spring into Linux spring into series Spring Into… a series of short, concise, fast-paced tutorials for professionals transitioning to new technologies. Find us online at www.awprofessional.com/springinto/ Spring Into Windows XP Service Pack 2 Brian Culp ISBN 0-13-167983-X Spring Into PHP 5 Steven Holzner ISBN 0-13-149862-2 Spring Into HTML and CSS Molly E. Holzschlag ISBN 0-13-185586-7 Spring Into Technical Writing for Engineers and Scientists Barry J. Rosenberg ISBN 0-13-149863-0 Spring Into Linux® Janet Valade ISBN 0-13-185354-6 YOUR OPINION IS IMPORTANT TO US! We would like to hear from you regarding the Spring Into… Series. Please visit www.awprofessional.com/springintosurvey/ to complete our survey. Survey participants will receive a special offer for sharing their opinions. From the Series Editor Barry J. Rosenberg A few years ago, I found myself in a new job in which I had to master many new skills in a very short time. I didn’t have to become an instant expert, but I did have to become instantly compe- tent. I went to the bookstore but was shocked by how much the publishing world had changed. At a place where wit and intelligence had once been celebrated, dummies were now venerated. What happened? Photograph courtesy of Ed Raduns Well, I made a few phone calls, got Aunt Barbara to sew up a few costumes, and con- vinced Uncle Ed to let us use the barn as a stage. Oh wait… that was a different prob- lem. Actually, I made a few phone calls and got some really talented friends to write books that clever people wouldn’t be ashamed to read. We called the series “Spring Into…” because all the good names were already taken. With Spring Into…, we feel that we’ve created the perfect series for busy profession- als. However, there’s the rub—we can’t be sure unless you tell us. Maybe we’re hitting the ball out of the park and straight through the uprights, bending it like Beckham, and fi nding nothing but net. On the other hand, maybe we’ve simply spun a twisted ball of clichés. Only you can tell us. Therefore, if anything—positive or negative—is on your mind about these books, please email me at [email protected] I promise not to add you to any email lists, spam you, or perform immoral acts with your address. Sincerely, Barry This page intentionally left blank spring into Linux Janet Valade Upper Saddle River,NJ • Boston• Indianapolis • San Francisco New York • Toronto • Montreal • London • Munich • Paris • Madrid Capetown • Sydney • Tokyo • Singapore • Mexico City Many ofthe designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks.Where those designations appear in this book,and the pub- lisher was aware ofa trademark claim,the designations have been printed with initial capital letters or in all capitals. 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All rights reserved.Printed in the United States ofAmerica.This publication is protected by copyright,and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibit- ed reproduction,storage in a retrieval system,or transmission in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or likewise.For information regarding permissions,write to: Pearson Education,Inc. Rights and Contracts Department One Lake Street Upper Saddle River,NJ 07458 ISBN 0-13-185354-6 Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at R.R.Donnelley in Crawfordsville, Indiana. First printing,April,2005 To my mother,with thanks for passing on a writing gene, along with many other things. This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx About the Series Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx CHAPTER 1 Understanding Open Source Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Open Source Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Open Source License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Linux Is Open Source Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 What Is GNU? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 CHAPTER 2 Choosing a Linux Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Distribution Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Red Hat/Fedora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Mandrake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 SuSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Other Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Live CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 CHAPTER 3 Getting Ready to Install Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Hardware Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Purchasing Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Downloading Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Planning Your Computer System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Running Linux with Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Examining Your Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Making Room for Linux During Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Making Room for Linux Before Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Booting from the CD or from a Floppy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30