On Tue, Jun 12, 2001 at 07:04:44PM -0400, leo wrote:
> I'm really new to Linux, but I think that as people become more computer
> literate they are bound to resent situations where they cannot help
> themselves to solve a problem. That is the main ax I have to grind with
> MSWindows. Without an engineering degree you are out in the cold most of the
> time. I just learned (please don't laugh) that all the control for installs
> is in a text file that I can edit, not in some archane "registry" where
> trying to remove something can create chaos. Linux needs to point up the
> ease of resolving problems, the lack of need for outside technical support
> once you become familiar. I wish we had a central point for error messages
> and recovery steps to take, or is there and I am unaware? By the way, what
> is the name of the text file which keeps the install information? I have a
> stack of books 5 feet tall and can't find this answer. Thanx.............leo.
<snip>
Find out from whoever told you there's _one_ file what it is. I'd like
to know myself.
Linux distributions have a plethora of configuration files in a variety
of directories (most in /etc), and most are straight text files,
editable by root. Often, you can issue
man 5 <name-of-file>
and see what it does, what's supposed to be in it, etc.
In the /var/log directory (usually) there will be various files that
indicate what's going on with a system. In particular, the file
/var/log/messages gives information about important events on a running
system. However, like most things in Linux, it's configurable to tell
you more or less. And not everything on a system logs every odd thing
that happens. /var/log/messages is the first place to start looking.
As for what to do when XYZ happens, welcome to the learning curve
(you've heard of Mt. Everest? ;-). There isn't a central place to find
this out, because problems can come from any number of places and take
any number of forms. Learn to use the man pages. Likewise, get familiar
with what's in the /usr/doc directory. If you've installed them, FAQs
and HOWTOs will (usually) be in there. And then of course, you've always
got the SLUG list. ;-} Unfortunately, Linux does not have "Help
Wizards".
Some installs (depends on the distro) will tell you at the end that
they've logged install information to a file, but it depends on the
distro. When you install, write it down. If you forgot to write it down,
check the /tmp or /var directories (a guess) for something with the
extension "log". Some distros won't say anything about it.
Paul
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