Root User-With great power comes great responsibilities.

Every Linux user has to use the root login from time to time.There are some things that cannot be done on the Linux system without logging in as root. However,use of root login in regular use is not advisable and should be avoided.This is because the root login does not restrict anything that you want to do. With as simple command issued by accident, it could render the Linux system useless as well as ignite the loss of that that are critically important. Hence, experimenting with the commands should be avoided when logged in as root user.


Instead use 'su root' or 'sudo' or 'su -c' depending on your system to accomplish certain tasks without re-logging into Linux system.


With great power comes great responsibilities.

Is Linux really suitable for developing countries like Nepal?

Linux is a free and open source operating system.Many of us are using Windows family of operating systems for many years.And,in developing countries like Nepal,the cost of Windows operating systems are much higher than affordable.Due to these reasons,people are using pirated versions of these operating system.
What could the people possibly do when they get a full-featured operating system which provides as much as same features as Windows provide at the cost of $0 or Rs.0(Rupee is the currency of Nepal)?
Sure,the people will move onto Linux.
But the problem lies on the working stragedy of Linux.It is harder for beginners to install programs in Linux without the fast internet connection and developing countries lacks this facility to a greater scope.
Another option is to develop a Linux  or modify existing one to provide almost all facilities that Windows machine provides out of the box..
Hope people will be encouraged to migrate into Linux.

Basic Terminologies and Principles used in Linux

Linux is a totally new type of operating system when it comes to principles.Some astonishing principles of a common Linux system is that it treats everything as a file.Each piece of hardware connected to the Linux system is maintained and referred as file.The /dev directory holds such types of device related files.


Here are some common Linux directories with their explanations:-
/ The main directory called root.It holds the actual Linux program as well as sub-directories.It can be compared as C: drive in Windows.
/home
This directory holds the users' home directories.It can be treated as Documents and Settings in Windows.
/bin
It stands for binaries.It holds the executable files for Linux programs.Compare to C:/Program Files
/usr
It holds many other user-oriented directories like man directory which holds manual entries for commands which can be accessed by typing 'man <command> without the <>.
/usr/bin
It holds user-oriented Linux programs.
/usr/spool
This directory holds spool files for printing as well as mail.uucp directory holds files copied between Linux computers.
/dev
As said earlier,Linux treats everything as file.The /dev holds devices.There are special files that serve as gateways to physical computer components.
/usr/sbin
This directory holds system administration files which all acts as specific commands.
/sbin
It holds system files that are usually run automatically by the Linux system.
/etc
This directory and its sub-directories holds many Linux configuration files.Compare to Windows Registry.
/lib
This directory holds shared library files ending with extension *.so.* Compare to C:\Windows\ directory in Windows system.


Remember man pages are a great help for beginners.

Installing programs in Linux easy and hard way

Many Linux beginners come into a question about how to install a program in Linux.This question has been solved dramatically using an inbuilt Package Manager.But still one should learn how to install programs manually because the precompiled packages sometime didn’t work.I have faced a great problem when software manager fails to resolve dependencies error.
So the best approach would be to compile the program manually.
For that there are some prerequisites that needs to be fulfilled.

• A compatible GCC compiler(Opensuse installs it when you select Base Development packages during the installation)
• Make(Included in Development packages)

You can search for these packages in your favorite Package Manager.
Just for example,you have downloaded the VLC tarball(vlc-1.1.5.tar.bz2) .The steps involved are

• Extract the files anywhere.
• Open the directory in terminal.(Open in  terminal can be added in Nautilus by adding a software plugin gnome-open in terminal)
• Type 'sh configure' without the inverted commas and wait for it to run.
• If any dependencies are missing,then it will show the name.Search for it on the internet and download the file and install it using steps mentioned here.
• If everything is ok,the script will make new files and exit.
• Now run 'make'
• It will compile the program.
• After run 'sudo make install'
• It will install the program onto required directory.

Here 'sudo' command is used to switch between root privileges.Some Linux versions like Ubuntu use 'su -c' instead.
Configure is a script that checks for prebuilding requirements and make a makefile which is used by make program to compile and install the program.
Remember:
Don't delete the directory after installing the program because it will be necessary if you want to uninstall the program that you have installed manually.
A program can be uninstalled by issuing the command 'sudo make uninstall' on the same directory.
 

Linux for beginners

Many people move onto Linux with a hope of being legal.Not all are expert in Linux and some of us may not even know what Registry in Windows mean(?).But anyway we want a free and open source operating system that is fast,stable,easy to use and of course free of craps and monitors(Remember Alexa on Windows?).


The first question to beginners is not whether to use Linux or not,but the real question is that which Linux distribution to use?Ubuntu?Arch? and what type of?RPM based?Debian based? and tons of these similar questions.


Linux is a taste.I have installed more than 10 distributions right from beginning where I was learning L from Linux.As of my personal taste, I recommend Opensuse to any type of Linux users as I have used it right from beginning.


Why Opensuse?

• It is solidly designed right from kernel.
• It uses Anaconda,a graphical installer which is great for beginners.
• It is more stable and consumes less memory.
• It has tight administrative policies including App armor.

Opensuse Official Homepage