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I’m sorry to have missed the previous deadline and I see that I may miss a couple more. I’m in the throes of packing up my Dad’s estate and house and preparing for an auction. This is more time-consuming than I first thought, and is getting busier every week. Since the material I’ve been preparing for this particular blog can be put on hold, I am doing so until futher notice.

I promise not to forget! But it may well be after I’m settled into my new place. If I have a slacker Thursday morning before then, I’ll get back at this series of lessons with the next installment.

Blessings, & Thanks for your patience!
Ruth

One thing I believe I forgot to mention last time is that before your installation is complete, you will be asked for your choice of a “root’ password. You will also be asked to choose a user name and password. This can be confusing if you’re used to Windows, where you rarely ever get asked for a password. (Maybe if your computer was set up for two different people, you might have to switch to be you before you can touch your files).

Well, Root in a linux system is like the janitor or custodian who has all the keys to the building. He’s the one who has access to all the operating functions and who cleans up the place, and see that it meets inspection standards. Of course, if you are the one installing the linux system, you’re likely to be ‘root’ and you get all these duties and privileges.

One of the reasons a linux system is so much more secure than a Windows system is that whenever you need to do something critical to your whole computer system, you must take on this super-user role as “root.” When you are finished, you should step out of this role and become an ordinary user again. That is why during setup of your installation, you are asked to assign a root password, and also to create a user and password for yourself.

If you are going to have several people using the computer, you should set up a separate user name and password for each one, and fix the system so that to get in, each person must login as their own user name. That way, if anything happens to one user, it will not affect the other users or perhaps leave the whole system untouched. It also means that when there’s a problem, you can put on your “root” hat, and your ring of master keys and you can go solve the problem and make everyone happy again. Once done, you hang up your hat and keys, and become yourself again.

Now before you get too carried away with this auspicious authority role, it is wise to do some research and learn the basic commandline commands and when to use them. It is quite possible to give the wrong command and to bring the whole linux system down in a tumble. It’s best to give this role to the person who knows the most about the system, or who is willing to patiently learn and develop those skills.

I’m happy to share that if your linux system is well installed, you can go many days without having to do anything as ‘root’. But when a crisis comes - ah, you want your commands and emergency instructions nearby and on paper!

As the online lessons point out, you don’t want to stay in your “root” role all the time, even though everything looks just the same and you can forget. The danger of slipping up and making a wrong move is too great. You might.crash it accidentally. At least while you are still rather naive about many things. Later on that’s not such a great danger.

Respect your role as “root” but don’t let it swell your head.

(Just a note of explanation. The reason I’ve skipped so many weeks in this continuing series is because of my Dad’s illness, death and the funeral. All events which are very time-absorbing. I now need to find myself a new home and wrap things up here, but I am trying to get back to my usual work schedule too).

In our last lesson at the beginning of February we had just put the Linux installation boot disk into the computer and it was beginning to whirl and hum industriously. No doubt you’ve had your eyes straight on the screen, watching all the new things flash by. But suddenly it stops and it wants to know which way you are going to proceed. After a few installations you won’t hesitate, but the first time around it helps if someone explains the options.

1. Do you want to erase everything on the hard drive and install on a clean disk?
2. Do you want to leave what you have (i.e. your Other operating system) and squeeze this system in on the blank sections?
3. Do you want to manually partition your hard drive so you only touch certain areas?

There may be more, but those are the main ones. They may be worded more intuitively too, depending on the particular linux system you are installing.

Unless you know you want only this Linux system on this particular computer, or you know you have lots of gigabytes of space beyond what your other system is using, I suggest you bite the bullet and try the partitioning step. At the very least it will introduce you to things linux in a hurry. I made some mistakes, but I’m permanently wiser for it.

For the moment, let’s pretend you have a 10 GB hard drive. Check how much RAM you have. (That the amount of memory that indicates how much your computer can hold in it’s present-tense memory at any given moment). If that’s 256 MB, you want to create about 500 MB of a SWAP partition. This allows your Linux system to grab extra memory in an emergency. Saves on or prevents crashes!

So you indicate that on the partitioning tool. Assign 500 MB of space for SWAP.

For the boot area, shown with just a / you can assign 1.2 GB. That’s were all your start-up programs get to live.

Let’s give the /usr area 3.5 GB. That’s where you’ll install the programs you want to run, but which don’t have to all come to life on boot up.

That leaves 5 GB for the /home area which is where all the new files, graphics, documents, or whatever you create will be stored.

You’ll notice that the system calls the sections you’ve assigned by names like /dev/hda2 and so forth. Windows calls the drive sections names like C:/ or D:/ and so forth. Linux has this other naming convention. We catch on after a bit.

Before we can proceed we must initialize each of the partitions now. There will be warnings that to proceed means you are wiping anything off that currently resides on those sections. If it happens that you decided to leave Windows in place, you will have seen it’s partitions clearly marked, and of course, you do not initialize them now. That would be wiping your Windows OFF the hard drive! But Linux does need to initialize the partitions it will be living in, so it can call them it’s own.

You followed the directions? You didn’t leave any of the partitions out?

Good. Then we can move on. Now things will go faster.

You’ll be asked a few more questions, like what to call your machine/computer. If it is going to be an online server for a registered domain, you would of course, use that, but if it’s just your home computer, call it what you like.

In some cases you are allowed to choose the modules you want included in the installation. Some of the smaller systems just go ahead and give you all that’s on the CD or DVD.

The installation starts, and whirls away. I like to click on “details” to get a clue as to what it is installing. The larger a system, such as SUSE, that you install, the longer it takes. Maybe several hours. If you are installing a small one, it may be 20 minutes or less.

At some points along the way it will pause to ask you for more information or choices.

It will likely ask you what boot system you want. There’s Grub (for geeks who understand the more complicated lingo), and LILO which is easier for beginners. However I’ve discovered that when the kernel needs to be upgraded, it’s much better to have Grub in place as it saves you some steps. Grub can be set up to make for a very nice boot sequence too. So not to worry.

You get a chance to make a rescue floppy disk, which is a wise idea, although I confess I’ve skipped it a number of times.

Towards the end, it wants to know more things like the type of monitor you have, screen resolution, what your ISP address is - so it can set up your email address for you - and whether you want to go online to get the latest updates to this system. I try to get these matters all taken care of as they come up, so that when it announces it is finished, the system is up and ready to go!

Well, when it has re-boot, and you are finally in the system, you want to poke around a bit, and find the personal settings, and fine-tune them to suit your fancy. You are NOW a Linux user!

Of course, some of these details may not have been covered during the installation, so we’ll deal with them next time and discuss how to get everything checked out and operating smoothly.

oving right along here towards installing Linux… we have to pause to consider which method we’ll use. Much of this may be determined by the type of computer and internet access you have.

1. You can download a wide variety of choices in Linux systems, and if you have a CD burner, you can burn the CD or DVD, and then use that for your installation.

2. If yours is an older computer and doesn’t have all these features, then you can buy a installation CD and use that. This turns out to be the most popular way to do it. Even if you don’t have a full installation CD, you might get a LIVE CD that has just enough on it to go online and fetch the rest of the files as the installer program needs them. It takes longer that way, but if your line is steady, you can do that.

3. It is possible to download and make a bootable floppy diskette. If you have the computer connected to go online, that will allow you to get the installer program started, and it too, will go fetch the rest of the files from online.

The one note I’d add to both 2 and 3, is that you need to have a list of exact URLs ready to tell the installer where to go to get the files. When I tried it, I had only one URL and it wasn’t working, and I had no way of trying others because I hadn’t prepared such a list. It meant I had to crash everything, go back online and find that list of URLs first.

Now, if you wish to have both MS Windows and a Linux system on the same computer so you can make the transition more gradually, that is possible. I’ve done that too. It’s called dual-booting, or mutli-booting. But you need to know a few points before you start.

MS Windows will NOT cooperate on the same hard drive if it is not installed first. If you already have it on the hard drive, and if there is enough free space on the hard drive, some Linux systems will just install themselves on the free section. BUT you should make a thorough back up of everything in your Windows system in case you make a mistake in the partitioning stage, and accidentally wipe out all your Windows system. I’ve had that happen too!

Most die-hard Linux fans will try to discourage you from dual-booting with Windows. Most people trade in their old car when buying a new one, they don’t keep the old one and drive it some days to make the transition gradually.

It can happen that you have some Windows-only Program with a lot of data that you are not ready to handle from some unknown program. Maybe Quicken with all your financial records, or Brother’s Keeper with all your genealogy databases? In that case a dual boot is a good idea, especially if you haven’t got two separate computers.

Even then, it would be best to have the Windows system on one drive, and your new Linux on another, or a virtual drive, while on the same computer. We’ll mention this again when we get to the partitioning lesson.

For now, if you’ve decided on the method and whether you will go for a dual boot or straight Linux, then it is time to access your BIOS (or CMOS on the older computers) and make a simple little change to tell the computer to look on the CD (or floppy) drive for the booting information.

When you power up, or re-boot your computer, you see this line at the bottom that says, “Press DEL to enter setup”. Quickly, before it is gone, click on the DEL key in the numeric pad on your keyboard. You will move about the menus here with your Tab and arrow keys. Click to enter the Bios Features Setup. Then find the menu item that says “Boot Sequence.” With your + and - keys on the numeric pad, you can cause the CD drive, or the floppy drive, if that’s what you’re going to use, to shift to the top of the list. That’s all you need to accomplish. Navigate to the “Save and Exit” button, and click that. (Very often that’s F10).

Now put the installation disk into the drive, if you haven’t already, and reboot the computer.

Brrr! the boot disk will come alive. Now hang on - the installation ride starts!

Moving on further in the lessons, we see that to prepare to install Linux on your computer, you need to find your old computer manuals and have them ready, just in case anything goes wrong. The new operating systems in the linux world are made to walk you through the installation so easily that most people don’t have a problem. But nothing comes guaranteed. Things can go wrong, and you need to know what you’ve got for hardware and so forth.

Personally, I’ve found that it is best to visit the BIOS or CMOS of your computer and make notes of what you have. For instance, in case the installation software can’t find the right make of your graphics card, it’s a good idea to know it’s exact technical name. Then you can insert that or find a model close to yours during the installation without having to turn off the computer and starting over again from the beginning once you have that information.

Look up what you have for USB ports too, and what exactly your extra removable disk drives are called. What’s your screen resolution? Little details like this might save you some frustration and headache. Write them down.

The next big issue is deciding which Linux system you are going to try first. There are more and more of them all the time, and they vary from bare bones, (or swimsuit editions as this lesson online called them), all the way up to the most advanced systems with everything included (as if you were packing gear to climb mount Everest).

For instance, when I installed Mandrake 9.1 - my very first effort - I discovered that I had everything I needed to run my computer as a web server, and an email server. Like, if I knew what I was doing and would keep my computer running 24/7 I wouldn’t need to pay for web hosting or an ISP any more! (I knew I wasn’t ready for that). There were all kinds of programs so that I could become a full-fledged “computer programmer” or graphics expert! I saw stuff that would allow me to connect to someone else’s computer and repair it by remote control.

Yes, really, there are many different kinds of operating systems, and some of them are super deluxe, and others very basic. So before you install a system, you might want to do some research online, or else go with whatever your local guru recommends for your first effort.

The glory of Linux is that you can install more than one system, and you can take one off and replace it with a different one. You can also buy or download and burn a CD with a system in what is known as “LIVE” state. That is, you can stick the CD into your drive, and explore the system as if it were on your hard drive - but it is not. It remains on the CD only. Once you’ve had a test-drive like that, and you could do that with several. Then you can put that same CD into your computer and click “install” and it will install itself on your computer.

Mind you, some of these “LIVE” CDs do not have everything that the full system has, so to get the whole thing you’ll need to get a set of CDs or a DVD to install all of it. In that sense some LIVE CDs are a bit mis-leading. You don’t get the full impact of what it represents until you do the installation.

Here’s another question before we rush into the installation process. Do you want to keep the current operating system on this computer and have the Linux on beside it? That’s known as a Dual-boot computer. This works, but we have to keep certain things in mind as we go.

When I first wanted to try this Mandrake out, I had a lot of things going on my Windows 98 computer that I was afraid I might lose, or it might take me a long time to get things learned and up and running on Mandrake. I had two drives; I decided that I’d really like best if I could keep the Windows 98 on one hard drive, and put Mandrake on the other, then I’d be able to spend time exploring and learning the new system, and switch back to windows when duties pressed.

That worked for a while. In no time I was spending most of my days in Mandrake and just going back to Windows to answer emails. Then one day the windows portion got a virus and seized up. I was forced to work in Mandrake only. Happily by that time I was at home in it, and the transition wasn’t so bad at all.

So, yes, if you want to do a dual-boot, you can do that. You’ll just have to choose your system from a menu whenever you boot up.

We’ll go further next time. Go check out what system you’d like to try.

On December 14/06 I announced that I was going to start taking some online Linux courses, so I could make sure I covered the missing gaps in what I’ve learned as I went along bumping from one need-to-learn to another. This way I’ll be better prepared to teach others.

So here’s where I went this morning: Linux.org/lessons/

It’s all rather tame background information, but for those totally new to this field, that’s good. I also find the writing style here easy to read and very informative.

Here’s a few things that caught my attention;

1. Linux is an operating system meant to be used as an alternative to other operating systems like MS-DOS, the various versions of MS Windows, Mac OS, Solaris and others. Linux is not a program like a word processor and is not a set of programs like an office suite.

2. The kernel was designed by Linus Torvalds, a student at the university of Helsinki, who wanted something that would take into account the ideas and suggestions of users for improving it.

3. Linus joined together with Richard Stallman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (MIT) who had programs, but no kernel. Neither one could accomplish much until they helped each other out. (Sort of like the horse and carriage, or love and marriage - you really can’t have one without the other).

4. Linux systems now have such a reputation for stability that some computers have been known to run for a year without needing to be rebooted except for some maintenance. That stability is what is attracting people. While it was considered mainly for geeks and gurus in the 1990s, Red Hat began to produce it on CDs with simple instructions that anyone could understand and use to install on their computer. Now it is taking off in the 2000s!

Next time we’ll move to lessons on installation.

Blessings,
Ruth

By looking up things, trying various steps, like installing a linux operating system, and working with the programs, and making mistakes and learning from them — I have managed to learn quite a bit about Linux. Or so I tell myself. I’m even considering teaching others.

However, today I’ve discovered, or re-discovered a series of online courses at Linux.org/lessons/ There are three sets,

Getting Started with Linux - Beginner’s Course
Intermediate Level Linux Course
Advanced Linux Course

Short Lessons and How-Tos - Short lessons dealing with specific topics related to using Linux.

I’ve just looked at the index for each and decided that I should make time to work my way through them to make sure I really know as much as I think I do. But because I have many other “irons in the fire” to use an old cliche, it may happen that I only go look when I want to write another blog here on my Linux Learning Curve. So, piecemeal, little by little, I’ll review or share my new discoveries there. Perhaps not touching on each lesson separately, but using this place to record what I do learn.

Now, because my next scheduled entry in this Linux Learning Curve blog is due on Dec. 28, and I expect to take that week off for holidays, it may be January 11, before you see the next entry. I sure hope you can find something else to do in the meantime.

Hey, no reason you shouldn’t go there and get a headstart! Linux.org/lessons/

Merry Christmas & a Blessed New Year!
Ruth

Yesterday I had cause to rejoice that I have a Linux only computer. I went to HostGator’s forum for clients, and discovered in the announcements that back in September there had been a huge crisis, when it was discovered there was an exploit on our cPanels (where we webmasters do our administrative tasks, and it had cause those with Windows computers to have all kinds of wierd conflicts.

Some could not access their sites, some were re-directed to other sites, some saw popups of sites they had never visited, some had their MySQL databases down, and some had strange new databases entered, (Huh?) Oh my! All kinds of problems!

I can’t say that I was aware of any of this in any way. (Aside from some spamming of my forms, which I don’t think was related).

http://forums.hostgator.com/showthread.php?t=10939 As I read further in this forum, I discovered that those of us who have linux computers were pretty well safe. It was the Windows users who suffered, although some who use Firefox as their browser did not have as much trouble as the ones using Internet Explorer (IE).

Right now I’m trying hard not to gloat, but I feel strangely rewarded for my efforts in switching to SUSE and even the hassle in re-doing my install of version 10.1 this fall.

I also was proud of how the head of HostGator got in there and used his connections to patch things up for his clients. It really is a great host and I’m pleased I choose them back in June. HostGator

Now, how can I tactfully suggest to more Windows users that they would be better off switching to Linux? I need to watch for my opportunities.

I’ve discovered there are many hard-working developers in the Linux world, who donate untold hours to developing and refining and polishing their scripts and software that works in our Linux operating systems. It’s something to marvel at such devotion.

Today, while looking for new directories of places to list my sites at, I stumbled across a man who has benefited from all that hard work, and decided to do something to pay those people back - at least a token or honorarium. How he has set this up though, may well end up paying those individuals and groups a more handsome sum than they ever dreamed of.

His name is Bob Mutch, located in Alymer, Ontario, Canada. His