Red Hat Linux Fedora For Dummies ISBN:076454232x by Jon 'maddog' Hall and Paul G Sery John Wiley & Sons © 2004 This handy guide helps you work with Fedora by walking you through installing and configuring the OS, getting online, building a firewall, using Windows applications with Wine, tuning in with MPlayer, and much more Table of Contents Red Hat Linux Fedora for Dummies Introduction Part I - Installing Red Hat Linux Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 And in the Opposite Corner a Penguin? - Getting Ready for Red Hat Linux - Ready, Set, Install! - Getting Red Hat Linux - Part II - Got Net? Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 - Dial-Up Modems Still Get the Job Done - Broadband Rocks! Connect Locally, Communicate Globally: Connecting to a LAN - Only You Can Prevent Network Break-Ins Part III - Linux, Huh! What Is It Good For? Absolutely Everything! Chapter 9 - Gnowing GNOME Chapter 10 - Gnowing More Applications Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 - Surfin’ the Net and Groovin’ to Tunes - Live from the Net - Going to the Office - Days of Wine and Applications Part IV - Revenge of the Nerds Chapter 15 - Building Your Own, Private Network Chapter 16 - Creating Basic Linux Network Services Chapter 17 - Securing Your Future Bringing In the Red Hat Linux Repair Chapter 18 Man Chapter 19 - Building a Streaming Audio Server Part V - The Part of Tens Chapter 20 - Ten Problem Areas and Solutions Chapter 21 - Ten Security Vulnerabilities Part VI - Appendixes Appendix A - Red Hat Linux Administration Utilities Appendix B - Discovering Your Hardware Appendix C - Filing Your Life Away Becoming a Suit: Managing the Red Hat Appendix D Linux File System Appendix E - Revving Up RPM Appendix F - About the DVD Index Cheat Sheet - Red Hat Linux Fedora For Dummies List of Figures List of Tables List of Sidebars Back Cover Configure broadband Internet connections, work with OpenOffice.org, and more Red Hat has merged its flagship Red Hat Linux product with the Fedora Project to create the Fedora Core distribution This handy guide helps you work with Fedora It walks you through installing and configuring the operating system, getting online, building a firewall, using Windows applications with Wine, tuning in to streaming multimedia with MPlayer, and even creating your own secure, private network Discover how to: Get online with cable, DSL, or dial-up modems Manage e-mail with Mozilla and Evolution Troubleshoot a network Partition and defragment hard drives Use the GNOME desktop environment Work with OpenOffice.org About the Authors Jon “maddog” Hall is Executive Director of Linux International and author of several books on Linux Paul G Sery assists in operating and managing the Computer Science Research Institute Network Red Hat Linux Fedora for Dummies Jon ‘maddog’ Hal Paul G Sery Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc 111 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also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books Library of Congress Control Number: 2003112921 ISBN: 0-7645-4232-X Manufactured in the United States of America About the Authors Jon ‘maddog’ Hall is the executive director of Linux International, a vendor organization dedicated to promoting the use of the Linux operating system He has been in the computer industry for more than a quarter of a century (somehow, that sounds more impressive than just “25 years”), the past 18 years of which have been spent using, programming, and admiring the Unix operating system Jon works for Compaq Computer Corporation, where he is helping to shape Compaq’s strategy with respect to Linux Previously, Jon was the department head of computer science at Hartford State Technical College, where his students lovingly (he hopes) gave him the nickname ‘maddog’ as he tried to teach them operating system design, compiler theory, and how to live an honorable life While working for Digital Equipment Corporation in May of 1994, ‘maddog’ met Linus Torvalds, and was intelligent enough (his critics say ‘maddog’ was just lucky) to recognize the potential of the Linux operating system Linux changed his life, mostly by providing him with 22-hour workdays Since ‘maddog’ has started working with Linux, however, he has also started meeting more girls (in particular, his two godchildren) You can usually find Jon speaking at various Linux conferences and events (‘maddog’ just barks), and he has also been known to travel long distances to speak to local Linux user groups Paul G Sery is a computer systems engineer employed by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico He is a member of the Computer Support Unit, Special Projects, which specializes in managing and troubleshooting UNIX and Linux systems When he is not beating his head against systems administration problems, Paul and his wife, Lidia, enjoy riding their tandem bicycle through the Rio Grande valley They also enjoy traveling throughout Mexico Paul is the author of Linux Network Toolkit and the co-author of several other books He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico Dedication Jon ‘maddog’ Hall: To Mom & Pop (TM), whose aversion to things electronic is well known, and who can still call their son Jon rather than maddog Paul G Sery: To my wife, Lidia Maura Vazquez de Sery Author’s Acknowledgments I want to thank my wife, Lidia, for her patience, support, and good advice, all of which have made writing this book possible Without her, I would still be the pocket-protector-wearing, busted-eye-glass-fixed-with-tapelooking, “Star Trek”-watching, wrinkled-shirt-suffering, spaghetti-in-thepot-over-the-sink eating, Saturday-night-hacking sorry sorta guy Well, I never was into “Star Trek,” and I am pecking at this keyboard on Saturday night, but my beautiful wife sure has made me a better man I would also like to thank Anne Hamilton and Laura Lewin, who gave me the chance to write in general and this book in particular Both showed great confidence and patience in me I am very grateful and wish them success in their ventures And, of course, I want to thank the staff at Wiley Publishing, who provided considerable and essential help, too Terri Varveris and Rebecca Whitney provided constant and essential assistance I want to acknowledge a total lack of assistance in writing this book from my dog, the infamous Oso Maloso; eater of many things that should have ended his long career early, including but not limited to ant poison, Advil, many pounds of Tootsie Rolls one Halloween, several bags of chicken bones at one party, beer, and other assorted items; escaper of many fences and gates; and friend of the late, great Paunchy (whose name you see throughout this book) and other local dogs How useful was Oso? Well, one night while working on this book I got a phone call Leaving my apple pie behind next to the keyboard, I went downstairs to take the call and passed him on his way up I should have known something was up because he had a cell phone with him and no one answered when I picked up to take the call I went up the stairs while he went down The apple pie was gone Oso 1, human 0 — Paul G Sery Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/ Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development Project Editor Rebecca Whitney Acquisitions Editor Terri Varveris Technical Editors Korry and Susan Douglas Editorial Manager Carol Sheehan Permissions Editor Laura Moss Media Development Specialist Angela Denny Media Development Manager Laura VanWinkle Media Development Supervisor Richard Graves Editorial Assistant Amanda Foxworth Cartoons Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Production Project Coordinator Erin Smith Layout and Graphics Carrie Foster Joyce Haughey Kristin McMullan Mary Gillot Virgin Shae Lynn Wilson Proofreaders Laura Albert Carl William Pierce Charles Spencer Ethel M Winslow Indexer TECHBOOKS Production Services Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings Vice President and Publisher Mary C Corder Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Vice President and Publisher Diane Graves Steele Acquisitions Director Joyce Pepple Composition Services Vice President of Production Services Gerry Fahey Director of Composition Services Debbie Stailey Introduction Red Hat Linux Fedora For Dummies is designed to help you install and use Red Hat Linux This book shows you how to do fun and interesting — to say nothing of useful — tasks with Red Hat Linux This book is also designed to be an effective doorstop or coffee cup coaster Whatever you use it for, we hope that you have fun ... Introduction Red Hat Linux Fedora For Dummies is designed to help you install and use Red Hat Linux This book shows you how to do fun and interesting — to say nothing of useful — tasks with Red Hat Linux. .. You’re about to join the legions of people who have been using and developing Linux We have been using Unix for more than 20 years, Linux for more than 10 years, and Red Hat Linux for 10 years We have found Red Hat Linux to be a flexible, powerful operating system, capable... Penguin? Overview In This Chapter Napping through Linux History 101 Finding out what Red Hat Linux can do Using Red Hat Linux as a workstation Using Red Hat Linux network functions We see a penguin in your future