Slackware Linux Essentials

The Official Guide To Slackware Linux

David Cantrell

Logan Johnson

Chris Lumens

This documentation is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. A copy of this license can be found in Appendix A.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Slackware is a registered trademark of BSDi and Patrick Volkerding.


Table of Contents
Preface
Conventions Used in This Book
I. Introduction
1. An Introduction to Slackware Linux
What is Linux?
What is Slackware?
Open Source and Free Software
2. Help
System Help
Online Help
II. Installation
3. Installation
Getting Slackware
System Requirements
Summary
III. Configuration
4. System Configuration
System Overview
Selecting A Kernel
Summary
5. Network Configuration
Network Hardware
Network Utilities
The /etc files
rc.inet1
rc.inet2
NFS (Network File System)
tcp_wrappers
Summary
6. The X Window System
xf86config
XF86Setup
Session Configuration Files
Servers and Window Managers
Selecting a Desktop
Exporting displays
Summary
7. Booting
LILO
LOADLIN
Dual Booting
Summary
IV. Using Slackware Linux
8. The Shell
Users
The Command Line
The Bourne Again Shell (bash)
Virtual Terminals
Summary
9. Filesystem Structure
Ownership
Permissions
Links
Mounting Devices
NFS Mounts
Summary
10. Handling Files and Directories
ls
cd
more
less
cat
touch
echo
mkdir
ln
cp
mv
rm
rmdir
Summary
11. Process Control
Backgrounding
Foregrounding
ps
kill
top
Summary
12. Essential System Administration
Users and Groups
Shutting Down Properly
Summary
13. Basic Network Commands
ping
finger
telnet
FTP Clients
email
lynx
wget
traceroute
Talking to Other People
Summary
14. Archive Files
gzip
bzip2
tar
zip
Summary
15. vi
Starting vi
Modes
Opening Files
Saving Files
Quitting vi
vi Configuration
vi Keys
Summary
16. Slackware Package Management
Overview of Package Format
Package Utilities
Making Packages
Making Tags and Tagfiles (for setup)
Summary
17. ZipSlack and BigSlack
What is ZipSlack/BigSlack?
Getting ZipSlack/BigSlack
Installation
Booting ZipSlack/BigSlack
Adding, Removing, and Upgrading Software
Common Problems
Getting Help
Summary
Glossary
A. The GNU General Public License
Preamble
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs