6. Take note of RH Up2Date icon on
taskbar
7. Explore Gnome main menu (see Jang, p. 444)
- Open Network Settings under System Settings
- Open Internet Configuration Wizard under System Tools, choose
Modem
- Open Gnome Control Center under "Preferences" (see Jang, p.
445-456)
8. Explore Linux help systems
- Open graphic-based help system from Start Menu. (This system is
mainly about using
the Gnome desktop.)
- Check out the Manual page section for applications. These files
can be accessed through Gnome or from a text-based terminal. Open the
documentation for Gimp.
- Now, right-click on the desktop and open a Terminal Session.
Enter man gimp at the command prompt. (Are the two sets of
documentation equivalent?)
- Open the Info section of the GUI-Based help applet and open the
entry on Emacs. From the command prompt in your terminal window, enter
the command "info emacs." Compare the results.
Manual pages and the Info system are
two help systems built into the Linux operating system.
9. Working with Linux at the console.
- Issue the command CD \ from your terminal window to go to the
root directory of the Linux partition. Use the "ls" command,
(equivalent to the DOS DIR command) to show all the directories on the
partition. (See Jang, ch. 7, page 236 for a brief description of the RH
Linux filesystem layout:
/ /bin /boot /dev /etc /home /initrd /lib
/lost+found /misc /mnt
/opt /proc /root /sbin /tftpboot /tmp /usr /var
- See class handout, p. 8, for details on working in the Linux
shell:
default shell is Bash
Important commands: (see Jang, p. 215-228)
ls, pwd, cd, cp, rm, mkdir, rmdir, cat, su, find, locate, grep
See also
http://www.groovyweb.uklinux.net/?page_name=unixcommands
Console Exercises
Create symbolic links
Create a new file with touch
Change read/write file permissions with chmod
Search for files with find and locate (use locate -u to update system
database)
Use pipes (< >) to save a search
Use grep to search for word patterns in files (grep pattern file 1
file 2) (grep -l string * )
Combine commands with $ ( ln -s $(locate '*.jpg') jpegfiles
Use Ctrl+Z to suspend a program and fg to return to it.
[Break]
10. Practical Application Exercises
- Download and install an application from an rpm package
Bluefish HTML editor is available at http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/download.html
- Use Mount and Umount commands to mount and unmount floppies, CD,
and FAT partition (through directory)
- Edit the /etc/FSTAB file to change permissions in the mounted
VFAT partition.
- Update RH Linux system files with Up2Date.
Homework:
Read Eric Raymond's famous essay about Linux,
The
Cathedral and the Bazaar
Read/review Jang, Chapters 6,8,19
Practice installing RH Linux 9 at home (if possible). Take notes and
report difficulties. (Feel free to
email me, if you encounter
difficulties.)