Newbie's Guide to Linux

Sameer Dilip Sahasrabuddhe

ILUG-Bom, Mumbai Chapter of the Indian Linux Users' Group

sam_buddhe@yahoo.com

Abstract

The most appropriate time to read the NGL is when you are seriously thinking of trying out Linux for the first time, when you have started planning towards your first installation and when you are about to try out your newly installed Linux box for the first time.

This document will serve as a ready reckoner of all the terms and technologies to the newbies as well as the people helping them out. But the document does not try to provide a step-by-step guide towards installing and using Linux. Extensive documentation already exists for this in the form of LDP guides; the NGL merely tries to act as a guide to all the new concepts that a user faces when introduced to Linux for the first time.

Table of Contents

About this document

1. Introduction
2. Documentation Resources
3. Credits
4. Feedback
5. Versions
6. Things to do

1. Introduction to GNU/Linux

1.1. Clearing a little confusion
1.2. So what is Linux?
1.3. Is it good enough for the casual user?
1.4. Linux and the GNU
1.5. The World-wide Community
1.6. Websites of interest for further exploration

2. File handling

2.1. File-system
2.2. Directories
2.3. An overview of hard-disk partitions
2.4. Mounting Partitions
2.5. Other filesystems
2.6. Creating partitions during installation

3. The Graphical User Interface

3.1. Setting up hardware
3.2. X - The Windowing System
3.3. The Desktop Environment

4. Packages - Managing software

4.1. Tarballs
4.2. RPM - The Redhat Package Manager
4.3. The Debian way

5. Multiuser Environment

5.1. User accounts
5.2. The concept of ``groups'' in Linux
5.3. Access Privileges

List of Examples
2-1. Example listing of directories under /
2-2. A simple partition listing
2-3. Mounting a customized data partition
2-4. Example listing of mounted partitions
4-1. Listing of /etc/apt/sources.list
4-2. Package Dependencies in Debian

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