3. Network Sources and Resources

3.1. Where Can I Get the Latest Kernel Version?

Make that versions. The 2.0. series kernels are still available for older machines. Following Linus's even/odd versioning scheme, the latest production kernel is 2.2.x. The updates to this kernel are bug fixes. Active development is proceeding on the 2.3.x versions of the kernel, and a feature freeze has recently been announced for the 2.4 series production kernels.

Linux kernel version 2.2. was released on January 25, and a bug fix version 2.2.1 was released several days later. New versions are always being released. The kernel contains numerous improvements in features and performance compared to the kernel versions 2.0.x.

Among the 2.2 kernel's many improvements are a video frame buffer, faster (although bigger) memory management, support for more hardware devices, improved security, and improved POSIX compatibility. The Linux kernel, in many of these instances, is superior to commercial OS's.

To read more about the features in kernel version 2.2.x, the unofficial, draft press releases are located at http://www.tip.net.au/~edlang/linux/linux2.2pr.html.

If you want to download the source code, FTP to ftp.xx.kernel.org, where "xx" is the two-letter Internet domain abbreviation of your country; e.g., "us" for United States, "ca" for Canada, or "de" for Germany. Kernel versions 2.2.x are archived in the directory pub/linux/kernel/v2.2, as are patches for the prerelease versions. The kernel source code is archived as a .tar.gz file, and as a .tar.bz2 file.

Follow the instructions in any of the standard references to compile the 2.2 kernel, as you would with any other custom kernel. The Documentation subdirectory also contains information by the authors of various subsystems and drivers, and much of that information is not documented elsewhere.

If you want to participate in kernel development, the latest 2.3 version kernels are available from ftp.kernel.org as well. Make sure you sign on to the linux-kernel mailing list to find out what people are working on. (``What Mailing Lists Are There?'')

There is a story about the features of the 2.4 series kernels at http://features.linuxtoday.com/stories/8191.html.

3.2. Where Can I Get the HOWTO's and Other Documentation?

Look in the following places, and the sites that mirror them.

• http://www.linuxdoc.org/

• ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/OS/Linux/doc/HOWTO/

• ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/docs/HOWTO/

• ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/

For a list of Linux FTP sites, see, (``Where Can I Get Linux Material by FTP?'')

If you don't have access to FTP, try the FTP-by-mail servers at mailto:ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com, mailto:ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk, or mailto:ftp-mailer@informatik.tu-muenchen.de.

A complete list of HOWTO's and Mini-HOWTO's is available in the file HOWTO-INDEX in the docs/HOWTO directory at the FTP sites, and on the Web at http://www.linuxdoc.org/, but here is a (probably incomplete) list of topics:

The following Mini-HOWTO's are available from http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini/:

The following HOWTO's are not distributed in all formats because SGML Tools cannot format their graphics and tables:

In addition, translations of the HOWTO's are available from ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/translations/ and mirrors worldwide. Translations in the following languages are available:

More of these documents are always in preparation. Please get in touch with Timothy Bynum, mailto:tjbynum@metalab.unc.edu, the HOWTO coordinator, if you are interested in writing one. The file ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX contains guidelines for writing a HOWTO. He has a Web page that lists current HOWTO updates and additions at http://wallybox.cei.net/~tjbynum/HOWTO/projects.

There is also a LDP HOWTO page at http://howto.tucows.org/.

The Guide Series produced by the Linux Documentation Project is available from http://www.linuxdoc.org/. Please read them if you are new to Unix and Linux.

And, of course, a number of people have written documentation independently of the LDP:

• Linux Administrators Security Guide, by Kurt Seifried. http://www.freek.com/lasg/.

• Newbie's Linux Manual. http://www.linuxdoc.org/nlm/.

• One-Page Linux Manual. http://www.powerup.com.au/~squadron/.

• Short beginners' manual for Linux. Also available in Dutch. http://www.stuwww.kub.nl/people/b.vannunen/linux-man.php3.

• Virtual Frame buffer HOWTO, by Alex Buell. http://www.tahallah.demon.co.uk/programming/prog.html.

• X11 & TrueType Fonts, by Peter Kleiweg. http://www.let.rug.nl/~kleiweg/.

There is a FAQ for Linux kernel developers at http://www.tux.org/html/.

To find out about Linux memory management, including performance tuning, see Rik van Riel's Web page at http://humbolt.geo.uu.nl/Linux-MM/.

The Linux Consultants HOWTO has a directory of Linux consultants at http://www.linuxports.com/.

Gary's Encyclopedia lists over 4,000 Linux related links. Its URL is http://members.aa.net/~swear/pedia/index.html.

There is also a FAQ specifically for the Red Hat Linux distribution, at http://www.best.com/~aturner//RedHat-FAQ/faq_index.html.

And the Home Page of this FAQ (by default, The Linux FAQ) is the Mainmatter Press, http://www.mainmatter.com/.

3.3. Where Should I Look on the World Wide Web for Linux Stuff?

In addition to the Linux Documentation Project Home Page http://www.linuxdoc.org/, there are many pages that provide beginning and advanced information about Linux.

These two pages provide a good starting point for general Linux information: Linux International's Home Page, at http://www.li.org/, and the Linux Online's Linux Home Page at http://www.linux.org/.

Both of these pages provide links to other sites, information about general information, distributions, new software, documentation, and news.

The tutorial, Unix is a Four Letter Word..., is located at http://www.linuxbox.com/~taylor/4ltrwrd/. It is a general introduction to Unix operating systems and is not Linux specific.

Additionally, here is a certainly incomplete list of Web pages devoted to Linux:

• AboutLinux.com. http://www.aboutlinux.com/.

• Adventures in Linux Programming. http://members.xoom.com/rpragana/.

• Dave Central Linux Software Archive. http://linux.davecentral.com/.

• Ext2 File System capabilities (draft). http://pocket.fluff.org/~mrw/linux/ext2.txt.

• Free Unix Giveaway List. http://visar.csustan.edu/giveaway.html. Lists offers of free Linux CDs. Also available via E-mail: mailto:axel@visar.csustan.edu, with the Subject: send giveaway_list.

• Information on Linux in corporate environments. http://www.smartstocks.com/linux.html.

• Jeanette Russo's Linux Newbie Information. http://www.stormloader.com/jrusso2/index.html.

• JustLinux.com. http://www.justlinux.com/.

• LinuxArtist.org. http://www.linuxartist.org/.

• Linux Cartoons. http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~conradp/linux/cartoons/.

• linuXChiX.org. http://www.linuxchix.org/.

• Linux Educational Needs Posting Page. http://www.slip.net/~brk/linuxedpp.htm.

• Linux in Business: Case Studies. www.bynari.com/collateral/case_studies.html.

• Linux Inside. http://linuxinside.org/.

• Linux Links. http://www.linuxlinks.com/.

• Linux Memory Management Home Page. http://humbolt.geo.uu.nl/Linux-MM/.

• Linux Newbie Project. http://kusma.hypermart.net/.

• Linux on the Thinkpad 760ED. http://www.e-oasis.com/linux-tp.html.

• Linux Parallel Port Home Page. http://www.torque.net/linux-pp.html.

• Linux MIDI & Sound Applications. http://sound.condorow.net/.

• Linux Start. http://www.linuxstart.com/.

• Linux Tips and Tricks Page. http://www.patoche.org/LTT/.

• Linux Today PR. http://www.linuxpr.com/.

• My Linux Contributions by Richard Gooch. http://www.atnf.csiro.au/~rgooch/linux/.

• Micro Channel Linux Web Page. http://www.dgmicro.com/mca/.

• Parallel port scanners and SANE. http://www2.prestel.co.uk/hex/scanners.html.

• PegaSoft Portal. http://www.vaxxine.com/pegasoft/portal/

• SearchLinux. http://www.searchlinux.com/.

• USB Linux Home Page. http://peloncho.fis.ucm.es/~inaky/uusbd-www/.

• VLUG: The Virtual Linux Users Group. http://www.vlug.com/.

3.4. What News Groups Are There for Linux?

Comp.os.linux.announce is the moderated announcements group; you should read this if you intend to use Linux: it contains information about software updates, new ports, user group meetings, and commercial products. It is the ONLY newsgroup that may carry commercial postings. Submissions for that group should be e-mailed to mailto:linux-announce@news.ornl.gov.

Comp.os.linux.announce, however, is not archived on DejaNews or Alta Vista. The only archive for the news group seems to be http://www.iki.fi/mjr/linux/cola.html.

[Axel Boldt]

Also worth reading are the following other groups in the comp.os.linux.* hierarchy--you may find many common problems too recent for the documentation but are answered in the newsgroups.

• alt.uu.comp.os.linux

• alt.uu.comp.os.linux.questions

• comp.os.linux.admin

• comp.os.linux.advocacy

• comp.os.linux.alpha

• comp.os.linux.answers

• comp.os.linux.development

• comp.os.linux.development.apps

• comp.os.linux.development.system

• comp.os.linux.hardware

• comp.os.linux.help

• comp.os.linux.m68k

• comp.os.linux.misc

• comp.os.linux.network

• comp.os.linux.networking

• comp.os.linux.portable

• comp.os.linux.powerpc

• comp.os.linux.questions

• comp.os.linux.redhat

• comp.os.linux.security

• comp.os.linux.setup

• comp.os.linux.test

• comp.os.linux.x

• comp.os.linux.x.video

Remember that Linux is POSIX compatible, and most all of the material in comp.unix.* and comp.windows.x.* groups will be relevant. Apart from hardware considerations, and some obscure or very technical low-level issues, you'll find that these groups are good places to start.

Please read (``You Still Haven't Answered My Question!'') before posting. Cross posting between different comp.os.linux.* groups is rarely a good idea.

There may well be Linux groups local to your institution or area--check there first.

See also (``I Don't Have Usenet Access. Where Do I Get Information?'')

Other regional and local newsgroups also exist--you may find the traffic more manageable there. The French Linux newsgroup is fr.comp.os.linux. The German one is de.comp.os.linux. In Australia, try aus.computers.linux. In Croatia there is hr.comp.linux. In Italy, there is it.comp.linux.

3.5. What Other FAQ's Are There for Linux?

There are a number of special-interest FAQ's on different subjects that are related to Linux administration and use. Here are a few of them:

• A FAQ for new users. http://homes.arealcity.com/swietanowski/LinuxFAQ/.

• GNU Emacs. http://www.lerner.co.il/emacs/faq-body.shtml.

• GNU Linux in Science and Engineering. http://members.home.net/scieng/.

• Gnus 5.x. http://www.ccs.neu.edu/software/contrib/gnus/.

3.6. Where Can I Get Linux Material by FTP?

There are three main archive sites for Linux:

• ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/OS/Linux/ (Finland).

• ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/ (US).

• tsx-11.mit.edu//pub/linux/ (US).

The best place to get the Linux kernel is ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/. Linus Torvalds uploads the most recent kernel versions to this site.

Of the U.S. distributions, Debian GNU/Linux is available at ftp://ftp.debian.org/pub/debian/. Red Hat Linux's home site is ftp://ftp.redhat.com/, and Linux Slackware's is ftp://ftp.freesoftware.com/.

The Small Linux distribution, which can run in 2 MB of RAM, is located at http://smalllinux.netpedia.net/.

The contents of these sites is mirrored (copied, usually approximately daily) by a number of other sites. Please use a site close to you--it will be faster for you and easier on the network.

• ftp://ftp.sun.ac.za/pub/linux/sunsite/ (South Africa)

• ftp://ftp.is.co.za/linux/sunsite/ (South Africa).

• ftp://ftp.cs.cuhk.hk/pub/Linux/ (Hong Kong).

• ftp://sunsite.ust.hk/pub/Linux/ (Hong Kong).

• ftp://ftp.spin.ad.jp/pub/linux/ (Japan).

• ftp://ftp.nuri.net/pub/Linux/ (Korea).

• ftp://ftp.jaring.my/pub/Linux/ (Malaysia).

• ftp://ftp.nus.sg/pub/unix/Linux/ (Singapore).

• ftp://ftp.nectec.or.th/pub/mirrors/linux/ (Thailand).

• ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/linux/ (Australia).

• ftp://sunsite.anu.edu.au/pub/linux/ (Australia).

• ftp://ftp.monash.edu.au/pub/linux/ (Australia).

• ftp://ftp.univie.ac.at/systems/linux/sunsite/ (Austria).

• ftp://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/UNIX/linux/ (Czech Republic).

• ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/sunsite/ (Finland).

• ftp://ftp.univ-angers.fr/pub/Linux/ (France).

• ftp://ftp.iut-bm.univ-fcomte.fr/ (France).

• ftp://ftp.ibp.fr/pub/linux/sunsite/ (France)

• ftp://ftp.loria.fr/pub/linux/sunsite/ (France).

• ftp://ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Germany).

• ftp://ftp.germany.eu.net/pub/os/Linux/Mirror.SunSITE/(Germany).

• ftp://ftp.tu-dresden.de/pub/Linux/sunsite/ (Germany).

• ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/Linux/MIRROR.sunsite/ (Germany).

• ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/mirrors/sunsite/ (Germany).

• ftp.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/linux/mirror.sunsite/ (Germany).

• ftp://ftp.ba-mannheim.de/pub/linux/mirror.sunsite/ (Germany).

• ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/pub/Mirrors/sunsite.unc.edu/(Germany).

• ftp://ftp.uni-rostock.de/Linux/sunsite/ (Germany).

• ftp.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/unix/systems/linux/MIRROR.sunsite/(Germany).

• ftp://ftp.uni-tuebingen.de/pub/linux/Mirror.sunsite/ (Germany).

• ftp://ftp.kfki.hu/pub/linux/(Hungary).

• ftp://linux.italnet.it/pub/Linux/(Italy).

• ftp://ftp.unina.it/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Italy).

• ftp://giotto.unipd.it/pub/unix/Linux/ (Italy).

• ftp://cnuce-arch.cnr.it/pub/Linux/ (Italy).

• ftp://ftp.flashnet.it/mirror2/metalab.unc.edu/ (Italy).

• ftp://ftp.nijenrode.nl/pub/linux/ (Netherlands).

• ftp://ftp.LeidenUniv.nl/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Netherlands).

• ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Norway).

• ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/Linux/metalab.unc.edu/ (Poland).

• ftp://ftp.rediris.es/software/os/linux/sunsite/ (Spain).

• ftp://sunsite.rediris.es/software/linux/ (Spain).

• ftp://ftp.cs.us.es/pub/Linux/sunsite-mirror/ (Spain).

• ftp://ftp.etse.urv.es/pub/mirror/linux/ (Spain).

• ftp://tp.etsimo.uniovi.es/pub/linux/ (Spain).

• ftp://ftp.luna.gui.es/pub/linux.new/ (Spain).

• ftp://ftp.metu.edu.tr/pub/linux/sunsite/ (Turkey).

• ftp://unix.hensa.ac.uk/mirrors/sunsite/pub/Linux/ (UK).

• ftp.maths.warwick.ac.uk/mirrors/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/(UK).

• ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/Linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/(UK).

• ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/linux/sunsite.unc-mirror/(UK).

• (UK)

• ftp://ftp.io.org/pub/mirrors/linux/sunsite/ (Canada).

• ftp://ftp.cc.gatech.edu/pub/linux/ (US).

• ftp://ftp.freesoftware.com/pub/linux/sunsite/ (US).

• ftp://ftp.siriuscc.com/pub/Linux/Sunsite/ (US).

• ftp://ftp.engr.uark.edu/pub/linux/sunsite/ (US).

• ftp://ftp.infomagic.com/pub/mirrors/linux/sunsite/ (US).

• ftp://linux.if.usp.br/pub/mirror/metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/(Brazil).

• ftp://farofa.ime.usp.br/pub/linux/ (Brazil).

Please send updates and corrections to this list to the Linux FAQ maintainer, mailto:rkiesling@mainmatter.com Not all of these mirror all of the other ``source'' sites, and some have material not available on the ``source'' sites.

3.7. I Don't Have FTP Access. Where Do I Get Linux?

The easiest thing is probably to find a friend with FTP access. If there is a Linux user's group near you, they may be able to help.

If you have a reasonably good email connection, you could try the FTP-by-mail servers at mailto:ftpmail@ftp.sunet.se, or mailto:ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de.

Linux is also available via traditional mail on CD-ROM. The file ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO, and the file ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/Distribution-HOWTO contain information on these distributions.

3.8. I Don't Have Usenet Access. Where Do I Get Information?

A digest of comp.os.linux.announce is available by mailing the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) as the body of a message to mailto:linux-announce-REQUEST@news-digests.mit.edu. Subscribing to this list is a good idea, as it carries important information and documentation about Linux.

Please remember to use the *-request addresses for your subscribe and unsubscribe messages; mail to the other address is posted to the news group.

3.9. What Mailing Lists Are There?

The Linux developers now mainly use the Majordomo server at mailto:majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu. Send a message with the word "lists" (without the quotes) in the body to get a list of lists there. Add a line with the word, "help," to get the standard Majordomo help file that lists instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing to the lists.

Please do not post off-topic material to the mailing lists. Most of them are used by Linux developers to talk about technical issues and future developments. They are not intended for new users' questions, advertisements, or public postings that are not directly related to the mailing list's subject matter. Comp.os.linux.announce is the place for all public announcements. This is a common Internet policy. If you don't observe this guideline, there's a good chance that you'll be flamed.

There is a linux-newbie list where, "no question is too stupid." Unfortunately, it seems that few experienced users read that list, and it has very low volume.

There are numerous Linux related mailing lists at http://www.onelist.com/. Go to the categories page and choose "Linux."

3.10. Where Are Linux Legal Issues Discussed?

On the linux-legal mailing list, of course. You can subscribe to it, as with many of the other Linux related lists, by sending a message with the word "help" in the body of the message to mailto:majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu.

3.11. Are the News Groups Archived Anywhere?

The Usenet Linux news groups are archived at http://www.dejanews.com/, and http://altavista.digital.com/.

http://www.reference.com/ is unavailable until further notice, apparently due to lack of support.

ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/linux-announce.archive contains archives of comp.os.linux.announce. These are mirrored from src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/, which also archives comp.os.linux, comp.os.linux.development.apps, and comp.os.linux.development.system.

There is an `easy to access' archive of comp.os.linux.announce on the World Wide Web at http://www.leo.org/archiv/unix/linux/ which supports searching and browsing.

3.12. Where Can I Find Out About Security Related Issues?

Look at http://www.rootshell.com/, which has information about security problems and software.