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I'm planning to run SuSe Linux on an old computer I have. Can anyone recommend a good book about Linux to get? I don't have any previous experience w/ Linux. Also, does anyone know of free computer security programs for linux that are a must-have? Thanks for any help. :)
There was this book called "Linux SuSe for the Window's User" (as part of a series) that I saw at my local library one time. As for free information online, http://www.suse.com/de/security/general/index.html has some background information as well as security news and updates for SuSe. :)
Hey Jareds411,
For Linux books, try Linux Book Reviews
As for Linux security tools...
Nessus
Ethereal
Snort
Netcat
...are just a few of the many tools for Linux. Probably your distro will come with some tools.
Also Knoppix-STD is a really cool bootable distro with lots of security tools.
Also, always remember that Google is your friend.
Have fun!
Later,
mjk
Ahh yes, always use google for searching for information and the like. I personally would second the netcat and snort download as they are very useful for any linux user.
Ok, I'll check out all that. Also, does anyone know if best buy carries linux compatable wireless networking adapters?
If you get the SuSE box set of 9.1 you get 2 double sided DVD's 5 CD's, 2 books and a sticker.
The books are comprehensive and geared towards both beginners and the more advanced users.
It's a damn good value.
Wireless Networking doesn't have much to do with the OS. And yes, they do.. that's where I got my wireless networking gear! ;)
Quote:
Originally posted here by Jareds411
I'm planning to run SuSe Linux on an old computer I have. Can anyone recommend a good book about Linux to get? I don't have any previous experience w/ Linux. Also, does anyone know of free computer security programs for linux that are a must-have? Thanks for any help. :)
Sams' Teach Yourself Linux in 24 Hours
I have yet to see a SAM's book I have not liked yet......
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...33438?v=glance
SuSE not too bad, it has alot of packages & is user friendly. Now, gore mentioned the libranet distro in a tutorial and I have been running it ever since prolly for almost a year now. Who else do you know that would take the time to write a detailed tutorial on such a oddball distro?
Back to the subject, for books I would recommend Sam's as an appetizer & for the full course O'reilly's Practical Unix & Internet Security, 3rd Edition ..... It talks about how unix was never designed to military standards and how unsecure it can be and how you can try to make it secure. A very good read!!!!!
If you're planning on accessing the internet with this box I suggest you secure the OS right after you install. Try this article on securing Linux. Also check out Linux Security HOWTO
mjk
Just out of curiousity may I ask why you are choosing SUSE out of the 100's of distros available. As a newbie, I feel the bootable distros are a great tool. As for installation distros for beginners, there is Debian, Mandrake, Red Hat 9, and Ice Pack. When you are choosing books, I would not go for a distro specific book. There is a slight chance you will not like the distro and as a fact that many things are simiar, some distros have their own packages. I would also like to remind you of the built in manuals, you will spend most of your time reading them. There is a WEALTH of knowledge.
THE MAN COMMAND IS YOUR FRIEND!!! USE IT!!!
Reminds me of the www.Haxxxor.com tutorial, you all know they will be filming the Haxxxor 2 video at The Fifth Hope!Quote:
I chose SuSe because I've heard that it's a very easy to install, user-friendly distro of linux. :)
Do you have any concept of linux at all? Also, are you looking for a FREE distro or do you mind paying if the distro is worth it?
Yes, I do have some knowledge of linux. I don't mind paying either, because of the better support of a commercial product.
What is you main interest in linux, what will this system be used for?
I use TurboLinux for my MP3/Audio System.
I use Linspire for my Guest PC.
I use Debian as my main system and I have a Debian Server.
I use OpenBSD as my main server for most services.
I kinda gotta agree with Info Tech Geek on one thing and that's that IMHO SuSe is not the friendly choice for begginer's in Linux. You should start with Mandrake (my choice), Debian, or RedHat.
I've heard briefly about that, is that kinda like Lindow's?Quote:
I use Linspire for my Guest PC.
EDIT: I also use OpenBSD for my main services (FTP, HTTP, etc). It's a pretty stable OS for those services IMO :) I use my WinMe for my Main/MP3 and my Win98 as a guest/testing kinda box. :)
Lindows Inc created the LinspireOS. (So, yes Lindows is Linspire)
Also, Linspire is designed off of Debian..
Really? Well s**t me.. I feel dumb. I never used either, just heard a little of both from a couple of friends. I'd wanna try it out sometime, but gotta setup another box for it. Thanks Info for the information.
Lindows went to Linspire after the MS lawsuit...
Why is SuSE bad for a beginner? My GF uses SuSE sometimes...
ok, i actually just got started with linux myself. I have a laptop that was just begging to be played around with. So i got my sister to burn a copy of RH9 for me (i was offline at the time). Couldn't for the life of me get that thing to work. Until i hit the library (yay for free i-net) and looked around online for some help. So i printed a bunch of laptop-specific info and went to work. I got it to install... then i said "ok, now what?" i was staring at a command line with no idea what to do.
After another trip to the library I came home with one book: "Running Linux" distributed by o'reilly. That book was the single most helpful tool i had (with the man pages of course). It doesn't really go into security aside from "don't use root" and "give root a complex password" but for me it was a great stepping stone (having had no *nix experience earlier).
Also, i might have just missed reading this, but did anyone suggest the linux documentation project? http://www.tldp.org/ lots of great howtos and other stuff.
doesn't it feel good to be one step closer to being free from microsoft?
I personally learned a lot on Slack... I had an easy install regardless of the newb factor, unlike everyone else says about it being hard. But yes... bootables rock. Damn Small linux is great, not overwhelming at all, then knoppix for KDE and software, then go for the installation. Besides, it's good to be familiar with a bootable in the case of data recovery and whatnot.
edit
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
Has anyone messed around with this? I feel like doin some messin this weekend...
Opinions, suggestions would rock.
I personally have to say, that for my everday use, SuSE is the distro of my choice. It is VERY user friendly, and its EXCELLENT for begginers. SuSE is a wonderful distro. Ive heard many negative things about redhat, like the support on their site is said to be crap. SuSE has terrific hardware support, its very well documented, and has an excellent support from its site and the entire SuSE community. I have tried mandrake for 3 days, before tossing the cds out the window. The security tools that come along with the distro are awesome too. I recently started using the SuSEYOU tool, to keep everything patched and upto date. It works real good.
Another issue is (its only my own personal opinion) i trust SuSE alot more than many other distros. I myself use other distros too, depending on what i need todo (devil-linux for a firewall, SuSE for everday stuff, knoppix std for security testing, but if i were to run an 'uptime' my suse box is used alot more than the others.
I will admitt that compared to other linux distros, suse uses alot of its own paths... making it a lil more hassle to setup certain applications.. but thats not getting in my way from using it.
My advice is to give suse a fair try, until you are a bit more familiar with linux in general, then go for a system which is a bit more dry, something along the lines of gentoo, slackware, maybe even a BSD variant.
Cheers.
How do I make sure that my graphics card/Ethernet card will work on linux?
If you use SUSE then you can search their hardware database here: http://cdb.suse.de/?LANG=en_UKQuote:
Originally posted here by Jareds411
How do I make sure that my graphics card/Ethernet card will work on linux?
But if you do a search on google http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...rdware+support You can find out for the rest of the major distros.
I have had great success with Netgear pcmcia cards.
They work great with a default install of Knoppix-STD
SGS
If you have an Nvidia graphics card, you can go to:
http://www.nvidia.com
And download the drivers for the cards there, or when you update with YAST2, it will grab them. I wouldn't be to worried about it not finding hardware, it does it very well.
And who the hell was that guy doubting his use of SuSE ? Asking why he chose it and paid for it, ugh, *Slap*.