[TriLUG] Linux intro book recommendation?

[Craig Duncan]

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On Saturday 18 October 2003 05:20 am, al johnson wrote:
> Well, now that we're on the topic of  "Linux magazine articles for
> newbies", I would highly recommend Linux Format Magazine from Great
> Britain, which although it has a few peculiar British words, has excellent
> writing for any Linux newbie.

Good suggestion, I think you can pick a copy of this up at Borders or Barnes & 
Noble.

> ... But just saying that you can give someone
> Mandrake and think that that's all someone needs to learn the Linux
> desktop, is sadly a bad mistake.

Hmm, not installing a very amenable desktop distro might be a bigger one.

> Just today I've been trying to figure out how to backup up a  CD, without
> accessing the Terminal, e.g. how can you do this without  becoming a
> super-user. I can burn disks without becoming a superuser, but that doesn't
> seem to be the case if I just want to copy a CD, because apparently you
> need to be a super-user to merely access the CD you want to copy in the
> first place!!

No, only to mount it - if this is how you have your distro set up.

>     I'm also frustrated with another problem: Is it possible to access the
> Man files without using the terminal?

Ahem. I was once frustrated when I first started with linux, but I stuck with 
it, asked questions on lists like this, and although I am no expert, I am 
happy using linux on my laptop and desktop machines (business and personal). 
Besides, distros like Mandrake make it easier all the time.

As for help in KDE? There is an icon that looks like a red and white stripped 
lifebelt. Open that up and click on "Unix manuel pages". In there I found the 
following entry under "mount"

using  /dev/cdrom  /cd  iso9660  ro,user,noauto,unhide  any user can mount the 
iso9660 file system found on his CDROM using the command mount /dev/cdrom

>    It seems that whenever you click on a program's "Help" command, instead
> of getting the Man file you get all this stuff about KDE, instead of useful
> information about the program you need the "help" with.

Have you ever looked at the help files in Windows? Do you think this is any 
better? I don't. Not all KDE programs have man pages, they have help file 
found in the KDE help. Personally I think man pages and very terse and not 
very "desktop user" friendly, but they can be very useful at times.

>     A few of the programs do give you the proper help file, but others just
> throw everything about KDE and the kitchen sink at you and expect you to
> sort it all out. There a lots of other surprises as well with a Linux
> desktop, one of my biggest peeves is that if you're sorting through a large
> quantity of files that you've created, and you might be editing them one by
> one, once you leave the list of files to access another program AND THEN
> COME BACK TO THE LIST THE LAST FILE YOU WERE USING IS NOT INDICATED!!! This
> forces you to make a written note of the file you edited so you can
> continue with the next one. 

Can't help you here, I do not know what you were using to try and accomplish 
whatever it was you were trying to do.

>In case you're wondering, my reason for not
> wanting to take the "superuser" route with MAN files, if I can help it, is
> that one of the reasons I like Linux is that (unlike any Microsoft product)
> there is a protective barrier against my inadvertently screwing up a fully
> functioning operating Linux system. If I'm doing something that could lead
> to disaster I'm warned of that because I have to become a "superuser". I
> just don't think you should have to become a "superuser" to read a
> program's Man file or to look at the files that are on a CD in the CDROM
> drive.

There is also "sudo" that will allow only those users listed to use the mount 
(or other) command - thus giving those that require it the ability to mount 
the cdrom without giving them any more privilages than they need. You will 
find it in the friendly KDE help under "Unix manuel pages".

But, you can't have it both ways. Eithe you want users to be able to mount 
cdroms or you don't.

>      My philosophy is that you shouldn't have to become a superuser unless
> you want to install a program, a new kernel, or something of a more serious
> nature etc., but you definitely should be able to just get a Man file
> without having to become a super-user. 

You can!

> There probably is a program that
> could fetch these man files, but it's not self-evident which one could do
> the job. Maybe someone's already written it. -- Al Johnson.

Yes, the KDE team (can't speak for any other window manager/desktop).


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