Running Linux, 5th Edition - Matthias Kalle Dalheimer [502]
For information of a more interactive nature, the following sources are commonly used by Linux users:
Usenet newsgroups
Most newsgroups relevant to Linux are under the comp.os.linux hierarchy, but many also are regional, distribution-specific, or dedicated to open source projects.
IRC
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is the traditional Unix chat system, and is often used for getting immediate answers to questions from other users.
Mailing lists
Most Linux and open source projects, from the kernel to KDE, use mailing lists as the primary means for project developers to communicate. Many Linux user groups have mailing lists that can provide a local perspective.
Linux Documentation Project
The primary source of free documentation on Linux is the Linux Documentation Project (LDP ). The main LDP web site is http://www.tldp.org, but there are many mirror sites around the world, one of which may be closer to you or less busy.
The documentation in the Linux Documentation Project is organized into several types. The Guides are long, often book-length, manuals covering in detail such larger topics as networking. The HOWTOs are medium-length documents covering specific tasks, such as configuring a sound card. For smaller tasks on specialized topics that don't justify a full HOWTO, there are mini-HOWTOs. Finally, there are a number of FAQs that answer frequently asked questions on Linux.
The LDP documents are provided in a number of different formats, including HTML, plain text, PDF, and PostScript. Many of the documents have also been translated into different languages by a team of volunteer translators.
FTP Sites
Although your Linux distribution provides precompiled binary packages for many Linux applications, often you need to build them from source code because the software is not available in binary form, you need to look at the source code, or you simply prefer to build it yourself from source. Here are some popular sites for the main sources of software that runs on Linux.
Many of these sites are extremely popular and busy. It is highly recommended that you use a mirror site (another computer system that downloads the software from the primary site on a regular basis) that is closer to you. A mirror site is usually easier to connect to and runs faster.
As well as the FTP sites listed here, many of the web sites listed in this Appendix Also have corresponding FTP sites for downloads.
FTP site
Description
ftp://ftp.gnu.org
The main download site for the GNU Project
ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org
A large Linux archive site, and one of the first Linux archive sites to be set up (as sunsite.unc.edu)
ftp://ftp.x.org
Archive for X Window System software
World Wide Web Sites
This section lists just a few of the thousands of Linux web sites on the Internet, broken down into somewhat arbitrary categories. Due to the dynamic nature of the Web, some of these sites may no longer be active and many new ones will undoubtedly exist by the time you read this.
General Documentation
These sites offer online documentation , articles about Linux, or information geared to specific areas of Linux.
Web site
Description
http://www.andamooka.org
A web site with a number of free online books, some of which are Linux-related, such as KDE 2.0 Development
http://www.justlinux.com
A site of news and forums
http://www.linas.org/linux
Linux Enterprise Computing site
http://www.linux-laptop.net
Linux on Laptops site
http://www.linuxfocus.org
Linux Focus, a free online magazine
http://www.linuxgazette.com
Linux Gazette, a monthly online magazine
http://www.linuxjournal.com
Web site for Linux Journal magazine
http://www.linuxmagazine.com
The web site for Linux Magazine
http://www.linuxquestions.org
Linux Questions, a very popular and information-rich