On Tue, Aug 20, 2002 at 08:44:37AM -0400, Paul Swider wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I've recently moved to this area and want to find some linux
> assistance. I'm working for a company bringing IT to remote
> locations.
> http://www.greenstar.org/introduction.htm
> Among our interests is using linux systems in these
> circumstances. Before I can deploy, however, I have to feel
> confident using such systems myself.
>
> I've played with a few distros and am getting comfortable
> with installs and configurations. I've settled, for the
> moment, on Mandrake. But I need to know more.
>
> My next step is to learn how to install other software on my
> Mandrake (or other?) system. This may appear trivial to some
> but I'm still puzzled by it, can't understand a universal
> method. After that, I want to then compile CDs with a distro
> and other software that I can send to these remote
> locations, with instructions, so others can do their own
> installations. Another way to solve this would be to create
> a disk image that would, more or less, install itself,
> though I gather this would be highly hardware dependent and
> so problematic. These last two notions are not, I don't
> think, identical but you can see where I'm going with this.
>
> So I need to learn myself but also then be able to teach.
> And I need to unlearn, wean myself from the Windows
> mentality (or at least dual-boot my brain). I've bought
> books and read online materials but still struggle, perhaps
> because I've read the wrong things, perhaps because it
> doesn't fit my learning style (whatever that means).
>
First, it appears that you're going for "admin" level of understanding
here. If that's the case, _learn the command line_. Distros make all
kinds of tools to configure your system and such, but they are of
variable quality, and skills on one don't necessarily transfer to
another. OTOH, if you learn the location and syntax of configuration
files, you can immediately make whatever changes you need quickly and
almost universally across distros.
Burning installable CDROMs-- unless you really want to prove your macho
geekness and tackle Debian, you might want to consider Red Hat's
kickstart. I'm not an expert at it, but I gather it allows you to
replicate the setup on one machine to other machines. If you're looking
at having others (non-geeks) install Linux from CDs, you may want the
package selection as uniform as possible. I believe kickstart assists in
this. Also, become intimately familiar with Red Hat's RPM.
The hardware dependency parts of installs are becoming less important
these days, as distros add software that detects and configures
hardware. Not that it's not an issue, mind you. This is why large
companies buy thousands of the same model PC; it reduces this kind of
support cost. However, if the machines have different functions
(graphics workstation, backup server, etc.), then you have a serious
problem selecting packages that will go with all of them.
Special note: Man pages are your friend. ;-}
Just as a baseline, I'd recommend finding out how your system works.
This can take you in a thousand directions. For example, where are the
config files for cron? Find out. Look at what's inside them. What's the
difference between the various crontabs (cron tables-- they configure
cron) on your system? How can you modify them? Then run ps ax | more to
see what daemons are running on your system. You won't understand what
half of it is, but you'll get an inkling of what's going on while you're
typing away. Don't need ntpd running in the background? How do you turn
it off? Temporarily? Permanently?
Anyway, that's just a random sampling. Anything you don't understand,
investigate it. Feel free to ask stupid newbie questions on the list.
That's what we're here for.
Paul
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