DOS and Windows users guide to Linux (ALPHA VERSION)
This
guide will help you to use Linux along with your DOS/Windows operating
system
or to move to the Linux platform.
///// Development
Version
This document is in the development stage and
is
not meant for public distribution. If you notice any discrepancies in the
technical information that needs to be brought into my attention, kindly
e-mail
me to <rahulsundaram@yahoo.co.in>
////////
Table of
contents
·
1. Introduction
1.1.
Purpose of this
guide
1.2.
New versions of the guide
1.3. Feedback and
corrections
·
2. Comparison between DOS, Windows and
Linux
·
·
FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions)
·
Acknowledgements
·
1.Introduction
1.1 Purpose of this guide
This guide
has
been written with the goal of making Linux comfortable to users who are
already
accustomed to the DOS or Windows operating system. I have tried to explain
the
Linux system relative to what you know in DOS and Windows so that you may
learn
a few things faster, however as you may be aware there are certain things
that don't
necessarily have a Windows equivalent. If Linux was the same as any other
operating system then, there wouldn't be any point in using it. Don't you
think
so? J
1.2 New versions of this guide
Newer
versions of
this guide if any would be available from the Linux Document Project's
(LDP)
Website <www.tldp.org>. Please check the website and make sure that
you
are using the latest version of this guide.
1.3 Feedback and corrections
This is the
first version of this document and I have may have made some mistakes or
left
some thing. I have intentions of updating this document periodically based
on
user feedback and suggestions. If you have any ideas that you feel would
improve this document in any way then please mail me to Rahul
<rahulsundaram@yahoo.co.in>
1.4 What is Linux?
Linux is an
operating system which is basically a variant of the UNIX operating system
and
it has probably all that UNIX offers and more. An informal definition of
Linux
can be that it is a multi-user, multitasking, network operating system
which
has also many user friendly GUI s(Graphical User Interfaces).For those who
have
not used it, Linux may be similar to windows in many features but it has
many
unique aspects too, which I will cover shortly.
Related
Documents
Linux
FAQ<link>
,
Provides
answers to some frequently asked questions. I have also provided a
complimentary FAQ along with this guide
Unix and Internet
fundamentals<link>
The
Unix system provides some basic concepts that are
applicable to Linux too. It wouldn't hurt to learn some Internet side by
side.
1.5 How is Linux developed?
Unlike many
proprietary operating systems like Windows, which are developed by a single
company, Linux is developed by programmers all over the world through the
internet. Technically Linux means the core of the operating system that is
called as the kernel. This is available for free along with the source code
written in C under the GPL (General Public License).
Imagine the
kernel to be similar to the engine of your car. The kernel provides the raw
power necessary to manage your computer. The kernel is capable of managing
all
the internal tasks of an operating system like allocating memory and taking
care of devices attached to your computer. You wouldn't just connect the
engine
to a set of wheels and call that your car, similarly you would some tools
to
use the kernel effectively in a user friendly way. It would not be possible
to
use the kernel independently without the co-ordination of various other
tools
like the shell, which provide the interface and other utilities that you
may
use frequently. These software tools are also usually provided for free
like
the kernel.
1.6 Why would you want to use Linux?
Well, I
never
said that, did I? It depends on who
you
are and what u would like to do. I have to admit that Linux is not an
all-purpose operating system and it would probably be more suited for some
people and not so pleasing for others. If you are a person using his/her
computer
for some entertainment at home and are satisfied with your Windows system
there
are no compelling reasons for switching over to Linux but you do have a
choice with
Linux now. There are several reasons to consider Linux. If you are student
like
me then you can use Linux at home and even in college to understand the
commands and even the internal working of the UNIX system. It has several
things bundled as part of the distribution. In case you want to see how
Linux
matches with your present DOS/Windows system I have provided a comparison
below.
2. Comparison between
DOS,
Windows and Linux
2.1 Linux Vs MS-DOS
I was
introduced to the DOS along with computers. I remember a test by my tutor
in
which one has to create a hierarchical set of directories. This would
probably
sound trivial to anyone familiar with graphical user interfaces, but then
the
scenario was very different. It even looks ancient by today's standards.
Windows 95 hadn't been released yet at that time and Linux was unheard of
in
DOS does
not
provide any graphical user interface and you have to learn at least a dozen
commands
with its numerous options to do some basic tasks like copying a file or
moving
back and forth between the directories. Even a minor spelling mistake can
result in a "bad command of file name" error.
DOS does
not
support the concept of multi-users and each and every user has to customise
the
system according to his need every time he wants to work on it. It was not
a
multitasking system. This meant that you could not check out the value of a
calculation when typing a letter without closing the word processor first.
DOS does
not
also have any inbuilt security features. This was acceptable as long as you
did
not want a networking system. There were other variants of MS-DOS like
PC-DOS
from IBM and some others, which tried to add one thing or the other. Some
of
the deficiencies can been resolved using third party utilities but basic
limitations like the arcane 640kb-memory limit and single tasking was not
acceptable to many.
In case you
are
wondering why anyone would care to use DOS, I would list out some
advantages.
Basically it's had very different goals from that of Linux. It was a very
cheap
(as far as cost is concerned) and it was quite usable with its minimalist
set
of features. It was a simple system to work with. There weren't too many
complications to think about as long as you didn't want to develop anything
on
it. It was arguably the world's most popular operating system and it had a
comfortable number of applications for all the common tasks. It has now
completely been replaced by Windows.
2.1.1 Files and directories
The files
in Linux
can be very long up-to 255 characters like Windows and they do not usually
have
extensions. The executable files are identified through an attribute rather
than the extension. Extensions are less important to Linux than it is for
DOS
and windows.
Directories
are
similar to that of DOS and they follow a hierarchical structure. The path
names
are separated by front slashes (/) in Linux whereas DOS uses back slashes
(\).
Example:
Cd /mnt/cdrom
/ denotes the
root and .. stands
for the parent directory similar to
DOS.
In bash shells the ~ symbol maybe used to jump to the user's home
directory
Example
Cd ~
2.1.2 The shell
Several of
the
dos commands have Linux equivalents. The Linux shell is similar to the dos
command line but it is far more powerful and I found that it was also more
workable with features like colour highlighting and friendlier navigation
capabilities that depends on the particular shell you are
using.
Linux
distributions
usually come with the bash (Bourne again shell) as the default shell. There
are
several others like the Korn shell and the C
shell. They
are usually similar. Learn to work with one shell completely before trying
out
the others. Things usually get complicated if you want to run shell
scripts,
which are similar to batch files(they have the
.bat extension)
under DOS.
2.1.3 DOS under Linux
There is a
program
called dosemu <link> for Linux which is
capable
of running DOS programs under the Linux operating system. It is software
which
is still under major development. You may wish to try it out though. It is
known to be fairly workable for some programs.
2.2 Linux Vs Windows
As I have
said
before Windows is more or less similar to Linux. When people are introduced
to
Linux they are at first intimidated by the system. It has a different kind
of
graphical interface and things don't always work the way they expect to.
When
they look at me in a puzzled manner I demonstrate in some easy ways how
common
tasks like changing the desktop wallpaper or playing a song is very similar
to
Windows. The irony with this kind of teaching is that they complain very
soon
that Linux doesn't offer them much more than Windows
does.
I agree
with
them to a certain extend on this. There are some limitations to what you
can
expect from an operating system. You just can't expect Linux to work like a
3D-shooter game or something. Of course, there are many differences in the
shell, the choice of user interfaces and the philosophy and goals of the
operating system. Linux is developed as an open development system in which
the
source code of the core Linux system (kernel) is available for anyone for
free
but how this could affect the end user is difficult to explain initially.
Let's
take a look at the Linux features one by one later so that you wouldn't be
left
bewildered.
2.2.1 The Windows family of operating systems
Since you
may
already have been using the Windows operating system already, it's better
to
understand what Windows is in a detailed manner before plunging into the
Linux
system. Windows has two major series of operating systems, a desktop
oriented series
(windows 9x) and a network oriented series (Windows NT). There is also a
variant
called Windows CE for palmtop computers.
Windows 9x series
Before
Windows
95 was released all versions of Windows till 3.1 was a graphical platform
on
top of DOS. This offered limited capability for multitasking and the
program
manager interface was cluttered with no distinct hierarchy. Windows 95 was
a
32-bit operating system and a major improvement in user interface with its
"Desktop concept" adapted from the Macintosh user interface. It also
offered
limited compatibility with previous versions of Windows and DOS. Stability
was
also improved with the next versiona called
Windows
98 and its successor, Windows ME offered some more features though nothing
major was added. The more recent version called Windows XP is comparatively
friendlier and easier due to some cosmetic changes. It has also
successfully integrated
some features of the Windows NT series
Windows NT series
Windows NT
is
considerably stable but demands more resources. It does not support many
older
applications and DOS in a major way. It supported the alpha processors in
addition to the Intel architecture but that has been dropped now. It did
manage
to replace UNIX in some small-scale networks due to the similarity with the
popular Windows 95 interface. The latest incarnation called Windows 2000
provides a few more administrative utilities and services.
2.2.2 User Interface
The user
interface would probably be the first thing you notice when u begin to use
the Linux
system. Windows offers a single monolithic user interface, which is more or
less the same across all the versions. In contrast Linux has two major
desktop
environments called KDE<www.kde.org
>
and GNOME<www.gnome.org>. KDE has an inbuilt
window manager while GNOME is supported by many like sawfish<link>
and
Enlightenment<link>.
The
decision of choosing one among the desktop environments and windows
managers is
left to you. Some of them can run efficiently in a system with low amount
of
memory and some of them are designed to look like a game console. KDE would
be
more similar to Windows and GNOME with the Enlightenment window manager was
fancy enough for me. Try out some of the popular ones before
deciding.
2.2.3 Distributions
. When we
usually name Linux we are referring to a particular distribution of Linux.
There are several software's provided for Linux over the internet but
selecting
and downloading them is a complicated task not manageable for new users who
want to try out
Linux. This is exactly where a
distribution kicks in.
A
distribution
is a set of software packages that are tested and provided by a company for
a
small fee usually in a CD just like Windows. The advantage of using
distributions is that Linux can be specialised for use in a particular
area.
Those things that are anyone feels are unnecessary are left out. For
example if
you would like using Linux for embedded systems a distribution may offer
just
the right amount of required software's leaving out optional things like
the
graphical user interface.
So
again we are left with a huge choice of distributions (there were some 150
distributions when I checked the last time) but many of them are for
specialised
purposes. The mainstream distributions, which seem to be popular, are RedHat, SuSE, Caldera and
Debian. This may be dependent on your locality. Check
out
your favourite computer stores nearby for more
information.
Among these
RedHat seems to be most widespread commercial
distribution.
Caldera is probably more suited for those who are already using Windows.
SuSE is a German based distribution known for its large
number of bundled packages and support. Debian is
unique because its not owned by any company and
it's a
non-profit distribution developed solely by
volunteers.
There
are many others like the Mandrake distribution that thrives to provide more
user friendliness. It was originally based on RedHat.
Mklinux provides a very small distribution, which
can
be used to try out Linux initially.
Related Document
CD
Distributions-EN-How-to <link>
This
document details several distributions including old and outdated ones. Go
through it if you want more explanations. There are also several websites
like <www.linuxlinks.com>, which provide more current
information.
2.2.4 Linux licensing
Linux is
licensed under the GPL (General Public license) from GNU <www.gnu.org
> under
which the kernel is provided with the source code and is available for
free. This
is called as open source software. As a result of this Linux is usually
more
secure and stable than closed source or proprietary systems like Windows
Common Windows applications and Linux
alternatives
* Internet Applications
Browser - Internet Explorer
(IE)
In Windows,Internet
Explorer is usually an integrated thing. In Linux, you have many choices.
You
can use Konqueror, Mozilla,
Netscape or Opera. I use Konqueror, since it is
nicely integrated with KDE (which of course is my favourite
GUI).
I recommend: Konqueror for KDE, Netscape for GNOME; Opera works well
under both.
E-Mail Client - Outlook Express
For those
familiar with Outlook Express, a email client which has a very similar
interface and a good set of features called Evolution<developer.eazel.com(Nautilius)> is available
http://www.ximian.com/products/ximian_evolution/
Linux
supports
many traditional unix email clients like pine,mult and elm.In addition
it
has a number of email clients designed for the graphical environments(KDE
and
GNOME).KDE has an integrated email client called Kmail.GNOME
users can be comfortable with Balsa.
Instant Messengers-AOL,Yahoo!
and MSN
Yahoo! and
Newsgroup Reader
Not many
people
use these under Windows.Linux development and
usage
is very much dependant on the coordination of users over the Internet.Newsgroups form the basis for some of the
important tasks.There are many such newsgroup
readers
for Linux. Pan is a classic one,very
popular amoung Unix and Linux users.check
it out.
IRC Client
Internet
Relay
Chat is supported both from the command-line and through graphical
front-ends.
I don't have any interest in chat, so I haven't used them. You are free to
try
any of them and have fun.
Command-line: irc
FTP Client
Linux
supports
FTP (as well as Telnet) from the command-line, just with the commands ftp
(and
telnet). If you want a point-and-click interface, though, you won't be
disappointed. I have used gftp and liked it, but
I
still do all my work with ftp at the command-line.
Download Manager
The reget command automatically resumes broken downloads
from
where they were stopped. Caitoo is a download
manager
similar to GetRight and Gozilla.
Dial-up Manager - Inbulit
Application
Both GNOME
and
KDE have their own integrated dial-up managers. They offer all the
functionality of their Windows equivalents. There are usually several other
powerful options.
Firewall
Linux comes
with an inbuilt packet-filtering firewall such as iptables
and ipchains. The RedHat
7.1 distrubition has options for configuring the
firewall even during the setup. If you need more softwares for this you can freely download them
from
the Internet.
Antivirus - Norton and Mcafee
Viruses are
are much lesser threat to Linux. They are very few in
number and they cannot affect the system files unless in a well configured
system where you are not the root user. Linux is not immune to viruses but
you shouldnt be worried about them unless you are dealing
with
some system of exceptional importance.
* Multimedia
Music Player - Winamp
XMMS is a
Winamp clone for Linux and not many users are able to
find
any differences. The look and feel are just the
same.
Both KDE and GNOME has a lot of other players
available but i have being only using XMMS. There
are no shortage of command line players
either.
Movie Player - Windows Media Player
GNOME has
a inbuilt player called gtv
and
several others are available depending on the particular format of the
movie
that you want to play.
CD Ripper and CD Burner - Nero
cdparanoia is a good CD ripper
for
Linux. It seems to be in the development stage yet though many people using
it
production systems. It is known be to stable and robust. cdrecord is a command line CD burning software
for
Linux. Problems with CD burning such as buffer underruns
have been dealt with and its now a fast and
effective
task.
Image Browser
gqview is an
excellent
image browser for Linux, built for the GNOME desktop, but nevertheless
usable
under KDE. There are other image viewers also, namely KView,
Electric Eyes, etc.
I recommend gqview, both for GNOME and KDE.
Image Editor
gimp is the standard. gimp
is an extremely powerful image-editing software, which comes for free,
along
with the source. You can do everything you have done with Paint Shop Pro,
for
instance. I love gimp.
Games
Games comprise one area where Linux really lags behind Windows. The
scenario is changing gradually, and now there are quite a few 3D action
games
for Linux. Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament are the most popular. Of course,
many
other small games exist for the casual user, such as chess, solitaire,
etc.
Office Suites
StarOffice 5.2 is currently the
best
office suite available for Linux. It integrates a word-processor,
spreadsheet,
presentation software, browser, as well as an e-mail client into a single
application. Though a bit slow to load, it is a very productive tool
thereafter. StarOffice 6.0 is now under Beta, and
will be released in 2003. StarOffice has been
developed by Sun Microsystems, and is free. There are other shareware
alternatives, most notably ApplixWare.
I recommend StarOffice 5.2.
File Browser
Just like Windows Explorer is another face of Internet Explorer,
Konqueror acts both as a Web browser and as a file
browser.
But it is better than Windows Explorer: most files don't need external
applications to open. For example, text files, HTML files, and images open
with
Konqueror. A double-click launches the associated
application.
I saw Nautilus in Mandrake Linux 8.1, and used it
for
some time. It is very slow at loading, but does have a lot of features to
make
browsing a joyful experience.
There is also a
command-line file browser/shell: mc
Control Panel
Windows comes with a Control Panel from which you can 'control'
everything your computer can do under Windows. Linux too has a similar
application, in the form of linuxconf. There is a
front-end to linuxconf for GNOME, useful for
people
accustomed to graphical interfaces. linuxconf is very
versatile
and takes the headache out of system-administration for non-professional
users.
Appearance
Linux beats Windows as far as graphical interfaces and their
customisability is concerned. You have many GUIs from which to choose, and
each
of them can be customized to satisfy your likes (and dislikes). Whereas in
Windows you have only one desktop, in Linux you can have multiple desktops
to switch
over, if you think you have opened too many windows in
one.
KDE 2.x has been rated as the most user-friendly desktop, beating
even
Windows XP and MacOS X. There are themes,
colour-settings, font-settings, and even window-settings. Take a look at
the
"Settings > Look and Feel" sub-menu in the KDE Start
menu.
I recommend: KDE.
Utilities
Now let us take a look at miscellaneous utilities you might need
under
Linux.
Calculator: KCalc comes with KDE. There
is
also bc for the
console.
Compression Software: Archiver (comes
with
KDE) is a compression-decompression software, similar to WinZip, but much
more
powerful.
Editor: KEdit and KWrite
form feature-packed text editors under KDE. GNOME similarly has GEdit. KWrite even has
syntax-highlighting option for different file formats (C, HTML etc.) UNIX
users
will be happy to note that they have all the UNIX command-line editors in
Linux
too: vi, joe, and sed among others. emacs
is a powerful editor built by the GNU Foundation.
Personal Organizer: Both KDE and GNOME have personal organizers,
which
you can use to organize your life better.
Developer
Software developers will like Linux better than Windows, because
UNIX
and all its clones have been built for programmers, by programmers. There
is no
match to the number of command-line utilities UNIX offers to
programmers.
Linux too comes with
compilers
for C, C++, Java, Objective C, FORTRAN,
Acknowledgements
I
dedicate this guide to my late parents Mr.V.Sundaram and Mrs.Soundara
Sundaram
for their support and guidance. I thank the people at LDP for their patient
and
immediate responses to all my silly questions and their help. I would like
to
thank all my friends and foes for whatever that they did to me. Thanks
guys.
Disclaimer
I
do not in anyway guarantee anything regarding this guide. Whatever you do
as a
result of reading this guide is at your own risk and most of the opinions
that
have creeped in are my own and may not meet your
requirements.
You are free to choose whatever you like. I do not want to endorse any
particular software over another.
Copyright
Copyright (c) by Rahul <rahulsundaram@yahoo.co.in
>. This document may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the LDP License at <http://www.tldp.org/copyright.html>. Please email me before you start distributing this guide or if you want to translate it. If you have questions regarding the license please refer to the Linux Documentation Project home page, <http://www.tldp.org> or if you have any doubts specifically pertaining to this guide you may contact me, Rahul <rahulsundaram@yahoo.co.in>.