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
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