Re: *H*E*L*P* (fwd)
Hi,
> I bought 4 CD's of Debian from CheapBytes. I installed the CD's
> everything was very confusing but I somehow managed to install Debian
> and get it working with Windows 95 on the same computer. I have a
> Pentium 150 with 32 Mb ram and a 1 Gb hard drive. I have a PnP Modem
> (33.6Kpbs) and a PnP sound card (AWE64 Gold). Now, I tried my level best
> to learn a few commands of Linux. But I think it is simply impossible. I
> have downloaded the Debian Manual. I am still searching for a way to
> access my drives. I don't even know how to copy files in this Operating
> System.
Welcome to Linux!
> It seems that this operating system is very cAsE-SeNsEtIvE! I
That observation is correct, unix is case sensitive.
> read many FAQ's but all the FAQ's tell you is that Linus Para... made
> Linux with a bunch of Hackers! Then it tells you how good Linux is and
> how bad windows 95 is. But I haven't come across a single Help file or a
> FAQ that actually tells you how to use this Operating System.
Try "linux for dummies" or "unix for dummies." Despite the silly title,
they might actually be quite useful if you're totally new to unix.
If you are already familiar with msdos, then the dos2unix-HOWTO might be
what you need. I'll explain below where to get HOWTO's
You should certainly look at
http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP
There, you'll find a lot of good documentation. "Running Linux" for
example is a book that you can buy in the bookstore or download from
sunsite. There are a couple more of these books downloadable from the
net. BTW, it doesn't hurt to buy one, it reads a lot more comfortable.
Also on sunsite you'll find a myriad of HOWTO's. You can actually install
them on your own computer as a debian package. Look for the
doc-linux-text and doc-linux-html packages on your cd. It will install in
/usr/doc/HOWTO. Oh, did I tell you yet that all debian packages install
some documentation in /usr/doc/<package> ?
Last but not least there are the manpages. You seem to have missed those.
In fact, the unix system is fairly well documented overall, compared to
msdos. Try "man man" and "man bash" for starters. You can find what
manpages package "foo" contains by typing "dpkg -L foo | grep man"
Besides man pages, there are also a lot of "info" pages on your system.
Those often provide even more extensive forms of documentation, but the
info browser program is a bit difficult to learn.
You should definately install the dwww package on your system. When you
do that, you can read the documentation on your system with your favorite
webbrowser. Just point it at http://localhost/dwww
> Please send me some info on the basic commands.
When I got started with linux, I read a whole lot of HOWTO's and bought
some books. Particularly useful are "Learning the bash shell," "Linux in
a nutshell," "Running Linux" and "The Linux network administrator's
guide."
> how I can connect to internet using Linux. I know there is a isapnp
> utility and it is supposed to configure my PnP Hardware using the
> isapnp.conf file (which is a dump from the isapnpdump file).
First install the isapnptools package. Then read the pnpdump and isapnp
manpages (if I remember correctly.) Then configure /etc/isapnp.conf.
Yes, I know it's hard, but that's because plug-'n-pray just plain sucks.
borrow a friend's external modem if you're getting short on hair to pull
out :-)
Okay, when you know for certain that the modem works now (you can test it
with the minicom program in the package with the same name) it is finally
time to set up ppp. Just type "pppconfig" (as root of course, and you
must have pppconfig installed, type "dpkg -s pppconfig to check that.)
Pppconfig makes internet easy.
> Anyhow, the problem is the diald or the pppd.
Don't try diald until you figure out ppp in the first place.
Cheers,
Joost
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