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To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.
Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux
Info PagesA lot of developers are starting to use GNUs info to write documentation. The GNU info system uses hypertext to relate different pieces of information. The goal of info is to make reading a documentation page easier by proving a way to jump between different sections of the documentation. The concept is similar to using a Web browser. To read documentation, you use the info command followed by the name of the tool you are interested in. If you dont provide a tool name, info will show you a list of all the commands it knows about and some entry points to the info documentation itself. The following figure shows a screen in info. The basic commands for moving in info are listed in Table 15.2.
Each page in an info document is called a node. A node can contain menus and cross-references. Menus are related nodes within the same document. Cross-references are nodes typically located in a different document. The easiest way to learn how to use info is to go through its interactive tutorial. To access the tutorial, enter info at the command prompt, and type h to follow instructions. On Emacs you can enter info by typing Ctrl+h i. Usenet: Internet NewsgroupsIf you have access to the Internet and newsgroups, there are many places where you can find information about Linux. The groups are organized according to topics. People all over the Internet post questions and answers to groups that fancy their interests. There are thousands of newsgroups for all topics and interests. But with the aid of a good reader such as Netscape Communicators Colabra, included with OpenLinux 1.3, you can cruise through several postings until you find what you want. (Do a man -k news to find console-capable news tools installed in your system.) Some newsgroups are moderated. A moderated group has a posting reviewed by the groups maintainer, who then decides if your post merits distribution. Usenet newsgroups are full of noise, because a lot of users post blindly without doing their own research into the problem. If you have looked at all the resources mentioned in this chapter and you still dont have a solution to the problem, it probably is a valid question. When posting a question, it is always a good idea to put the version and distribution of your software, and then the tool that you are having a problem with (include version information). Sometimes different software versions can determine what the correct answer is to your question. Be brief but descriptive, and only ask one question per message. Some of the Linux groups follow:
Cross-posting (sending the same question to multiple groups) is not cool. Ask your question only in groups that are specifically related by subject to your query; you are more likely to receive an answer. Useful BooksFinally, theres a ton of commercial literature for Linux and UNIX. Your mileage will vary in quality and variety of information. Your choice of book will depend on what you are wanting to do with UNIX. The best way to find a book to suit your needs is to visit an online bookstore such as Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, or Borders.com and search for the words linux and unix.
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