out of date help files on website

[Bill <billwelm@charm.net>]

Hi, folks,
I'm forwarding to you a usenet message that helped me get my ip #'s set
up right so I got online, after failing for a while.  I failed with the
information in my copy of O'Reilly's "Learning Debian/GNU Linux", and
the reason I'm telling you is that this invalid information was also in
the Debian help files I linked to off your web site.  
Specifically, editing /etc/init.d/network is out of date and didn't
work; /etc/network/interfaces did work.  Please fix this, it made it
hard on this newbie with marginal technical talent trying against the
odds to become adept with Debian (when some tell me I should stick to
windoze, others that I should try an easier distribution).  But I like
the Debian culture, and hope to work to make it more accessible to less
geekish people!!

Thanks,

Bill 

Hendrik Sattler wrote:
> 
> Bill wrote:
> > I have edited the following files to contain my local information, in
> > the end following the instructions in "Learning...":
> >
> > /etc/resolv.conf
> > /etc/hostname
> > /etc/init.d/network
> 
> Your book is old. Edit /etc/network/interfaces instead of
> /etc/init.d/network (huh, that was at the time of debian 2.1 "slink" !!)
> 
> > I rebooted (is this necessary after such changes?) and then tested for
> 
> no. You only have to restart the necessary scripts, mostly:
> /etc/init.d/network restart
> 
> > access by trying to start lynx, and by pinging the other computer in the
> > house, my isp's website, and netscape.com, all with no response.
> 
> See above and look at the manpage of "interfaces". To ping the other
> computers by name, you have to specify the values in /etc/hosts or setup a
> local nameserver (probably oversized).
> 
> > One thing I am not clear about is what a "host" is in this context.
> > /etc/hostname contains the name I gave this computer (which linux is
> > installed on).  Is that correct? I'm looking for a clear definition of
> > "host".
> 
> /etc/hostname contains the hostname _without_ the domain part. My computer
> linux.local at domain .local has the value "linux" in its /etc/hostname.
> The domain is onyl given by the nameserver or /etc/hosts but not by any
> other configuration file.
> It would be non-sense for laptops anyway.
> 
> HS