<code>apt-get upgrade</code>

to upgrade your distribution (tries to choose packages needed to upgrade your dist.
:<code>apt-get dist-upgrade</code>

to enable smart-tab completion, add the line
:<code>source /etc/bash_completion</code>
to your .bashrc file. When you enter a command like "apt-get install a<tab>," bash will auto-complete the entry.

===Extra===
Try running
:<code>apt-get moo
(__)
(oo)
/------\/
/ | ||
* /\---/\
~~ ~~
...."Have you mooed today?"...
</code>

==See also==
*[[aptitude]]
*[[synaptic]]
*[[dselect]]
*[[dpkg]]
*[[dpkg-reconfigure]]

{{stub}}

Project Utopia

2004-12-16T18:37:09Z

JohnMG:

'''Project Utopia''' is the name for the aggregation and integration of a number of projects centrered on autodetecting and autoloading drivers for computer hardware (particulary hot-swappable hardware such as [[USB]] and [[IEEE1394]] (aka. "Firewire") devices).

It encompasses: [[HAL]], [[sysfs]], [[udev]], [[D-BUS]], [[hotplug]], and apps like [[gnome-volume-manager]].

I do not know if it has any connection with [[kudzu]] (or [[discover]] for that matter).

Here's some possibly-useful links:

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/utopia-list/2004-April/msg00001.html
http://www.sebastian-bergmann.de/blog/archives/391-GNOME-and-Project-Utopia.html
http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gnome.utopia
http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software_2fProjectUtopiaBuildDebian
http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software_2fhal

http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/utopia-list
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/utopia-list/
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/5315
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/09/02/driver_ease.html?page=last&x-maxdepth=0

Fedora

2004-12-16T18:11:52Z

JohnMG: project utopia?

'''Fedora Core''' is the new name for the [[Red Hat]] [[Linux]] (RHL) series of [[distribution]]s. Once Red Hat Linux reached version 9 (code-named "Shrike"), [[Red Hat]] decided that it was time to split their core product into two directions:

* ''Fedora'', which would become a community-developed cutting edge R&D distribution where the latest and greatest Linux technologies would appear first. It focuses on the hobbyist and developer desktop (desktop Linux). An operating system built exclusively from free software and is available for free download.
* ''Red Hat Enterprise Linux'', which is a less cutting-edge, more stable, better supported version of Linux based on snapshots of Fedora taken every so often (typically once every year or so). It is not free but is available at a cost of over $150.

Fedora continues Red Hat's tradition of building a super-modern, if slightly unstable, Linux desktop, and it is extremely popular. It is an excellent distro for newbies as long as they're willing to rough and tumble it with the Linux developers.

==Fedora Core 3 - YUM configuration note==
The /etc/yum.conf file in Fedora Core 3 should typically contain a small set of general repository independent settings in it - to complement this, the actual repositories are now set up as separate files in /etc/yum.repos.d/

==Latest major release==
The latest major release of Fedora Core is '''Fedora Core 3''' (aka "FC3"). You can find out more information about this in the [http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/3/i386/os/RELEASE-NOTES-en.html Fedora Core 3 release notes] and the [http://fedora.redhat.com Fedora Project homepage].

FC3 makes use of [[Project Utopia]] for autodetecting and autoloading hardware drivers.

==See also==
*[[RedhatToFedora|Upgrading from RedHat 9 to Fedora Core 1]]
*[[Fedora, Synaptic Package Manager, finding Repositories, listing RPMs, previously installed]]
* [[FedoraCore2BootIssue|HOWTO Install Fedora Core 2 on a dual-boot system so that Windows will still boot.]]
*[[Yum]]

==External links==
*[http://fedora.redhat.com Fedora Project homepage]
*[http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/release-notes/ release notes]
*[http://www.fedoraforum.org/ FedoraForum]
*[http://www.fedoranews.org FedoraNEWS.ORG - "a public community news information site for Fedora Users"]
*[http://www.fedorafaq.org/ Unofficial Fedora FAQ]
*[http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/updates/index.html Keeping Fedora up to date with Yum]
*[http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/html/47/1570.html Fedora Core 2 review] - from Madpenguin.org
*[http://www.redhat.com/magazine/001nov04/features/fedoracore3/ Fedora Core 3 - an overview by Warren Togami and Colin Charles]

Fedora

2004-12-16T18:08:30Z

JohnMG: added some links

'''Fedora Core''' is the new name for the [[Red Hat]] [[Linux]] (RHL) series of [[distribution]]s. Once Red Hat Linux reached version 9 (code-named "Shrike"), [[Red Hat]] decided that it was time to split their core product into two directions:

* ''Fedora'', which would become a community-developed cutting edge R&D distribution where the latest and greatest Linux technologies would appear first. It focuses on the hobbyist and developer desktop (desktop Linux). An operating system built exclusively from free software and is available for free download.
* ''Red Hat Enterprise Linux'', which is a less cutting-edge, more stable, better supported version of Linux based on snapshots of Fedora taken every so often (typically once every year or so). It is not free but is available at a cost of over $150.

Fedora continues Red Hat's tradition of building a super-modern, if slightly unstable, Linux desktop, and it is extremely popular. It is an excellent distro for newbies as long as they're willing to rough and tumble it with the Linux developers.

==Fedora Core 3 - YUM configuration note==
The /etc/yum.conf file in Fedora Core 3 should typically contain a small set of general repository independent settings in it - to complement this, the actual repositories are now set up as separate files in /etc/yum.repos.d/

==Latest major release==
The latest major release of Fedora Core is '''Fedora Core 3'''. You can find out more information about this in the [http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/3/i386/os/RELEASE-NOTES-en.html Fedora Core 3 release notes] and the [http://fedora.redhat.com Fedora Project homepage].

==See also==
*[[RedhatToFedora|Upgrading from RedHat 9 to Fedora Core 1]]
*[[Fedora, Synaptic Package Manager, finding Repositories, listing RPMs, previously installed]]
* [[FedoraCore2BootIssue|HOWTO Install Fedora Core 2 on a dual-boot system so that Windows will still boot.]]
*[[Yum]]

==External links==
*[http://fedora.redhat.com Fedora Project homepage]
*[http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/release-notes/ release notes]
*[http://www.fedoraforum.org/ FedoraForum]
*[http://www.fedoranews.org FedoraNEWS.ORG - "a public community news information site for Fedora Users"]
*[http://www.fedorafaq.org/ Unofficial Fedora FAQ]
*[http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/updates/index.html Keeping Fedora up to date with Yum]
*[http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/html/47/1570.html Fedora Core 2 review] - from Madpenguin.org
*[http://www.redhat.com/magazine/001nov04/features/fedoracore3/ Fedora Core 3 - an overview by Warren Togami and Colin Charles]