Debian Linux
Michael Grover
I will have to say I like it best.
I have used Redhat, Mandrake, SUSE, SlackWare, and a few other
Distro's, but none made me feel like I was in control as much as debian
does! Debian makes me want to dive in and learn all it's internal
workings. Keep up the good work!!
mike
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Hamma Scott
> Debian makes me want to dive in and learn all
> it's internal
> workings. Keep up the good work!!
>
> mike
Here are some tips I've harvested from this group
straight from Will Trillich's Tips. Hope they come in
handy:
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #1 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:
Looking to use your Debian machine as a FIREWALL? No
problem! Try "apt-get install ipmasq"... After you've
got your /etc/network/interfaces file set up properly,
ipmasq will save you lots of work, setting up firewall
and routing tables automatically.
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #5 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:
What's a "MANPAGE"? It's the documentation you get
when you enter "man <something>" such as "man
sources.list" or "man interfaces" or "man bash".
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #6 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:
How do you keep text from SCROLLING BY TOO DAMN FAST?
:) Before pressing the ENTER key of a command that you
know will generate a lot of output, "pipe" it through
your pager:
ls -lR | pager
locate tgz | pager
grep -r pattern /home | pager
You can also try <SHIFT>-<PAGE-UP> to scroll back.
This works both at the console and in rxvt/xterm
windows.
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #7 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:
Wondering what COMMANDS you have at your disposal? Try
pressing the TAB key at the command line. For example,
"apt<TAB>" will show you all the commands that start
with "apt". (This is called "completion" if you want
to look it up in your shell's manpage.) (Different
implementions have the <TAB> completion set up
differently -- you may need to press <TAB> twice.)
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #8 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:
Search for Debian PACKAGES online with this shortcut:
http://packages.debian.org/[packagename] If you
can't find it right off, just hop to the "search
packages" link that's offered there.
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #9 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:SLINK was the code name for Debian release 2.1;
POTATO is Debian 2.2 (currently a synonym for
"stable") and WOODY is the upcoming release (currently
a synonym for "testing"). And SID is "unstable". The
names are all characters from the movie "Toy Story".
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #12 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:
Where is the DOCUMENTATION? It's all over the place...
and there's lots of it. Much was written for
non-debian distributions, and much was written long,
long ago. But try these anyhow: on your own system,
try "man" and "info" and "apropos", and also look
under /usr/share/doc/<package>* ... Online, there's
linuxdoc.org, debianhelp.org, and debian.org/doc/ of
course. Also try
http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/general/index-deb-help-sys.html
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #13 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:
How can you generate RANDOM EMAIL SIGNATURES? Many
email client shave this feature -- for mutt, simply
declare in your ~/.muttrc file something like
send-hook debian- "set signature='~/.signature-debian
|'"
(note the quoted value ends with a 'pipe|' symbol)
Then whenever you send email to any debian-* address,
it'll append the output from your script, instead of
appending a static file.
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #14 from Will Trillich
<wi...@serensoft.com>
:
What's a RUNLEVEL? It's simply a big-time setting
group; runlevel 2 might have a full-blown web server
plus X running, and runlevel 3 might be ssh-only, for
secure logins. Check /etc/inittab (and
/etc/rc[RUNLEVEL].d/*) for details on how yours are
set up. And try man runlevel.
Also see http://newbieDoc.sourceForge.net/ ...
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will trillich
>
> > Debian makes me want to dive in and learn all
> > it's internal
> > workings. Keep up the good work!!
> >
> > mike
>
> Here are some tips I've harvested from this group
> straight from Will Trillich's Tips. Hope they come in
> handy:
glad to have contributed something useful (if not timely :)--
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #1 from Will Trillich
[snip]
heavens, we can't allow a gap like that!
here's 2-4:
Confused about using "apt-get" to keep your Debian UP-TO-DATE?
See http://newbieDoc.sourceForge.net/system/apt-get-intro.html
Wondering how to FIND WHICH PACKAGE CONTAINS x-y-or-z? Just enter
"dpkg -S part/of/path" and you'll get a list of all packages that
affect paths like that. For an example, try "dpkg -S http".
Want to know WHAT FILES ARE PROVIDED BY PACKAGE x-y-z? This is a
job for dpkg: enter "dpkg -L <package-name>" at the command
prompt. Try "dpkg -L netbase | pager" for example.
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #5 from Will Trillich
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #6 from Will Trillich
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #7 from Will Trillich
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #8 from Will Trillich
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #9 from Will Trillich
ten:
Looking to run a command or two at REGULAR INTERVALS? Try
"crontab -e" for starters (see "man cron" or "man crontab").
You might also investigate the "anacron" package.
eleven:
Which COMMANDS pertain to <xyz>? Try "apropos <xyz>",
"info <xyz>", and "man -k <xyz>".
> --
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #12 from Will Trillich
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #13 from Will Trillich
> DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #14 from Will Trillich
fifteen through twenty-six:
Is there a good place to learn snarky PERL TECHNIQUES? One of
my favorites is http://webtechniques.com, where Randall Schwartz
contributes a monthly sample, explaining line-by-line what his
code does, and why. (Look under "Programming with Perl" in the
archives.)
Why are *.rpm (RED HAT PACKAGES) considered spawn of Satan?
Because the Debian package system is a lot more sophisticated
than the one Red Hat uses; lots more inter-dependency information
is built in to a *.deb package. If you bypass that with an *.rpm
file, you're taking chances with your system. Try to "apt-get
install <debian-only>" packages if possible. (Also check out the
"alien" package if you must.)
Why is TELNET considered spawn of Satan? Because every keystroke
sent by you, is transmitted -- clear as a bell -- across the
ether. Anyone can sniff your network packets and see what you're
typing -- passwords, love letters, cold fusion blueprints...
It's as secure as shouting from the rooftops. Everyone can see!
How do you DISABLE A NETWORK SERVICE? There are several ways
network services are made available: for inetd items, modify
/etc/inetd.conf and then "/etc/init.d/inetd restart". For
independently-running daemons, try "/etc/init.d/<daemon> stop"
(or to permanently zap them, "apt-get --purge remove <daemon>").
Dave Sherohman gets co-authorship on number nineteen:
How do you determine WHICH NETWORK SERVICES ARE OPEN (active)?
Try "netstat -a | grep LISTEN". To see numeric values (instead
of the common names for services using a particular port) then
try "netstat -na" instead. For more info, look at "man netstat".
Also try "lsof -i" as root. "man lsof" for details.
What TERMINAL TYPES are available for "export TERM=xyz"? Look in
/etc/terminfo or /etc/termcap and pick one similar to your
terminal emulator's capabilities. Common ones are "linux" (for
console), "xterm", "vt102" and "rxvt". See "man terminfo" or "man
termcap" if you're determined to learn the nitty-gritty.
Looking to configure your Debian NETWORK SETTINGS? Look at the
file /etc/network/interfaces (try "man interfaces" for more
info). Then "ifup -a" to reload your settings, and "ifconfig" to
display them. (Also check out "apt-get install ipmasq"!)
SECURITY-CONSCIOUS? Good! Here's how you can use apt-get to keep
your system up-to-date with the latest security patches: in
/etc/apt/sources.list include these lines--
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security potato/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-non-US potato/non-US main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org potato/updates main contrib non-free
Thereafter, a quick "apt-get update && apt-get upgrade" is all
you need to keep the gremlins at bay.
Wondering what you should BACK UP -- and what you shouldn't? Here's
a "how I do it" written by a debian-user regular, Karsten Self:
http://kmself.home.netcom.com/Linux/FAQs/backups.html
This is a frequent topic on debian-user; check the archives at
lists.debian.org for other backup approaches -- search for
"backup scheme".
Curious about DISK PARTITIONING schemes? That's a frequent topic
at debian-user -- look for it in the archives at lists.debian.org
or read Karsten's approach at
http://kmself.home.netcom.com/Linux/FAQs/partition.html
Did you know you have MORE THAN ONE CONSOLE to use? There's
six, by default: try Control-Alt-F6 to see console six,
Ctl-Alt-F3 for console 3, and so forth. (If you don't use the X
window display system, you don't need to include the control
key. If you do have X running, you can return to it from any
console via Alt-F7, unless you've changed the defaults.) Each
console can have its own login, running its own jobs. Very
handy!
Do you want a CONSOLE with more than 80 COLUMNS OR 24 ROWS?
Experiment with various settings from /etc/TextConfig for use
with "SVGATextMode":
SVGATextMode 80x30x9
Try "apt-get install svgatextmode" to get it. (It won't work with
xterm or rxvt, of course -- only text-mode console display.)
and that's only about one-fourth of the slew. after i had about
thirty of my own, i started culling tips from debian-user posts.
(i've been adding tips sporadically as i see them posted to the
list; i began by asking authors if they'd mind me using their
ideas in my tip-of-the-moment, and none did. then i moved to
warning them, and all responses were warm and fuzzy. so now i
just DO. :)
reminds me. i'm a bit behind -- i've been reaping, but not
sowing. horrors!
--
DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #87 from Joost Kooij <jo...@topaz.mdcc.cx>
:
Did you CHMOD -R / and destroy your permissions? Bad dog!
If you have access to a newly-installed Debian machine, run
this script there, and copy the resulting script to the box
with the bad permissions; run it, and all should be back to
normal:
find / -regex '/\(mnt\|proc\|tmp\)/.*' -prune -or \
-not -type l -not -type s \
-printf 'chown %u.%g %p\nchmod %m %p\n' \
> fixperms.sh
See "man find" for more info.
Also see http://newbieDoc.sourceForge.net/ ...