[techtalk] hi, I'm brand spanking new

[Telsa Gwynne]

On Fri, Aug 18, 2000 at 10:08:42PM -0700 or thereabouts, jboudell wrote:
> Hi,
> found linuxchix.org while surfing...

Cool. Welcome :)

> I'm an utter linux almost newborn.  I've been using Winblows forever and
> have recently decided to give Linux a try.  This weekend I'd like to
> install Red Hat on my Compaq Presario 5240.  I have a new HP that I'm
> keeping Winblows on due to my dependence on the applications that run on
> the M$ platform.  I picked up a copy of SE Using Red Hat Linux that
> includes version 6.2.  Tonight I've been looking up my hardware on the
> compatibility list at Red Hat.  Of course I can't find everything
> listed, but I figured I'd try and install it anyway and see what
> happens.

:) 
 
> Can anyone give me some advice?  I'm reading the manual, but we all know
> that untold surprises await me.  right?

6.2 was a good version of Red Hat, I think. 

Things to watch in the installation. Hmm. Random gotchas (horribly
biassed in favour of "X gives me problems therefore it gives 
everyone problems" and similar things :) for RH and 6.2: 

Because I always manage to have at least one piece of hardware that
it gets confused about, I always end up doing the text-mode install,
and because I like to pick and choose, I have to go for the 'expert'
one. So some of what I have here may not be applicable: I don't know
how much the different installs vary.

It asked me for my computer's name-to-be (easy), and then the IP 
address (not so easy -- I had to run upstairs and find my husband 
to find out what numbers I could use). When it knows the IP address,
it makes an intelligent guess at netmask and broadcast addresses,
at which point I gibbered. (wot's them? etc.) You should be able
to accept the intelligent guess if you meet this. 

The graphical stuff in Linux is provided by X, (X Windows system)
and you will certainly want to use that, with either KDE or GNOME
on top of it because they're pretty, integrated, and have handy
tools. But from my experience, when you are asked whether you want
the computer always to boot straight into X: say no. You can change
this later if X turns out to be happy. (To get X to start, you
login and type, "startx"). Others will probably disagree with me.
But I almost always have trouble configuring X, and starting from
the command line and being able to get back there if things mess
up is, to me, easier.

If you get the choice between "disk druid" and "fdisk", pick "disk
druid". fdisk is not a friendly tool on first sight. In fact, I
think many of the installation options don't even offer fdisk: it's
there for people who want more facilities than disk druid at the
cost of being unfriendly to use.

The two things that seem to be the worst headaches are setting up
X correctly, and setting up PPP for the modem. You can do both of
these after the installation. 

I don't have to worry about setting up PPP, which means take my
advice with a grain of salt here. But Red Hat's PPP tool is "rp3" 
which is a graphical application. If it doesn't work, despite the 
fact that I use GNOME, I should mention the KDE tool, "kppp", which 
lots of people seem to recommend. (You can run it from GNOME. You
can run GNOME programs in KDE, too.) I think you need to be root
to use those. Red Hat have a "Using PPP" document (and others) at
http://www.redhat.com/apps/support/ but I have no clue have good
it is :) 

Setting up X can be a dream if you have hardware it recognises.
I never have hardware it recognises, so I always take a deep
breath before becoming root and typing "Xconfigurator". That's
the Red Hat program for setting up X. It asks you about the name
of your monitor, the sort of mouse you have and so on, and then
tries X for you and you get to accept/reject the settings. XFree86
actually ships with another tool for setting it up: I think it's
called XF86Setup or XF86Config.

Come to think of it, I have never tried this. But I am told that
there is a command you type at the command line, which is simply
"setup". 

Other things you have to do after the installation include getting
your printer talking to the machine, and I think some sound
configuration (sndconfig, soundcfg, some command like that).

If you want the crypto things which RH is not allowed to ship
outside the US, then ftp.redhat.de is your friend! openssh and
other crypto things live there, and whilst all the Europeans
seem to know it, I've discovered most of the US folks just think
"there is nowhere to get these rather important apps". Get them,
rpm -K and check the key (good habit to get into) and install them
if they pass. 

A related important one. Once you have installed your machine,
bookmark the Red Hat site for updates and errata, and either
check back there regularly, or get onto the updates mailing lists:
redhat-watch or redhat-announce (you can subscribe to those at 
http://www.redhat.com/mailing-lists/) where fixes are announced.
If you're going to connect to the net with it, you do need to
care about security, alas. The most pressing site to bookmark is
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/rh62-errata-security.html

You will not need all of them: most people do not run piranha,
for instance. Non-security fixes are at 
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/rh62-errata-bugfixes.html
and I have just found another helpful URL for 6.2 specifically at
http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/gotchas/6.2/gotchas-6.2.html

Ugh. I bet there are more important things, but that's what I
can think of. 

Telsa