Newbie questions and observations
 

First off, I'd like to say that this site, and you guys, are great. I've spent my share of time at experts-exchange answering questions on subjects I'm good with, and its great to have such a dedicated place where I can play the "asker" role.

What I really wish I had was a roommate Linux guru who I could ask all the stupid little questions that pop into my head. But I'll post some here-

1.) In Linux, everything is a file. There are really no other parts of the OS, like Windows' Registry. Is this statement correct?

2.) I've done some windows programming, mostly VB but a little C++. Can you explain why people compile their own binaries for programs? Why would that make it faster?

3.) Why do people recompile the kernel? For me, building a little web/ftp server on a p200 with Slackware 9.1, will I ever need to? Why?

4.) I never know where to put things. I realize /home/bohiti is like C:\Documents and Settings\Bohiti. Where should I install things to? like Java, or OpenOffice, or the newest Apache? If you're going to say "it doesn't matter", then where do YOU install things?

5.) What exactly do RPM's do for Red Hat? They just put files in the right places, and keep a log so that the files can be uninstalled?

6.) I'm a Windows command-line junkie, and I'd like to be able to run my Slack web/ftp server strictly from CLI. How can you stop and start individual daemons? Say I want to turn ftpd off for awhile.

I'm sure I'll come up with some more later. :) Thanks in advance for any replies.

Bohiti

Re: Newbie questions and observations
 

1.) In Linux, everything is a file. There are really no other parts of the OS, like Windows' Registry. Is this statement correct?

Yes, in basic terms that is correct.

2.) I've done some windows programming, mostly VB but a little C++. Can you explain why people compile their own binaries for programs? Why would that make it faster?

Not sure on this one, can you ellaborate a bit more. To my knowledge precompiled binaries tend to be slower, well in Linux they are.

3.) Why do people recompile the kernel? For me, building a little web/ftp server on a p200 with Slackware 9.1, will I ever need to? Why?

Sure it would work, most will recompile a kernel to suit their own needs, disable and enable certain functions of the kernel, make it more custom to their own system. But most never touch it, only using the default kernel with no problems.

4.) I never know where to put things. I realize /home/bohiti is like C:\Documents and Settings\Bohiti. Where should I install things to? like Java, or OpenOffice, or the newest Apache? If you're going to say "it doesn't matter", then where do YOU install things?

Most programs will install to /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin where they lie in most users path to execute from. The home directory is used more to keep regular files, documents and media, etc.

5.) What exactly do RPM's do for Red Hat? They just put files in the right places, and keep a log so that the files can be uninstalled?

Its just a way to install programs. Its a package manager.

6.) I'm a Windows command-line junkie, and I'd like to be able to run my Slack web/ftp server strictly from CLI. How can you stop and start individual daemons? Say I want to turn ftpd off for awhile.

Usually you can start and stop from the /etc/rc.d directory. Or you can start and stop from the actual command itself that may be elsewhere.

Say you want to stop using samba on the server, you would do something like /etc/rc.d/rc.samba stop to turn it off, etc.

TrickyKid,

Thank you. As for #1:

That's kind of why I was asking. If I download, say, the newest Apache, will I see real benefit from compiling it myself? Or is it not really worth the trouble (especially for a newbie), and I should just ./install or whatever, as usual. (?)

Thanks again.

In most cases you won't see the difference. But sometimes, when you need a highly-tweaked version, or only certain features/modules, using source and compiling the program is the best idea. Many popular programs (like Apache) come with all distros. You just dowanload the right package (or use your installation cd) and install it (using different commands, depending on the distro).