Linux An Operating System, Originally Created By Linus Torvalds.
Hmm...If Linux Is An O/S, Then What Are RedHat, Mandrake, SuSe...???
Well They Are Nothing But Distributions i.e. A Linux package made up of the Linux kernel, other system software, user applications, etc.
A Linux/Unix O/S Basically Composed Of 3 Different Parts: Kernel, File System And The Shell
Kernel Is The Core Of Linux O/S, that implements the interaction with hardware and the sharing of resources.
File System is no new to us, but still I'd like to include that we cannot have seperate partitions on Linux, as we had in Windows like Our "C:\", "D:\". We only have a Single Root Directory i.e. "/"
N here is a short description about what actually is inside this Single Root Directory,
- /boot:- The Linux Kernel And Boot Loader Configuration Files.
- /dev :- Device Files [Mouse/Printer/Modem,etc].
- /mnt :- Mount Directory, To Mount Or Make Run CD-ROMS, Floppy Disks, Hard Disks.
- /root:- Root's Or Administrator's Home Directory.
- /home/<username>:- Home Directories Of Normal Users.
- /bin :- Most Basic Utilities For Administrators As Well As Users.
- /sbin:- Utilities For Administrators.
- /usr :- Program Files.
- /etc :- Configuration Files [.conf,etc.].
- /mnt :- Mount Directory, To Mount Or Make Run CD-ROMS, Floppy Disks, Hard Disks.
- /lib :- Library Files.
- /proc:- Process information pseudo filesystem.
- /var :- Includes Spool Directories And Files, Administrative And Logging Data, And Transient And Temporary Files.
- /tmp :- Temporary Directory.
- /lost+found:- Documents Recovered While Improper ShutDowns Are Placed Here.
Shell is a user program or you can say that it's environment provided for user interaction.
More On Shell
Linux... At Last
General Information
There are numerous ways to use Linux with a computer. The most common method is to allocate part of your hard disk to Linux and put all the software you need on it. It's also possible to use Linux without touching your hard disk at all, either by getting the software from another computer on a network or by using a cd or dvd. When people talk of installing Linux though, they invariably mean using the hard disk to store all their required software.
To install Linux on your hard disk, you first need to be able to allocate a section of the hard disk to Linux. Thankfully all sorts of computer systems understand the methods of dividing hard disks so two or more operating systems (e.g. versions of Linux and /or Windows) can reside on just one hard disk. More details on dividing the hard disks are given in the next section.
Once that is done, you need to get a startup/install disk. Just as you would use a startup disk to access windows in case of a crash, a Linux startup/install disk will boot your computer in the Linux OS, albeit a limited version of it. The startup disk also contains info on accessing the hardware it needs to complete the installation and the complete install system itself. Most Linux installations are done from either CD-ROM or DVD-ROM install disks.
If your computer is built from common hardware which is well supported by Linux, it is unlikely that you will have to do any configuration to make the hardware work in your computer. It is not uncommon however to find that your computer has some hardware which does not work (well or at all) with Linux, the most common problem being with Modems which are an eternal source of frustration for new Linux users. You can use the internet site at www.linmodems.org to try and determine if your modem should work with Linux, or if there are any special steps required to make it work. Generally most other problems experienced with hardware when installing Linux are related to very new models or new types of hardware which are not yet supported in the distributions. Most distributions will have notes on known hardware problems often with solutions or workarounds. You should check these notes on-line, as opposed to from the installation media as problems may have been found after it was released, before trying to install as it could save you much frustration later.
If you want to test out your computer with Linux before trying to install, many different Linux distributors now have "LiveCD" versions which allow you to try the system without installing. The way these work is by ignoring your hard disk and simply treating your computer like a PlayStation, running everything from the CD. These systems cannot run as fast or be as flexible as a Linux system installed onto a hard disk, but they do give you a chance to test your computer and the system for compatibility and to try out the software to see how it suits your needs.
Partitioning Your Disks For Linux As outlined in the General Information section, the most common way to install Linux is to allocate a part of your hard disk for Linux. Most computers come with one hard disk, and that hard disk is usually setup to have just one partition which uses all of the space on the hard disk. If this is the case with your computer, then you will need to either add a new hard disk for Linux, or shrink your existing partition to make space for Linux. Each partition not only creates a separate independent space on the hard disk but it also associates a method of reading and writing information to the drive, the format of the drive. Linux has a number of different formats it can use for sections of the hard disk, the most popular being ext2 and ext3 (others include reiserfs, xfs and jfs). Normally you will not have to worry much about the formats of Linux partitions, the installation program will make appropriate suggestions. One other type of partition format for Linux which is worthy of mention is swap. A swap partition is used to effectively extend your memory onto the hard disk, so if your computer wants to use more memory then it has, it will "swap" information in memory which it doesn't need at the time onto the hard disk. It is possible to use a large file on a normal partition for swap however this is much slower. Unless you measure your memory in Gigabytes, you should probably use a swap partition at least the size of your memory, and if you have less then 256Megabytes of ram then you may want a partition 2 or 3 times it.
If you are in the common situation of having to shrink the only Windows partition on your hard disk, the first thing to be aware of is that your access to the information on the Windows partition will depend on its format. There are two main types of partition formats for Windows, FAT and NTFS. Generally computers with the Windows 95/98/ME systems will have FAT partitions and Windows NT/2000/XP will have NTFS partitions, though the NT/2000/XP family can also use FAT.
The critical difference between FAT and NTFS as far as Linux is concerned, is that while reading information from either system is perfectly safe under Linux, writing information to an NTFS partition is currently regarded as potentially unsafe so you wouldn't be able to edit these files from Linux and access the changes directly under Windows. Linux is perfectly reliable sharing FAT partitions with other operating systems (if your feeling lost, perhaps telling you that when you format a floppy you are actually making a FAT filesystem on it will help put things in perspective). Windows has no native method of reading Linux formatted partitions, but the Free explore2fs program allows you to read and copy information from ext2 and ext3 Linux partitions while you are running Windows. There is now also a file-system driver from the same source called ext2ifs which allows your ext2 and ext3 partitions to appear as extra drives in Windows NT4/2000/XP (still read only).
There are numerous methods for shrinking Windows partitions to make space for Linux (and I would recommend simply making the space and using the installer to create the partitions and format them). No matter what method you use to do this, you should backup all your data before you begin, in fact you should always keep backups of all your important information as a hard disk could fail at any time. The tried and true method for shrinking a partition is a commercial program called Partition Magic. You can also do this with Free software such as parted (or the graphical front-end QTparted) or often as part of the installer itself. Check the installation documentation for the system you plan on installing to see if it's now supports resizing/shrinking ntfs partitions.
Whatever scenario you start in, when you begin to install Linux you need to know where you have space to put it. It may be a new hard disk or free space on an existing hard disk. For a modern desktop Linux system you would want to allocate an absolute minimum of 2GB of hard disk space, 5GB would be far better and if you have plenty of space (or if you plan to install lots of large pieces of software, perhaps games) 10GB+ is perfectly reasonable. If you have enough free space the installation program may suggest creating more than one Linux partition, if so it is well worthwhile creating a separate partition for your files, the /home partition. Amongst other things you can reinstall your system or install a new system without having to make an additional backup of your files (remember again you do always keep backups of everything important).
Installing Linux Alrighty then, put your distributers CD-ROM in the drive, the boot floppy in the drive, and shutdown that awful OS you've been used to for the last few years
. Hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, and within a secs you'll be booting into Linux.This is the really fun part. Depending on your Build, it'll ask you do you want to 'Pass commands to the install program', or something similar to that anyway. Just hit Return, and let the installation do it's own thing. After a few screens of bootup text, the program may ask you if your using a Color Monitor, just hit Return (If your installing Caldera, it wont bother asking). The next thing to do is let the install program know what kind of keyboard you have, so enter the code from the table on-screen and hit Return again. After a few more options, the program will ask you where the souce media is. This means it's looking for the CD-ROM, so let it know that you have a CD-ROM drive. You will then be confronted with a screen full of different CD-ROM drives. Select ATAPI if it's there, practically all Windows CD-ROM drives are ATAPI compatible, if yours isnt, consult the manual for your drive, and then choose the right option.
The program should let you know that it has found the CD, and the rest of the process will begin. Now you have to edit that partition you set aside earlier. The install process will detect that you have no Linux area setup, and will run FDISK. This will immeadiately select your Main hard drive for editing. Type p to print the partition information for that disk. You need to create the Linux Partition now, so type n to create a new partition. It will ask you what kind of partition you want to create, a Primary (1-4) or extended. Choose Primary by hitting 2. The next step is to tell Linux how big it is going to be. You will be given an option along the lines of First Cylinder (492-640) :. This is showing the free space you created earlier, so enter the first value which in this case is 492. A new option of Last Cylinder (493-640) : will appear on-screen, again select the default value which is in this case 640. Now we have to tell FDISK what kind of partition this is. Type t, and select the second primary partition. A prompt will appear asking for the type of area to be setup. Type in 83 and return to the main prompt. Finish this process by typing w, to write the new information to the disk and quit out to the Install Program again.
Hard Drive options will be displayed next (You did make that partition, didn't you?). This will probably confuse you as much as it did me. So, here's a somthing to make things a bit easier to understand :
hda: The 'hd' refers to your hard disk, and 'a' is the primary master disk on your system
hd1: Again, the 'hd' means your hard disk, the 'a' your primary master, and the '1' refers to the first partition (Most likely where windows is stored). A '2' would refer to your Linux partition.
hdb: If this option is present, it refers to your Second drive running as 'Slave' off your hda1. Partitioning info as above.
hdc: This simply refers to your CD-ROM drive, your CDROM may be hdb too! It depends on where the manufacturer plugged it in!
Select the partition hda2 (Or decide which is your new Linux partition using the above table), and select install. The program will now format the new area of the Hard Disk, but dont worry, your Windows Partition will still be intact. Choose the option to check for bad blocks during format, this will make sure that the partition is fully alright.
Next, select the programs that you wish to use. I recommend installing all available documentation and any other options you think you may use. If you do not understand any of the options, dont worry, neither did I, just consult your manual and distributor of the build you are using.
After the installation is completed, the program will ask you to set a password for the root user. The root user is the administrator of the Linux OS, and has access to everything on the disk itself. Like any password, pick something that is easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess. The program will ask you if you want to run something called 'xf86config', choose not to, we will be running this later.
If you've reached this far, congratulations, you have just installed Linux, the world's best operating system.
It is impossible for me to post installation methods of all the Linux Distributions, So, If U Need Any Just Post'em Here...
Well That's It For The Basics [I Suppose] Now Comes The Most Importand Part... LINKS...
Universal Linux Links: This One Contains Loads Of Links For All Possible Topics Like Games, Appliications, Multimedia Tools, Distributions And All,
- Loads'A Links [Da Best Link On This Thread]
Tutorials:
- Our E-Books Section
- Linux-Tutorial.Info
- YoLinux.com [This Ones' Actually A Directory For Linux Tutorials]
- Linux-Learning.org
- Advanced Bash-Scripting Tutorial
- Yet Another Scripting Tutorial
Distributions:
Instead Of Mentioning Seperate Links To The Home Pages For Each And Every Distribution, Heres' A Site That Covers Almost *All* Of'Em,
- DistroWatch [Just Lemme' Know If U Don't Find The Desired One Here]
- Linux.org [Info'n On Distros Too]
- SourceForge.net
- FreshMeat.net
- LinuxSoftware.org
Linux News:
