About this book

Sams'
Teach Yourself

Linux

in 24 Hours

Sams'
Teach Yourself

Linux

in 24 Hours

Bill Ball
Stephen Smoogen

201 West 103rd Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46290

To Cathy and Nat for their kindness, love, and warm fuzzies.—Bill Ball

Copyright ©1998 by Sams Publishing and Red Hat Press

FIRST EDITION

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. For information, address Sams Publishing, 201 W. 103rd St., Indianapolis, IN 46290.

International Standard Book Number: 0-672-31162-3

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 97-68005

01 00 99 98 4 3 2 1

Interpretation of the printing code: the rightmost multi-digit number is the year of the book's printing; the rightmost single-digit, the number of the book's printing. For example, a printing code of 98-1 shows that the first printing of the book occurred in 1998.

Composed in AGaramond and MCPdigital by Macmillan Computer Publishing

Printed in the United States of America

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Red Hat is a trademark of Red Hat Software, Inc.

Acquisitions Editor

Kim Spilker

Development Editor

Mark Cierzniak

Technical Editor

Steve Burnett

Project Editors

Andrew Cupp
Colleen Williams

Copy Editors

Margaret Berson
Howard Jones

Software Specialist

Jack Belbot

Team Coordinator

Tracy Williams

Cover Designer

Jay Corpus

Book Designer

Gary Adair

Production Team

Mike Henry
Linda Knose
Tim Osborn
Staci Somers
Mark Walchle

Indexer

Chris Wilcox

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to the following people at Macmillan: Theresa Ball, Lynette Quinn, Mark Cierzniak, Jeff Koch, Kim Spilker, and the now departed but sorely missed Cari Skaggs and Colleen Williams (best of luck in your new jobs!). Thanks are also due to the great folks at Red Hat Software, Inc., including Michael Johnson, Terry Tomlinson, and Ed Bailey. Finally, thanks to Linus Torvalds for Linux, Richard Stallman for the GNU GPL, and Margaret Berson for her copy editing skills.