A: If you need or want to configure and compile your own kernel, the web page at http://www.kernel.org/ lists the current versions of the development and production kernels.
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 kernel, as you would with any other custom kernel. The [Documentation] subdirectory 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, make sure that you sign on to the linux-kernel mailing list to find out what people are working on. Refer to the answer: ``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.
A: Look in the following places, and the sites that mirror them.
The Linux Documentation Project at http://www.linuxdoc.org publishes hundreds of documents on using Linux.
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, refer to the answer for: ``''
If you don't have access to FTP, try the FTP-by-mail servers:
A complete list of HOWTO's is available in the file HOWTO-INDEX at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/howtos.html. The mini-HOWTO's are indexed at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/mini.html.
In addition, translations are available from ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/translations/ and mirrors worldwide. The HOWTO's and other documentation have been translated into the following languages:
Chinese (zh)
Croatian (hr)
French (fr)
German (de)
Hellenic (el)
Indonesian (id)
Italian (it)
Japanese (ja)
Korean (ko)
Polish (pl)
Slovenian (sl)
Spanish (es)
Swedish (sv)
Turkish (tr)
Additional documents are always in preparation. Please get in touch with the coordinators if you are interested in writing one. Contact and submission information is at http://www.linuxdoc.org/mailinfo.html.
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/.
Rute Users Tutorial and Exposition. http://rute.sourceforge.net
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/.
Documentation for kernel developers is on-line: http://kernelbook.sourceforge.net.
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-Guide has a directory of Linux consultants.
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.
A: 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.
Documentation for kernel developers is on-line: http://kernelbook.sourceforge.net.
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.tripod.com/rpragana/
Dave Central Linux Software Archive: http://linux.davecentral.com
debianHELP http://www.debianhelp.org
Erlug Webzine (Italian): http://www.erlug.linux.it
Free Unix Giveaway List: http://visar.csustan.edu/giveaway.html Lists offers of free Linux CDs. Also available via E-mail: 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
Linux Cartoons: http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~conradp/linux/cartoons/
LinuxArtist.org: http://www.linuxartist.org
Linuxinfor.com - Online Linux Resources: http://www.linuxinfor.com
linuXChiX.org: http://www.linuxchix.org
LinuxDevices.com: The Embedded Linux Portal: http://www.linuxdevices.com
Linux Educational Needs Posting Page: http://www.slip.net/~brk/linuxedpp.htm
Linux in Business: Case Studies: http://www.bynari.com/collateral/case_studies.html
Linux Hardware Database Laptop Superguide: http://lhd.zdnet.com/db/superguide.php3?catid=18
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
LinuxOrbit: http://www.linuxorbit.com
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
Mandrakeuser.Org: http://mandrakeuser.org
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
Pascal Central: http://www.pascal-central.com
PegaSoft Portal: http://www.vaxxine.com/pegasoft/portal/
PocketLinux. http://www.pocketlinux.com
Red Hat and ISDN4Linux: http://www.webideal.de
SearchLinux: http://www.searchlinux.com/
The Free Linux CD Project: http://www.freelinuxcd.org
The Site for People Learning Perl: http://learn.perl.org
USB Linux Home Page: http://peloncho.fis.ucm.es/~inaky/uusbd-www/
VLUG: The Virtual Linux Users Group: http://www.vlug.com
Searching for ``Linux'' on Web Search Engines will provide copious references to Linux Web sites. Try:
Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com/
Altavista http://www.altavista.com/
Google http://www.google.com/
Google also has a Linux-specific section at http://www.google.com/linux/.
Further information about about Web search engines is in the Web and Internet Search Engine Faq: http://www.infobasic.com/pagefaq.html.
Refer also to the answer for: ``What Other FAQ's and Documentation Are There for Linux?''
A: 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 linux-announce@news.ornl.gov.
Comp.os.linux.announce is archived at: http://www.iki.fi/mjr/linux/cola.html, and ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/comp.os.linux.announce/.
Also worth reading are the following other groups in the comp.os.linux.* and alt.uu.comp.os.linux.* hierarchies 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
alt.os.linux
alt.os.linux.mandrake
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.embedded
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 the 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.
Information about e-mail clients (MUA's), mail transfer agents (MTA's), and other related software are in the comp.mail.* groups, especially:
comp.mail.misc
comp.mail.pine
comp.mail.sendmail
Questions and information about News reading software are in:
news.software.readers.
Please read ``If this Document Still Hasn't Answered Your 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 areacheck there first.
See also ``How To Get Information without Usenet Access''
Other regional and local newsgroups also existyou may find the traffic more manageable there:
fr.comp.os.linux (France).
de.comp.os.linux.* (Germany).
aus.computers.linux (Australia).
hr.comp.linux (Croatia).
it.comp.linux (Italy).
A search of http://groups.google.com/ can provide an up-to-date list of News groups.