Setting up a RedHat Linux and Apache Web Server
- Linux Installation (continued):
-
- Difficulties
- The two hardest parts of bringing up a full Linux system are configuring
the X Window System (in particular configuring the video card and monitor),
and configuring the network.
- The X Window System
- In RedHat 6.0, configuring the X Window System, with GNOME as the default
desktop manager, seemed to me much easier than RedHat 5.2. If you are running
RedHat 5.2, which I recommend for beginners, I recommend that you try fvwm.
For me, the key to getting X Windows to run was to know the vertical and
horizontal scan frequencies of the monitor as well as the screen resolution
and color depth. This information, I found in the manual for the monitor. If
you are lucky enough to have a "brand name" monitor, you may find it in the
list of supported monitors, in which case, you life is easy. Otherwise, you
need to do a custom installation. All my video cards were automatically
recognized.
- I strongly recommend that before you attempt to configure
and bring up the X Window System that you connect another computer via the
network using telnet. The reason is if you make a serious error in the screen
configuration, you can end up with the black screen (as is often seen on
Windows). In one case the ctl-alt-backspace did not work for me and I could
not get back to a simple command line. Consequently, I had to press the reset
button -- arggggg. If you have another terminal connected via telnet and the
network, you can always patch things up or do a reboot without hitting the
reset switch.
- Setting Up Networking
- For setting up the network, I strongly recommend getting a good book. See
my resources page for more information. If you know what you are doing, you
can attempt to setup the network while you are loading the operating system.
However, it is often much easier to first bring up a Linux without networking
and then add the networking. In this way, you can play around with various
configurations and commands until you get it right.
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