Click Here!
home account info subscribe login search My ITKnowledge FAQ/help site map contact us


 
Brief Full
 Advanced
      Search
 Search Tips
To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Manuel Ricart
ISBN: 078971826x
Publication Date: 12/22/98

Bookmark It

Search this book:
 
Previous Table of Contents Next


Info Pages

A lot of developers are starting to use GNU’s 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 don’t 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 info program.

The basic commands for moving in info are listed in Table 15.2.

Table 15.2 Info Commands

Key Description

Space Page down
Backspace Page up
b Beginning of the page
? Help
n Next node
u Previous node
l Last node
u Up
m Menu (type menu name or ? for a list of options)
Ctrl+g Cancel current operation (or menu)
f Cross reference (type cross reference name or ? for a list of options)
d Show a directory of all the documents info knows about

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 Newsgroups

If 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 Communicator’s 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 group’s 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 don’t 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:

  comp.os.linux.advocacy—A newsgroup dedicated to flame on why Linux is better than other OSs.
  comp.os.linux.announce—This is a moderated group for announcements about Linux developments, bug fixes, software releases, and so on. This is probably the most “informational” of all the groups regarding what is going on in the Linux world.
  comp.os.linux.development.apps—This group is for programmers interested in porting applications to Linux.
  comp.os.linux.development.system—This group is for programmers interested in developing kernel and system software.
  comp.os.linux.hardware—This one is for hardware questions, support, and why Linux won’t work on hardware x.
  comp.os.linux.misc—This is a group for all topics that don’t fit anywhere else.
  comp.os.linux.networking—This group is about networking and networking hardware.
  comp.os.linux.setup—This one is for installing Linux, how to get service X running, and so on.
  comp.os.linux.x—This group is dedicated to installing, configuring, and running X under Linux.
  alt.os.linux.caldera—This group is for Caldera OpenLinux specific issues.

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 Books

Finally, there’s 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.”


Previous Table of Contents Next


Products |  Contact Us |  About Us |  Privacy  |  Ad Info  |  Home

Use of this site is subject to certain Terms & Conditions, Copyright © 1996-2000 EarthWeb Inc.
All rights reserved. Reproduction whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of EarthWeb is prohibited. Read EarthWeb's privacy statement.