Re: 20 basic Linux newbie commands to identify the system

From: The Ghost In The Machine (ewill_at_sirius.athghost7038suus.net)
Date: 04/02/04 

Date: Fri, 02 Apr 2004 21:00:09 GMT

In comp.os.linux.advocacy, mike
<spamme0@juno.com>
 wrote
on Thu, 01 Apr 2004 19:47:31 -0800
<406CE253.50208@juno.com>:
> Ellen Spelling wrote:
>> What are the 20 basic newbie Redhat Linux commands I should send to my
>> users so they can identify the key particulars about any Redhat system?
>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 10. What else can & should a new Linux user run to determine key information?
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Ok, but why would a newbie want to know any of this?
> As a newbie, I want to know stuff like:
> What's the command I need to make my soundcard work on this system?

Commands.

www.alsa.org might help in a fair number of cases for initial setup,
but it's not trivial -- though it's not all that difficult if one
has half a clue regarding Unix.

> What's the command I need to make my network work on this system?

Commands.

ifconfig and lsmod/modprobe/insmod are indicated, at least
-- and if you want to integrate your settings with your
distro, consult your distro's docs. Usually, it's pretty
straightforward.

> What's the command I need to make my usb work on this system?

I can't say but suspect lsmod/modprobe/insmod, at least.

> What's the command I need to make my pcmcia work on this system?

I can't say but suspect lsmod/modprobe/insmod, at least.

> What's the command I need to make my virtual desktop work on this system?

Define "virtual desktop". There are several flavors, from the
venerable XDMCP to the extremely simple 'ssh -X' (with proper setup).

> What's the command I need to find and install sw packages on this system?

Depends on the distro:

Redhat: rpm et al
Debian: dpkg/dselect
Gentoo: emerge

>
> I could go on until my internet connection drops dead, but you get the
> point. I submit that a newbie don't care too much about how many
> processors or how much ram...he/she can't do anything much to change it.
>
> What I want to know is how to get the darn thing out of 640x480 display
> mode so I can fit the whole display configuration window and see
> the buttons that I need to click to configure the display.

That is under "virtual desktop" or perhaps "virtual desktop/screen display",
a more general question.

> I wanna know how I find out the name of the configuration file I have to
> edit on this machine. How do I find out that I have to add a line
> "virtual 800 600" to that file?

You may or may not want that line, but the file is in /etc/X11/XF86Config
or /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, depending on distro. Since I don't know
whether you're using a laptop or a desktop I can't go much further;
most cards can support up to 1900 x 1600 but most laptops are a
little more limited.

> I wanna know how to configure the sound card so I can play an mp3.

Add 'ogg', 'mp3', or 'xmms' to your command list.

> I wanna know which of the windows-compatible networking paradigms are
> implemented, how I find them, and how I make 'em work.

Define "windows-compatible". At a very high level X and Win32 are
compatible: drag a window around, things draw in a window, mouse
clicks go into a window, buttons, pulldows, etc. At a programmer
level they're quite different but a newbie wouldn't care much about
that (unless he's interested, of course).

There are also issues regarding file transfer; Samba in particular
is used to support and/or interact with Windows platforms, and
there's a program called 'rdesktop' (although 'vnc', for me at
least, works better). Linux can be configured to handle IPX packets
but that may require a kernel recompile, or at least a module
to be loaded.

> How do I read the DOS floppy that I made from the stuff I downloaded on
> my windows machine so I could (try to) get the linux machine to access
> the internet?

mtools or mount -t fat /dev/floppy /mnt/floppy (where /mnt/floppy is
just a directory created for convenience; one can actually mount
things just about anywhere).

> And don't get me started on phone dialers.....

Fortunately for all Linux users, it's much more difficult to hijack
one's phone connection to dial out to, say Hong Kong. But that's
probably outside of your question.

>
> You wanna do something great for newbies? Use the windows control panel
> as a model and implement a front end that maps into the configuration
> files on a particular distribution.

The RedHat model is analogous, if one goes that route.
As of 7.2 (though I doubt they've changed it much),
one clicks on the little map-and-compass and gets a
Nautilus folder labeled "Start Here". Double-click on
"System Settings". Should answer a lot of questions
(and probably bring up a few others), but on my machine
at least one gets an Internet Configuration Wizard and a
Network Configuration.

>
> mike
> Just noticed this thing is CROSS posted....oh well....
>

I've reset followups accordingly. 

-- 
#191, ewill3@earthlink.net
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