[TriLUG] Here's the guts of Lockergnome's Penguin Shell Newsletter--FIRST ISSUE!!

[al johson]

Good morning. I'm a new entry to your inbox, eh? If I could sit you down at
my kitchen table and pour you a cup of Peet's, I certainly would. As a loyal
'Gnomie, I've felt the family spirit of this community for a long time. That
just makes it an even greater pleasure to be able to contribute each day,
now, in such a big way. So, pour a cup, kick up your feet for a few, and let
me fill you in on a few of the particulars of this latest great adventure.

An introductory slice of background seems in order. Linux is, quite simply,
my passion. In my day job, I build, configure and install research-grade
robotic telescopes running on the Linux OS. I'm also a partner in a small
new company that specializes in pre-installed Linux workstations and
servers. Even though my first computer was an Atari 1040ST, my first
computer love was a Compaq running Debian. It was challenging, frustrating,
frightening, and yet amazingly fun. To this day, 5 years later, the thrill
of a new Linux discovery is, by definition, the thrill of computing.

Which brings me to Penguin Shell. This will be a newsletter that strives to
live up to the sprit of both Lockergnome and Linux. It will work to inform
the newbie, challenge the guru and entertain everyone along the way.

Having said that, the fact is this: the single most common comment in my
inbox the past few weeks has been, "I want newbie tips." I understand. In
looking around the web, there's simply not enough content or documentation
on the fundamentals of Linux aimed at new Linux users. So we're gonna do it
here. If you're an old-timer and the tips seem a bit slow, pipe up and drag
us along with you. The downloads and links will be of interest to you. And,
as I travel the world installing telescopes (coming in December - a 1-meter
'scope in Japan) , I hope the daily report will provide some entertainment,
maybe even education, for all. The open spirit of the open source community
can propel us all along.

'Nuff said. Hey ... pass me that donut, wouldya?

Tony Steidler-Dennison


 GnomeTWEAK



Reading (and writing to) A Windows Partition

If you're running a dual-boot system as so many of us do, you've probably
run smack into a problem once or twice. How do I get that text file into
Linux that I created and saved in Windows? You could email it to yourself,
reboot quickly, and hope to catch it in your Linux inbox. You could use a
really short "sneaker-net," saving it to floppy for the next time you boot
to Linux. Or, using the full flexibility of your favorite penguin distro,
you could simply mount the Windows partition as another device in Linux and
read it straight from the drive. That's right - Linux will read those
Windows partitions, provided you mount them properly.

FAT32 Windows partitions mount and function best. The last few kernel
versions have seen the addition of NTFS support, though writing to an NTFS
partition is still only experimental. With Win32, you can read *and* write
files nearly as easily as in the native Windows by following a few simple
steps. I'll show you how my machine is set up as a guide.

I've created a directory in Linux - /mnt/winc. This is just as it appears:
my C:\ Windows partition. To create the directory, open a console and log in
as root ["su" followed by the root password]. Change directory to /mnt [cd
/mnt], and enter the command "mkdir winc" [no quotes]. You've created, in
effect, a directory that all the Windows data on your C:\ partition will
eventually be stuffed into.

Now mount the Windows partition with the following command:

    mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /mnt/winc.

This command simply says, "Mount the device of filesystem type Win32 ["-t
vfat"] found on the first partition of the first hard drive ["/dev/hda1"] in
the Linux directory /mnt/winc. If you're creating the Linux directory for
the first time, the two commands can be joined:

    mkdir /mnt/winc; mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /mnt/winc.

The "mkdir" command only needs to be used the first time.

Now you can read from and write to that Windows partition to your heart's
content. When you're done with the Windows file, you can unmount the
partition using umount /mnt/winc.

As with all else Linux, there are a few caveats. This example only
illustrates mounting the C:\ Windows partition, which is almost always the
first partition on the first hard drive. Other Windows partitions will
follow a naming convention in Linux that will, at first, make no sense. Feel
free to play but, as always, play prudently.

Are you a "tweaker?" Amaze me.

Send This to a Friend


 GnomeCORE



File System Structure

When I first started using Linux, the file system nearly killed me. I cut my
baby computer teeth in the DOS-based environment (well ... ok ... it was
actually BASIC) and the layout of Linux directories had me baffled for a
while. I'd store a file and immediately it was lost. I had no idea what came
"stock" in each directory, or even where to find the most important
configuration and system files. The front slash was almost more than I could
bear. And "dot" files? Get outta here!

I've since come to love the organzation of the Linux file system structure.
What got me over the hump was a thorough pokin' around in the top-level
directories. Here's what I found at the top of the Linux food chain:

  /home
      contains the main user-specific directories - think of this as a "My
..." folder
  /usr
      executables and other directories relevant to *all* users
  /tmp
      temporary files
  /etc
      initialization and configuration files
  /dev
      your devices
  /var
      a [var]iety of [var]ious things - log files, mail spools, etc.
  /proc
      running processes
  /root
      ummm ... the root file

The top-level directories also contain /opt and /sbin, files that have less
relevance to all users. Many of these directories also contain
subdirectories. While this is clearly a simplification of these directories
and the overall structure, you should be able to dig deeply enough to unmask
the Linux file system for the jewel it is.

Tip me off to a core function.

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 GnomeFILE



XMLMind - XML Editor

http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/
http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/_download/xxe-m12-bin.tar.gz

XML is everything it's cracked up to be. The use of XML has already had a
huge though largely invisible impact on the web. And its future looks
increasingly bright.

XMLMind is a WYSIWYG-style editor for XML with a very advanced feature-set.
By utilizing multiple panes, XMLMind allows you to view and edit document
structure, presentation and attributes - the very core of XML - from within
the same interface. It's clean, powerful and quite easy to use. Some
knowledge of XML is required.

Flip a killer file my way.

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 GnomeVOICE




Mandrake Musings


  - From the desk of David Snyder
"A Happy Mandrake Experience"

"Just wanted to toot Mandrake's horn a little. I downloaded the ISO images
for 8.1 and was very impressed with the installation. It found and
configured everything except my sound card (a crappy AOpen Crystal chipset),
including my USB mouse and printer. No problems!

"Linux distributions have come a long way since my first Slackware install
(couldn't even get X running) in the mid-90's. I've even got the wife and
kiddos using it! Unfortunately, I still have to boot to Windows to play most
of my games, and the Linux partition is still more of a curiosity than a
primary platform, but as I find more software, I'll make the move. (Listen
up software companies!)

"Now to sneak over to my mom's house and steal back that old SB16 card I put
in her PC..."

Contrary to popular belief, silence is leaden. Speak up!

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 GnomeCLICK



Rootprompt.org


  - Suggested by Barry Johnson
http://www.rootprompt.org

The slogan says it all - "Nothing but Unix." Rootprompt.org covers the full
range of *nix operating systems in a language and style that will appeal to
everyone from the newest newbie to the greatest guru. Features include
"Introduction to Logging," "Why Your Organization Needs Linux," "Mandantory
Access Control," There's even one called "Here's Looking At You, Squid," an
insightful view of how Squid caches objects. Most of the articles are
written in a concise and straightfoward fashion, perfect for the busy
Penguin on the go. If you want "Nothing but Unix," Rootprompt is the place
to look.

Show me the linkage.