[1712] in linux-announce channel archive
Linux-Announce Digest #96
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Digestifier)
Sat Feb 10 04:29:20 1996
From: Digestifier <Linux-Announce-Request@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>
To: Linux-Announce@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: Linux-Announce@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Delivered-to: Linux-Announce@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 96 00:13:26 EST
Linux-Announce Digest #96, Volume #2 Sat, 10 Feb 96 00:13:26 EST
Contents:
Changes to Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers (Ian Jackson)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ian Jackson)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.answers,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.help,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Changes to Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers
Date: 9 Feb 1996 13:30:58 -0000
Archive-Name: linux/faq/diff
Last-Modified: 08 Feb 1996
=====BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE=====
This document gives a `diff' between the latest and previously-most-
recent version of the Linux FAQ. (Sorry, I no longer have time to edit
an English description of each change.)
Comments on and submissions for the FAQ are strongly encouraged and
welcomed - I don't have time to read every article in col.*, and
thus need your assistance to spot the FAQ-threads that I miss.
--- 95sep/linux-faq.ascii Sun Sep 10 15:50:35 1995
+++ linux-faq.ascii Thu Feb 8 03:43:12 1996
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
LINUX FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
- 10 Sep 1995
- Ian Jackson <ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>
+ 08 Feb 1996
+ Ian Jackson <ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu>
This is the list of Frequently Asked Questions about Linux, the free Unix
for 386/486/586 [see Q1.1 `What is Linux ?' for more details]. It should
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
Q2.5 Where can I get Linux material by FTP ?
Q2.6 I don't have FTP access. Where do I get Linux ?
Q2.7 I don't have Usenet access. Where do I get information ?
- Q2.8 What's mailing lists are there ?
+ Q2.8 What mailing lists are there ?
Q2.9 Are the newsgroups archived anywhere ?
Section 3. Compatibility with other operating systems
@@ -81,30 +81,30 @@
Q4.13 My AHA1542C doesn't work with Linux.
Section 5. Porting, compiling and obtaining programs
- Q5.1 What is ld.so and where do I get it ?
- Q5.2 Has anyone ported / compiled / written XXX for Linux ?
- Q5.3 How do I port XXX to Linux ?
+ Q5.1 How do I port XXX to Linux ?
+ Q5.2 What is ld.so and where do I get it ?
+ Q5.3 Has anyone ported / compiled / written XXX for Linux ?
Q5.4 Can I use code or a compiler compiled for a 486 on my 386 ?
Q5.5 What does gcc -O6 do ?
Q5.6 Where are <linux/*.h> and <asm/*.h> ?
Q5.7 I get errors when I try to compile the kernel.
Q5.8 How do I make a shared library ?
- Q5.9 How do I make my executables smaller ?
+ Q5.9 My executables are (very) large.
Q5.10 Does Linux support threads or lightweight processes ?
Q5.11 Where can I get `lint' for Linux ?
Q5.12 Where can I find `kermit' for Linux ?
Section 6. Solutions to common miscellaneous problems
- Q6.1 Setuid scripts don't seem to work.
- Q6.2 Free memory as reported by free keeps shrinking.
- Q6.3 When I add more memory it slows to a crawl.
- Q6.4 Some programs (e.g. xdm) won't let me log in.
- Q6.5 Some programs let me log in with no password.
- Q6.6 My machine runs very slowly when I run GCC / X / ...
- Q6.7 I can only log in as root.
- Q6.8 My screen is all full of weird characters instead of letters.
- Q6.9 I have screwed up my system and can't log in to fix it.
- Q6.10 Emacs just dumps core.
+ Q6.1 My clock is very wrong.
+ Q6.2 Setuid scripts don't seem to work.
+ Q6.3 Free memory as reported by free keeps shrinking.
+ Q6.4 When I add more memory it slows to a crawl.
+ Q6.5 Some programs (e.g. xdm) won't let me log in.
+ Q6.6 Some programs let me log in with no password.
+ Q6.7 My machine runs very slowly when I run GCC / X / ...
+ Q6.8 I can only log in as root.
+ Q6.9 My screen is all full of weird characters instead of letters.
+ Q6.10 I have screwed up my system and can't log in to fix it.
Q6.11 I've discovered a huge security hole in rm !
Q6.12 lpr and/or lpd aren't working.
Q6.13 Timestamps on files on msdos partitions are set incorrectly.
@@ -124,13 +124,14 @@
Q7.11 How can I have more than 128Mb of swap ?
Section 8. Miscellaneous information and questions answered
- Q8.1 What's all this about ELF ?
- Q8.2 What is a .gz file ? And a .tgz ? And ... ?
- Q8.3 What does VFS stand for ?
- Q8.4 What is a BogoMip ?
- Q8.5 What is the Linux Journal and where can I get it ?
- Q8.6 How many people use Linux ?
- Q8.7 How should I pronounce Linux ?
+ Q8.1 How do I program XYZ under Linux ?
+ Q8.2 What's all this about ELF ?
+ Q8.3 What is a .gz file ? And a .tgz ? And ... ?
+ Q8.4 What does VFS stand for ?
+ Q8.5 What is a BogoMip ?
+ Q8.6 What is the Linux Journal and where can I get it ?
+ Q8.7 How many people use Linux ?
+ Q8.8 How should I pronounce Linux ?
Section 9. Frequently encountered error messages
Q9.1 Unknown terminal type linux and similar
@@ -153,6 +154,7 @@
Q9.18 fdisk says partition n has an odd number of sectors
Q9.19 mtools says cannot initialise drive XYZ
Q9.20 At the start of booting: Memory tight
+ Q9.21 You don't exist. Go away.
Section 10. The X Window System
Q10.1 Does Linux support X Windows ?
@@ -161,9 +163,10 @@
Q10.4 I can't get X Windows to work right.
Section 11. Questions applicable to very out-of-date software
- Q11.1 fdisk says cannot use nnn sectors of this partition
- Q11.2 GCC sometimes uses huge amounts of virtual memory and thrashes
- Q11.3 My keyboard goes all funny after I switch VC's.
+ Q11.1 Emacs just dumps core.
+ Q11.2 fdisk says cannot use nnn sectors of this partition
+ Q11.3 GCC sometimes uses huge amounts of virtual memory and thrashes
+ Q11.4 My keyboard goes all funny after I switch VC's.
Section 12. How to get further assistance
Q12.1 You still haven't answered my question !
@@ -235,7 +238,7 @@
For more information see the INFO-SHEET, which is one of the the HOWTOs
[Q2.1 `Where can I get the HOWTOs and other documentation ?']. See also
-Q5.3 `How do I port XXX to Linux ?'.
+Q5.1 `How do I port XXX to Linux ?'.
Some companies have commercial software available, including Motif. They
announce their availability in comp.os.linux.announce --- try searching
@@ -246,8 +249,9 @@
Question 1.3. Does it run on my computer ? What hardware is supported ?
You need a 386, 486 or 586, with at least 2Mb of RAM and a single floppy,
-to try it out. To do anything useful more RAM and a hard disk are
-required.
+to try it out. To do anything useful more RAM (4Mb to install most
+distributions, and 8Mb is highly recommended for running X) and a hard
+disk are required.
VESA local bus and PCI are both supported.
@@ -259,8 +263,9 @@
don't have any further details; you could try asking Arindam Banerji
<axb@defender.dcrl.nd.edu>.
-Linux is reported to run on 386 family based laptops, with X on most of
-them.
+Linux runs on 386 family based laptops, with X on most of them. There is
+a relevant Web page at
+http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/.
For details of exactly which PC's, video cards, disk controllers, etc.
work see the INFO-SHEET and the Hardware HOWTO [Q2.1 `Where can I get the
@@ -279,37 +284,35 @@
A project has been underway for a while to port Linux to suitable
68000-series based systems such as Amigas and Ataris. This has now
reached beta test quality and there is an X server. There is a
-linux-680x0 mailing list [Q2.8 `What's mailing lists are there ?'], and a
+linux-680x0 mailing list [Q2.8 `What mailing lists are there ?'], and a
Linux/68K FAQ at
http://pfah.informatik.uni-kl.de:8000/pers/jmayer/linux68k-faq and on
-tsx-11.mit.edu in /pub/linux/680x0/FAQ.gz; further information is at
+tsx-11.mit.edu in /pub/linux/680x0/FAQ; further information is at
http://www-users.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/~hn/linux68k.html. There is a
mailing list for the Atari port - mail <majordomo@phil.uni-sb.de> with a
body containing only subscribe atarix - and an ftp area on
ftp.phil.uni-sb.de in /pub/atari/linux.
-Information about a port to 68K-based Macintoshes can be found in the
-MacLinux FAQ, available on www.ibg.uu.se in /pub/maclinux/FAQ.txt. Other
-stuff may be in the same directory. There is a mailing list. Rumour has
-it that this project is dead.
+There used to be a project to port Linux too 68K-based Macintoshes, but
+its FTP site disappeared recently and the project appears to be dead.
There is a port to the PowerPC. As of the 7th of July it is rather
fragmentary and cannot recompile itself, and only supports Motorola 1603
boards. Work on Motorola Ultra, PowerStack, RS/6000 and NuBus machines
continues. If you wish to contribute to the project join the linux-ppc
-mailing list [Q2.8 `What's mailing lists are there ?']. There is a FAQ on
+mailing list [Q2.8 `What mailing lists are there ?']. There is a FAQ on
liber.stanford.edu in /pub/linuxppc/linux-ppc-FAQ or on the WWW at
http://liber.stanford.edu/linuxppc/linux-ppc-FAQ.html.
-Both Linus and Jim Paradis <paradis@sousa.amt.ako.dec.com> or
-<jrp@world.std.com> are working on ports to the 64-bit DEC AXP (the
-Alpha). Again, there is a mailing list at vger.rutgers.edu.
+There is a port to the 64-bit DEC Alpha/AXP. See
+http://www.azstarnet.com/~axplinux/FAQ.html. Again, there is a mailing
+list at vger.rutgers.edu.
Ralf Baechle is working on a port to the MIPS, initially for the R4600 on
Deskstation Tyne machines. The Linux/MIPS FAQ is available on the WWW and
in the MIPS port area on ftp.waldorf-gmbh.de in /pub/linux/mips. There is
also a MIPS channel on the Linux Activists mailserver and a linux-mips
-mailing list [Q2.8 `What's mailing lists are there ?']. Interested people
+mailing list [Q2.8 `What mailing lists are there ?']. Interested people
may mail their questions and offers of assistance to
<linux@waldorf-gmbh.de>.
@@ -380,7 +383,7 @@
Q2.5 Where can I get Linux material by FTP ?
Q2.6 I don't have FTP access. Where do I get Linux ?
Q2.7 I don't have Usenet access. Where do I get information ?
- Q2.8 What's mailing lists are there ?
+ Q2.8 What mailing lists are there ?
Q2.9 Are the newsgroups archived anywhere ?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -401,30 +404,29 @@
ftp-mailer@informatik.tu-muenchen.de.
A complete list of HOWTO's is available in the file HOWTO.INDEX in the
-docs/HOWTO directory at the FTP sites, but here is a (possibly incomplete)
-list:
+docs/HOWTO directory at the FTP sites, or on the Web at
+http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX.html but here is a (possibly
+incomplete) list:
Linux INFO-SHEET Linux META-FAQ
Bootdisk HOWTO Busmouse HOWTO
CDROM HOWTO Commercial HOWTO
+ Cyrillic HOWTO DOSEMU HOWTO
Danish HOWTO Distribution HOWTO
- DOSEMU HOWTO ELF HOWTO
- Ethernet HOWTO Firewall HOWTO
- Ftape HOWTO German HOWTO
- HAM HOWTO Hardware HOWTO
- Installation HOWTO Japanese Extensions HOWTO
- Kernel HOWTO Keystroke HOWTO
- Mail HOWTO MGR HOWTO
- NET-2 HOWTO News HOWTO
- NIS HOWTO (NIS=Sun's YP) PCI HOWTO
- PCMCIA HOWTO Printing HOWTO
- Printing Usage HOWTO PPP HOWTO
- SCSI HOWTO SCSI-Programming HOWTO
- Serial HOWTO Sound HOWTO
- Term HOWTO Tips HOWTO
- UPS HOWTO UUCP HOWTO
- XFree86 HOWTO
-
+ ELF HOWTO Ethernet HOWTO
+ Firewall HOWTO Ftape HOWTO
+ German HOWTO HAM HOWTO
+ Hardware HOWTO Installation HOWTO
+ JE HOWTO Kernel HOWTO
+ MGR HOWTO Electronic Mail HOWTO
+ NET-2 HOWTO NIS HOWTO
+ News HOWTO PCI-HOWTO
+ PCMCIA HOWTO PPP HOWTO
+ Printing HOWTO SCSI HOWTO
+ SCSI Programming HOWTO Serial HOWTO
+ Sound HOWTO Term HOWTO
+ Tips HOWTO UPS HOWTO
+ UUCP HOWTO XFree86 HOWTO
More of these documents are always in preparation. You should check in
nearby directories on the FTP sites if you can't find the answer in one of
the HOWTOs. There are also several mini-HOWTOs on sunsite.unc.edu in the
@@ -554,7 +556,7 @@
* ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de : /pub/linux (Germany)
* ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de : /pub/Linux (Germany)
* bond.edu.au : /pub/OS/Linux (Australia)
-* monu1.cc.monash.edu.au : /pub/linux (Australia)
+* ftp.cc.monash.edu.au : /pub/linux (Australia)
* ftp.dstc.edu.au : /pub/Linux (Australia: Queensland)
* ftp.sun.ac.za : /pub/linux (South Africa)
* ftp.inf.utfsm.cl : /pub/Linux (Chile)
@@ -587,24 +589,19 @@
Question 2.7. I don't have Usenet access. Where do I get information ?
-A digest of comp.os.linux.announce is available at the
-majordomo@vger.rugters.edu listserver [Q2.8 `What's mailing lists are
-there ?'], as the list namedlinux-announce-digest. You are strongly
-advised to subscribe to this list, as it carries important information and
+A digest of comp.os.linux.announce is available by mailing the word
+subscribe as the body of a message to
+<linux-announce-REQUEST@news-digests.mit.edu>. You are strongly advised
+to subscribe to this list, as it carries important information and
documentation about Linux.
-Digests of postings to the old set of comp.os.linux.* groups are available
-by subscribing to the bidirectional gateway at
-linux-*-request@news-digests.mit.edu, where * is one of announce,
-development, help, misc or admin.
-
Please remember to use the -request addresses for your subscription and
unsubscription messages; mail to the other address is posted to the
newsgroup !
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 2.8. What's mailing lists are there ?
+Question 2.8. What mailing lists are there ?
The Linux developers now mainly use the Majordomo server at
<majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu>. Send a message with lists in the body to
@@ -620,32 +617,8 @@
unfortunately it seems that few of the experienced users read that
channel. It does have very low volume.
-There is also an old listserver on niksula.hut.fi; most of the lists on
-vger were once `channels' on niksula. The mailing list software there is
-weird and flakey, and the list-owner mail is redirected to /dev/null
-because the person who used to run the list doesn't any more.
-
-The niksula server will send you its help file if you send an empty mail
-message to linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi.
-
-If you want to unsubscribe from it send a mail message like this
- From: you@domain.org
- To: linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi
- Subject: irrelevant
-
- X-Mn-Admin: leave CHANNEL
-to leave a channel called CHANNEL. Do *not* put an X-Mn-Key line in your
-message - that will cause it to be posted to the list.
-
-Note that you *must* remember to unsubscribe from niksula *before* you
-change your email address, as due to a design flaw in the list server it
-is virtually impossible to get yourself unsubscribed after such a change.
-
-The ANNOUNCE list on niksula is a digest of postings to
-comp.os.linux.announce, for the benefit of those without Usenet access.
-However since niksula.hut.fi is slow and overloaded I'd recommend
-subscribing to the MIT digestifier instead [Q2.7 `I don't have Usenet
-access. Where do I get information ?'].
+There used to be a multi-channel Linux mailing list server on
+niksula.hut.fi. This shut down during the summer of 1995.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -688,7 +661,9 @@
Linux can read and write the files on your DOS and OS/2 FAT partitions and
floppies using either the DOS filesystem type built into the kernel or
-mtools.
+mtools. There is an alpha version of kernel support for the VFAT
+filesystem used by Windows 95 and Windows NT; it is available from
+mm-ftp.cs.berkeley.edu in /pub/multimedia/linux/xmsdos/xmsdos-0.1.6.tgz.
See Q1.2 `What software does it support ?' for details and status of the
emulators for DOS, MS Windows and System V programs.
@@ -748,17 +723,22 @@
on sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/patches/amigaffs.tar.Z. More information
is in affs-readme in the tarfile.
-Recent kernels contain support for the UFS filesystem used by System V and
-Coherent.
+Recent kernels contain support for the UFS filesystem used by System V,
+Coherent and Xenix.
+
+There is alpha kernel support, readonly for the moment, for the 4.2BSD
+UFS, on sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/ALPHA/ufs.
There is a set of user-level programs that provides read-only access to
the Macintosh hierarchical filing system (HFS). It is available on
sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/utils/disk-management/hfs0_36.tgz. This is
being turned into a kernel module, which is available on sunsite.
-The 1.3.x alpha test kernel series now has support for mounting Windows
-for Workgroups networked filesystems, using Samba. Information is
-available at http://lake.canberra.edu.au/samba/samba.html.
+A suite of programs called Samba provide support for Windows for
+Workgroups networked filesystems (provided it's configured to use TCP/IP).
+Information is available at http://lake.canberra.edu.au/samba/samba.html.
+There is alpha kernel support for mounting such filesystems, on
+sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/ALPHA/smbfs.
There is no support for the rest of those yet; I have not heard of any
recent work on providing some.
@@ -876,8 +856,8 @@
Question 4.3. Is there a defragmenter for ext2fs etc. ?
-Yes. There is a Linux filesystem defragmenter for minix, old-style, ext2,
-and xia filesystems available on sunsite.unc.edu in
+Yes. There is a Linux filesystem defragmenter for minix, old-style ext,
+ext2, and xia filesystems available on sunsite.unc.edu in
system/Filesystems/defrag-0.6.tar.gz.
Users of the ext2 filesystem can probably do without defrag since ext2
@@ -1051,22 +1031,39 @@
Section 5. Porting, compiling and obtaining programs
- Q5.1 What is ld.so and where do I get it ?
- Q5.2 Has anyone ported / compiled / written XXX for Linux ?
- Q5.3 How do I port XXX to Linux ?
+ Q5.1 How do I port XXX to Linux ?
+ Q5.2 What is ld.so and where do I get it ?
+ Q5.3 Has anyone ported / compiled / written XXX for Linux ?
Q5.4 Can I use code or a compiler compiled for a 486 on my 386 ?
Q5.5 What does gcc -O6 do ?
Q5.6 Where are <linux/*.h> and <asm/*.h> ?
Q5.7 I get errors when I try to compile the kernel.
Q5.8 How do I make a shared library ?
- Q5.9 How do I make my executables smaller ?
+ Q5.9 My executables are (very) large.
Q5.10 Does Linux support threads or lightweight processes ?
Q5.11 Where can I get `lint' for Linux ?
Q5.12 Where can I find `kermit' for Linux ?
+Please see also the Linux GCC-FAQ, available in HTML format by FTP from
+www.mrc-apu.cam.ac.uk in /pub/linux/GCC-FAQ.html.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Question 5.1. How do I port XXX to Linux ?
+
+In general Unix programs need very little porting. Simply follow the
+installation instructions. If you don't know and don't know how to find
+out the answers to some of the questions asked during or by the
+installation procedure you can guess, but this tends to produce buggy
+programs. In this case you're probably better off asking someone else to
+do the port.
+
+If you have a BSD-ish program you should try using -I/usr/include/bsd and
+-lbsd on the appropriate parts of the compilation lines.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 5.1. What is ld.so and where do I get it ?
+Question 5.2. What is ld.so and where do I get it ?
ld.so is the dynamic library loader. Each binary using shared libraries
used to have about 3K of start-up code to find and load the shared
@@ -1078,9 +1075,12 @@
mirror sites thereof. The latest version at the time of writing is
ld.so.1.7.3.tar.gz.
+/lib/ld-linux.so.1 is the same thing for ELF [Q8.2 `What's all this about
+ELF ?'], and comes in the same package as the a.out loader.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 5.2. Has anyone ported / compiled / written XXX for Linux ?
+Question 5.3. Has anyone ported / compiled / written XXX for Linux ?
First, look in the Linux Software Map (LSM) --- it's in the docs directory
on sunsite.unc.edu, and on the other FTP sites. A search engine is
@@ -1092,7 +1092,7 @@
/pub/Linux/docs/Projects-Map.gz.
If you don't find anything, you could either download the sources to the
-program yourself and compile them -- see Q5.3 `How do I port XXX to Linux
+program yourself and compile them -- see Q5.1 `How do I port XXX to Linux
?' -- or, if it's a large package which may require some porting, post a
message to the newsgroup comp.os.linux.development.apps.
@@ -1109,20 +1109,6 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 5.3. How do I port XXX to Linux ?
-
-In general Unix programs need very little porting. Simply follow the
-installation instructions. If you don't know and don't know how to find
-out the answers to some of the questions asked during or by the
-installation procedure you can guess, but this tends to produce buggy
-programs. In this case you're probably better off asking someone else to
-do the port.
-
-If you have a BSD-ish program you should try using -I/usr/include/bsd and
--lbsd on the appropriate parts of the compilation lines.
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Question 5.4. Can I use code or a compiler compiled for a 486 on my 386 ?
Yes.
@@ -1139,8 +1125,10 @@
There is an alpha version of GCC that knows how to do optimisation well
for the 586, but it is quite unreliable, especially at high optimisation
-settings. I'd recommend using the ordinary 486 GCC instead. The Pentium
-GCC can be found on tsx-11.mit.edu in /pub/linux/ALPHA/pentium-gcc.
+settings. The Pentium GCC can be found on tsx-11.mit.edu in
+/pub/linux/ALPHA/pentium-gcc. I'd recommend using the ordinary 486 GCC
+instead; word has it that using -m386 produces code that's better for the
+Pentium, or at least slightly smaller.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1186,13 +1174,12 @@
-p1 option: otherwise the patch may be misapplied. See the manpage for
patch for details.
-If you're using a kernel more recent than 1.1.44 you should find that
-there are new directories /usr/src/linux/include/asm-i386. The directory
-asm there should be removed, as should the directory asm. The symlinks
-Makefile target will make these be symbolic links to asm-i36 and
-arch/i386/boot respectively. The easiest way to make sure all this gets
-done is not to try to patch 1.1.44 to make 1.1.45, but to download
-linux-1.1.45.tar.gz instead.
+If you're patching to a kernel more recent than 1.1.44 you should find
+that there are new directories /usr/src/linux/include/asm-i386. The
+directory asm there should be removed. The symlinks Makefile target will
+make these be symbolic links to asm-i36 and arch/i386/boot respectively.
+The easiest way to make sure all this gets done is not to try to patch
+1.1.44 to make 1.1.45, but to download linux-1.1.45.tar.gz instead.
ld: unrecognised option `-qmagic' means you should get a newer linker,
from tsx-11.mit.edu in /pub/linux/packages/GCC, in the file
@@ -1213,9 +1200,15 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 5.9. How do I make my executables smaller ?
+Question 5.9. My executables are (very) large.
+
+With an ELF compiler (see Q8.2 `What's all this about ELF ?') the most
+common cause of large executables is the lack of an appropriate .so
+library link for one of the libraries you're using. There should be a
+link like libc.so for every library like libc.so.5.2.18.
-The most common cause of large executables is the -g compiler flag. This
+With an a.out compiler (see Q8.2 `What's all this about ELF ?') the most
+common cause of large executables is the -g linker (compiler) flag. This
produces (as well as debugging information in the output file) a program
which is statically linked, i.e. one which includes a copy of the C
library instead of using a dynamically linked copy.
@@ -1282,16 +1275,16 @@
Section 6. Solutions to common miscellaneous problems
- Q6.1 Setuid scripts don't seem to work.
- Q6.2 Free memory as reported by free keeps shrinking.
- Q6.3 When I add more memory it slows to a crawl.
- Q6.4 Some programs (e.g. xdm) won't let me log in.
- Q6.5 Some programs let me log in with no password.
- Q6.6 My machine runs very slowly when I run GCC / X / ...
- Q6.7 I can only log in as root.
- Q6.8 My screen is all full of weird characters instead of letters.
- Q6.9 I have screwed up my system and can't log in to fix it.
- Q6.10 Emacs just dumps core.
+ Q6.1 My clock is very wrong.
+ Q6.2 Setuid scripts don't seem to work.
+ Q6.3 Free memory as reported by free keeps shrinking.
+ Q6.4 When I add more memory it slows to a crawl.
+ Q6.5 Some programs (e.g. xdm) won't let me log in.
+ Q6.6 Some programs let me log in with no password.
+ Q6.7 My machine runs very slowly when I run GCC / X / ...
+ Q6.8 I can only log in as root.
+ Q6.9 My screen is all full of weird characters instead of letters.
+ Q6.10 I have screwed up my system and can't log in to fix it.
Q6.11 I've discovered a huge security hole in rm !
Q6.12 lpr and/or lpd aren't working.
Q6.13 Timestamps on files on msdos partitions are set incorrectly.
@@ -1299,7 +1292,25 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.1. Setuid scripts don't seem to work.
+Question 6.1. My clock is very wrong.
+
+There are two clocks in your computer. The hardware (CMOS) clock runs
+even when the computer is off and is used to when the system starts up and
+by DOS (if you use it). The ordinary system time, shown and set by date,
+is maintained by the kernel while Linux is running.
+
+You can display the CMOS clock time, or set either clock from the other,
+with /sbin/clock program - see man 8 clock.
+
+There are various other programs that can correct either or both clocks
+for systematic drift or transfer time across the network. Some of them
+may already be installed on your system. Try looking at or for adjtimex
+(corrects for drift), netdate and getdate (simply get the time from the
+network) or xntp (accurate fully-featured network time daemon).
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Question 6.2. Setuid scripts don't seem to work.
That's right. This feature has been deliberately disabled in the Linux
kernel because setuid scripts are almost always a security hole. If you
@@ -1307,7 +1318,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.2. Free memory as reported by free keeps shrinking.
+Question 6.3. Free memory as reported by free keeps shrinking.
The `free' figure printed by free doesn't include memory used as a disk
buffer cache - shown in the `buffers' column. If you want to know how
@@ -1320,7 +1331,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.3. When I add more memory it slows to a crawl.
+Question 6.4. When I add more memory it slows to a crawl.
This is quite a common symptom of a failure to cache the additional
memory. The exact problem depends on your motherboard.
@@ -1345,7 +1356,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.4. Some programs (e.g. xdm) won't let me log in.
+Question 6.5. Some programs (e.g. xdm) won't let me log in.
You are probably using non-shadow-password programs but are using shadow
passwords.
@@ -1359,9 +1370,9 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.5. Some programs let me log in with no password.
+Question 6.6. Some programs let me log in with no password.
-You probably have the same problem as in Q6.4 `Some programs (e.g. xdm)
+You probably have the same problem as in Q6.5 `Some programs (e.g. xdm)
won't let me log in.', with an added wrinkle:
If you are using shadow passords you should put an asterisk in the
@@ -1371,7 +1382,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.6. My machine runs very slowly when I run GCC / X / ...
+Question 6.7. My machine runs very slowly when I run GCC / X / ...
You may not have any swap enabled. You need to enable swapping to allow
Linux to page out bits of data programs aren't using at the moment to disk
@@ -1402,7 +1413,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.7. I can only log in as root.
+Question 6.8. I can only log in as root.
You probably have some permission problems, or you have a file
/etc/nologin.
@@ -1416,7 +1427,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.8. My screen is all full of weird characters instead of letters.
+Question 6.9. My screen is all full of weird characters instead of letters.
You probably sent some binary data to your screen by mistake. Type echo
^V^[c (that's e c h o space control-V escape c return) to fix it. Many
@@ -1424,7 +1435,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.9. I have screwed up my system and can't log in to fix it.
+Question 6.10. I have screwed up my system and can't log in to fix it.
Reboot from an emergency floppy or floppy pair, for example the Slackware
boot- and root-disk pair (in the install subdirectory of the Slackware
@@ -1443,14 +1454,6 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 6.10. Emacs just dumps core.
-
-You probably have the X version of Emacs that comes with SLS. It doesn't
-work without the X libraries. The solution is to install X Windows or get
-a newer Emacs binary without any X Windows support.
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Question 6.11. I've discovered a huge security hole in rm !
No you haven't. You are obviously new to Unix and need to read a good
@@ -1563,8 +1566,7 @@
Question 7.5. How can I enable or disable core dumps ?
-Since 0.99pl14 Linux has had corefiles turned off by default for all
-processes.
+Linux now has corefiles turned off by default for all processes.
You can turn them on or off by using the ulimit command in bash, the limit
command in tcsh, or the rlimit command in ksh. See the manpage for the
@@ -1597,7 +1599,7 @@
Kernel version numbers with an odd minor version (ie, 1.1.x, 1.3.x) are
the testing releases; stable production kernels have even minor versions
(1.0.x, 1.2.x). If you want to try the testing kernels you should
-probably subscribe to the linux-kernel mailing list [Q2.8 `What's mailing
+probably subscribe to the linux-kernel mailing list [Q2.8 `What mailing
lists are there ?'].
Russel Nelson posts summaries of what changes in recent kernel patches to
@@ -1619,14 +1621,16 @@
Question 7.8. How do I make a bootable floppy ?
-Make a filesystem on it with bin, etc and lib directories -- everything
-you need. Install a kernel on it and arrange to have LILO boot it from
-the floppy (see the LILO documentation, in lilo.u.*.ps).
+Make a filesystem on it with bin, etc, lib and dev directories --
+everything you need. Install a kernel on it and arrange to have LILO boot
+it from the floppy (see the LILO documentation, in lilo.u.*.ps).
If you build the kernel (or tell LILO to tell the kernel) to have a
ramdisk the same size as the floppy the ramdisk will be loaded at
boot-time and mounted as root in place of the floppy.
+See the Bootdisk HOWTO.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 7.9. How do I remap my keyboard to UK, French, etc. ?
@@ -1672,20 +1676,41 @@
Section 8. Miscellaneous information and questions answered
- Q8.1 What's all this about ELF ?
- Q8.2 What is a .gz file ? And a .tgz ? And ... ?
- Q8.3 What does VFS stand for ?
- Q8.4 What is a BogoMip ?
- Q8.5 What is the Linux Journal and where can I get it ?
- Q8.6 How many people use Linux ?
- Q8.7 How should I pronounce Linux ?
+ Q8.1 How do I program XYZ under Linux ?
+ Q8.2 What's all this about ELF ?
+ Q8.3 What is a .gz file ? And a .tgz ? And ... ?
+ Q8.4 What does VFS stand for ?
+ Q8.5 What is a BogoMip ?
+ Q8.6 What is the Linux Journal and where can I get it ?
+ Q8.7 How many people use Linux ?
+ Q8.8 How should I pronounce Linux ?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 8.1. What's all this about ELF ?
+Question 8.1. How do I program XYZ under Linux ?
+
+Read the manuals, or a good book on Unix. manpages (type man man) are
+usually a good source of reference information on exactly how to use a
+particular command or function.
+
+There is also a lot of GNU Info documentation, which is often more useful
+as a tutorial. Run Emacs and type C-h i, or type info info if you don't
+have or don't like Emacs. Note that the Emacs libc node doesn't exactly
+describe the Linux libc (which is more like a traditional Unix libc, not
+having some of the GNU oddities), but it's close enough to make a fair
+tutorial in Unix C programming.
+
+The latest release of the Linux manpages and a collection of useful GNU
+Info documentation various other information related to programming Linux
+can be found on sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/docs/man-pages.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Question 8.2. What's all this about ELF ?
See the ELF HOWTO by Daniel Barlow - note, this is not the file
-move-to-elf, which is a blow-by-blow account of how to upgrade to ELF.
+move-to-elf, which is a blow-by-blow account of how to upgrade to ELF
+manually.
Linux is switching to a different format for executables, object files and
object code libraries, known as `ELF' (the old format is called `a.out').
@@ -1696,9 +1721,19 @@
different shared C libraries, both of which will have to be installed to
do this.
+If you want to find out whether your system can run ELF binaries, look in
+/lib for a filename libc.so.5. If this exists it probably can. If you
+want to know whether your installation actually *is* ELF you can pick a
+representative program, like ls, and run file on it:
+ -chiark:~> file /bin/ls
+ /bin/ls: Linux/i386 impure executable (OMAGIC) - stripped
+
+ valour:~> file /bin/ls
+ /bin/ls: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1, stripped
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 8.2. What is a .gz file ? And a .tgz ? And ... ?
+Question 8.3. What is a .gz file ? And a .tgz ? And ... ?
.gz (and .z) files have been compressed using GNU gzip. You need to use
gunzip (which is as a symlink to the gzip command which comes with most
@@ -1713,6 +1748,10 @@
Details about the LSM and the LSM itself are available in the docs
subdirectory on sunsite.unc.edu.
+.deb is a Debian Binary Package - the binary package format used by the
+Debian GNU/Linux distribution. It is manipulated using dpkg and dpkg-deb
+(available on Debian systems and from ftp.debian.org).
+
The file command can often tell you what a file is.
If you find that gzip complains when you try to uncompress a gzipped file
@@ -1722,7 +1761,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 8.3. What does VFS stand for ?
+Question 8.4. What does VFS stand for ?
Virtual File System. It's the abstraction layer between the user and real
filesystems like ext2, minix and msdos. Amongst other things, its job is
@@ -1732,7 +1771,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 8.4. What is a BogoMip ?
+Question 8.5. What is a BogoMip ?
`BogoMips' is a contraction of `Bogus MIPS'. MIPS stands for (depending
who you listen to) Millions of Instructions per Second, or Meaningless
@@ -1750,7 +1789,7 @@
If the number you're seeing is wildly lower than this you may have the
Turbo button or CPU speed set incorrectly, or have some kind of caching
-problem [as described in Q6.3 `When I add more memory it slows to a
+problem [as described in Q6.4 `When I add more memory it slows to a
crawl.'.]
For values people have seen with other, rarer, chips, see the BogoMips
@@ -1758,7 +1797,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 8.5. What is the Linux Journal and where can I get it ?
+Question 8.6. What is the Linux Journal and where can I get it ?
Linux Journal is a monthly magazine (printed on paper) that is available
on newsstands and via subscription worldwide. Email <linux@ssc.com> for
@@ -1766,7 +1805,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 8.6. How many people use Linux ?
+Question 8.7. How many people use Linux ?
Linux is freely available, and no one is required to register their copies
with any central authority, so it is difficult to know. Several
@@ -1782,12 +1821,20 @@
`I use Linux at home and at work'. He will also accept `third-party'
registrations - ask him for details.
+Alternatively, you can register using the WWW forms found at
+http://domen.uninett.no/~hta/linux/counter.html.
+
+He will also accept `third-party' registrations - ask him for details.
+
+He posts his counts to comp.os.linux.misc each month; alternatively look
+on aun.uninett.no in /pub/misc/linux-counter, or at the Website above.
+
He posts his counts to comp.os.linux.misc each month; alternatively look
-on aun.uninett.no in /pub/misc/linux-counter.
+on aun.uninett.no in /pub/misc/linux-counter or at the web page above.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 8.7. How should I pronounce Linux ?
+Question 8.8. How should I pronounce Linux ?
This is a matter of religious debate, of course !
@@ -1842,6 +1889,7 @@
Q9.18 fdisk says partition n has an odd number of sectors
Q9.19 mtools says cannot initialise drive XYZ
Q9.20 At the start of booting: Memory tight
+ Q9.21 You don't exist. Go away.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1888,8 +1936,8 @@
Question 9.4. INET: Warning: old style ioctl(IP_SET_DEV) called!
You are trying to use the old network configuration utilities; the new
-ones can be found on tsx-11.mit.edu in
-/pub/linux/packages/net/net-2/binaries.
+ones can be found on ftp.linux.org.uk in
+/pub/linux/Networking/PROGRAMS/NetTools (source only, I'm afraid).
Note that they cannot be used just like the old-style programs; see the
NET-2 HOWTO for instructions on how to set up networking correctly.
@@ -1925,7 +1973,7 @@
Your compiler driver (gcc) dumped core. You probably have a corrupted,
buggy or old version of GCC --- get the latest release. Alternatively you
-may be running out of swap space --- see Q6.6 `My machine runs very slowly
+may be running out of swap space --- see Q6.7 `My machine runs very slowly
when I run GCC / X / ...' for more info.
If this doesn't fix the problem you are probably having problems with
@@ -1944,6 +1992,9 @@
and still use the 387, with the maths emulation compiled in but mainly
unused.
+Much more information about this problem is available on the WWW at
+http://einstein.et.tudelft.nl/~wolff/sig11/.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 9.8. shell-init: permission denied when I log in.
@@ -1956,10 +2007,12 @@
Question 9.9. No utmp entry. You must exec ... when I log in.
-Your /var/adm/utmp is screwed up. You should have
- > /var/adm/utmp
-in your /etc/rc.local or /etc/rc.d/*. See Q6.9 `I have screwed up my
-system and can't log in to fix it.' for how to be able to do this.
+Your /var/run/utmp is screwed up. You should have
+ > /var/run/utmp
+in your /etc/rc.local or /etc/rc.d/*. See Q6.10 `I have screwed up my
+system and can't log in to fix it.' for how to be able to do this. Note
+that utmp may also be found in /var/adm/utmp or /etc/utmp on some older
+systems.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -2138,6 +2191,16 @@
drivers and features you need [Q7.6 `How do I upgrade/recompile my kernel
?'].
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Question 9.21. You don't exist. Go away.
+
+This is not a viral infection :-). It comes from various programs such as
+write, talk and wall, if your invoking uid doesn't correspond to a valid
+user (probably due to /etc/passwd being corrupted), or if the session
+(pseudoterminal, specifically) you're using isn't properly registered in
+the utmp file (probably because you invoked it in a funny way).
+
===============================================================================
Section 10. The X Window System
@@ -2151,7 +2214,7 @@
Question 10.1. Does Linux support X Windows ?
-Yes. Linux uses XFree86 (the current version is 3.1.1, which is based on
+Yes. Linux uses XFree86 (the current version is 3.1.2, which is based on
X11R6). You need to have a video card which is supported by XFree86. See
the Linux XFree86 HOWTO for more details.
@@ -2208,9 +2271,10 @@
Section 11. Questions applicable to very out-of-date software
- Q11.1 fdisk says cannot use nnn sectors of this partition
- Q11.2 GCC sometimes uses huge amounts of virtual memory and thrashes
- Q11.3 My keyboard goes all funny after I switch VC's.
+ Q11.1 Emacs just dumps core.
+ Q11.2 fdisk says cannot use nnn sectors of this partition
+ Q11.3 GCC sometimes uses huge amounts of virtual memory and thrashes
+ Q11.4 My keyboard goes all funny after I switch VC's.
The questions in this section are only relevant to users of software that
is at least 3 months old.
@@ -2221,7 +2285,15 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 11.1. fdisk says cannot use nnn sectors of this partition
+Question 11.1. Emacs just dumps core.
+
+You probably have the X version of Emacs that comes with SLS. It doesn't
+work without the X libraries. The solution is to install X Windows or get
+a newer Emacs binary without any X Windows support.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Question 11.2. fdisk says cannot use nnn sectors of this partition
Originally Linux only supported the Minix filesystem, which cannot use
more than 64Mb per parition. This limitation is not present in the more
@@ -2232,7 +2304,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 11.2. GCC sometimes uses huge amounts of virtual memory and thrashes
+Question 11.3. GCC sometimes uses huge amounts of virtual memory and thrashes
Older versions of GCC had a bug which made them use lots of memory if you
tried to compile a program which had a large static data table in it.
@@ -2242,7 +2314,7 @@
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Question 11.3. My keyboard goes all funny after I switch VC's.
+Question 11.4. My keyboard goes all funny after I switch VC's.
This is a bug in kernel versions before 0.99pl14-alpha-n. Sometimes Linux
loses track of what modifier keys (Shift, Alt, Control etc.) are pressed
@@ -2273,7 +2345,7 @@
to spend some of your time reading and following these instructions ?
If you think an answer is incomplete or inaccurate, please mail Ian
-Jackson at <ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>.
+Jackson at <ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu>.
Read the appropriate Linux Documentation Project books - see Q2.1 `Where
can I get the HOWTOs and other documentation ?'.
@@ -2285,7 +2357,7 @@
Linux. Those FAQs can, like all FAQs, be found on rtfm.mit.edu in
/pub/usenet/news.answers (the mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu can send you these
files, for those who don't have FTP access). There are mirrors of rtfm's
-FAQ artchives on various sites - check the Introduction to *.answers
+FAQ archives on various sites - check the Introduction to *.answers
posting, posted, or look in news-answers/introduction in the directory
above.
@@ -2426,7 +2498,7 @@
I accept submissions for the FAQ in any format; All contributions
comments and corrections are gratefully received.
-Please send them to <ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>.
+Please send them to <ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu>.
If you wish to refer to a question(s) in the FAQ it's most useful for me
if you do so by the question heading, rather than the number, as the
@@ -2464,7 +2536,7 @@
Question 13.3. Authorship and acknowledgements
-This FAQ was compiled by Ian Jackson <ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>, with
+This FAQ was compiled by Ian Jackson <ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu>, with
assistance and comments from others too numerous to mention. It was
loosely based on the original Linux FAQ by Marc-Michel Corsini.
@@ -2485,8 +2557,8 @@
Note that this document is provided as is. The information in it is *not*
warranted to be correct; you use it at your own risk.
-Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers is Copyright 1994, 1995 by
-Ian Jackson <ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>.
+Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers is Copyright 1994, 1995,
+1996 by Ian Jackson <ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu>.
It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety (including this
authorship, copyright and permission notice) provided that either:
@@ -2507,7 +2579,7 @@
Exceptions to these rules may be granted, and I shall be happy to answer
any questions about this copyright --- write to Ian Jackson, Churchill
College, Cambridge, CB3 0DS, United Kingdom or email
-<ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>. These restrictions are here to protect the
+<ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu>. These restrictions are here to protect the
contributors, not to restrict you as educators and learners.
Ian Jackson asserts the right to be identified as the author of this work,
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--
Ian Jackson ijackson@chiark.chu.cam.ac.uk These opinions are my own.
Cambridge University Computer Laboratory, New Museums Site. + 44 1223 3 34676
Home: ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu Churchill College, CB3 0DS. + 44 1223 3 31579
PGP2 public key available. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/iwj10/
------------------------------
** FOR YOUR REFERENCE **
The service address, to which questions about the list itself and requests
to be added to or deleted from it should be directed, is:
Internet: Linux-Announce-Request@NEWS-DIGESTS.MIT.EDU
You can submit announcements to be moderated via:
Internet: linux-announce@NEWS.ORNL.GOV
Linux may be obtained via one of these FTP sites:
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End of Linux-Announce Digest
******************************
