Busy — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 23:02:25 +0000

Dang, The way I am going I will never get the hang of it, now I can't log in as root, I've forgotten the password (trying to do to many thing at once and suck at multi tasking).

Anyway to change the password without knowing the orginal, or will I have to reinstall it all again.

Thanks for your help guys

Abhishek Reddy — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 10:50:07 +0000

Busy wrote: who said linux was easy, easy my butt

I'm going to have to try this later on, am getting short on patience lately, Redhat really peeved me off last time I played with it and my keyboard suffered, neighbour also caught me yelling at the pc lol.

lol

Look at it this way: if you knew little about computers and were given a Windows box, how long would you take to learn it? (Given that you are familiar with computing in general, learning Linux should take less time, obviously.) Just don't expect to find Windows-like nuances like C:\, full admin access, central Program Files, etc. Approach it like it's something entirely new...

I say Linux is easy. Really, as soon as you figure you are not using Windows, it becomes a whole lot simpler.

Busy — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 10:09:04 +0000

who said linux was easy, easy my butt

I'm going to have to try this later on, am getting short on patience lately, Redhat really peeved me off last time I played with it and my keyboard suffered, neighbour also caught me yelling at the pc lol.

Abhishek Reddy — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 07:31:25 +0000

Busy wrote: this sounds confusing, let me get this straight

I log in as root to edit the php.ini file, then log out and log in again as a user to use the thing, if I need to edit the php.ini file again I have to log out and login again as root then back again to use it. So why wasn't it letting me edit it last time? And how do you know who your logged in as every time?

That's almost right. By "log in as root", I mean open a terminal (command-line window) and do as Mark says -- "su" to root. So you log into your desktop as your own user, then when you want to do admin things, open a terminal and do your stuff, then simply close that window. You don't need the X system to administer things... learning the commands may take some time, but it's worth it. Otoh, RedHat does have control centres and shortcuts for most admin tasks (and it prompts you for a password) in the X system itself, so if you look in the right menus, you may not have to use the command-line interface.

Busy wrote: And to start apache etc I need to figure out the command prompts but also have to find the command prompts hiding place, never saw that, I know I was looking for it.

Yes, you need to know the command to start it. This, I'm sure, is documented in the Apache manuals/readmes. A shortcut to finding commands is to go to any bin folder (/usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/sbin) and type "ls | grep apache [or whatever program]". The bin folders contain system-wide links to installed programs, or the programs themselves. (sbin, btw, is for programs that only root can run, I believe.)

Once you find the command to start something, try " -h" or " --help" for brief info on flags you can pass. "man " should give more details.

Mark Hensler — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 01:14:23 +0000

To know which user you currently are, use: whoami

To change from any user to root, use: su

To change from one user (not any user) to another, use: su next_user

Do you want apache/php/mysql to start at boot? Are they not currently?
I've not done this on RH or Mandrake, but I have on Gentoo....
rc-update add default

When I plan on administrating my box, I always login as root.
When I just want to do some work (scripting, etc), I login as my normal user (who is also a member of the wheel group, so I can su to root if need be).

Busy — Tue, 23 Mar 2004 20:59:38 +0000

this sounds confusing, let me get this straight

I log in as root to edit the php.ini file, then log out and log in again as a user to use the thing, if I need to edit the php.ini file again I have to log out and login again as root then back again to use it. So why wasn't it letting me edit it last time? And how do you know who your logged in as every time?

And to start apache etc I need to figure out the command prompts but also have to find the command prompts hiding place, never saw that, I know I was looking for it.

Normally I would just play around with it, but don't have much time at present (Grandmother on last legs) and would like to test a set up (imag::magick) on Linux before uploading it to the net.

Abhishek Reddy — Tue, 23 Mar 2004 10:03:09 +0000

heh, I'm sure one of the Marks can explain this better (if not others)...

Never log in as root. It may seem easier because you're used to having full access in Windows, but try to get out of the habit. Always make a new user for yourself.

/home/ is your 'my docs' folder. /root is the root user's folder, but don't use it...

Programs are installed usually to /usr/local/bin or /usr/local/share. IIRC, each distribution has slightly different paths for stuff like that. Best to settle on some convention that works for you and your distro, I guess. I usually install to /usr/local/share. Sometimes you can run binaries off your /home path, so that might be an idea for some apps (I do this with Firefox).

Configuration for system is in /etc/. User configuration for applications is often in /home/./ (.dotfiles are hidden).

Apache is started with the command "apachectl start" usually. You have to be root user to edit the php.ini file in /etc/apache[2]/ (I think it's there even for RedHat). I forget how to start mysql exactly.

If you're in the K Desktop Environment, I do believe KPPP (the dialup app) shows connection icons in the taskbar. You can also download "dockapps" to display network connection/traffic stats.

Just play around with it, try not to expect Windows logic, and you'll be fine. (And don't login as root for regular desktop use!)