Chapter Summary

Most installations of Red Hat Linux begin by booting from the first installation CD or the installation DVD. When the system boots from the CD or DVD, it displays a boot : prompt. You can respond to this prompt by entering a variety of commands, by pressing RETURN without entering a command, or by not doing anything. In all cases, the system boots Red Hat Linux from the CD. If you are installing from files on the local hard disk or over a network, give the command linux askmethod in response to the boot: prompt.

The program that installs Red Hat Linux is named Anaconda. Anaconda identifies the hardware, builds the filesystems, and installs or upgrades the Red Hat Linux operating system. Anaconda can run in textual or graphical (default) interactive mode or in batch mode (Kickstart). Anaconda does not write to the hard disk until it displays the Begin Installation screen. Until it displays this screen, you can press CONTROL-ALT-DEL to abort the installation without making any changes to the hard disk.

The Disk Druid graphical disk-partitioning program can add, delete, and modify partitions and logical volumes (LVs) on a hard disk during installation. The parted utility reports on and manipulates hard disk partitions before or after installation. The system-config-lvm utility works with LVs after installation.

A dual-boot system can boot one of two operating systems, frequently Windows and Linux. The biggest problem in setting up a dual-boot system, assuming you want to add Linux to a Windows system, is finding enough disk space for Linux.

Fedora Core 5 uses the X.org X Window System version X11R7.0. Under X.org, the primary configuration file is named /etc/X11/xorg.conf .

Red Hat Linux uses the GNOME display manager ( gdm ) to provide a graphical login, even if you are using a KDE desktop. The gdmsetup utility configures the login presented by gdm by editing the /etc/gdm/custom.conf ( FEDORA ) or /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf ( RHEL ) file.

Exercises

1.	What is the difference between Xinerama and traditional multimonitor X11?
2.	Which command would you give in response to the boot: prompt to begin an FTP installation?
3.	Describe the Anaconda installer.
4.	Where on the disk should you put your /boot partition or the root ( / ) partition if you do not use a /boot partition?
5.	If the graphical installer does not work, what three things should you try?
6.	When should you specify an ext2 filesystem instead of ext3 ?
7.	Describe Disk Druid.
8.	When does a Red Hat Linux system start X by default?

Advanced Exercises

9.	If you do not install grub on the master boot record of the hard disk, how can you boot Linux?
10.	Why would you place /var at the start of the disk?
11.	Assume you have configured four screens, screen0 through screen3 . How would you instruct X.org that your screen layout was a T shape with the first screen at the bottom and the other three screens in a row above it?

Part II: Getting Started with Red Hat Linux

Chapter 4 Introduction to Red Hat Linux

Chapter 5 The Linux Utilities

Chapter 6 The Linux Filesystem

Chapter 7 The Shell

4. Introduction to Red Hat Linux

I N T HIS C HAPTER

Curbing Your Power: Superuser/root Access	82
A Tour of the Red Hat Linux Desktop	82
Using Konqueror to Manage Files, Run Programs, and Browse the Web	94
Customizing Your Desktop with the KDE Control Center	97
Customizing the Main Panel Using the Panel Menu	100
Getting the Facts: Where to Find Documentation	102
HOWTOs: Finding Out How Things Work	109
More About Logging In	111
What to Do if You Cannot Log In	112

One way or another you are sitting in front of a computer that is running Red Hat Linux. This chapter takes you on a tour of the system to give you some ideas about what you can do with it. The tour does not go into depth about choices, options, menus , and so on; that is left for you to experiment with and to explore in greater detail in later chapters. Instead, this chapter presents a cook's tour of the Linux kitchen; as you read it, you will have a chance to sample the dishes that you will enjoy more fully as you read the rest of the book.

Following the tour are sections that describe where to find Linux documentation (page 102) and offer more about logging in on the system, including information about passwords (page 111). The chapter concludes with a more advanced, optional section about working with windows (page 119).

In the next section, be sure to read the warning about the dangers of misusing the powers of Superuser. Heed that warning, but feel free to experiment with the system: Give commands, create files, click icons, choose items from menus, follow the examples in this book, and have fun.