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Home > Teaching > St. Louis Community College > Transitioning from Windows to Linux > Syllabus

Note: This is a sample syllabus. The real, updated syllabus is located at wu.granneman.com, which is password-protected and is available for students and guests only.

28 February 2004 ~ Jumping in head first

Topics: History ~ installation ~ logging in & out ~ Reboot & shutdown

Readings

• History & background
  • An Overview of the UNIX Operating System ~ http://www.bell-labs.com/history/unix/tutorial.html ~ From the folks at Lucent, formerly Bell Labs, where UNIX was invented.
  • The Creation of the UNIX Operating System ~ http://www.bell-labs.com/history/unix/ ~ Bell Labs, the inventors of UNIX, tell the story (stupidly broken up over page after page after page, instead of on one big page … *sigh*).
• The new kernel: 2.6.0
  • Linux v2.6 scales the enterprise ~ http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/01/30/05FElinux_1.html?s=feature ~ "Bigger, stronger kernel sizzles in our performance tests".
  • How the Linux kernel gets built ~ http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/01/30/05FElinuxdev_1.html?s=feature ~ A nice overview of the kernel development process.
  • Migrating to Linux kernel 2.6—Part 1: Customizing a 2.6-based kernel ~ http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT3855888078.html
  • Debian Kernel 2.6 How To ~ http://www.desktop-linux.net/debkernel.htm ~ An excellent walk-through for updating your kernel on Libranet or any Debian-based system.
• Linux distributions
  • LinuxISO ~ http://www.linuxiso.org/
  • Comparison of Linux Distributions ~ http://www.distrowatch.com/ ~ THE site for information about all the various Linux distros out there.
  • CD-based Linux Distributions ~ http://www.distrowatch.com/cd.php ~ Linux distros that fit on one CD & allow you to boot off them without affecting your computer.
  • Knoppix gives bootable, one-disk Linux ~ http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-knopp.html?ca=dgr-lnxw02Knoppix
  • Looking at Libranet GNU/Linux 2.8 ~ http://www.linuxiran.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=232
• Installation
  • Libranet 2.8.1 Installation
• Partitioning
  • Linux Partition HOWTO ~ http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/ ~ The complete explanation about all facets of partitioning disks in Linux.
  • An Introduction to Disk Partitions, from The Official Red Hat Linux x86 Installation Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/install-guide/ch-partitions.html ~ It's from Red Hat, but it's distribution-agnostic, and it's excellent.
  • Proper Filesystem Layout ~ http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2001/10/11/filesystem.html ~ Ins and outs of setting your filesystem up for the best performance and easiest backups.
• Root
  • Root 101: If you don't 'get it,' you probably haven't got it ~ http://www.iodynamics.com/iobytes/articles/root_101.html ~ "This article is intended to help explain what root access is, whether you need it, what you can do with it, and how you can get it."

6 March 2004 ~ Installation & GUIs

Topics: Installation ~ X Windows ~ KDE & GNOME overview ~ updating Linux

Commands

• halt, shutdown, logout, exit
• startx

Programs

• Desktop environments: KDE & GNOME
• Updating Linux: apt-get

Readings

• Updating Linux
  • Various solutions
    • Paranoid Penguin: Staying Current without Going Insane ~ http://linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6010 ~ "How tools like SuSE's YaST2, Red Hat's up2date and Debian's apt-get can help you maintain some measure of patch sanity."
    • Ximian Red Carpet ~ http://www.ximian.com/products/ximian_red_carpet/
    • Red Hat Network ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/RHNetwork/ref-guide/
    • Keeping Fedora Up to Date with Yum ~ http://www.linuxgazette.com/node/view/8835
  • APT
    • apt-cacher ~ http://www.apt-cacher.org/ ~ apt-cacher is a caching proxy designed for use by other machines running APT.
• X Windows
  • The XFree86 Project, Inc. ~ http://www.xfree86.org/
• KDE
  • KDE ~ http://www.kde.org
  • What is KDE? ~ http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/
  • KDE Frequently Asked Questions ~ http://www.kde.org/documentation/faq/index.html
  • Making Friends with the KDE Desktop ~ http://www.sys-con.com/linux/article.cfm?id=44 ~ "This article will help you and your staff get accustomed to KDE. I'll compare functioning in KDE to the Windows desktop, and give you a few tips to make the most of KDE's basic features."
  • KDE 3.2: A User's Perspective ~ "http://static.kdenews.org/mirrors/www.lugod.org/presentations/kde-user-persp/ ~ "… over 3MB of screenshots of KDE in action …"
• GNOME
  • GNOME ~ http://www.gnome.org
  • Ximian ~ http://www.ximian.com
• Fonts
  • Is Beauty Only Pixel Deep?, Part 1 ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6107 ~ Good intro to fonts on Linux, with focus on chkfontpath command.
• Printing
  • Printers and Printing, from The Official Red Hat Linux System Administration Primer ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/admin-primer/ch-printers.html ~ Not Red Hat specific; instead, it's an overview of computer printing.
  • Overview of Linux Printing Systems ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6729 ~ "A tour of printing options under Linux."

13 March 2004 ~ No class!

20 March 2004 ~ Your data

Topics: Files & directories ~ Konqueror file manager ~ permissions ~ help

Commands

• cd, ls, pwd
• file
• cp, mv, mkdir
• rm, rmdir
• ln
• more, cat
• find, locate, whereis
• chmod, chown, chgrp
• man, info

Programs

• File managers: Konqueror, Nautilus

Readings

• File system structure
  • Top Level Directories in Linux ~ A brief list, from yours truly.
  • Filesystem Hierarchy Standard ~ http://www.pathname.com/fhs/ ~ Want to know what /etc is for? Or /bin? This reference will tell you.
  • Unix-like filesystem ~ http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tutorial.en.html#s-unixfile ~ A short & concise explanation of basic concepts, from Debian.
  • File System Structure, from The Official Red Hat Linux Reference Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/ref-guide/ch-filesystem.html ~ A nice, clean overview, but be sure to notice the Red Hat-only sections.
  • Managing Files and Directories, from The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/getting-started-guide/ch-managers.html ~ All of chapter 12 is good, & applies to all Linux distributions, not just Red Hat.
• The /proc virtual filesystem
  • The proc File System, from The Official Red Hat Linux Reference Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/ref-guide/ch-proc.html ~ /proc is kinda weird, and all of chapter 2 is worth reading on the subject, no matter what Linux distro you're running.
  • Administer Linux on the fly: Use the /proc filesystem to get a handle on your system ~ http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-adfly.html?ca=dgr-lnxw02LinuxOnTheFly
• Journaling file system
  • Journaling File Systems: Advanced Linux file systems are bigger, faster, and more reliable ~ http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-10/jfs_01.html
• Files & directories using the command line
  • Shell Prompt Basics, from The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/getting-started-guide/ch-basics.html
• Permissions
  • Permissions ~ A brief overview.
  • UNIX Tutorial: Lesson 6: File Permissions ~ http://www.ctssn.com/linux/lesson6.html

27 March 2004 ~ Administration using GUI tools

Topics: Webmin & built-in admin tools

Commands:

Programs

• Webmin ~ http://www.webmin.com

Readings

• System administration overviews
  • Linux System Administration Tools ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=5918
• Networking
• Users and Groups
  • User and Group Configuration, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-redhat-config-users.html
  • Users and Groups, from The Official Red Hat Linux Reference Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/ref-guide/ch-users-groups.html
  • Managing Accounts and Groups, from The Official Red Hat Linux System Administration Primer ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/admin-primer/ch-acctsgrps.html
• System Administration
  • Installing Software Linux style: Part 1 ~ http://www.linuxbeginner.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=406 ~ Part 1 focuses on installing from source.
  • Controlling Access to Services, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-services.html
  • Time and Date Configuration, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-dateconfig.html
  • Gathering System Information, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-sysinfo.html
  • Log Files, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-logfiles.html

3 April 2004 ~ Software installation

Topics: Installing software ~ building from source ~ recompiling the kernel

Commands

• rpm, apt-get
• ftp
• tar
• configure, make, make install
• make xconfig, make menuconfig, make config
• make dep, make clean, make bzImage
• make modules, make modules_install

Programs

• RPM: Gnome RPM, Package Manager, Red Carpet
• Kernel configuration: xconfig

Readings

• Quick How-to Comparison for Program Installation ~ http://www.linuxgazette.com/node/view/8972 ~ A brief overview
• RPM
  • Package Management, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/part-pkg-management.html
• apt
  • Using apt with rpm and Red Hat Linux ~ http://freshrpms.net/apt/ ~ A brief overview of apt for Red Hat.
• Windows equivalents
  • The table of equivalents / replacements / analogs of Windows software in Linux ~ http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft-en/table.shtml ~ An enormous list, but not updated in a while. Still, quite useful.
• Installing from source
  • Installing Software Linux style: Part 1 ~ http://www.linuxbeginner.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=406 ~ Part 1 focuses on installing from source.

10 April 2004 ~ No class

17 April 2004 ~ Commands galore

Topics: BASH shell ~ commands ~ basic sysadmin

Commands

• grep, cat, more, head, tail
• | (pipe), >, <
• *, ?, []
• alias, unalias
• &, ps, kill
• mount, umount
• df, du
• gzip, gunzip

Programs

• Add users (& much, much more): Linuxconf

Readings

• Collections
  • Alphabetical Directory of Linux Commands ~ http://www.onlamp.com/linux/cmd/
  • 'Dogs' of the Linux Shell ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6158 ~ head, tail, tac, nl, fmt, fold, tr, pr, basename, dirname
  • Free Online Unix Training Materials: Unix Commandline Skills ~ http://www.kegel.com/linux/training.html ~ Manuals and course notes, listed in order of increasing skill level
  • Command Line Essentials ~ http://www.linuxgazette.com/node/view/8856 ~ "… some handy/common things you can do on the command line in Linux"
• Archiving
  • UNIX Tutorial: Lesson 8: Archiving Utilities ~ http://www.ctssn.com/linux/lesson8.html
• Find
  • A Very Valuable Find ~ http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-09/power_01.html
  • Finding Things in Unix ~ http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2002/02/21/FreeBSD_Basics.html ~ "One of the most useful utilities to be found on any Unix system is the find command. In the next two articles, I'd like to work you through the syntax of this command and provide you with some practical examples of its usage."
• Various commands
  • Concatenating files with cat ~ http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-tiptex2.html
  • Using the ps command ~ http://www.linux.ie/newusers/beginners-linux-guide/ps.php

24 April 2004 ~ Day to day work

Topics: Text editors ~ office software ~ printing ~ Web browsers ~ Email

Commands

• pico, vi
• aspell

Programs

• Text editors: pico, vi, emacs, Kate, gEdit, KWrite
• Calendar: ical, calendar, KOrganizer
• Word processing: AbiWord
• Spreadsheet: Gnumeric
• Office Suite: OpenOffice, StarOffice, KOffice
• Web browsers: Mozilla, Netscape, Konqueror, Galeon, Opera
• Email: Evolution, Mozilla Mail, KMail, Sylpheed, balsa, pine
• Calculator: Calculator
• Personal Finance: GnuCash

Readings

• Web browsers
  • Web Browsing, from The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/getting-started-guide/ch-browsers.html
  • Mozilla ~ http://www.mozilla.org
  • Konqueror ~ http://www.konqueror.org
  • Galeon ~ http://galeon.sourceforge.net
  • 2002 Linux Web Browser Review ~ http://www.robval.com/linux/2002/browsers.html
• Email
  • Email Applications, from The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/getting-started-guide/ch-emailclients.html
  • Ximian Evolution ~ http://www.ximian.com/products/ximian_evolution/
  • A User's Guide to Ximian Evolution ~ http://primates.helixcode.com/~aaron/evolution-guide/index.html
• Office suites
  • The OpenOffice.org Suite, from The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/getting-started-guide/ch-docs.html#S1-DOCS-OO
• Text editors
  • Intro to vi and emacs ~ http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~wjk/UnixIntro/Lecture6.html
  • vi
    • vim ~ http://www.vim.org
    • Vi Lovers Home Page ~ http://www.thomer.com/vi/vi.html
    • Guide to VI and EX editors ~ http://www.bo.infn.it/alice/alice-doc/mll-doc/linux/vi-ex/vi_ex.html
    • The vi text editor ~ http://www.kegel.com/linux/training.html#vi
  • Emacs
    • GNU Emacs Reference Card ~ http://www.geek-girl.com/emacs/refcard.html
• PDFs
  • Viewing PDFs, from The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/getting-started-guide/s1-docs-pdf.html
• Multimedia
  • Audio, Video, and General Amusement, from The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/getting-started-guide/ch-fun.html
  • Working with Images, from The Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/getting-started-guide/ch-images.html
  • Linux Multimedia ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=5456 ~ "Sander gives tips on how to play CDs, MP3s, MPEGs and DVDs on Linux". Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of the page.
  • Burning CDs on Linux ~ http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-cdburn.html?ca=dgr-lnxw02BurnCDs ~ "mkisofs and cdrecord at the command line make it all possible".

1 May 2004 ~ Networking via NFS & Samba

Topics: Networking ~ Internetworking ~ NFS ~ Samba

Commands:

Programs:

• LinNeighborhood
• KSambaPlugin

Readings

• NFS
  • Network File System (NFS), from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-nfs.html
  • Network File System (NFS), from The Official Red Hat Linux Reference Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/ref-guide/ch-nfs.html
  • What is NFS and how do I set it up? ~ A one-page quickie guide ~ http://www.linux-mag.com/2001-10/tech_support_01.html
  • Linux NFS-HOWTO ~ http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/NFS-HOWTO/index.html
• Samba
  • SAMBA ~ http://www.samba.org
  • Setting up & configuring Samba
    • The Unofficial Samba HOWTO ~ http://hr.uoregon.edu/davidrl/samba.html ~ Up-to-date & very complete. An excellent place to start.
    • SMB HOWTO ~ http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/SMB-HOWTO.html ~ The original, but now somewhat outdated
    • Samba, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-samba.html
    • Using Samba~ hhttp://oreilly.com/catalog/samba/chapter/book/ ~ The entire O'Reilly book, online
    • World's Shortest SAMBA How-To ~ smbclient how-to ~ http://www.rootprompt.org/article.php3?article=2693
    • Large Scale Samba Installations ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6604 ~ "How to install and set up various scenarios for Samba and Windows2000/XP Professional"
  • Tools
    • LinNeighborhood ~ http://www.bnro.de/~schmidjo/
    • KSambaPlugin ~ http://ksambakdeplugin.sourceforge.net/
    • KSambaPlugin Red Hat 8.0 RPM
  • Samba as a Windows PDC
    • Configuring Samba as a Windows NT Primary Domain Controller ~ http://pro.linuxorbit.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=3
  • Samba and Windows Active Directory
    • Samba 3: Linux File Serving for the Active Directory Generation ~ http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/networking/features/article.phpr/2246911 ~ "Samba shows that if the day ever comes that NT domains are antique, Samba will be ready to contribute, fast, inexpensive AD compatible servers."
  • If You're Feeling Hardcore …
    • Just what is SMB? ~ http://samba.anu.edu.au/cifs/docs/what-is-smb.html ~ An explanation of the underlying protocol
    • Implementing CIFS ~ http://ubiqx.org/cifs/ ~ More detail than you can shake a stick at

8 May 2004 ~ Working with Windows

Topics: Windows partitions & floppies ~ Win4Lin ~ Wine

Commands:

Readings

• WINE & Codeweavers
  • WINE ~ http://www.winehq.com
  • A taste of Wine: Transition from Windows to Linux ~ http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-wine/?ca=dgr-lnxw02FineWine ~ "This article introduces Wine and suggests ways to get hands-on experience with its internals"
  • Codeweavers Wine ~ http://www.codeweavers.com/technology/wine/
  • Codeweavers CrossOver Plugin ~ http://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover/
  • Reviews of Codeweavers' products
    • Running MS Office under Linux with CodeWeaver's CrossOver Office ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6153
    • A Look at CrossOver Office 2.1.0 ~ http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=6475
• Win4Lin
  • Win4Lin ~ http://www.win4lin.com
  • Can't give up your Windows applications? Win4Lin 4.0 is for you ~ http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=02/06/07/1954228
  • Win4Lin 5: A Real Win for Linux Users ~ http://www.ofb.biz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=243

15 May 2004 ~ Security / Goodbyes

Topics: Monitoring your system ~ securing security

Commands: top

Readings

• Starting to think about security
  • The Official Red Hat Linux Security Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/security-guide/
  • Starting points of a secure Linux system ~ http://www.net-security.org/text/articles/starting.shtml ~ "… here are some good pointers to enhancing your system's security."
• Secure distributions
  • Security-Enhanced Linux ~ http://www.nsa.gov/research/selinux/
• Security resources
  • Security Focus ~ http://www.securityfocus.com
  • Qaddisin ~ http://www.qaddisin.com
  • Qaddisin Security Blog ~ http://blog.qaddisin.com/ ~ News & commentary about the world of security
• System hardening
  • Go Directly to Jail: Secure Untrusted Applications with Chroot ~ http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-12/chroot_01.html
• Firewalls
  • Basic Firewall Configuration, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-basic-firewall.html
  • Linux Productivity Magazine: IPTables ~ http://www.troubleshooters.com/lpm/200305/200305.htm ~ An excellent, lengthy introduction to IPTables.
• User tools
  • OpenSSH, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-openssh.html
  • SSH Protocol, from The Official Red Hat Linux Reference Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/ref-guide/ch-ssh.html
  • Getting Started with Gnu Privacy Guard, from The Official Red Hat Linux Customization Guide ~ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/ch-gnupg.html
• Intrusion Detection
  • Real-time alerting with Snort, part 1, part 2, & part 3 ~ "Snort is built to perform one task and perform it very well. It does a magnificent job of detecting intrusions."
• Assessment tools
  • Audit Your LAN Before the Bad Guys Do with nmap ~ http://networking.earthweb.com/netsecur/article/0,,12084_1429131,00.html ~ A very brief intro to one of the most useful security tools available: nmap.
  • Police your network traffic with IPTraf ~ http://techupdate.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t481-s2109393,00.html ~ An intro to an open source, free, "simple, reliable network monitoring tool"
  • Bridge the Gap Between Physical and Virtual Networking with netstat ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6613 ~ "Use netstat and a variety of options to see what services are available on what hosts, where the vulnerabilities are and more."
  • Making a Connection with tcpdump ~ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6446 ~ "How to use tcpdump and what to do with the data you collect."
  • Incident Response Tools For Unix, Part One: System Tools ~ http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1679 ~ "… tools that are useful during incident response and investigation after a compromise has occurred …"
• Open source security