Legal Notice

The present Linux-Mandrake distribution install guide was designed and edited by the MandrakeSoft S.A. company.

Copyright 1998 MandrakeSoft S.A.

http://www.linux-mandrake.com/

ISBN 2-9513476-4-2

(ISBN 2-9513476-8-5 for the French edition)

This manual is distributed either in its entirety or as a part, without modification, under electronic form and printed form, under the condition that:

1. this legal notice is kept in its entirety and without modification,
2. and this is not for a commercial use.

For any other use, authorization must be obtained from MandrakeSoft S.A..

Both "Mandrake" and "Linux-Mandrake" brand name and design are registered.

Table of contents

Chapter 1 : Foreword

• 1. Linux
• 2. Free software
• 3. Graphical interfaces
• 4. Linux-Mandrake
• The Concept
• 5. This manual...
• 6. Acknowledgements

Chapter 2 : Installing Linux-Mandrake

• 1. Installation disk
• 2. Take PCMCIA ports into account
• 3. Choice of installation method
• Installing via NFS
• Installation from a hard disk
• Installation by FTP
• Installation by SMB
• 4. Problems–who to contact?
• Different problems that may occur (non exhaustive list)
• You aren't able to start the installation procedure
• Your network card is not recognized during a FTP or a NFS installation
• No Linux-Mandrake system is detected (CD-ROM, FTP, NFS, hard disk or SMB installation)
• The procedure stops during the installation of packages
• You are unable to set up your video card
• You are unable to set up your network card (it is not recognized by the system)
• You are unable to set up your printer
• You are unable to create your LILO boot floppy
• You are unable to install LILO
• You are not able to boot your old operating system
• The installation program stops abruptly with a message invoking "signal 11" or "signal 7"
• What can you do in case of a persistent problem?
• Detailing the problem
• Contacting the Mandrake installation technical support
• Then wait...

Chapter 3 : Setting up Linux-Mandrake

• 1. Reinstallation/configuration of
  lilo
• 2. Installing your mouse
• 3. Installing your video card
• 4. Setting up your network
• 5. Installing of your printer
• 6. Installation of your sound card
• 7. Setting up the daemons: linuxconf

Chapter 4 : Discover KDE

• 1. The history of KDE
• 2. Introduction to KDE
• An HTML desktop
• The K menu, panel and task bar
• Using context-dependent menus
• Drag-and-drop
• The different desktops
• Finding help
• 3. Using the desktop
• What is the desktop?
• Browse the file structure with KFM
• 4. K Menu
• Different items
• The Disk Navigator menu
• The KPanel menu
• 5. File and folder management
• Presentation of the KFM menus
• The different views possible
• Creation and manipulation of files and folders
• Searching for files
• 6. Customizing the desktop
• Customizing the K menu
• KDE Control Centre
• The Applications menu
• The Desktop menu
• Information menu
• The Keys menu
• The Window menu
• KFM: setting up KFM
• 7. Advanced use of KDE
• KFM
• MIME Types and Applications
• Management of bookmarks
• Configure the browser
• Browse the Web with KFM
• Principle
• Viewing a Web page, downloading a file
• Launching programs on start-up
• Mount the disk drive or CD-ROM drive

Chapter 5 : The KDE programs

• 1. Text Editors
• 2. Image editing programs
• 3. Use the Internet!
• Use of the kppp dialler
• The mail viewer, Kmail
• 4. Manage you system
• Manipulate programs: kpackage
• The processes: KPM and KDE TaskManager
• Disk space: kdiskfree
• Runlevels: ksysv
• Character font management
• Management of print files

Chapter 6 : GNOME

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Presentation of the environment
• 3. Drag'n'Drop
• 4. Launchers
• 5. More about panels
• Manipulation with the mouse
• Panel configuration parameters
• 6. In conclusion

Chapter 7 : Introduction to Linux

• 1. Starting up and shutting down
• Start-up
• The login procedure
• Shutting down
• 2. Linux shells
• 3. Using the Bash shell
• The su command
• The cd command
• The ls command
• The rm command
• The mkdir and rmdir commands
• The more/less commands
• The grep command
• The ps command
• The kill command
• The tar command
• 4. Using the Linux multitasking system
• 5. Output redirection
• 6. Understanding processes

Chapter 8 : System administration

• 1. The User and Groups
• 2. Managing users
• Creating an account
• Special accounts
• 3. Management of programs (RPM)
• RPM on the command line
• Install a program
• Update a program
• Uninstall a program
• Verify a program
• Interrogate a program
• Other options
• KPackage
• 4. Linux-Mandrake installation
• The boot
• Runlevels
• The file /etc/inittab
• The scripts /etc/rc.d/
• /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit
• /etc/rc.d/rc
• \em /etc/rc.d/rcx.d/
• /etc/rc.d/init.d/ and the management of services
• The program chkconfig
• The files .bashrc et .bash_profile
• 5. Using linuxconf
• Network
• Basic configuration of the machine
• Name resolution (DNS)
• Routing and gateways
• Search path for the machine name
• NIS
• PPP/SLIP/PLIP
• User accounts
• File systems
• Base
• Options
• DOS Options
• Others
• More...

Chapter 9 : Documentation

• 1. The "HOWTOs"
• 2. The man pages
• 3. Interesting documents on the net
• 4. Books

Chapter 10 : Appendix

• 1. FAQ
• "Unable to display the contents of the directory xxx"
• "Unable to read in xxx. The file does not exist or access is refused."
• "KFM cannot be connected to 'localhost'"
• "My printer worked with previous versions of Linux-Mandrake, but not with version 6.0"
• The entries in the K menu have been duplicated after updating a previous version of Linux-Mandrake to version 6.0.
• "How can you delete LILO?"
• "LILO is not installed correctly. What shall I do?"
• "How can I modify the configuration of my keyboard?"
• 2. Linux-Mandrake specifications
• 3. List of hardware supported
• 4. Description of packages supplied with Mandrake

Chapter 11 : Glossary

Footnotes