On Tue, Jun 06, 2000 at 03:55:46PM +0100, Moore, Paul wrote:
> Hi,
> I don't know for sure if this is the best place to ask (debian-doc looks
> more like it's for the people developing documentation, rather than for
> asking *about* it - tell me if I'm wrong and I'll ask there), but here
> goes...
>
> I've used Debian off and on for a while now, and the thing I find most
> difficult to get to grips with is the system administration in the
> debian-specific areas. Things I've come up against in the past include
>
> - package management (beyond the basic apt-get install)
> - the alternatives system
> - X windows and the "menu" system
> - window managers and configuration thereof
> - general user config (and more generally, applying
> system-wide defaults)
> - users and groups (specific question, why have a
> group for each user?)
> - what is the impact of (say) changing /etc/xxxxx directly, on
> the package management system - and how do I assess
> this impact before making changes?
>
> In general, I've hunted round and found answers to most of the questions
> I've had, but it has been a fairly ad-hoc and time-consuming process. There
> are now books appearing on the market purporting to be "Debian Linux" books,
> but they are generally fairly general, with minimal Debian-specific content.
One of the better of these, though IMO it's still wanting, is _Learning
Debian GNU/Linux_, by O'Reilly, and available online at
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/debian/chapter/index.html
However, it specifically lacks coverage of several of the topics you
list above, in fact, I find it sorely lacking in several key admin
areas. It does include fluff like a chapters on Linux apps and games.
Far better to cover dpkg, apt-get, and the documentation system in
depth.
My suggestion: pass your list on to the author, Bill McCarty. He's a
good guy, but guidance is required for the next edition of this book.
> My basic question is - is there any document available (preferably for
> download) which covers the specific issues relating to how Debian
> administration is done, where that is different from "generic" Linux admin?
> If not, can anyone give me some pointers on how to get to grips with this
> sort of thing? I'm only running a small single-user Debian workstation, and
> I don't want to get massively involved in systems admin, but at the moment I
> feel like I'm losing control of the system altogether :-(
There are docs in the Debian website that cover this in bits and pieces.
/usr/doc and /usr/share/doc are your friends, as is 'apropos' (or
'man -k'). Ditto mailing lists and web archives. Ditto glimpse.
The good news, IMO, is that you end up with more control using Debian
than you do with RedHat. I ran RH for 2.5 years and always felt as if I
was fighting it for control over my box. After the first couple months
of Debian (I'm coming up on about 9 months now), it was a complete
dream.
> Thanks in advance,
> Paul.
>
> PS My specific benchmark for whether something is what I'm after tends to be
> whether the alternatives system is described, whether the reason for having
> a group for each user is explained, and some good overviews on how to do
> system config without upsetting apt when an upgrade occurs. Nothing I've
> seen yet covers all of this - although the FAQ is otherwise the best
> document I've seen...
My own method of winnowing down docs:
- If it's an O'Reilly, New Riders, Prentice-Hall, or Addison Wesley, or
Morgan Kaufman imprint, it gets a +1 by default. Not all titles are
good, but many are.
- If it's a Que, "Unleashed", "For Dummies", "For Idiots", "In 24
Hours" title, it gets a -2 by default. Not all are bad, but most
are.
- Gratuitious screenshots -- it goes back on the shelf. Exception for
graphically oriented programs (eg: the Gimp), or layout guides (eg:
some web design books, like _Web Pages that Suck_).
- Pagecount exceeding 500, -1, exceeding 1000, -2. Exceptions for
comprehensive references (the O'Reilly Sendmail book) or the rare
well-written examples book (Unix Power Tools), though _X Windows User
Tools_ is a waste of paper.
- "Easy reading" fonts -- ditto. My own shelf space is something of a
premium. I far prefer the classic Prentice-Hall Kernighan and
Ritchie AT&T nroff-formatted book style.
- Check the index. If there isn't one, it goes back on the shelf. If
there is, scan for key topics.
- Bibliography -- not required, but +2 for a well written and
researched one. Steve McConnell's _Code Complete_ is worth buying
for its bibliography alone. The book itself is an added bonus.
- ToC -- does the book show any semblance of organization? Is it just
a manpage dump? First is good, second bad. Flow should be: intro,
general, specific, advanced / special topics. Mish-mash jumping from
topic to topic is way bad. If I have to read the chapters to
understand the headings, it's likewise bad. This isn't a mystery
novel, I don't need to read the whole thing to work out what
happened.
- Introductory and 2nd or 3rd chapter -- what's the writing style like?
Understandable? Good advice? It's hard to say what works, but by
example, absolute classics include Nemeth, et al, _Unix System
Administrator's Handbook_, and the O'Reilly _Linux in a Nutshell_
books.
Incidentally, if you want to understand Linux, a valuable reference is
Kernighan and Pike's _The UNIX Programming Environment_ (Prentice-Hall),
1984. Though old (Unix itself is quite different now, let alone
Linux), it describes the fundamental philosophy of Unix and how and why
it is what it is.
--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://www.netcom.com/~kmself
Evangelist, Opensales, Inc. http://www.opensales.org
What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? Debian GNU/Linux rocks!
http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/ K5: http://www.kuro5hin.org
GPG fingerprint: F932 8B25 5FDD 2528 D595 DC61 3847 889F 55F2 B9B0
Attachment:
pgpbERZAMC5EE.pgp
Description: PGP signature