by Dee-Ann LeBlanc
Linux
®
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
6TH EDITION
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by Dee-Ann LeBlanc
Linux
®
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
6TH EDITION
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Linux
®
For Dummies
®
, 6th Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or

Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.
For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.
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not be available in electronic books.
Library of Congress Control Number is available from the publisher.
ISBN: 0-7645-7937-1
Manufactured in the United States of America
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6O/RY/QR/QV/IN
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About the Author
Dee-Ann LeBlanc, RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer), is a writer, course
developer, instructor, and trainer who specializes in Linux. She is the gaming
industry editor for LinuxWorld magazine, and the author of numerous books
on Linux and other computer topics. Dee-Ann is also a regular contributor to
Computer Power User magazine and the new Tux magazine dedicated to the
Linux desktop, among other publications. When Dee-Ann isn’t teaching in
person or online classes, developing course materials, writing technical non-
fiction or fantasy fiction, chatting about Linux online or at conferences, or
trying in one way or another to save the world, she hikes with her dogs and
experiments on her husband Rob with new recipes. See the latest that Dee-
Ann’s up to and join her readers’ mailing list at
www.Dee-AnnLeBlanc.com.
(Contact Dee-Ann at
)
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Dedication
I dedicate this book to my husband, who always has to listen to my stressed
whining when I’m running behind, and my dogs, who really would like their

Technical Editor: Bryan Hoff
Editorial Manager: Carol Sheehan
Permissions Editor: Laura Moss
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Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(
www.the5thwave.com)
Composition
Project Coordinator: Adrienne Martinez
Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Andrea Dahl,
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Chapter 21: Ten Cool Uses for Knoppix 379
Part VI: Appendixes 393
Appendix A: Common Linux Commands 395
Appendix B: About the DVD-ROM 405
Index 411
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Table of Contents
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
How to Use This Book 2
Three Presumptuous Assumptions 3
How This Book Is Organized 4
Part I: Getting Your Feet Wet 4
Part II: Internet Now! 4
Part III: Getting Up to Speed with Linux 5
Part IV: Getting Things Done 5
Part V: The Part of Tens 5
Part VI: Appendixes 5
Icons Used in This Book 6
Where to Go from Here 6
Part I: Getting Your Feet Wet 7
Chapter 1: Getting Acquainted with Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Is Free Really Free? 9
Linux: Revolution or Just Another Operating System? 10
Anatomy of an Open Source Software Project 13
GNU who? 13
Who’s in charge of Linux anyway? 15
Einstein was a volunteer 15
Packaging Linux: The Distribution 16

About the various SuSE versions 85
Zapping Frustration with Xandros 85
Installing Xandros 86
About the various Xandros versions 91
Using LiveCDs 92
Finding Even More Linux 92
Chapter 5: Booting and Stopping Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Giving Linux the Boot 96
Step 1: Power-On Self-Test (POST) leads to BIOS 96
Step 2: The BIOS passes the baton to the boot loader 97
Step 3: The boot loader (GRUB or LILO) loads the system
kernel into memory 98
Step 4: Control is handed over to init 99
Don’t Just Turn Off the Machine! 102
Removing Linux from Your System 103
Chapter 6: Checking Out Those Desktops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Introducing the Interfaces 105
Deciding Which Interface to Use 106
Making the Best of the Command Line 107
GNOME Basics 108
The menus 109
The Run Application tool 111
The Lock Screen tool 112
The Log Out tool 113
The Panels 113
The Panel menu 115
The Add To Panel menu option 116
Playing with desktop icons 116
Linux For Dummies, 6th Edition
x

Checking whether you can talk to a specific address with ping 161
Following in your traffic’s footsteps with traceroute 162
After You’re Connected 164
Chapter 9: Using the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Meet the Popular Browsers 165
Configuring Mozilla 166
Them dad-gum browser plug-ins 172
Navigating Newsgroups 174
Configuring Mozilla to read newsgroups 174
Subscribing to newsgroups 176
Reading news 177
Evolving into E-Mail 177
Setting up Evolution 178
Sending and checking e-mail 184
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Taking Advantage of Instant Messaging 186
Using the Gaim Instant Messenger 187
Troubleshooting your IM connections 189
Working with Other Internet Tools 190
Part III: Getting Up to Speed with Linux 191
Chapter 10: Manipulating Files and Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193
Working with Files in the GUI 193
Sailin’ with Nautilus 194
Rulin’ with Konqueror 201
Excavating with the Xandros File Manager 209
Understanding Filesystem Mechanics 209
Understanding long format file listings 210
A permissions primer 211

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Installing New Software 247
Eating it up with Fedora’s yum 247
Clicking and running with Linspire 253
Making it happen with Mandrake 255
Sassing with SuSE 258
Xipping with Xandros Networks 260
Finding More Software 261
Upgrading Your OS 262
Chapter 13: A Secure Linux Box Is a Happy Linux Box . . . . . . . . . . .263
Choosing Secure Passwords 263
Updating Software 264
Network holes 265
The Secure Shell game (SSH) 269
Software holes 273
Introducing SELinux 274
Keeping an Eye on Your Log Files with the System Log Viewer 275
Locating Security Resources 276
Chapter 14: Working without the GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277
Playing the Shell Game 278
Understanding bash Command Syntax and Structure 280
Starting Programs from the Shell 281
Putting Wildcard Expansion to Good Use 282
Working with Long Commands 282
Asking Linux to complete a command or filename for you 282
Accessing your command history 283
Working with Variables 284
Variables versus environment variables 284
Checking out commonly used environment variables 285
Storing and retrieving variables’ values 286

Chapter 17: Word-Processing and More with OpenOffice.org . . . . .317
Word-Processing with OpenOffice.Org Writer 318
Starting it up 318
Taking a tour of OpenOffice.org Writer 318
Spreadsheets with OpenOffice.Org Calc 323
Starting it up 323
Taking a tour of OpenOffice.org Calc 324
Presentations with OpenOffice.Org Impress 327
Starting it up 327
Using the AutoPilot Presentation Wizard 328
Taking a tour of OpenOffice.org Impress 330
Fine Art with OpenOffice.Org Draw 333
Starting it up 333
Taking a tour of OpenOffice.org Draw 334
Layout with OpenOffice.Org Math 337
Starting it up 337
Taking a tour of OpenOffice.org Math 338
Configuring Printing for OpenOffice.org 342
Chapter 18: Multimedia Wow! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345
Checking Your Sound Card 346
Looking into Your Mixer 346
Investigating Troublesome Sound Issues 347
Listening to CDs 348
Listening to Internet Radio 349
Listening to Downloaded Music 351
Ripping Music Tracks from CDs 352
Burning CDs and DVDs 354
Creating and Modifying Graphics 355
Watchin’ Movies 356
Linux For Dummies, 6th Edition

Installing New Software on an Installed Knoppix System 388
Adding More Software Repositories 389
Aren’t Sure a Machine Actually Works? 390
Exploring Tons of Linux Tools 391
Part VI: Appendixes 393
Appendix A: Common Linux Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395
Linux Commands by Function 395
Archiving and compressing 396
Built-in bash commands 396
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Getting Help 397
Files and file system 398
mtools 400
System control 401
Appendix B: About the DVD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .405
System Requirements 406
Using the DVD-ROM 407
Booting from the DVD-ROM 407
Booting from a Linux floppy disk 408
What You Find in Fedora Core 3 408
If You’ve Got Problems (Of the DVD-ROM Kind) 409
Index 411
Linux For Dummies, 6th Edition
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Introduction
W
elcome to the fascinating world of open source software that is Linux.

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Linux For Dummies, 6th Edition
details into shape while you install, configure, manage, and troubleshoot a
Linux-based computer. Some sample topics you find in this book include the
following:
ߜ Understanding where Linux comes from and what it can do for you
ߜ Installing the Linux operating system
ߜ Working with a Linux system to manage files and add software
ߜ Setting up Internet access and surfing the Web
ߜ Customizing your Linux system
ߜ Managing Linux system security and resources
Although it may seem, at first glance, that working with Linux requires years
of hands-on experience, tons of trial and error, advanced computer science
training, and intense dedication, take heart! It’s not true! If you can tell some-
body how to find your office, you can certainly build a Linux system that
does what you want. The purpose of this book isn’t to turn you into a full-
blown Linux geek (that’s the ultimate state of Linux enlightenment, of course);
it’s to show you the ins and outs that you need to master in order to build a
smoothly functioning Linux system and to give you the know-how and confi-
dence to use it.
How to Use This Book
This book tells you how to install, configure, and customize a Linux desktop
system. Although you can do most things in Linux these days by pointing
and clicking, you still may want to try using Linux at the command prompt —
where you type detailed instructions to load or configure software, access
files, and do other tasks. In this book, input appears in monospace type
like this:
rmdir /etc/bin/devone
When you type Linux commands or other related information, be sure to

terms such as flag, switch, option, or parameter used more or less inter-
changeably. In this case, all these terms refer to ways in which you can
control, refine, or modify basic commands or programs to make them do
what you want. Again, wherever distinctions and clarifications may be
needed, I provide them.
Three Presumptuous Assumptions
They say that making assumptions makes a fool of the person who makes
them and of the person about whom those assumptions are made. (And
just who are they, anyway? I assume that I know, but — never mind.) Even
so, practicality demands that I make a few assumptions about you, gentle
reader:
ߜ You can turn your computer on and off.
ߜ You know how to use a mouse and a keyboard.
ߜ You want to install, configure, and use a desktop Linux system because
you’re curious or interested or it’s your job to do so.
You don’t need to be a master logician or a wizard in the arcane art of pro-
gramming to use this book, nor do you need a Ph.D. in computer science.
You don’t even need a complete or perfect understanding of what’s going
on in your computer’s innards.
If you can boot a PC or install an application on your machine, you can
install, configure, and manage a basic Linux system. If you have an active
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Linux For Dummies, 6th Edition
imagination and the ability to solve rudimentary problems, that’s even
better — you have already mastered the key ingredients necessary to making
Linux work for you. The rest is mere details and a bit of patience. I can help
you with the details, but the patience is up to you!
How This Book Is Organized
This book contains six major parts, arranged in an order to take you from

5
Introduction
to an Internet Service Provider (or ISP), and configuring the various Internet
protocols involved to make your Internet connection work. You also go
through the details involved in configuring and using a Web browser and
setting up and using an e-mail client and newsreader.
Part III: Getting Up to Speed with Linux
Linux includes a great many facilities and capabilities, so after you get past
the initial installation and configuration, you probably want to use your
system to do something. Here’s where the doing begins! In this part of the
book, you can read about the Linux file system and how to work with files,
directories, and related access rights — called permissions in Linuxspeak.
You discover how to move in, out, and around GNOME and KDE, the two
major graphical interfaces (GUIs) in Linux. In addition, I include an in-depth
exploration of the Linux command-prompt environments, also known as
shells. Part III also contains important security information, along with how
to add software to your system and keep it updated.
Part IV: Getting Things Done
In this part of the book, you discover how to use a variety of software available
in Linux. Everything from plain text editors to full office suites is addressed,
as well as whiz-bang multimedia tools and Microsoft Windows-based file for-
mats and media. Even better, did you know that you can run many Windows
programs under Linux? I show you how in this part.
Part V: The Part of Tens
In this book’s grand climax, I sum up and distill the essence of what you now
know about Linux and its inner workings. Here, you have a chance to revisit
some key troubleshooting tips and tricks for Linux systems and find out more
about how you can use Knoppix, the specialty “bootable” distribution included
with this book.
Part VI: Appendixes

Enjoy!
6
Linux For Dummies, 6th Edition
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