Dual Processor Support
 

Hi,
New to Linux and learning alot. I am running Linux Redhat9 on a Compact server with raid 1 installed and 4 gig of memory for testing.

There are two modes on boot up, S something and another one. I think the s "something" is for dual processors, but I'm not sure. This is only my second time installing it. I have SAMBA installed and my 9x clients connect without any problem.

I am looking for any and all infromation, such as recommended books to buy ect. I have the Harold Davis/ Joe Merlino / Kate Wrightson Linux book, but it's vague as far as best practices.

I would like something that is more direct, ...dont kill me, but like Microsoft as far as file shares, where files should be downloaded and installed to, Program Files as a rule of thumb for microsoft.

I'm looking for the laymen terms as to which directory should RPMs be downloaded too and run? Is there commands to allow all user's to have access to the downloaded apps, etc. I have noticed that depending on whether I am root or my other ID, some programs will not work that is, depending on if I installed them under root or under my user ID, with Windows, you can install for all users or current user.

I am also looking for information on all the Acronyms being used by linux, I have checked services and have no clue as to what half of it is, and whether or not user's or groups should be added etc. Also what all the different "freaken" file types are.

Basically I'm learning to crawl when I really want to run and the learning curve is grueling.

... any way, my hope here is to learn the ins and outs as much as possible and get linux into Corporate America as a viable alternative to Windows and Macs with the hope that one day the internet will be turned back into a place for sharing information instead of a place for virus writers, spammers and people looking to make a quick buck on other's ignorance.

Ok I'm off my soap box.

All help is Greatly Appreciated.

Thanks,
linnewbietoo

i can semi help you with this portion, the rest the guru's around here will have to help you with.

as for directories, what ever you want, but like in the windows world call it something simple and basic like /RPM

you do not want ALL users to have full access to install what ever they want. you mentioned the reason you are wanting to bring linux to the corp world is to reduce the spread of virii, etc. the #1 reason virii spread so easy in the windows world is EVERY user has the ability to install and run just about ANYTHING.

see the catch 22 there? so you do not want to give anyone but root that level of power. by doing so you drasticaly cut down on any kind of damage your users can do to your network/computer. even if they did manage to get one of the handful of virii that is designed to run on linux/unix it would only corrupt that single users account of the system. rm /home/user then recreat. end of problem. nothing further is effect on your network, or on that particular system.

hope that helps a tad. again the rest of your great questions will have to come from guru's im just a newB.

The S "something" for multiple processors is SMP, which stands for Symmetric Multi-Processing. To take advantage of this, you must have this feature compiled into the kernel.

There are no restrictions on where you can (or should) download your files -- the only barrier is file permissions which you may change at your whim using the chown and chmod commands. To make files accessible to all users, simply use the recursive option of chmod and allow read/execute access to everyone.

To learn about permissions in general, I suggest any Linux manual that comes with a boxed distribution. When I was starting out, the Linux Mandrake 7.0 manual was great and I learned a tremendous amount from it. Nowadays you can find tons of information from Google. For example, "Linux file permissions" returns many results (such as this) that will explain the material to you for free.

Check out the Rute User's Tutorial. It's loaded with info that you'd have to scour the web to find. From basic to advanced, it's one of the best layed-out resources I know of. It is somewhat Redhat-centric, which (ever-so-slightly) lessens its worth to me, but that should be a plus to you, as long as you keep in mind that not all the commands will work on all distros.

Enjoy!
--- Cerbere