Linux What is this Linux thing?

how about a cli 102 or 201 or a bash scripting 101

 

Scripting is one thing Brett had in mind some time ago, and is perfectly possible. Bash scripting is quite easy to do (and explain). I'll talk to Brett about it

CLI 102 or 201 is a bit harder. The commands you use are dependant on your needs. But if you have topics on what to do it about, I can try to whip something up

 

I know that this is a little OT, but what about a Programming in C 101? I'm looking at getting into programming (F77 and F90 at the mo, but I'll branch out into C eventually) and a starter guide would be useful.

Andy

 

lol, the thing is more that i dont know what else can be done

 

It's Linux, the sky is the limit... And even then, in the science part of the repositories/tree there's probably some space program

 

Being a Linux n00b, I don't really know what to ask for. Your guides have been a strong part of my foundation in Linux.
I really liked the server ones. Though I am in the boat where I really don't know what else can be done.

In Server 1 and 2 you showed us how to set up a remote server, manage it, and make it public. What would it take to make it into a web server for a website? Just an index.html in the main folder? How would you set it so if someone tries to access <my-ip>/folder/ that it shows a Forbidden message rather then the directory contents? Or is this more of a "Google it" thing rather then a Linux thing?

Also, what if most people are like me and don't know what can be done? What would it take to do a basic article that skims over some of your favorite uses / things to do with Linux? Then give the readers a thread to respond in and see what everyone liked the most and then do a proper article on that topic?

Also more CLI and Bash would definately interest me. I know I can go online and find a wiki or such to tell me what the commands do, but a walk through is simple, informative, and quite alot easier for me to digest.

Hmm... if I think of something more I'll let you know.

 

i do see what you mean there, when i first started using linux at the start of the year i would think if this x could be done under linux... now its how x is done under linux

 

Google will probably help you out yes, but to make a "production quality" webserver I'd recommend a different approach. In the Server articles I approached it from an ease of use stance. Installed Ubuntu Desktop and built up from there. Lots of default configs, lots of automatically installed features...

On a frontline server I'd start from a security stance, install a trimmed server distro (Debian or Gentoo), and build up from there, adding the needed things, and nothing more. Plugging security holes, keeping it minimal (no GUI and the likes), no unneeded services... Also, keeping users in line, password protecting access (like you said, with the forbidden messages).

Might sound cliché, but everything, except gaming or proprietary software, can be done on Linux, often much easier or faster. I mostly listen to music, watch movies, browse the net, chat (IRC & MSN), do basic photo editing (The Gimp & imagemagick [the images in Bretts articles are mostly resized/watermarked by me/my scripts], script (using Vim, probably the best editor ever made). Burn CDs using K3b, download stuff, do schoolwork, including things like LabView...

But I also play a game now and then. But not gaming like most do, I'm an avid mudder, using kMuddy or just a good old fashioned terminal, but also things like Uplink or Defcon or Wormux... (mostly FUN games, not graphical ones)

Bash scripting is something that keeps popping up... And I'll probably do a guide/article on it (introducing Bash scripting, and make a working example of how it can make your life easier in photo resizing & editing using imagemagick)

 

Now by suggesting these things here, I don't mean to imply I won't look into it on my own. But I figure why not throw the ideas out ther.

* Introduction to Linux security. If not a step-by-step guide of how to secure a box then a general guide of what makes a box secure and what to look for.
* Front line servers / web servers

Well honestly you just covered those. Let me try this instead. How about what I do with my Windows computer and have used Macs for:

Web Page design (Notepad++ / Photoshop)
Music Videos (Windows Movie Maker (boo!) / iMovie (yay!))
Instant Messaging (MSN / Yahoo)
Rip DVDs (RipIt4Me -> DVDdecrypter -> AutoGK)
Watch said rips (VLC Player)
Internet (Firefox)
E-mail (Hotmail)

Linux Options:
Web Page Design (Text Editor / GIMP)
Music Videos (???)
Instant Messaging (aMSN / GAIM)
Rip DVDs (haven't ever looked)
Watch said rips (according to your links VLC Player works in Linux! )
Internet (Firefox)
E-mail (Hotmail)

Things I have wanted to do (on any system)
Host my own webserver (Bet you never saw that one coming! )
Programming (C++ / Ruby / maybe Python?) (Either to make my own Apps or webscripts
Scripting (Really I don't know what you can do with Linux scripts unless a Script is like a *.bat file in Windows)

Hmmm well this was much to do about nothing...

 

hmm the security idea i quite like, its something ive sorta just left alone.
as for ripping dvd's ive found dvd::rip (package managers call it dvdrip) to be quite good

 

You can do allmost everything you can do on a system with a script on Linux. They are like .bat files in Windows, but 100000000000000000000 times more powerful and versatile.

dvd::rip is nice, but I mostly rip using CLI and mencoder (part of mplayer)

 

To make multimedia in Debian (or derivatives like Ubuntu) easy you might need to add a repository just makes things much simpler than compiling everything.

 

VIM does have colour support for all the languages I've used, C, C++, Java, Javascript, HTML and MySQL

 

Stop recommending Vim! Emacs Cheesecake

 

if you mean you want to make videos would ubuntu studio be what you're looking for? i've heard it's a media editing branch of ubuntu, but not much else about it.

 

Whoa. Cool. I never knew this existed!

Edit
Um... when I went to "http://ubuntustudio.org/downloads" (in Firefox 2.0.0.6) and was skimming it, my anti-virus popped up warning of 3 infections. False positive or something worse?

 

False positive.

 

I know from your CLI article, and most of your comments in posts that you hate GUI and live for CLI interfaces.
I know you said that CLI is faster, to you, then GUI.

Do you really think GUI is that inferior, or poses that many risks?
Is it that you believe GUI to be "evil" and CLI to not be?

Does it have something to do with customization or some other preference?
(Not knowing your age...)...does it come from being exposed to old DOS / other CLI enviroments mainly?
(I ask that because I grew up in GUI-only environments. (Now) ancient Macs with Number Muncher to Win98 to XP-SP2, etc.)

I know that you explicitly showed how to kill the GUI for the file server in your article, but still gave options to those who are GUI dependent.

I guess my main question is this:
- What makes you back CLI interfaces the way you do.
- What is the downfall of using a GUI such as Gnome to run your file/web server?
- Is it all personal preference, or is there actual tangible benefits?

Thanks if you take the time to reply.

 

Yes and no... For desktops, GUI is a requirement... But for servers (a big part of my life) GUI is not done.

CLI is straight to the point, no nonsense. GUI is a lot more up for interpretation. However, I don't consider software to be evil

It does. I'm a fast, minimalistic, core user. Gentoo + fluxbox does say something. My system is 100% tailored to my needs.

I'm 23, and yes, my first OS was MS DOS (6.0 IIRC). But I also used Windows in those days. However, because I'm administrating a bunch of servers, all CLI, that I took comfort in the dark terminal...

IMHO GUIs have no place on a server. They waste clock cycles, pose possible bugs/exploits, and are unneeded

I hope I answered them, if not, just point out where you'd like some more motivation on my behalf

 

That was quite clear.
Maybe I will look into Gentoo for my server then.
Since its just a personal website, there won't be anything sensitive on there that would be deadly if it went out on the vast net.
(I guess when I keep coming back to GUI for my server, I just keep thinking FTP-ing all my files to the server, and then I forget that its not the SERVER that I will be FTP-ing from. )

Thanks for all the time you've spent answering my noob questions.
I guess about the only one left is, if you don't have a vast array of tech savvy friends, whats the best way to test the security of your server?
I know a few Windows tools, like Wireshark, Snort, and such. But I don't really know how to do anything proper with them.
There are as many answers to that question as people that ask it I know, I've looked. But what have you found to be your favorites?
Just a nudge in the right direction is fine enough for me. I'm not beyond reading a few articles to teach myself,
even if I seem to be begging to have my hand held all the time.

Thanks again for all your time for helping me and everyone else.