Beginning SUSE Linux: From Novice to Professional
Keir Thomas
Language: English
Pages: 544
ISBN: 1590594584
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Beginning SUSE Linux: From Novice to Professional is designed for the newcomer to Linux. It aims to guide you through numerous practical topics relevant to effective operation of this popular operating system.
The book begins by discussing the background of Linux and open source software, then proceeds to guide you through the SUSE installation process. You’ll learn how to use the basic functions, and modify the look and feel according to your tastes. This book is packed with troubleshooting tips, so even the most cautious beginner will feel right at home.
Next, the book covers the daily usage tasks that are enjoyable and interesting to learn. You’ll learn how to configure your system to listen to audio CDs and MP3s, burn CDs, watch movies, connect to the Internet, and reproduce common Windows tasks.
In the process, you’ll gain an in-depth understanding about the core of Linux. You’ll learn how to master the command-line prompt, secure your system, and perform administration tasks like scheduling backups and managing users.
A full version of the SUSE operating system is supplied for free on the included DVD, so you’ll have everything you need to get a Linux system up and running.
pass by and glance at your PC! There are actually quite a number of Linux distributions available. If you want to explore other Linux distributions as well as SUSE, by far the most fuss-free method of getting hold of Linux is to pop over to your local computer store (or online retailer) and buy a boxed copy. You can choose from Red Hat, Mandrake, Libra Net, TurboLinux, Conectiva (if you want foreign language support, although nearly all commercial distributions do a good job of supporting
that this icon should not appear if SUSE Linux is installed on a desktop PC, although it may show up on some computers (and can be safely ignored). SUSEWatcher This applet regularly checks when you’re online to see if there are any updates available for SUSE Linux. A green gecko icon indicates that your system is up-to-date. If there are updates, it turns into a red exclamation mark. Clicking the exclamation mark launches the SUSE online update service, which is discussed in Chapter 9. To
come on the market. WHAT HARDWARE WORKS? SUSE Linux has a web site that contains a database detailing which pieces of hardware are guaranteed to work under its distribution of Linux. You can find this at http://hardwaredb.suse.de/?LANG=en_UK. This is a conservative list and should not be considered comprehensive. One reason for this is that, despite SUSE’s best efforts, it cannot test every single piece of hardware. Experience shows that many pieces of hardware not on the list work very well
in the burn dialog box and put a tick in the Generate Joliet Extensions box. Depending on your system’s hardware configuration, K3b sometimes won’t actually burn a CD unless the program is run as the root user. You’ll see an error message saying that you don’t have permission to access the CD-R/RW drive. To run K3b as root, select K menu ➤ System ➤ Terminal ➤ Konsole. At the command line, type the following: xhost + su nohup /opt/kde3/bin/k3b As a security precaution, when you’re finished using
giving you a clue that you have the correct filename. Figure 12-7. You can run programs you’ve installed yourself by using the Run Command option on the K menu. Generally, typing the program name in lowercase in the Run Command dialog box runs the majority of programs. Unlike with Windows, executable files within SUSE Linux don’t have an .exe extension, and the system is able to recognize the file as being runnable by less obvious means (as explained in Chapter 15). To give an example, if you