Linux 101 - Revision history

Miasma: /* Brief History of GNU/Linux */

Miasma — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:06:14 GMT

Brief History of GNU/Linux

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	===History Of GNU===		===History Of GNU===

-	GNU created as free alternative to UNIX	+	[http://www.gnu.org GNU] was created as free alternative to UNIX. The early days
		+	of creativity, exploration and discovery were special times where there was little
		+	or no thought of the commoditization of software. After all, the biggest cost was
		+	with the hardware itself and the software came with the hardware. Those were heady
		+	times where bold new thoughts and ideas were shared in a true spirit of creativity
		+	and innovation. Even though
		+	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix UNIX]
		+	was a proprietary operating system it was openly
		+	shared at Universities all around the country. Since UNIX was written using the
		+	new high level
		+	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_programing_language C programming language]
		+	instead of a machine language it was highly portable and much easier to adapt to
		+	new hardware.
		+
		+	As with free beer a no or low cost operating system helped establish a base of
		+	customers. Remember that in earlier time the big cost of a computer system was
		+	the hardware itself, some of which could actually fill an entire building and
		+	require a small army to run giving away an operating system to help build a
		+	user base was not a silly idea. As corporations started wanting to commoditize
		+	operating systems there was a natural resistance from academic communities that
		+	had become accustomed to sharing ideas, after all that is what universities do,
		+	they disseminate knowledge.
		+
		+	In the early to mid nineteen eighties one of the people who had been very involved
		+	with such a community at MIT decided that being able to freely share information
		+	was crucial to a society and started the GNU project which in 1985 evolved into
		+	[http://www.fsf.org/ The Free Software Foundation] and the
		+	[http://www.gnu.org GNU Operating System].
		+
	[http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-history.html]		[http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-history.html]

Miasma: /* Cross Platform Applications Available For Windows And Linux */

Miasma — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:14:24 GMT

Cross Platform Applications Available For Windows And Linux

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	'''Inkscape''' Vector Graphic Tools http://inkscape.org/ <br>		'''Inkscape''' Vector Graphic Tools http://inkscape.org/ <br>
	'''Blender''' 3D Graphic Tools http://www.blender.org/ <br>		'''Blender''' 3D Graphic Tools http://www.blender.org/ <br>
-	~~<br>~~

	===File Tools===		===File Tools===

Miasma: /* Cross Platform Applications Available For Windows And Linux */

Miasma — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:13:08 GMT

Cross Platform Applications Available For Windows And Linux

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	==Cross Platform Applications Available For Windows And Linux==		==Cross Platform Applications Available For Windows And Linux==
		+
		+	These are applications that are available on both Windows and Linux. You
		+	can install them and try them out on your Windows system without even
		+	needing to install Linux. For the most part they behave identically as
		+	they will when running on a GNU/Linux system.

	===Web===		===Web===
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	'''Abiword''' Word Processor http://www.abisource.com/<br>		'''Abiword''' Word Processor http://www.abisource.com/<br>
	'''Scribus''' Desktop Publishing http://www.scribus.net/ <br>		'''Scribus''' Desktop Publishing http://www.scribus.net/ <br>
-	~~'''~~Media Tools~~'''<br>~~	+
		+	===Media Tools===
		+
	'''VLC''' Media Player http://www.videolan.org/ <br>		'''VLC''' Media Player http://www.videolan.org/ <br>
	'''MPlayer''' Media Player http://www.mplayerhq.hu <br>		'''MPlayer''' Media Player http://www.mplayerhq.hu <br>

Miasma: /* What Is GNU/Linux? */

Miasma — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:47:51 GMT

What Is GNU/Linux?

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	Linus Torvalds, the original developer and to UNIX the operating system that served		Linus Torvalds, the original developer and to UNIX the operating system that served
	as a major inspiration and model for Linux. The term "GNU" is an acronym of		as a major inspiration and model for Linux. The term "GNU" is an acronym of
-	"'''G'''NU is '''N'''ot '''U'''nix" which ~~uses~~ a bit of developer humor based on the	+	"'''G'''NU is '''N'''ot '''U'''nix" where the '''G''' in GNU makes a reference to itself,
-	programming technique of	+	which is a common bit of developer humor based on the programming technique of
	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursion_(computer_science) recursion].		[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursion_(computer_science) recursion].

Miasma: /* Test Before You Commit */

Miasma — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:41:22 GMT

Test Before You Commit

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	for you. You may also be pleasantly surprised to find out that old dog may still have		for you. You may also be pleasantly surprised to find out that old dog may still have
	some life left in it. Any 450MHz Pentium II or better system should do just fine with		some life left in it. Any 450MHz Pentium II or better system should do just fine with
-	a standard Linux distribution. Anything 486 to Pentium II should also work but may	+	a standard
-	require a distribution designed to work well on older gear like	+	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution Linux distribution].
		+	Anything 486 to Pentium II should also work but may require a distribution designed to
		+	work well on older gear like
	[http://www.puppylinux.org/ Puppy Linux] or		[http://www.puppylinux.org/ Puppy Linux] or
	[http://damnsmalllinux.org/ Damn Small Linux]		[http://damnsmalllinux.org/ Damn Small Linux]

Miasma: /* Test Before You Commit */

Miasma — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:36:19 GMT

Test Before You Commit

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	==Test Before You Commit==		==Test Before You Commit==

-	This may seem obvious but you should spend some time with GNU/Linux and make sure	+	This may seem obvious, but you should make sure you spend some time with GNU/Linux
-	it will ~~perform the way~~ you need it to ~~perform~~ before ~~making~~ an attempt to ~~switch~~	+	and make sure you know it will do all of what you need it to do before an attempt to
-	to it ~~from~~ your ~~current~~ operating system. The safest and easiest way to try out	+	switch to it as your everyday operating system. Operating systems are just like any
-	GNU/LInux is to	+	other tool and the biggest, best, most expensive tool in the world is worthless to
		+	you if it doesn't do what you need it to do.
		+
		+	Put it on an old spare computer first. While it won't give you the same snappy experience
		+	as you would get on your latest and greatest system it should still give you a better
		+	idea of whether or not a GNU/Linux or a specific flavor of GNU/Linux is going to work
		+	for you. You may also be pleasantly surprised to find out that old dog may still have
		+	some life left in it. Any 450MHz Pentium II or better system should do just fine with
		+	a standard Linux distribution. Anything 486 to Pentium II should also work but may
		+	require a distribution designed to work well on older gear like
		+	[http://www.puppylinux.org/ Puppy Linux] or
		+	[http://damnsmalllinux.org/ Damn Small Linux]
		+	to get good results.
		+
		+	The safest and easiest way to try out
		+	GNU/LInux before making a commitment is to
	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booting boot]		[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booting boot]
-	it up using removable media. At the time of this writing most	+	your system up using a
		+	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_cd live CD]
		+	or some other removable media. At the time of this writing most
	computers up to ten years old are capable of booting from a		computers up to ten years old are capable of booting from a
	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_ROM CD ROM]		[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_ROM CD ROM]
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	Depending on the capabilities of your system and the particular GNU/Linux distribution		Depending on the capabilities of your system and the particular GNU/Linux distribution
	you use you may not get a satisfactory experience compared to what you get from a full installation.		you use you may not get a satisfactory experience compared to what you get from a full installation.
-	When booting from a	+	When booting from a live CD as much of the distribution as is practical will be loaded into
-	~~[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_cd~~ live CD]	+
-	as much of the distribution as is practical will be loaded into	+
	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM RAM]		[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM RAM]
	and if you have a large amount of RAM compared to the size of the Linux distribution		and if you have a large amount of RAM compared to the size of the Linux distribution

Miasma: /* Test Before You Commit */

Miasma — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:48:04 GMT

Test Before You Commit

←Older revision		Revision as of 23:48, 4 March 2009
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	Depending on the capabilities of your system and the particular GNU/Linux distribution		Depending on the capabilities of your system and the particular GNU/Linux distribution
-	you use you may not get a satisfactory experience compared to what you get from a full installation. When booting from a	+	you use you may not get a satisfactory experience compared to what you get from a full installation.
-	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_cd ~~Live~~ CD] if you have a large amount of RAM compared to the size of the	+	When booting from a
-	~~uncompressed~~ Linux distribution you are testing, ~~once you get booted up~~ you may	+	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_cd live CD]
-	actually ~~get~~ faster performance than	+	as much of the distribution as is practical will be loaded into
		+	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM RAM]
		+	and if you have a large amount of RAM compared to the size of the Linux distribution
		+	you are testing, you may actually experience some faster performance than running from
		+	a Linux distribution installed to your hard disk. However, even if programs load faster
		+	when run from memory you may have problems when reading large files or running several
		+	programs at the same time.

	==Keep As Much Of Your Old System As Practical==		==Keep As Much Of Your Old System As Practical==

Miasma: /* Document What You Do */

Miasma — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:31:31 GMT

Document What You Do

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	==Document What You Do==		==Document What You Do==

-	~~This~~ is advice that not everyone (including myself) always follows, but it can save a lot of	+	Documenting everything you do is advice that not everyone (including myself) always follows,
-	grief in the future if you document as much as you can and save your notes in a separate	+	but doing it can save a lot of grief in the future if you document as much as you can and save
-	place other than on the system you are working on. If your system becomes inoperable	+	your notes in a separate place other than on the system you are working on. If your system
-	and you have stored your notes on that same system then you won't have access to notes that	+	becomes inoperable and you have stored your notes on that same system then you won't have
-	may be a big help in figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.	+	access to notes that may be a big help in figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.
		+	Be especially sure to document any entries and configuration choices you make when installing
		+	new software. This is a good habit no matter what system you are using. Your choices may
		+	seem obvious at the time but weeks, months or even years later it might not be so obvious.

	==Test Before You Commit==		==Test Before You Commit==

Miasma: /* Document What You Do */

Miasma — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:23:56 GMT

Document What You Do

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	==Document What You Do==		==Document What You Do==

-	This is advice that not everyone including myself always follows but it can save a lot of	+	This is advice that not everyone (including myself) always follows, but it can save a lot of
	grief in the future if you document as much as you can and save your notes in a separate		grief in the future if you document as much as you can and save your notes in a separate
-	place other than on the system you are ~~making notes about~~. If your system becomes inoperable	+	place other than on the system you are working on. If your system becomes inoperable
-	and you have stored your notes on that system then you won't have access to notes that ~~may~~	+	and you have stored your notes on that same system then you won't have access to notes that
-	be a big help in figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.	+	may be a big help in figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.

	==Test Before You Commit==		==Test Before You Commit==

Miasma: /* Document What You Do */

Miasma — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:21:28 GMT

Document What You Do

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	This is advice that not everyone including myself always follows but it can save a lot of		This is advice that not everyone including myself always follows but it can save a lot of
	grief in the future if you document as much as you can and save your notes in a separate		grief in the future if you document as much as you can and save your notes in a separate
-	place ~~that~~ the system you are making notes about. If ~~that~~ system becomes inoperable ~~for some reason~~ you won't have access to notes that may be ~~able to~~ help ~~you figure~~ out what	+	place other than on the system you are making notes about. If your system becomes inoperable
-	went wrong and how to fix it.	+	and you have stored your notes on that system then you won't have access to notes that may
		+	be a big help in figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.

	==Test Before You Commit==		==Test Before You Commit==