Hello.

I'm a Linux noob who's got Windows down pat, uses Solaris on a daily basis at work (Convinced IT to install OpenOff), and is looking to make use of all the benefits I've heard Linux offers. I am especially interested in web hosting, but I'm also looking at WINE for my HL itch.

Equipement:
P4 1.4GHz asus mobo
Chaintech G4 Ti4200 128mb DDR
Soundblaster Live
2 40GB HD's.
blah blah blah

I've installed RH 8.0 (1st distro attempt) on one of my 2 HD's. The other has my very crash-prone Win98. In otherwords, I've got my Comp set for dual-boot and it works great. The set-up found all my gear just fine; had only to tweak my monitor settings a bit, and all's well.

Here are a few of my questions:

1. CANT READ FILES FROM MY WIN98 HARD DRIVE
I've looked in the mount area, and can't find any link to my "hda" or my Win98 hard drive. It's formatted in FAT mode, and I'm guessing this might be the prob. Any ideas if/how I can do this? I'd rather not have to file-swap the old fashioned way.

2. INSTALLING PROGRAMS
Ok, now I know you're supposed to be able to use the readme files w/ the program (latest Mozilla build off download.com just to try), but I can't get it to work. Is there a general way to install programs in RH? Or are there multiple different ways?

3. WEBSERVER DOESN'T START
Here's a tricky one. I've got the RED HAT BIBLE 8.0, and it tells me to do all the httpd settings the old-fasioned terminal method. Whereas before I bought the book, I found the graphical setup (Server Settings I believe in Gnome) which handles all of this coding graphically. Should I stick w/ the terminal server set-up? Or does the Graphical setup handle every situation? Eventually I'd like to get into Virt. WebHosting too.

I've hopped around this forum and seen a lot of interesting threads, but nothing quite what I'm after.

Help a noob.

jMack

OK.

I found info on finding my windows HD under the thread:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=37625

couple of "hotheads" on that thread, but the info should help.

jMack

1)okay to mount your windows harddrive: you need to either type the command: mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /mnt/windowsDrive ::::::where /dev/hda1 is your hard drive and /mnt/windowsDrive is where you want it mounted.

2)You're using RH so you have a couple of options for program installations. You can download RPM files that match your kernel and "rpm -ivh the_filename_here.rpm" to install. Or, you can download tarballs and compile them. For those, download and read the INSTALL or README or other appropriate file.

3)Lots of useless info here. Please prune your question a bit. Else, my answer is: "Use the terminal."

1. If you still need to find your Windows HD, just find what it's called with fdisk -l and then type "mnt -t vfat /dev/??? /mnt/win" where ??? is what it's called.

2. It really depends on the program. If your downloading the source code you usually need to read INSTALL or if thats not there README for information.

3. I've never used the GUI tools, but I also have the RH 8 Bible (Great book!) and I reccommend doing it the "old fashioned way". The GUI would probably work too, but then you wouldn't have the book to help you.

Thanks Penquin Pals.

I'll give these replies a try when I get home.

As far as webhosting, I guess I'll have to ditch my GUI-crutch and stick to a terminal. As you said pilot1, if it's in the book, use it.

Thanks again. This Forum is GREAT.

jmack the

Everyone wants to do things the hard way!

Since I have the 8.0 version of the book sitting open beside my keyboard, I can also echo my happiness with it. Remember, tho, the word bible here is referring to its completeness, not to divine ordination.

It has several pages of how to add a user through a terminal and typing commands. This process would take several minutes and involve about seven steps.

Foolish me went through the GUI the RH 8.0 gives me and did it in one step and about 15 seconds.

The results are the same. Anyone thinking the GUI is a crutch needs to give up any script files they have to automate tedious tasks--that is all the GUI does.

So, why learn the nuts & bolts? Because many of the GUI programs are not fully matured or not as flexible as their non-GUI counterparts. In trying to add packages, Red Hat's package manager will not overcome a dependency error. Using the rpm command in a terminal window, I can.

Another reason is to learn more about the how something works. For that reason, follow the instructions in the book and use a terminal. Then go back and figure out how you could have done it through the desktop.

deadbug-

the only prob I have now w/ using the GUI vs the terminal for webhosting is now it's dern busted.

I think I messed things up when I tried using the GUI (just futzing w/ it before i got the BIBLE) then tried manually to change things w/ the terminal (with the BIBLE at hand).

I'm sure it's something minor, but I think I'll try and fix it within the terminal, understand it using the Bible, then when I'm comfortable start using the GUI...as a warp-engine tool for the basics. No crutch to be found



Nice to see someone mention the GUI (for a lack of a better acronym),

jMack

1. If Windows is XP, it runs on the NTFS filesystem. Windows Mill and down, its mostly fat32.

2. create a folder to mount the device of the windows filesystem (hda1) -- like /win/ or /mnt/win/

3. use the mount command to manually mount the system


mount -t nfts /dev/hda1 /win/ or /mnt/win/

4. You can use linuxconf to configure an automatic mount when the system boots.

There is also another thread posted titled /mnt/win? Redhat 8.0 you should check it