lsg02.htm

linux-unix130.linux.and.unix.ebooks130 linux and unix ebookslinuxLearning Linux - Collection of 12 E

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/systems/unix/linux



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<A HREF="ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu">wuarchive.wustl.edu</A>



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128.252.135.4



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/systems/linux



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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl">ftp.win.tue.nl</A>



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131.155.70.100



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/pub/linux



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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.stack.urc.tue.nl">ftp.stack.urc.tue.nl</A>



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131.155.2.71



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/pub/linux



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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.ibr.cs.tu-bs.de">ftp.ibr.cs.tu-bs.de</A>



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134.169.34.15



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/pub/os/linux



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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.denet.dk">ftp.denet.dk</A>



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129.142.6.74



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/pub/OS/linux</FONT>



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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>World Wide Web Sites</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>



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<P>If you know how to use the World Wide Web (WWW) and have access to a Web server, you can obtain a copy of Linux from several Web sites, including those shown in <A HREF="lsg01.htm">Chapter 1</A>. The primary FTP site offers Web access through the following URL:



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<FONT COLOR="#000080"><A TARGET="resource window" HREF="http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/linux.html">http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/linux.html</A></FONT></PRE>



<P>Figure 2.1 shows the page on sunsite.unc.edu that enables you to download software through the World Wide Web browser. From this page, you can download new Linux source code and binaries. You can use any Web client software, such as Mosaic or Netscape, to access the Web site and use the menu-driven system to download a copy of the Linux files. The Web site also offers a documentation page.



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<P><B> <A HREF="02LSG01.gif">Figure 2.1.</B>



<BR><B>The sunsite.unc.edu site is the primary source for Linux software.</A></B>



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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>E-mail</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>



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<P>If you don't have access to a Linux distribution site to FTP the software, you can still get the files transferred to you if you have a e-mail system that can reach a Linux site. This method is an alternative for those using on-line systems that allow Internet mail but do not allow direct access to FTP and those using some corporate systems that do not allow you to dial out directly to reach FTP sites but can transfer e-mail.



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<P>To get Linux by e-mail from an FTP site, use the site's ftpmail utility. All of the sites mentioned in the previous Linux FTP site list support ftpmail. To get complete instructions on using ftpmail, send an e-mail message to ftpmail login at one of the sites (for example, address your e-mail to <A HREF="mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A>). The body of the e-mail message should have only the word help in it. Any other comments may cause the ftpmail utility to incorrectly process your request. For this reason, you may want to suppress any signature files that are appended to your e-mail automatically.



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<P>Upon receiving your request, ftpmail sends you instructions for using the service. In most cases, you embed the FTP commands you want executed at the remote site as the body of your mail message. For example, to get a directory listing of the Linux directory, send a mail message with the following body:



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<PRE>



<FONT COLOR="#000080">open sunsite.unc.edu



cd /pub/Linux



ls



quit</FONT></PRE>



<P>The ftpmail utility at the remote site processes the commands as if they were typed directly into FTP. To transfer a file to yourself through e-mail, you could send the following mail message:



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<FONT COLOR="#000080">open sunsite.unc.edu



cd /pub/Linux



binary



get README



quit</FONT></PRE>



<P>This message sends you the file README back through e-mail. The ftpmail system is slower than FTP because you must wait for the e-mail to make its way to the target machine, be processed by the remote system's ftpmail utility, format a reply, and send the return message back to you. Still, ftpmail does provide a useful access method for those without FTP connections and an easy way to check the contents of the Linux directories on several machines without having to log in to them, which can be useful when you want to occasionally check for updates to the software.



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<NOTE>The files you want to transfer may exceed your mail system's maximum file size limits. Some mail systems will break the files into smaller chunks and allow you to reassemble them when you receive them, but other e-mail systems impose a small size limit on e-mail, making it impractical to use ftpmail to get large files like the complete Linux software distribution.</NOTE>



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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>Bulletin Board Systems</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>



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<P>Hundreds of BBSs around the world now provide access to the Linux distribution software and support Linux discussion groups. Some BBSs download new Linux releases regularly from the FTP home sites, while others rely on their users to update the software.



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<P>Any list of BBSs with Linux software would be lengthy and out of date quickly. The best method of obtaining this information is to request it from Zane Healy, who maintains a complete list of BBSs offering Linux material. Send e-mail requesting the Linux list to [e-mail]. If you don't have access to e-mail, try a few local bulletin board systems and post messages asking for local sites that offer Linux software, or ask someone with Internet access to post e-mail for you. Many BBSs will also have the list, although the accuracy of the list will vary.



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<FONT SIZE=5 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>Linux Releases and Disk Sets</B></FONT></CENTER></H3>



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<P>A release is a collection of Linux software sufficient to install and run the entire operating system. The release is made up of a number of collections of software called a disk set (even though they may not come on disks). Most Linux systems have a number of disk sets included when you obtain the distribution set.



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<P>Although most of the CD-ROMs and FTP sites have the same software, a few label the disk sets differently. To illustrate the disk sets available with Linux, the following list details the current group of disk sets available with the Slackware distribution (one of the more popular CD-ROM versions of Linux and the one included with this book):



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<LI>Disk Set A is the base system. This set contains the kernel and a set of basic utilities including shell, editor, and user utilities. Disk Set A is the only disk set that fits on a single high-density floppy disk, which means you can use it to install and run Linux from a floppy disk.



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<LI>Disk Set AP contains Linux applications, including many different editors, all the standard UNIX command utilities, man pages, and GNU add-ons like GhostScript.



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<LI>Disk Set D contains software for program development. This disk set includes the GNU languages, development utilities, libraries, and compiler tools. There is also a lot of source code for libraries used to customize the Linux kernel.



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<LI>Disk Set E is the GNU emacs editor.



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<LI>Disk Set F contains FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) files and other Linux help files.



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<LI>Disk Set I contains documentation files for the GNU software.



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<LI>Disk Set IV contains Interviews libraries, include files, and documentation. Interviews is a C++ GUI development package.



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<LI>Disk Set N is networking software. This disk set includes the TCP/IP protocol set, UUCP, mail and other kinds of utilities, and a news system.



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<LI>Disk Set OI contains ParcPlace Object Builder and Object Interface Library. These commercial development packages were made available to Linux developers by ParcPlace.



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<LI>Disk Set OOP contains object-oriented programming (OOP) tools, including the GNU Smalltalk compiler and the Smalltalk interface to X (STX).



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<LI>Disk Set Q contains source files for the Linux kernel and boot images.



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<LI>Disk Set T contains the TeX and LaTeX2 test formatting systems. TeX is widely used for typesetting.



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<LI>Disk Set TCL is the Tcl language set, including Tcl, Tk, TclX, and utilities.



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<LI>Disk Set Y is a collection of games.



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<LI>Disk Set X is XFree86, which includes the X system and several window managers.



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<LI>Disk Set XAP contains applications for X, including file managers, GhostView, libraries, games, and utilities.



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<LI>Disk Set XD is the X development kit, including X libraries, a server link kit, and PEX support. You must have this disk set if you are going to develop X-based applications.



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<LI>Disk Set XV is the window manager for X. This disk set includes the XView libraries and the Open Look window managers. You can use these window managers instead of the window manager included in Disk Set X.



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<P>Although Disk Set A will let you install a Linux system from a floppy disk, you should have Disk Sets A, AP, D, and F for a full installation (hard disk based with standard utilities). This collection gives you a character-based Linux system. If you want to run X, you also need Disk Sets X and XAP. Programmers need to load the development disk sets (D and XD, for X applications).



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<FONT SIZE=5 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>Summary</B></FONT></CENTER></H3>



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<P>This chapter examined the software and hardware that make up a Linux system. You should have hardware sufficient to run Linux before you start installing; otherwise, you will see all manner of error messages (if the system installs at all). Once you have the hardware ready and you know what software from the distribution set you are going to install, it's time to get Linux on a hard disk. The next chapter looks at the physical installation process. <A HREF="lsg04.htm">Chapter 4</A> covers LILO, the boot loader.



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