Hi Robert,
Since I did not get time to reply in length the first time replied, I will reply at length this time.
First thing you need to do is pick your own linux distribution. According to the package manager ( ie the program used to install binaries )used we can roughly classify them into
(a) RPM based distros (b) Debian based distros ( c) Slackware based ( .tgz ) ( d) Gentoo based or Custom Linux distros.
There are lot of distro's out there each with its own merits and demerits. I prefer Slackware because it is the most technically challenging and customizable distro out there. The problem with Slackware is that its package management is not that great. But that's okay since you use Slackware, you are expected to be nerdy and you know how to figure things out your own way :) .
How do I get help in a Linux system ?
First you to do is to read the man pages for any command. Make sure that you do a quick man before you post anything in any community site or newsgroup. A good number of people want to prove they are â eliteâ , so if you ask questions when info is directly there in manual, you are likely to get flamed .
At shell type
$man
to access the man page of a particular command. To get help on adduser type
$man adduser
Many commands/utilities come with a brief help as well. Generally â help will give you sufficient info
eg
$gcc â help
to get help on gcc. Alternatively you can try info and appropos commands as well. Also read HOWTOs and guides when possible.
What are the commonly used commands?
ls â list files { similar to vms dir }
cp-- copy { similar to vms copy }
chdir â change directory { similar to vms set default }
mkdir â create directory { similar to vms create/directory}
cat â see contents of a file { similar to type in vms }
mount â mount a filesystem similar to mount in vms
eg mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy should mount the floppy.
You should note that your root directory is denoted by / . Other file systems are mounted as a part of a root file system . If you do a
$ls /
you should see /dev /etc /bin /usr
/dev â directory containing special files that represent devices . Remember Linux provides the abstraction that everything is a file. Eg filling a floopy device with zeros
$dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/fd0
fd0 is a file representing the floppy device.
/etc - basically contains config files
/bin â contains system binaries
/usr â contains usr binaries and libraries . Play around a bit and to get the feel of things
How do I install software in Linux ?
This is distro specific and varies differently in different linux distros. I prefer compiling from sources.
For debain based systems its basically
dpk -i
if you have aptitude installed you can do
apt get install . The advantage of this method is that it will download the dependencies for you automatically and you do not have download each dependency separately.
How to master shell scripting ?
VMS has DCL , but Linux supports many shells bash, c shell , korn shell and lot of other shells eg :fish for instance . But BASH ( bourne again shell is the most popular). You can even roll your own shell , it a'int that hard :) . There are documents in TLDP that might help.See tldp.org
I hope that I am of some use to you :)
Truly Evil
Lucifer Megacruel
"To Denouce the Evils of Truth and Love. To cause may hem and destruction and necromancy , Lucifer is here"
