Preface
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This book is principally about the SuSE Linux distribution, but it
also covers a lot issues of Linux systems in general. Linux
distributions in general share most of their functionality with each
other. There are only very few, very specialized distributions which
have their own way of administration and may need more time to get
used to then the vast majority. Usually the switch from one
distribution to another is not very painful, most concepts are alike
and only a few things differ. But to get the optimal performance out
of your Linux box, its good to know about all little tricks the
distribution maker build into the system.
I worked for SuSE for about five years and experienced the excitement
around Linux from the early beginnings, up to the Linux boom we see
happening at the moment. In this time I was part of several teams
within the company. I helped developing the distribution, wrote
chapters for the first versions of the SuSE manual, did support for
newcomers and commercial users, and was responsible for SuSE's internal
network and the public accessible servers.
During this time, I learned that documentation is a big problem. There
are manuals and howtos for specific tasks. There are books available
for special issues and in the last couple of years quite a lot of
newcomer manuals have been published. The SuSE manual is intended to
help the user installing the distribution itself and can also be
sorted into the newcomer category.
What I was always missing is the intermediate level. Focused on the
advanced user, who nows how to run a Linux system and who likes to
understand all the little issues connected to the distribution he's
using. And this is what this book tries to be, an advanced users
manual. If you are looking for an introduction into SuSE Linux and you
never used Linux before, this is the wrong book for you. There are a
couple of other titles available, who will do you a better service. If
you are looking for detailed descriptions of single services, this is
also the wrong place to look, get one of the specialized titles and
you'll probably find the information you are looking for. This book
will give you a good understanding of SuSE Linux as a system. It talks
about all the little differences, that set SuSE apart from the other
distributions. It also talks about general issues like file systems,
system boot, network services, security and development of RPM
packages. But always focused on the SuSE distribution.
This book is for you, if you are using SuSE Linux for a little while
and you like to dig deeper into the system. Or if you are a system
administrator using SuSE Linux machines in a professional
environment. This book is also helpful for software developers, who
want to know how to make the best use of the SuSE Linux system.
When IDG books asked me if I'd like to write a book about SuSE Linux,
it was very clear to me that it has to be the book that contains all
the answers to the questions I heard so often while I was working for
SuSE. I found Terrehon Bowden as an excellent editor. As I'm not a
native English speaker, there was no way for me to write a book in
English on my own. Terrehon did an excellent job filling this gap and
translating my gengish into actual English language.
I hope you enjoy reading the book and you find the answers you are
looking for.
Bodo Bauer, September 1999
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| | Organization of the Book |
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SuSE Linux Guide for Geeks has 35 chapters, organized
in six parts and four appendixes:
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| | Part 1: Files and File Systems |
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Here you get the basics about Linux file systems and a tour of
the system. It tells you where SuSE stores it's files and tries to
explain why it is this way. This part also gives a fairly deep view
into the /proc file system. The chapter talking about the
/proc file system became part of the Linux kernel sources,
which made us very happy and showed us that we've are not too far from
the truth in this part.
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| | Part 2: The Boot Process |
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An explanation of what is going on in your computer from the moment
you hit the power on key until you get the
login:-prompt. It explains the principles of booting a
Linux system and how to customize the SuSE boot
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| | Part 3: System Setup |
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This section discusses how to set up services in your system. It has a
strong network focused, since network services are becoming more and
more important, especially in the Unix environment. But it also
explains certain aspects of system maintenance and has some comments
on security issues.
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| | Part 4: System Security |
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Here we dive into security on Linux systems. You get an basic overview
and then aspects of host and network security are discussed. Finally
the SuSE firewall is explained, such as how to set it up and how to
use it for masquerading.
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| | Part 5: Customized Installations |
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How to set up an installation server, diskless clients and how to use
a SuSE Linux system as X-terminal.
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| | Part 6: Package Development |
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This part talks mostly about RPM. You learn not only how to use RPM to
install and maintain packages, but also how to compile the source RPMs
that are part of the Linux distribution. The last chapter finally
explains how to create a RPM package for SuSE Linux yourself.
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| | Appendix A: Linux Allocated Devices |
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Here you'll find a list of all devices supported by the Linux
/dev file system. It's basically a selection of tables
listing the major and minor device numbers.
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| | Appendix B: GNU General Public License |
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As the majority of software you use falls under this license, you
should have a printed copy of it, which you can find here.
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| | Appendix C: GNU Library Public License |
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A slightly modified version of the GPL, focused on libraries and
covering the special issues which arise when using 'free' libraries
with 'non-free' software.
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| | Appendix D: Open Publication License |
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This is the license under which this book is covered.
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| | Conventions used in This Book Book |
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SuSE Linux Guide for Geeks uses a simple notational
style. All listings, filenames, function names, commands, user names,
variable names, URLs and keywords are set in mono space
font for ease of reading. Terms and concepts are set in
italic at their first occurrence. The italic font is
also used for variable parts of commands when they appear in the text,
such as parameters or values, like in 'vi
filename', to separate the actual command from it's
argument.
Text you are directed to type usually appears in paragraphs on its
own. There are commands you need to issue as user
root. This is indicated by a hash sign (#) on the
printed command line:
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Commands that can be issued as any user are prefixed by a 'greater
than' (>) sign:
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This convention reflects what you see on the command line of your
terminal, when you actually issue the command. References to man pages
are often postfixed with the man page section they belong to. This is
important, as many man-pages are in more than one section and have
different contents depending on where you look. If you see something
like printf(1) it means that you find the referred information,
by using the command
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If you look up printf in section 3, you'll find something different.
Each chapter starts with a short list of all the things you'll find in
that chapter. At the end of each chapter, you'll find a short summary of
the covered topics.
We use icons to emphasize certain points and to make sure you get the
important facts even when glancing over the text. Following is what we
had in mind when we pointed paragraph out by putting an icon on it's
side:
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The Note icon marks important facts, that are easily forgotten. It is
also used to point out where defaults are wrong and if you don't pay
attention, the inferred task may not work out as expected.
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The Tip icon marks interesting facts and shortcuts you can try. It
usually makes your job easier if you follow these instructions.
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The Cross Reference icon marks text where pointers to more information
within the book are given.
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The Caution icon marks potential pitfalls and tasks where you should
be very careful when trying the described method. Topics marked with
this icon are dangerous and may crash your system, or open your system
to security risks.
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| | The Open Publication License |
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| | Why is this book under this license? |
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To be done
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| | What does it mean? |
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To be done
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| | Where to find the online version? |
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To be done
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| | How to contribute fixes and additions? |
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To be done
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| | Acknowledgments |
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Alan Cox and the kernel team for help on the /proc chapter
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Werner Almesberger for the LILO docs
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Misc. HOWTO writers for their howtos
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Linus for Linux
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Donald Knuth for TeX
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RMS for Emacs
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SuSE for the distribution
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The Linux community for it's great work
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To be completed...
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