Welcome to the world of UNIX (and work-alikes)!
--- Nikhil Joshi nikhiljosh@runbox.com wrote:
Boot Messages
When linux boots there is a plethora of messages which really bugs me. Can I have a simple message like "Welcome To Linux" when I boot into linux instead of those overwhelming messages (those telling me my processor type, HDD type etc...or the ones telling me that the startup services are ' [ OK ] ' )
These messages are an essential part of your startup schema, and enable you to verify whether the bootup has happened properly. You get them in Windows too, albeit in a diferent form. If you're running Win9x, just hit "Esc" when the Windows splash screen appreas, and you'll soon be disabused of any notions you had that the Windows starup is entirely GUI based. Win NT entirely sidesteps the issue by not showing any startup diags - you have to check Event Viewer for get at the details of the startup error messages. Rather a roundabout way of getting to know that your bootup had problems, IMO.
I guess you *could* substitute pretty pictures for the startup system, but you'll have to dig around to find out how. I wouldn't bother, though, because the startup messages are your main clue to system boot and subsequent performance. And, yes, all Unices start up this way. If you really want to figure out how, check the documentation in the /usr/src/linux hierarchy (assuming you've installed the kernel source).
Mail Server
Can I set up my own mail server ? In the PCQ's latest issue there are instructions on setting it in intranet. Can I set it up on my workstation ? Is there some site giving all the instructions Has someone among you tried it?
Check /usr/doc/HOWTO, or /usr/share/doc/HOWTO, or if these are unavailable, go to http://linuxdoc.org/HOWTO. Look for the mail related HOWTOs. Linux offers you a vast range of options on setting up mailservers. I'd recommend qmail or postfix (for details on both, check the archives, which will point you to how to obtain, set up and use them), or alternatively, do a google search for them. I assume you're familiar with IP networking and have some background in mail server operation, else the HOWTOs will give you all that you need.
Linux and Multimedia
Yesterday I played a mpg file for the first time on linux and I was very disppointed by the performance . The file was almost played in slow motion :-( Windows media player gave me a better performance.Guess Linux and multimedia don't go well together .
No idea on this, since I'm not into multimedia. Maybe someone on the group could help. BTW, what is your RAM and video config, since problems here could reflect on your multimedia performance?
Kernel Comiplation
I am relatively new to linux and when I get some major problems I get atleast one suggestion to ' compile the kernel ' . What does it mean? I only know C and Pascal programming . Can someone enlighten me please.
Well, the kernel is written in C (mostly) so you ought to find it easy to grep through the kernel sources. A tiny portion of the kernel (~3000 lines, IIRC) is in assembly, mainly the startup and bootloader routines.
Kernel compilation means recompiling your kernel after you have made changes to the kernel. You don't need to be a programmer to do this; there are utilities availbale for you to tweak your kernel for various options, ranging from processor type to multimedia settings. Get the Kernel-HOWTO from http://linuxdoc.org and read it through. It will give you all that you need, and then some, on kernel compilation and options.
An experiment you can try in the meantime, if you have the kernel sources installed (you ought to have a few dozen megabytes of files and directories in /usr/src), is to go to the /usr/src/linux directory, su to root and type "make xconfig" if you're running X, or "make menuconfig" if in text mode. This will give you a complete list of settable kernel options. CAVEAT: make sure you're completely familiar with your hardware config before tweaking anything or you might end up with a dead system. Also, keep your boot and rescue floppies handy, just in case.
HTH,
Krishnan
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