Suse Linux 9.3 For Dummies- P2 pps

.123 Getting a Handle on Ethernet ...123 Connecting PCs to an Ethernet LAN ...124 Configuring the Ethernet Network ...125 Connecting Your LAN to the Internet ...126 Extending Your LAN wi

Connecting to the Internet with DSL 108

How DSL works 108

Stirring the DSL alphabet soup: ADSL, IDSL, SDSL 110

Typical DSL setup 110

Connecting to the Internet with a Cable Modem 114

How cable modems work 114

Typical cable modem setup 116

Dialing Up the Internet 119

Connecting the modem 120

Configuring the modem 121

Chapter 8: Setting Up an Ethernet LAN with Wireless Access 123

Getting a Handle on Ethernet 123

Connecting PCs to an Ethernet LAN 124

Configuring the Ethernet Network 125

Connecting Your LAN to the Internet 126

Extending Your LAN with a Wireless Network 128

Understanding wireless Ethernet networking 128

Understanding infrastructure and ad hoc modes 129

Understanding Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 130

Setting up the wireless hardware 130

Configuring the wireless access point 131

Configuring wireless networking 132

Checking whether Your Network Is Up 135

Checking the network interfaces 135

Checking the IP routing table 136

Checking connectivity to a host 136

Part III: Doing Stuff with SUSE 139

Chapter 9: Browsing the Web 141

Understanding the World Wide Web 142

Links and URLs 142

Web servers and Web browsers 145

Web Browsing in SUSE Linux 146

Web Browsing with Konqueror in KDE 147

Web Browsing with Mozilla in GNOME 149

Getting familiar with the Mozilla interface 150

Changing your home page 152

Introducing Epiphany and Firefox 153

Chapter 10: E-Mailing and Instant Messaging in SUSE 155

Understanding E-Mail 156

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E-Mailing in SUSE Linux 158

Introducing KMail 158

Introducing Evolution Mail 160

Instant Messaging in SUSE Linux 163

Using Kopete 164

Using GAIM 166

Chapter 11: Reading Newsgroups 169

Understanding Newsgroups 169

Newsgroup hierarchy 170

Top-level newsgroup categories 171

Some Linux-related newsgroups 172

Reading Newsgroups from Your ISP 173

Taking stock of newsreaders in SUSE Linux 174

Introducing KNode 174

Introducing Pan 177

Newsgroup subscriptions 179

Posting news 179

Reading and Searching Newsgroups at Web Sites 180

Chapter 12: Preparing Documents and Spreadsheets in SUSE Linux 183

Writing with OpenOffice.org Writer 183

Taking stock of OpenOffice.org Writer 184

Getting started with Writer 185

Setting up Writer 187

Preparing documents in Writer 187

Editing and reviewing documents 188

Using styles and templates 189

Doing page layout 192

Creating and inserting graphics 194

Using fields 195

Working with large documents 196

Preparing Spreadsheets with OpenOffice.org Calc 197

Taking stock of OpenOffice.org Calc 197

Getting started with Calc 198

Entering and formatting data 201

Calculating and charting data 201

Chapter 13: Doing Even More Office Stuff in SUSE Linux 205

Keeping Track of Appointments and Tasks 205

Making Calculations 207

Making Presentations with OpenOffice.org Impress 208

Taking stock of OpenOffice.org Impress 208

Getting started with Impress 209

Using Impress 212

Preparing presentations 213

Adding graphics and special effects 215

Delivering presentations 216

Chapter 14: Playing Music and Burning CDs 217

Playing Audio CDs 217

Playing Music Files 219

Burning a CD/DVD 221

Burning CD/DVDs with K3b 221

Burning data CDs in Nautilus 225

Chapter 15: Working with Photos and Images 227

Downloading Photos from a Digital Camera 228

Scanning Photos and Documents 232

Editing Images with The GIMP 237

Viewing Images 239

Viewing PDF and PostScript Files 241

Chapter 16: What’s a Shell and Why Do I Care? 243

Opening Terminal Windows and Virtual Consoles 243

Exploring the Bash Shell 244

Understanding the syntax of shell commands 245

Combining shell commands 246

Controlling command input and output 246

Typing less with automatic command completion 248

Going wild with asterisks and question marks 248

Repeating previously typed commands 250

Part IV: Becoming a SUSE Wizard 253

Chapter 17: Look Ma, I’m a Sysadmin! 255

What Does a Sysadmin Do? 255

Becoming root, When You Must 257

Resetting a Forgotten root Password 257

Introducing Your New Friend, YaST 259

Starting and Stopping Services 261

Understanding how Linux boots 261

Trying a new run level with the init command 263

Using YaST to start and stop services 264

Manually starting and stopping services 264

Checking Your System’s Performance 265

Using the top utility 265

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Using the uptime command 267

Checking disk performance and disk usage 268

Managing Hardware Devices 269

Managing User Accounts 270

Chapter 18: Updating SUSE and Adding New Software 273

Updating SUSE Linux Online 274

Locating and Installing Software Using YaST 277

Using RPM Commands to Work with RPM Files 280

Using the RPM commands 281

Understanding RPM filenames 281

Querying RPMs 282

Installing an RPM 284

Removing an RPM 285

Upgrading an RPM 285

Chapter 19: Securing SUSE Linux 287

Why Worry about Security? 287

Understanding Linux Security 288

Understanding the host security issues 288

Understanding network security issues 289

Getting Familiar with Computer Security Terminology 290

Practicing Good Host Security 295

Making passwords expire 295

Protecting files and directories 296

Securing the Network 300

Securing Internet services 301

Turning off stand-alone services 301

Configuring the Internet superserver 301

Configuring TCP wrapper security 302

Using Secure Shell (SSH) for remote logins 303

Setting up a simple firewall 304

Using NATs 307

Keeping Up with Security News and Updates 308

Part V: The Part of Tens 309

Chapter 20: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about SUSE 311

What Does SUSE Stand for and How Do You Pronounce It? 311

How Can I Find Answers to My SUSE Linux Questions? 312

When Is the Next SUSE Linux Release? 312

Can I Get ISO Files for SUSE Linux from the Internet? 313

How Do I Do an FTP Install of SUSE Linux? 313

How Can I Auto-Login into the KDE Desktop as Another User? 316

If My System Crashes, Can I Press the Reset Button to Reboot? 318

How Can I Schedule a Command to Run Every 30 Minutes? 318

How Can I Find All the Huge Files on My SUSE Linux System? 319

Where Can I Find More SUSE RPMs? 320

Chapter 21: The Ten Best Things about SUSE 321

YaST — The Super Sysadmin Tool 321

Detects All Hardware (Well, Nearly All!) 322

Smooth and Easy Installation 322

I Love YOU — YaST Online Update 323

Automatic Mounting of My Windows Partitions and USB Memory Stick 323

Automatic Login at the KDE Desktop 324

Good Support for Laptops 324

Easy Browsing of Windows Shares 324

That Cute Gecko Mascot 324

SUSE’s Increasing Popularity 325

Chapter 22: Ten Great Web Sites for SUSE Maniacs 327

http://www.suse.com 327

http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/index.html 328

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=suse 328

http://www.suseforums.net 328

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/f60 329

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/forum-36.html 329

http://www.linux-laptop.net/ 329

http://packman.links2linux.org 329

http://www.tldp.org/ 330

http://www.linuxhq.com/guides/ 330

Chapter 23: Ten Most Commonly Used SUSE Commands 331

apropos: Finding Commands Based on a Keyword 332

man: Reading Online Man Page 332

ls: Listing Files and Directories 333

cat: Feeding Input to Commands 333

grep: Searching for Text in Files 334

locate: Finding Files and Directories the Easy Way 335

chmod: Changing Permissions 336

rpm: Taming RPM Packages 337

tar: Packing and Unpacking Archives 337

pico: Editing Text Files 339

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Appendix: About the DVD-ROM 341

System Requirements 341

DVD Installation Instructions 342

What You’ll Find on the DVD 343

Troubleshooting 344

Index 345

SUSE Linux is an increasingly popular Linux distribution that competes

head-on with Red Hat’s Linux versions SUSE Linux’s fortunes have been

on the rise following Novell’s acquisition of Germany’s SUSE Linux AG for

$210 million SUSE is looking for more growth in the U.S marketplace, helped

in part by IBM’s $50 million investment in Novell as part of the SUSE acquisi-tion deal On another positive note, after acquiring SUSE, Novell announced that SUSE’s famous YaST installation and configuration tool will become open source, licensed under the GNU General Public License All these develop-ments have generated a distinct “buzz” around SUSE Linux as the up-and-coming Linux distribution for everyone from home users to enterprise servers

A significant factor in SUSE Linux’s increasing popularity is that unlike its com-petitor Red Hat’s singular focus on the enterprise market, Novell continues

to address both the enterprise market and Linux enthusiasts Specifically, the SUSE Linux Professional product is aimed at small-office/home-office users

as well as those wishing to experiment with the SUSE Linux as their desktop system SUSE Linux Professional is sold as boxed sets through distributors as well as online stores SUSE Linux Professional with a typical retail price tag of

$89.95 (with lower prices for students and for those updating from a previous version) is a complete Linux distribution, suitable for small office/home office

or even an enterprise This book includes a DVD with a Special Edition version

of SUSE Linux Professional, with everything you need to use it as a personal desktop system This book also includes a coupon that you can use to pur-chase a copy of the full SUSE Linux Professional distribution

If you are starting out with SUSE Linux, you need a beginner’s guide that not only gets you going with the installation and setup of SUSE Linux, but also shows you how to use all the tools that come with your desktop That’s why

I wrote SUSE Linux 9.3 For Dummies in plain English, using a breezy style, that

quickly gets to the step-by-step instructions for accomplishing a task, be it installing a printer or crafting a memo with OpenOffice.org Writer My goal

is to minimize confusion and keep things as simple as possible I present the essential steps for specific tasks, but avoid inundating you with too many details

About This Book

SUSE Linux 9.3 For Dummies is a beginner’s guide for the upcoming SUSE

Linux distribution The approach to the subject matter and the writing style

is that of the successful For Dummies series The focus is on introducing

you to the SUSE Linux desktop with all the GUI tools, including the office pro-ductivity suite (OpenOffice.org) and multimedia applications (audio player, digital camera, CD burning, image editing, and so on) I include a chapter on connecting to the Internet using cable/DSL modems and setting up a basic home network because these have become necessities for anyone who has more than one PC and, especially, for those who plan to run SUSE Linux on a

PC I also include a part that introduces the basics of routine system adminis-tration, how to add and update software, and how to tighten up the system’s security

Here are some of the things that this book shows you how to do:

Install and configure SUSE Linux from the DVD-ROM included with the book

Connect the SUSE Linux system to the Internet through a DSL or cable modem

Set up dialup networking

Add a wireless Ethernet to your existing network

Get tips, techniques, and shortcuts for various uses of SUSE Linux, such as

• Using the OpenOffice.org office suite

• Browsing the Linux file system

• Using Linux commands

• Using multimedia applications

Understand the basics of system and network security

Perform system administration tasks

Conventions Used in This Book

I use a simple notational style in this book All listings, filenames, commands, and keywords are typeset in a monospacefont for ease of reading I italicize

the first occurrences of new terms and concepts, and then provide a

defini-tion right there I show typed commands in boldface The output of

com-mands and any listing of files is shown in a monospacefont

What You Don’t Have to Read

Each chapter zeros in on a specific task area — such as using the Internet

or preparing documents with OpenOffice.org — and then provides hands-on instructions on how to perform a series of related tasks You can jump right

to a section and read about a specific task You don’t have to read anything but the few paragraphs or the list of steps that relate to your question Use the Table of Contents or the Index to locate the pages relevant to your question

You can safely ignore text next to the Technical Stuff icons as well as the side-bars However, if you are the kind who likes to know some of the hidden details

of how Linux works, by all means, dig into the Technical Stuff and the sidebars

Who Are You?

I assume that you are somewhat familiar with a PC — you know how to turn it

on and off and you have dabbled a bit with Windows Considering that most new PCs come preloaded with Windows, this assumption is safe, right? And I assume that you know how to use some of the Windows applications such as Microsoft Office Most of all, you want to either experiment with or switch to SUSE Linux as your desktop of choice

When installing SUSE Linux on your PC, you may want to retain your Windows 2000 or Windows XP installations I assume that you are willing

to accept the risk that when you try to install SUSE Linux, some things may not quite work Problems can happen if you have some uncommon types of hardware If you are afraid of ruining your system, try finding a slightly older spare Pentium PC that you can sacrifice and then install Linux on that PC

How This Book Is Organized

SUSE Linux 9.3 For Dummies contains 23 chapters organized into five parts.

The book’s organization is that of a typical For Dummies title that covers an

operating system such as SUSE Linux where the reader is expected to install the software and then learn to use it The five parts cover installation and setup, test driving the system to learn the ropes, using the system to do productive work, learning to be a budding system administrator, and the mandatory “Part of Tens.” Here’s a quick overview of the five parts and the appendix:

3

Introduction

Part II: Test Driving SUSE is about getting started with SUSE Linux —

how to use the desktop and the file manager, how to connect to the Internet (and set up a home network), and figuring out what else is there

to play with

Part III: Doing Stuff with SUSE turns to doing day-to-day things with the

SUSE Linux system such as browsing the Web, reading e-mail and news-groups, using the OpenOffice.org office suite and some multimedia appli-cations, and, finally, working with the command line shell

Part IV: Becoming a SUSE Wizard includes chapters on the basic system

administration and security In particular, Part IV explains how to add new software and keep the SUSE system up to date with the YaST (Yet another Setup Tool) installation/configuration tool and YaST Online Update (YOU)

Part V: The Part of Tens is the standard Part of Tens with chapters that

present ten frequently asked questions about SUSE, ten best things about SUSE, ten great SUSE-related Web sites, and ten most commonly used SUSE Linux commands

Appendix: About the DVD-ROM summarizes the contents of the book’s

companion DVD-ROM

What’s on the DVD?

The DVD contains a Special Edition version of SUSE Linux 9.3 Professional You may use the DVD in accordance with the license agreements accompany-ing the software To find out more about the contents of the DVD, please con-sult the appendix

Sidebars

Sometimes I use sidebars to highlight interest-ing, but not critical, information Sidebars explain concepts you may not have encountered before

or give a little insight into a related topic If you’re

in a hurry, you can safely skip the sidebars