Questions Answered:
What is Linux?
Is installing Linux difficult?
How do I make Linux boot disks?
Will my machine run Linux?
Why would I want to choose Linux?
Will Linux make me a hacker?
How do I get Linux?
I don't want to repartition. Can I still use Linux?
What distrubution should I choose?
What should I choose to install?
What should I choose for a root password?
I just logged in for the first time. What do I do now?
How do I edit text?
How do I know how much disk space I have free? used?
How do I shutdown my machine properly?
What does Linux look like?
How Do I Dual Boot With Windows?
How do I Partition My Drive?
How big should my swap file be?
What about Linux on laptops?
Where can I download some cool programs for Linux?
Where can I get office software?
What programs are there for Windows that also run on Linux?
How can I set up my Linux box so I can go online?
How do I find out my IP address?
How Do I configure X?
How do I boot directly into X?
Can I still veiw picture files such as .gif, .jpg, .bmp?
What are some basic Linux commands I should know?
Where can I find Linux security information?
How do I compile a program using gcc?
Where can I find more information?

Future questions to be answered
What are the essential log files I should know?
Is Linux the same as UNIX?
If Linux is free, why do people buy/sell it?
How do I change my password?
How many people run Linux?
What is ELF?
Can I defragment my drive under Linux?
Is there a "scandisk" type utility?
How do I format a floppy disk?
How do I add users?
Are there viruses for Linux?
What file system does Linux use?
How do I use tar? gzip?
How do I send/recieve e-mail?
What about games for Linux?
Will Linux run on my 8088? 8086? 286?
Can I run Linux on a MAC?
How do I pronounce Linux?
 

What is Linux?
If you don't know what Linux is, read the  Linux Information Sheet .
This will give you the basic background information needed about Linux, such as the history of it, what is is exactly, etc. You may also want to read  The Unix and Internet Fundamentals HOWTO .

Is installing Linux difficult?
No, it just takes a little technical know how and a lot of patience, or vice versa. It is not difficult to do, and reading the manual may be a good place to start before you try to install anything. Also, do a backup of your exsisting system, college all the information about your system's hardware setup as you can and write it down (or print it out) and check the comptability of your hardware. Also check out the  Linux Installation HOWTO .

Before you install, it would hurt to fill out this pre-installation checklist.

How do I make Linux boot disks?

It may be necessary for you to make your own floppies if your distrubution didn't come with any, they got damaged, you downloaded Linux, etc. In any event, here is the procedure to follow if you use Windows/DOS:

Boot into DOS or open a DOS box in Windows, access your CD-ROM (though dos..).

CD to the DOSUTILS directory.

type rawwrite
 

When prompted, for a disk, for the boot image enter:

..\images\boot.img

Then change floppies, and run 'rawrite' again. When prompted enter:

..\images\supp.img

The boot.img is your disk #1, and will be the disk you boot from initially. You may not even need disk#2 wih supp.img on it, as that  is the supplemental disk. If you're installing from a CD, you  normally wouldn't need it. (but make it just in case you do).

Put in disk #1 and reboot (make sure you have set your A:\ to boot first before the C:) when you're ready to install.
 

Will my machine run Linux?

Chances are, yes. Linux now supports more hardware than Windows NT. To be sure though, check the  Linux Hardware Compatability HOWTO  or the Hardware Compatability List for your distrubution (usually somewhere on their website..).

In general though, you should have at least a 386 with 8mb of ram, and around 500-600mb for a somewhat decent install. A CD-ROM and a Modem are also pretty handy =)

Why would I want to choose Linux?

There are many reasons. First of all, Linux is extremely powerful and brngs thw poewer of UNIX to your desktop. It is also more stable and reliable than Windows 95/98 (and many other OS's). It is a great operating system for advanced users such as hackers, programmers, and those needing a very versatile, secure operating system. Another great fact about Linux is that it is free.

Will Linux make me a hacker?

Absoluely not, only you can do that. Having Linux will make you a Linux user. No more, no less. It will however, aid in things you will need to know to become a good hacker. having Linux gives you the power of looking at a UNIX machine from the SysAdmin's perspective as well. You can hack your own machnie 24 hours a day and it is legal, and practice makes perfect.

How do I get Linux?

You can get Linux many different ways. You can download it, buy it on CD, buy it in a preinstalled machine, or anyother way you possibly think of to get it.

Here are some links to some of the more popular Linux distrubutions:

Mandrake Linux
http://www.linux-mandrake.com

Redhat Linux
http://www.redhat.com

Slackware
http://www.slackware.org

Debian/GNU Linux
http://www.debian.org

Caldera OpenLinux
http://www.caldera.com
 

I personally do not order from any of these sites, but that is your choice. Since Linux is actually a free operating system, I don't want to pay any more for it that necessary. Here are some places I personally look for cheap Linux CD's:

Hideaway Security
http://www.hideaway.net/products

Haggle Online Auction
http://www.haggle.com

Ebay Online Auction
http://www.ebay.com
 

As I said, downloading it is also an option- if you have a few days an an excellent connection. It is my personal beliefe that it is better to have it on CD so if you have to, you can quickly and easily reinstall. You can also let others borrow your CD, or put it on computers that don't have a fast enough connection to The Internet. You can usually find Linux CD's for between $5.00-10.00, sometimes even cheaper, but these are without any tehnical support (usually) and no manuals, just the CD and you make your own bootdisk.

I don't want to repartition. Can I still use Linux?

You sure can. There is a distrubution out there called Zipslack , whcih is a mini distrubution of Slackware Linux.
You can download Zipslack from the /Zipslack directory on most Slackware Linux download sites, or on the Slackware Linux CD from the /Zipslack directory.

It contains everything you need to run Linux on your machine, althought it does not include X (X can be downloaded for it separately). The great part about it is that you do not need to repartion your drive at all. Only unzip it to a dirctory on your hard drive or zip drive, and reboot into DOS Mode, CD to the directory you installed it to and type Linux. This is an ideal solution for those that want to try Linux but not repartion. Since it runs on top of DOS, it will be a bit slower than pure Linux. Zipslack can be found on a Slackware CD or you can download it (a little over 30mb compressed, after you uncompress it) at http://www.slackware.org/zipslack

If you want to get really minimal, you could try one of the many single floppy Linux "distrubutions" out there. It is the bare minimum needed to run Linux, and is actually more of a boot / recovery disk than a distrubution. I reccomend tomsrtbt, which can be downloaded from this page.  It is good to carry around with you, learn some basic commands on, and use as a recovery disk. tomsrtbt also runs in RAM, so it takes up no hard drive space after you make the disk (you must download the file to your har ddrive which makes your disk for you, after you make the disk you can delete this file if necessary). Obviously, you wouldn't have to repartion for one these mini distrubutions either.

What distrubution should I choose?

Personally, I don't care. I really don't. I've seen this question so many times, it is almost aggrivating. The choice is simple: choose whichever one you want! After you get past the install, tech support (if applicable), and cost (if applicable) they are all so similar it does not make a whole lot of difference. Linux is Linux. Most casual Linux users or new Linux users tend to go with Mandrake or Redhat, while many hardcore Linux users prefer Debian or Slackware. That is certainly not always true though. I've seen people that have never touched a Linux box before use Debian and Slackware, and Linus Torvalds (the man who created Linux) openly uses Redhat. So choose whatever you want!

You can also check out the  Linux Distrubution HOWTO

On a more personal note, I use Mandrake. I like it because it is Redhat + KDE.

What should I choose to install?

If you have enough space, install everything. Otherwise, just use common sense. If you're not going to run a webserver, do you need all of the webserver software? If you're not going to play games, do you need games? Definitely choose to install the C/C++ development tools and libraries. If it says C or C++, install it. Extra documentation? Nah, you don't really need it. There are a lot of great sites on The Internet with that same, or updated, information on them (if you pkan on going on The Internet with it..otherwise, install it..).

What should I choose for a root password?

sex. No, just kidding. Choosing passwords like that in stupid enough to begin with (even though thats an extremely common password..) let alone choosing it as your root password. As with all passwords, make it a combination of alphanumeric charectars: 0-9, a-z, and A-Z and mix upper and lower case.

Bad example of a password: hackme
Good example of a password: k04WcXe

So dont let it be a word from the dictionary, don't let it be all upper care or all lower case, and mix letters and numbers. Don't make it something that can be easily guessed and make it as long as possible, usually 8 charectars.

I just logged in for the first time. What do I do now?

Well, there are a ton of things you could do. You could configure your Internet connection or X, edit some text or start coding C/C++. I reccomend just poking around the system and getting yourself a good Linux book and practicing sme of the commands and things they teach you in there. Poke around your system and get familiar with it. 

You'll also want to add a user so you can log on as that user instead of root, since if you make a vital mistake as user root, you could have som severe system troubles on your hands.

How do I edit text?

There are many text editors available for Linux, far more than you'll ever need to learn or use. 

My personal favorite is Pico. It is fast and easy to use, and of course free.You can also use Vi or Emacs. I personally prefer Emacs over Vi, but make your own decision. Emacs has been compared to "using a steamshovel to eat a candy bar" when dealing with basic text editing. Generally, Vi and Emacs are used for larger tasks that editing a simple file, such a typing in source code to be compiled at a later time, etc. For just a quick and easy text editor though use Pico.

Keep in mind that these programs are typed in lower case:

pico
vi
emacs
 

There are many, many more to choose from, but these should be enough for now anyway.

How do I know how much disk space I have free? used?

You can find out how much disk space you have free by using the command:

df

And find out how much disk space you have used by issuing the command:

du
 

How do I shutdown my machine properly?

Use this command: shutdown -h now

That will shutdown your system and bring it to a halt now. Let's say you wanted to shutdown and halt your machine in three minutes: shutdown -h 3

For more info and options, type man shutdown or just shutdown and a help message should appear.

What does Linux look like?

It can look like just about anything you want! Unlike Windows 95/98, there is no standard 'look' of Linux. In fact, Linux only has a command line interface. (A command line interface is where you type in commands, it is text based similar to MS-DOS). But most people that run Linux like to have a GUI (graphic user interface), so they can use a mouse and point/click.

This interface is known as The X Windows System..but only a technoweenie calls it that. Most people just call it X. Here are some screenshots of various configurations: (tip: use your right mouse button to click on the link and choose "Open Link In new Window"):

 KDE - running X11 amp
 KDE - running Netscape
 FVWM95- Netscape
 FVWM95 - Desktop
 AfterStep - with a Matix theme

There are many more configurations, and you can suit it all to your needs.

How Do I Dual Boot With Windows?

You want to keep Windows, but also have a full blown Linux distrubution on one hard drive. It can be done. You can get a utility such as System Commander that allows you to run multiple operating systems. You can also consult these HOWTO's according to your needs:

 Linux + Windows 95
 Loadlin + Windows 95
 NT OS Loader + Linux

Also, a great way to get help in doign this is by asking someone that has successfully done it. At this time, I have never personally dual booted between Windows/Linux, but there are many people that have.

How do I Partition My Drive?

Very carefully =)

For all the technical details and specifics, you may want to read the Partition HOWTO .

Before you partition, you'll want to back up all your important files. Upload them, stick them on a zip drive or a mess of floppies, something so you can get your data back. You'll also want to get familiar with Linux FDISK. You can download  tomsrtbt linux which takes up only one floppy disk. Then you can boot from it and use the FDISK program provided. DON'T REALLY FDISK YET. Just get used to the program and how to interact with it, and go through the entre process of FDISKing just as you would for real, just don't issue the command 'w' which means "write to disk and exit". Until that point, nothing you do in FDISK is acted out upon. So quit without saving changes, just type q.

It is important to be familiat and comofrtable with FDISK. Remember to 't' (toggle) each file ssytem as necessary. You'll need to toggle your swap space, and any other partions that are not Linux Native. The best way to learn by reading and then reading more, then doing it, doing it again and again, then reading some more and doing it again...

How big should my swap file be?

When creating a swap space, make it double the size of your physical ram, at least. If you've got 16mb of physical ram in your machine, make a swap space of 32mb. The swap space can only go up to 128mb without doing something to circumvent this liitation. I do not know what, I've never had that problem. Check out some of the  HOWTO's .

What about Linux on laptops?

Please consult  Linux on Laptops for information on this topic.

Where can I download some cool programs for Linux?

Here are a few archive sites you might be interested in:

 LinuxBerg -  http://www.linuxberg.com/
 Dave Central  -  http://www.davecentral.com/
 LinuxApps.com - http://www.linuxapps.com/

Where can I get office software?

Check out the sites I mentioned above, but you can also check out:

 http://linux.corel.com - For Corel WordPerfect for Linux. Can also be downloaded for free or bought..

 http://www.stardivision.com/ - For a complete office suite that is Microsoft Office compatable! Free to download ot purchase on a CD for a small cost.

There are many other applications and suites available, but these two seem the most interesting to me and all you'd really need.

What programs are there for Windows that also run on Linux?

One of the main reasons that I like to use Windows 95/98 is because of ICQ. I like to use the Instant Message feature while I'm surfing the net. For a while, you'd have to deal with clunky JAVA ICQ that had higher system specifications that what I had. But with KDE, you get LICQ. LICQ is great, and is extremely similar to ICQ in many ways. It even looks like regular ICQ. best o all, you can talk to the same people on it- it uses the ICQ servers so you're actually still using the ICQ service, just not the same program. You use the same handle, ICQ#, everything. Excellent program.

There is alsoa  version of Netscape Communicator available for Linux, as well as WordPerfect, and many others. Basically, if you can do it in Windows, you can more than likely find a way to do it in Linux.

How can I set up my Linux box so I can go online?

If you have X installed and configured properly, you can type in netcfg into your xtern (or konsole in KDE). Also keep in mind you'll need to be root for this.

A dialogue box form will come up wanting all sorts of information like domain name, DNS  info, etc. Fill this out with the information it asks. (if you don;t have this information, check your ISP's website first for DNS numbers, phone number to dial, etc. Then if they don't have that info listed, call their tech support and ask them for the information you need). Your ISP's tech support should even be able to help you get connected.

In netcfg, the first thing you will see is the top: 'Names', 'Hosts', 'Interfaces', and 'Routing'. You'll see under 'Names' some fields to enter data into such as 'Hostname', 'Domain', etc.

Hostname - Make this whatever you want your computer's name to be. I named mine stetson
Domain - This is your ISP's domain name. My ISP is Clarity Connect so I use clarityconnect.com

Leave the 'Search for hostnames in additional domains' blank.

In 'Nameservers' type in the dotted quad IP of your ISP's nameservers. The primary first, then the secondary. My 'Nameservers' looks like:

206.64.143.10
206.64.143.2

Now go to 'Interfaces' and click 'Add'.

A dialogue box will come up that wants to know what type of interface..choose PPP.

Now add the phone number, your login name and password. Also click PAP if you use PAP authentication. If you don't know if you sue PAP or CHAP or whatever else, ask your ISP's tech support. If they don't know, then they need a new job =)

Then click done. That should be enough to establish an Internet connection.

When you want to dial out, click 'Activate'. To disconnect: 'Deactivate'.

If you're using KDE, you can use kppp. It is similar to netcfg - just type in the information it asks for. When you run kppp, go to "Setup". After going into setup, choose "New..." from the Accounts. Just go on filling in all the information it asks for. Make sure to go to the 'Device' tab and choose where your modem is. Mine is located on /dev/cua1, but sometimes just /dev/modem will work. Other times it might be /dev/cua2 or whatever else they have there..just keep trying different ones if you're unsure. If you know what it is in DOS, that also helps. My modem is COM2 I believe under DOS. So if you're on COM1 in DOS, then you're /dev/cua0 in Linux. Basically, think of it like this: DOS starts counting at 1, while Linux starts counting at Zero.

Whether you use netcfg or kppp, be sure you also set up your modem! kppp includes it as part of the setup process but netcfg does not.

For setting up your machine to go online without X, read Your Linux PPP Connection  located right here on my site.

If I did not explain this thoroughly enough or was not quite clear on this, feel free to send me an e-mail telling me so and I'll help you set up your box to go online.

How do I find out my IP?

To find out your IP address for whatever reason, type the following onto the console or an xterm (or Konsole if you have KDE..):

ifconfig
 

How Do I configure X?

Use the utility: xf86config

You'll need to know information about your mouse, monitor, video card, etc. etc. Be sure to collect as much information about your monitor and video card as possible such as:

make/model of video card and monitor
horizontal and vertical sync rates and refresh rates
amount of video ram you have
mouse type (PS/2, Serial, etc.)
keyboard type (English, 101 keys, etc).

At least that, but the more the better.

Then when you've got it configured, you can start an X session by typin gthe command: startx

For more information, check out the  XFree86 FAQ

How do I boot directly into X?

Step 1:  Backup /etc/inittab

Step 2: Edit /etc/inittab (as root)  and find the following line:
id:3:initdefault:
 

Step 3:  Change the 3 to a 5.

Be careful not to change ANYTHING else. Editing the inittab file is something to not be taken lightly. Errors in the file can cause horrific  problems.

Step 4:  Save /etc/inittab

Step 5:  Reboot.
 

What are some basic Linux commands I should know?

Commands to do what? There are important commands needed for a variety of different things. Of course you'll need to know:

There are enough command references out there, so I am not going to reinvent the wheel. Here are some links to some good sources of information:

 http://www.mred.demon.nl/html/linux/lincomm.html - A page with lists of Linux commands
 http://www.stritch.edu/ced/ppt6/index.htm - 7 UNIX Commands You Can't Live Without
 http://www.nmt.edu/tcc/help/unix/unix_cmd.html - Usefull UNIX Commands
 http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~abar/basic_linux_commands.html - More Basic Linux Commands

Where can I find Linux security information?

Linux by nature I think it a pretty secure operating system, but that certainly doesn't mean it can't be hacked. It gets hacked everyday! If you're going to run Linux, you've got to be security conscious. Here are some sites with software and information about Linux security, or UNIX/Network security in general.

http://www.nic.com/~dave/SecurityAdminGuide/SecurityAdminGuide-all.html
http://linux-center.org/en/system/security/index.html
http://www.kernel-panic.com/security/
http://rlz.ne.mediaone.net/linux/
http://netsecurity.miningco.com/
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~jtmurphy/
http://www.clark.net/pub/mjr/websec/
http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/security-prog.html
 

Also be sure to protect your Linux box agains exploits found on:

 http://www.rootshell.com
 http://www.anticode.com

How do I compile a program using gcc?

At some point in time, you're going to have to compile a .c or .cpp file, even if you're not a programmer. If you don't know what a .c or a .cpp file is then you will if you get Linux. A .c file is the source code for a C program, whereas a .cpp is a C++ source code file.

Here is how to compile using gcc (the GNU C/C++ development tools).

gcc source.c -o executable

If I was to compile a source code file called rich.c, I would type:

gcc rich.c -o rich

This would create an executable file called rich. You could call it anything though..

gcc rich.c -o stetson

That would create an executable called stetson from the rich.c source code.
 

Where can I find more information?

The Internet is full of Linux information, it is all over. All you have to do is look. WWW, Usenet, FTP, evetywhere. Here are some good WWW sites for general Linux information:

 http://basiclinux.hypermart.net/basic/index.html  - Basic Linux Training
 http://www.linux-howto.com/LinuxGuide/index.html - Josh's Linux Guide
 http://www.linux-howto.com