% Linux Installation and Getting Started    -*- TeX -*-
% sources.tex
% Copyright (c) 1992-1994 by Matt Welsh <mdw@sunsite.unc.edu>
%
% This file is freely redistributable, but you must preserve this copyright 
% notice on all copies, and it must be distributed only as part of "Linux 
% Installation and Getting Started". This file's use is covered by the 
% copyright for the entire document, in the file "copyright.tex".

\section{Sources of Linux Information}
\namedlabel{sec-intro-sources}{Sources of Linux Information}

\index{Linux!sources of information}
\index{getting help}
As you have probably guessed, there are many sources of information about
Linux available apart from this book. In particular, there are a number of
books, not specific to Linux but rather about UNIX in general, that will
be of importance, especially to those readers without previous UNIX experience.
If you are new to the UNIX world, we seriously suggest that you take the 
time to peruse one of these books before you attempt to brave the jungles of
Linux. Specifically, the book {\em Learning the UNIX Operating System}, 
by Grace Todino and John Strang, is a good place to start.

Many of the following sources of information are available online in some
electronic form. That is, you must have access to an online network, such
as the Internet, USENET, or Fidonet, in order to access the information
contained therein. If you do not have online access to any of this material,
you might be able to find someone kind enough to give you hardcopies of the
documents in question. Read on.

\subsection{Online documents}
\index{documentation!online}

If you have access to the Internet, there are many Linux documents available
via anonymous FTP from archive sites all over the world. If you do not
have direct Internet access, these documents may still be available to you:
many Linux distributions on CD-ROM contain all of the documents mentioned
here. Also, they are distributed on many other networks, such as Fidonet 
and CompuServe. If you are able to send mail to Internet sites, you may be able
to retrieve these files using one of the {\tt ftpmail} servers which will
electronically mail you the documents or files from FTP archive sites.
See Appendix~\ref{app-ftplist-num} for more information on using {\tt ftpmail}.

There is a great number of FTP archive sites which carry Linux software and
related documents. A list of well-known Linux archive sites is given in
Appendix~\ref{app-ftplist-num}. In order to reduce network traffic, you should
always use the FTP site which is geographically (network-wise) closest to you.

Appendix~\ref{app-sources-num} contains a listing of some of the Linux documents 
which are available via anonymous FTP. The filenames will differ depending on 
the archive site in question; most sites keep Linux-related documents in the 
{\tt docs} subdirectory of their Linux archive space. For example, on the FTP 
site {\tt sunsite.unc.edu}, Linux files are stored in the directory 
{\tt /pub/Linux}, with Linux-related documentation being found in 
{\tt /pub/Linux/docs}. 

\index{documentation!online!HOWTO documents}
\index{documentation!online!FAQ}
\index{HOWTO documents}
\index{FAQ}
Examples of available online documents are the {\em Linux FAQ}, a collection 
of frequently asked questions about Linux; the Linux {\em HOWTO\/} documents,
each describing a specific aspect of the system---including the
{\em Installation HOWTO\/}, the {\em Printing HOWTO\/}, and the
{\em Ethernet HOWTO}; and, the Linux META-FAQ, a list of other sources of Linux
information on the Internet.

Most of these documents are also regularly posted to one or more 
Linux-related USENET newsgroups; see Section~\ref{sec-intro-usenet}
below.

\subsection{Linux on the World Wide Web}

The Linux Documentation Home Page is available for World Wide Web
users at the URL
\begin{tscreen}
http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/linux.html
\end{tscreen}
This page contains many HOWTOs and other documents in HTML format,
as well as pointers to other sites of interest to Linux users.

\subsection{Books and other published works}
\index{documentation!books}

At this time, there are few published works specifically about Linux.
Most noteworthy are the books from the Linux Documentation
Project, a project carried out over the Internet to write and distribute
a bona fide set of ``manuals'' for Linux. These manuals are analogues to
the documentation sets available with commercial versions of UNIX: they
cover everything from installing Linux, to using and running the system,
programming, networking, kernel development, and more. 

\index{documentation!Linux Documentation Project}
\index{Linux Documentation Project}
The Linux Documentation Project manuals are available via anonymous FTP from 
the Internet, as well as via mail order from several sources. 
Appendix~\ref{app-sources-num} lists the manuals which are available and covers 
means of obtaining them in detail.

There are not many books specifically about Linux currently available.
However, there are a large number of books about UNIX in general which
are certainly applicable to Linux---as far as using and programming the
system is concerned, Linux does not differ greatly from other
implementations of UNIX. In short, almost
everything you want to know about using and programming Linux can be found
in sources meant for a general UNIX audience. In fact, this book is meant
to be complemented by the large library of UNIX books currently available;
here, we present the most important Linux-specific details and hope 
that you will look to other sources for more in-depth information. 

Armed with a number of good books about using UNIX, as well as the book
you hold in your hands, you should be able to tackle just about anything.
Appendix~\ref{app-sources-num} includes a list of highly-recommended UNIX books,
both for UNIX newcomers and UNIX wizards alike. 

There is also a monthly magazine about Linux, called the {\em Linux Journal}.
It is distributed worldwide, and is an excellent way to keep in touch
with the many goings-on in the Linux community---especially if you do not
have access to USENET news (see below). See Appendix~\ref{app-sources-num}
for information on subscribing to the {\em Linux Journal}.

\subsection{USENET newsgroups} 
\namedlabel{sec-intro-usenet}{USENET newsgroups}
\index{USENET!Linux-related newsgroups}

USENET is a worldwide electronic news and discussion forum with a heavy
contingent of so-called ``newsgroups''---discussion areas devoted to a 
particular topic. Much of the development of Linux has been done over the
waves of the Internet and USENET, and not suprisingly there are a number of
USENET newsgroups available for discussions about Linux.

The original Linux newsgroup was {\tt alt.os.linux}, and was created to
move some of the discussions about Linux out of {\tt comp.os.minix} and
the various mailing lists. Soon, the traffic on {\tt alt.os.linux} grew to be
large enough that a newsgroup in the {\tt comp} hierarchy was warranted;
a vote was taken in February of 1992, and {\tt comp.os.linux} was created.

{\tt comp.os.linux} quickly became one of the most popular (and loudest)
USENET groups; more popular than any other {\tt comp.os} group. In 
December of 1992, a vote was taken to split the newsgroup in order to
reduce traffic; only {\tt comp.os.linux.announce} passed this vote. 
In July of 1993, the group was finally split into the new hierarchy. 
Almost 2000 people voted in the {\tt comp.os.linux} reorganization,
making it one of the largest USENET Call For Votes ever.

If you do not have direct USENET access, but are able to send and 
receive electronic mail from the Internet, there are mail-to-news 
gateways available for each of the newsgroups below. 

\begin{dispitems}
\ditem {{\tt comp.os.linux.announce}}
{\tt comp.os.linux.announce} is a moderated newsgroup for announcements
and important postings about the Linux system (such as bug reports, 
important patches to software, and so on). If you read any Linux newsgroups 
at all, read this one. Often, the important postings in this group are not 
crossposted to other groups. This group also contains many periodic postings
about Linux, including many of the online documents described in the last
section and listed in Appendix~\ref{app-sources-num}. 

Postings to this newsgroup must be approved by the moderators, Matt Welsh
and Lars Wirzenius. If you wish to submit and article to this group, in
most cases you can simply post the article as you normally would (using 
{\tt Pnews} or whatever posting software that you have available); the
news software will automatically forward the article to the moderators
for approval. However, if your news system is not set up correctly, you may
need to mail the article directly; the submission address is 
{\tt linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu}. 

The rest of the Linux newsgroups listed below are unmoderated.

\ditem {{\tt comp.os.linux.help}}
This is the most popular Linux newsgroup. It is for questions and answers
about using, setting up, or otherwise running a Linux system. If you are
having problems with Linux, you may post to this newsgroup, and hopefully
receive a reply from someone who might be able to help. However, it is
strongly suggested that you 
read all of the available Linux documentation before posting questions to
this newsgroup.

\ditem {{\tt comp.os.linux.admin}}
This newsgroup is for questions and discussion about running a Linux
system, most commonly in an active, multi-user environment. Any 
discussion about administrative issues of Linux (such as packaging
software, making backups, handling users, and so on) is welcome here.

\ditem {{\tt comp.os.linux.development}}
This is a newsgroup for discussions about development of the Linux system.
All issues related to kernel and system software development should be 
discussed here. For example, if you are writing a kernel driver and need
help with certain aspects of the programming, this would be the place to 
ask. This newsgroup is also for discussions about the direction and goals
behind the Linux development effort, as described (somewhat) in 
Section~\ref{sec-intro-design}.

It should be noted that this newsgroup is not (technically) for discussions
about development of software {\em for\/} Linux, but rather for 
discussions of development {\em of\/} Linux. That is, issues dealing with
applications programming under Linux should be discussed in another Linux
newsgroup; {\tt comp.os.linux.development} is about developing the Linux
system itself, including the kernel, system libraries, and so on.

\ditem {{\tt comp.os.linux.misc}}
This newsgroup is for all discussion which doesn't quite fit into the other
available Linux groups. In particular, advocacy wars (the incessant
``Linux versus Windows NT'' thread, for example), should be waged here,
as opposed to in the technical Linux groups. Any nontechnical or metadiscourse
about the Linux system should remain in {\tt comp.os.linux.misc}.

\end{dispitems}

It should be noted that the newsgroup {\tt comp.os.linux}, which was 
originally the only Linux group, has been superseded by the new hierarchy
of groups. If you have access to {\tt comp.os.linux}, but not to the newer
Linux groups listed above, encourage your news administrator to create
the new groups on your system. 


\subsection{Internet mailing lists}
\index{Internet!mailing lists}
\index{mailing lists}
If you have access to Internet electronic mail, you can participate in 
a number of mailing lists even if you do not have USENET access.
Note that if you are not directly on the Internet, you can join
one of these mailing lists as long as you are able to exchange electronic
mail with the Internet (for example, UUCP, FidoNET, CompuServe, and other
networks all have access to Internet mail). 

\index{mailing lists!Linux-Activists}
\index{Linux-Activists mailing list}
The ``Linux Activists'' mailing list is primarily for Linux developers
and people interested in aiding the development process. This is a 
``multi-channel'' mailing list, in which you join one or more ``channels''
based on your particular interests. Some of the available channels
include: {\tt NORMAL}, for general Linux-related issues; {\tt KERNEL},
for kernel development; {\tt GCC}, for discussions relating to the
{\tt gcc} compiler and library development; {\tt NET}, for discussions
about the TCP/IP networking code; {\tt DOC}, for issues relating to
writing and distributing Linux documentation; and more. 

For more information about the Linux Activists mailing list,
send mail to 
\begin{tscreen}
linux-activists@niksula.hut.fi
\end{tscreen}
You will receive a list of currently available channels, including information
on how to subscribe and unsubscribe to particular channels on the list.

Quite a few special-purpose mailing lists about and for Linux exist as well.
The best way to find out about these is to watch the Linux USENET newsgroups
for announcements, as well as to read the list of publicly-available mailing
lists, periodically posted to the USENET group {\tt news.answers}.


