100 Linux Tips and Tricks

This book was written for anyone using Linux, from new users to experts who want to explore this wonderful operating system. The tips and tricks in this book were discovered by myself over years of experience using Linux, and learning about it. Some are very basic tips to make your computing life easier, others are advanced tricks that can save you days of work.I tried to cover all distributions of Linux in this book. I personaly use Slackware and RedHat on PC systems. If you find any error in the book, feel free to contact me so a future second edition could correct them. Table of Contents......Page 2 Audience......Page 5 Web resources......Page 6 What this chapter covers......Page 8 Tip 1: Which distribution is good for you......Page 9 Tip 2: How to find a Linux CD-ROM at low cost......Page 10 Tip 3: Multiple operating systems......Page 11 Tip 4: Installing with no CD-ROM drive or modem......Page 12 Tip 5: Swap and memory......Page 13 Tip 6: More swap with a swap file......Page 14 Tip 7: Kernel size and modules......Page 15 Tip 8: The boot prompt......Page 16 Tip 9: Wrong memory size found......Page 17 Tip 10: Master boot record and LILO......Page 18 Tip 11: LILO can't find a kernel on a big drive......Page 19 Tip 12: X Window configuration options......Page 20 Tip 13: Allowing users to mount drives......Page 21 Tip 14: Allowing users to run root programs......Page 22 Tip 15: Linux and NT booting......Page 23 Tip 16: Annoying boot messages......Page 24 Tip 17: Programs on CD-ROM......Page 25 Tip 18: International console......Page 26 Tip 19: Multiple kernels choices......Page 27 Tip 20: Default file permissions......Page 28 Tip 21: Default boot mode......Page 29 Tip 22: More information from usenet......Page 30 Tip 23: Bytes per inodes......Page 31 Tip 24: LILO and boot problems......Page 32 Tip 25: Making CD-ROM images......Page 33 Tip 26: FTP access restrictions......Page 34 What this chapter covers......Page 36 Tip 1: Detecting 2 ethernet cards......Page 37 Tip 2: Everything on sound cards......Page 38 Tip 3: Non-PostScript printers......Page 39 Tip 4: Use Windows special keys in Linux......Page 40 Tip 5: Added processors......Page 41 Tip 6: Detecting an ISA device......Page 42 Tip 7: Find hardware information......Page 43 Tip 8: Blinking leds on the keyboard......Page 44 Tip 9: Reading a foreign file system......Page 45 Tip 10: Can't mount root fs......Page 46 Tip 11: Linux on a 286?......Page 47 Tip 12: Linux without a hard drive......Page 48 Tip 13: Shutdown and power off......Page 49 Tip 14: LPD started but no device found......Page 50 Tip 15: Read files from FAT32 drives......Page 51 Tip 16: TV on Linux......Page 52 Tip 17: Device drivers......Page 53 Tip 18: Mouse problems......Page 54 Tip 19: International keyboards......Page 55 What this chapter covers......Page 57 Tip 1: Background image in X Window......Page 58 Tip 2: Customize Netscape Communicator......Page 59 Tip 3: POP3 in Pine......Page 60 Tip 4: Multiple accounts in Pine......Page 61 Tip 5: Running Java programs......Page 62 Tip 6: Virtual hosts in Apache......Page 63 Tip 7: Libc versus Glibc......Page 64 Tip 8: Aliases with Qmail......Page 65 Tip 9: Samba with Windows 98 or NT 4......Page 66 Tip 10: KDE drag and drop icons......Page 67 Tip 11: Find files......Page 68 Tip 12: asm or linux include files not found......Page 69 Tip 13: ICQ on Linux......Page 70 Tip 14: Reading foreign documents......Page 71 Tip 15: Scanning with Linux......Page 72 Tip 16: Real audio and video......Page 73 Tip 17: Emulation......Page 74 Tip 18: Shared library not found......Page 75 Tip 19: Hard to erase files......Page 76 Tip 20: Files permissions......Page 77 Tip 21: Changing file permissions......Page 78 Tip 22: An international background......Page 79 Tip 23: Powerful file transfer system......Page 80 Tip 24: Editing in text editors......Page 81 Tip 25: Documentation and manual......Page 82 What this chapter covers......Page 84 Tip 1: Easy PPP dialup......Page 85 Tip 2: Internet for your LAN......Page 86 Tip 3: Domains to search in......Page 87 Tip 4: Display IP rather than hostname......Page 88 Tip 5: Is my modem a winmodem?......Page 89 Tip 6: Sharing files from a Windows system......Page 90 Tip 7: Sorry but this host is not in my list......Page 91 Tip 8: Access to various networks......Page 92 Tip 9: Accessing remote file systems......Page 93 Tip 10: Secure Web server......Page 94 Tip 11: Secure alternative to telnet......Page 95 Tip 12: Speed problems on a PPP connection......Page 96 Tip 13: Names and name servers......Page 97 Tip 14: Who owns this port......Page 98 Tip 15: Network printers......Page 99 What this chapter covers......Page 101 Tip 1: Graphical messages to the world......Page 102 Tip 2: Code reuse......Page 103 Tip 3: Makefile don't equal C......Page 104 Tip 4: Parsing the command line in BASH......Page 105 Tip 5: Don't grep grep......Page 106 Tip 6: Move a text into upper case letters......Page 107 Tip 7: Using PASCAL on Linux......Page 108 Tip 8: Segmentation fault......Page 109 Tip 9: Who is online?......Page 110 Tip 10: Graphical toolkits......Page 111 Tip 11: IDE and visual interfaces......Page 112 Tip 12: Free software and copyleft......Page 113 Tip 13: Talking to the terminal......Page 114 Tip 14: Internet technologies......Page 115 Tip 15: Library types......Page 116 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 5 Copyright 5 About the author 5 Aknowledgements 5 Audience 5 Organization 6 Web resources 6 Installation 8 What this chapter covers 8 Tip 1: Which distribution is good for you 9 Tip 2: How to find a Linux CD-ROM at low cost 10 Tip 3: Multiple operating systems 11 Tip 4: Installing with no CD-ROM drive or modem 12 Tip 5: Swap and memory 13 Tip 6: More swap with a swap file 14 Tip 7: Kernel size and modules 15 Tip 8: The boot prompt 16 Tip 9: Wrong memory size found 17 Tip 10: Master boot record and LILO 18 Tip 11: LILO can't find a kernel on a big drive 19 Tip 12: X Window configuration options 20 Tip 13: Allowing users to mount drives 21 Tip 14: Allowing users to run root programs 22 Tip 15: Linux and NT booting 23 Tip 16: Annoying boot messages 24 Tip 17: Programs on CD-ROM 25 Tip 18: International console 26 Tip 19: Multiple kernels choices 27 Tip 20: Default file permissions 28 Tip 21: Default boot mode 29 Tip 22: More information from usenet 30 Tip 23: Bytes per inodes 31 Tip 24: LILO and boot problems 32 Tip 25: Making CD-ROM images 33 Tip 26: FTP access restrictions 34 Hardware 36 What this chapter covers 36 Tip 1: Detecting 2 ethernet cards 37 Tip 2: Everything on sound cards 38 Tip 3: Non-PostScript printers 39 Tip 4: Use Windows special keys in Linux 40 Tip 5: Added processors 41 Tip 6: Detecting an ISA device 42 Tip 7: Find hardware information 43 Tip 8: Blinking leds on the keyboard 44 Tip 9: Reading a foreign file system 45 Tip 10: Can't mount root fs 46 Tip 11: Linux on a 286? 47 Tip 12: Linux without a hard drive 48 Tip 13: Shutdown and power off 49 Tip 14: LPD started but no device found 50 Tip 15: Read files from FAT32 drives 51 Tip 16: TV on Linux 52 Tip 17: Device drivers 53 Tip 18: Mouse problems 54 Tip 19: International keyboards 55 Software 57 What this chapter covers 57 Tip 1: Background image in X Window 58 Tip 2: Customize Netscape Communicator 59 Tip 3: POP3 in Pine 60 Tip 4: Multiple accounts in Pine 61 Tip 5: Running Java programs 62 Tip 6: Virtual hosts in Apache 63 Tip 7: Libc versus Glibc 64 Tip 8: Aliases with Qmail 65 Tip 9: Samba with Windows 98 or NT 4 66 Tip 10: KDE drag and drop icons 67 Tip 11: Find files 68 Tip 12: asm or linux include files not found 69 Tip 13: ICQ on Linux 70 Tip 14: Reading foreign documents 71 Tip 15: Scanning with Linux 72 Tip 16: Real audio and video 73 Tip 17: Emulation 74 Tip 18: Shared library not found 75 Tip 19: Hard to erase files 76 Tip 20: Files permissions 77 Tip 21: Changing file permissions 78 Tip 22: An international background 79 Tip 23: Powerful file transfer system 80 Tip 24: Editing in text editors 81 Tip 25: Documentation and manual 82 Networking 84 What this chapter covers 84 Tip 1: Easy PPP dialup 85 Tip 2: Internet for your LAN 86 Tip 3: Domains to search in 87 Tip 4: Display IP rather than hostname 88 Tip 5: Is my modem a winmodem? 89 Tip 6: Sharing files from a Windows system 90 Tip 7: Sorry but this host is not in my list 91 Tip 8: Access to various networks 92 Tip 9: Accessing remote file systems 93 Tip 10: Secure Web server 94 Tip 11: Secure alternative to telnet 95 Tip 12: Speed problems on a PPP connection 96 Tip 13: Names and name servers 97 Tip 14: Who owns this port 98 Tip 15: Network printers 99 Development 101 What this chapter covers 101 Tip 1: Graphical messages to the world 102 Tip 2: Code reuse 103 Tip 3: Makefile don't equal C 104 Tip 4: Parsing the command line in BASH 105 Tip 5: Don't grep grep 106 Tip 6: Move a text into upper case letters 107 Tip 7: Using PASCAL on Linux 108 Tip 8: Segmentation fault 109 Tip 9: Who is online? 110 Tip 10: Graphical toolkits 111 Tip 11: IDE and visual interfaces 112 Tip 12: Free software and copyleft 113 Tip 13: Talking to the terminal 114 Tip 14: Internet technologies 115 Tip 15: Library types 116