a question about slackware / linux

[Jonin]

Hi guys,

I really wanted to learn something new...so i googled linux distros
and came accross slackware...

i must say it was the name that enticed me the most...then i started reading
and found it it was an older flavor of linux.

so i downloaded it and now have it duel booting with xp pro on my acer netbook.
runs pretty well...

so i was messing around...its very different, and came accross the dos-like
screen before typing startx to get to my gui.

im interested in learning the command line of linux as i was reading that this is very very powerful.

firstly is this bash commands? things like ls and md (similar to dos)
and secondly...

is it really still worth learning? i mean can you still get jobs if you know your stuff...

any advice appreciated...

jonin

[oz]

hello and welcome

you can check LinuxCommand.org for some quick and easy lessons on the command line:

LinuxCommand.org: Learn the Linux command line

[ford]

There are some things that are just easier and/or faster in the cli. Plus, it's always good to know since occasionally X will malfunction. The next thing I would say is that you need to be very familiar with the Linux shell in order to write shell scripts. Shell scripts can automate a lot of things, and can also perform insanely advanced/powerful functions. If you want to be a Linux system administrator you need to know your CLI and you need to be able to write/debug shell scripts. If you want to customize your setup, it's also good to know. The Linux Documentation Project (tldp.org) is a great source for learning a lot of things about Linux, including the CLI.

PS: if you want Slackware to boot to the GUI by default:
su -c "vi /etc/inittab"
change the run level from 3 to 4

[Freston]

Welcome to the forums!

is it really still worth learning? i mean can you still get jobs if you know your stuff...

Oh yes!

If you want to learn how to control your machine through the command line, then Slackware is a good choice because it's one of the most (if not /the/ most) vanilla distro out there.

This means that there's very little branding, and very distro specific patches applied to the packages. And only a hand full of distro specific tools and configurations. And, it's rock solid. It's also the oldest living distro, still very much active too

What is good, IMHO, about the command line is that it forces you to think in underlying concepts of the system. This makes a steep learning curve, specially if you come from a Windows background. But in the end it'll make your life as an admin easier because it makes diagnosing faults soooo much quicker when you know what's going on under the hood.


But please don't misunderstand. If you look at the site The Slackware Linux Project you'll see no effort is made to 'sell' Slackware to the Great Unwashed. The site is designed for people who already know what Slackware is, and why they want it. Slackers tend to be Do it Yourself type of people, and you don't need massive amounts of willpower to get a slackbox up and running, but you will need curiosity and reading skills to tune it to perfection.

___
Also, there's two philosophies about Slackware as a beginners distro.
The first says that Slackware is too different from WIndows and that it's better to begin with an easier distro to ease the transition.
The second, which I'm partial to, says that Slackware is so different from Windows that none of the concepts you previously held when it came to computing hold anymore and you're really forced to learn computing from scratch. And you'll be better off in the long run.

So, if you just want to watch Youtube videos... run Ubuntu. If you want to learn about Linux/computers/networking/servers/security etc then by all means... Slackware is a good choice.

[Jonin]

Hello Freston.

what you said here:

The second, which I'm partial to, says that Slackware is so different from Windows that none of the concepts you previously held when it came to computing hold anymore and you're really forced to learn computing from scratch. And you'll be better off in the long run.

So, if you just want to watch Youtube videos... run Ubuntu. If you want to learn about Linux/computers/networking/servers/security etc then by all means... Slackware is a good choice.

is exactly what i have been thinking....(or what i thought rather)

i am trying to leave windows behind me (For my own computing)

thanks for the advice

will general linux books do...or should i get slackware specific?

thanks for the info again

[Freston]

i am trying to leave windows behind me (For my own computing)

thanks for the advice

You're welcome

With Slackware (and other similar distro's) it's not just Windows you leave behind, it's the Windows-way you leave behind. Don't expect reboots to solve problems and say goodbye to the [RUN] [NEXT] [NEXT] [ACCEPT] [APPLY] sequence of installing software. Although that finds it's equivalent in `./configure&&make&&make install`

will general linux books do...or should i get slackware specific?

Well, as I said, Slackware is the most vanilla distro you can get. This means that generic documentation applies very well.

Of course, there are the man pages... And the Slackbook is also a good resource:
The Revised Slackware Book Project

[ford]

Use the slackbook. It's free, and it's online.

slackbook.org

[Jonin]

thanks again guys!!! now if you excuse me...i have a mountain to climb. speak again when im stuck in the cold...

[Jonin]

Ok so im back...dazed and confused...i started reading the slackware man. And it seems pretty old as it was saying wireless networking isnt supported much by linux etc. the other info looks pretty good though...but i need to get my wireless connection going as i have slack / winxp duel booting and its painful to have to log out / in again. i promise i will leave you guys alone if you can just help me get my internet going...

1) do i have to install drivers for the wireless nic? where can you tell?
2) Do all network connections get configured through a terminal using iwconfig?

please any info...i will start googling now

[Freston]

Ok so im back...dazed and confused...i started reading the slackware man. And it seems pretty old as it was saying wireless networking isnt supported much by linux etc. the other info looks pretty good though...but i need to get my wireless connection going as i have slack / winxp duel booting and its painful to have to log out / in again. i promise i will leave you guys alone if you can just help me get my internet going...

Hmmmmm

There is a cheat mode If your wireless device is supported, you can probably configure it from the GUI using a tool called wicd and/or wicd-client

___
Support for wireless has improved greatly the last couple of years. It used to be a pain but it's getting a lot better.

1) do i have to install drivers for the wireless nic? where can you tell?

Let's have a look. This command should give you the name/make/model of your wireless card:

/sbin/lspci | grep -i wireless

Post the output here.


Also, the quickest way to see if the card is recognized and active:

/sbin/iwconfig

A sample output:

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wmaster0  no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11abgn  ESSID:"myessid"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated
          Tx-Power=15 dBm
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

vboxnet0  no wireless extensions.

What is interesting is the 'name' of the interface that has wireless extensions. In the above example, that would be 'wlan0'

Post that here.

2) Do all network connections get configured through a terminal using iwconfig?

Only the wireless connections. I always imagine iwconfig to abbreviate 'Interface Wireless Configuration'. The rest is done with `ifconfig`