Ask Felgall

Hidden files are much easier to reference in Linux than in other operating systems. It all comes down to a single character on the front of the name.

When you need to find out anything about how your networking is configured and you are using a Linux operating system then the ifconfig command is the place to start. In this article we look at what typing this command in by itself might produce and what all of the cryptic entries in that output actually mean.

Network Configuration Report

Different Linux versions implement a slightly different set of commands but there is a significant group of commands that almost all versions understand. This reference page lists all of the most commonly supported commands along with a brief description of what each is for.

Common Linux Commands

Most Linux installs should take care of installing the appropriate driver for your sound card for you (assuming your sound is supported). If for some reason it doesn’t or if you replace the sound card and need to manually upgrade then you can easily do so with just a couple of simple commands at the command prompt.

Linux didn’t Install Sound on my System

After mentioning yesterday about people buying computers with Vista and then reformatting to install XP, the relative difficulty of installing operating systems was the next thing that occurred to me.

The main reason why people run Windows rather than other operating systems is because Windows comes pre-installed on their new computer and so they do not have to go through the relatively complicated process of actually installing an operating system and getting it to work with their hardware. At least that applies to those who buy computers with XP installed,, those with Vista installed who decide to revert back to XP still have the problem of doing the Windows XP install themselves or getting someone to do it for them.

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While this old tutorial talks about reinstalling Windows 98, the same situation can occur if you have to reinstall Windows XP or Vista. Windows just doesn’t like to play nice with other operating systems installed onto the same computer.

I Reinstalled Windows and it Wiped Out Linux

Unlike Windows and Mac operating systems, Linux does not have a graphical interface built in. Instead there are a fairly large number of graphical interfaces that have been built to run on Linux and it is your choice as to which one (or more than one) they you have installed.

In this article I describe how the various layers in Linux for setting up a graphical interface all fit together. At the time the article was written there was no one interface that was significantly more popular than any other, now the most popular graphical interfaces are Gnome and KDE and most people run one or both of these with other interfaces being used only rarely and usually for specific reasons.

Selecting a Graphical Interface

There are thousands of different web editors available for you to use on your own computer to create your web pages. The following is a small selection (including some that are free downloads) and most of these are available for both Windows and Mac (and in some cases Linux as well).

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