Exploring linux?

[don]

The main reason for going to linux is that you have total control over your OS. The question is
how many of you linux users actually muck about in the /etc and rc* files??? Did you modify
your inetd.conf? I know of a lot of people that now have linux yet do not do so. They do not
look under the hood as it were. Which I find odd given this is one of the main reasons in my
mind to go to linux. Thoughts, rants, conspiracy theories are all welcome!

[phaza7]

That's why I want to portal over to Linux cause I love coding. And having code to my entire OS:-D
8-] that's just lovely now it will function however I desire man I as thought of writing my own OS some day maybe Linux will get me onto the right track.

[secretagent]

hi

Originally posted here by don
The main reason for going to linux is that you have total control over your OS. The question is
how many of you linux users actually muck about in the /etc and rc* files???

mainly to edit the config for something (/etc) or to disable something (rc*), though i mainly use chkconfig.

Did you modify your inetd.conf?

at one time to disable services that it uses. and then i came to disable inetd / xinetd altogether.

Thoughts, rants, conspiracy theories are all welcome!

i have no conspiracy theory for this topic at this stage!

regards,
mark.

[instronics]

There are 2 kinds of linux users......

one - the kind that put in the install cd and click next till they reach a graphical login, then go into KDE or GNOME thinking they are linux gurus or

two - the kind that setup the linux manually and configure most options in /etc manually.


I cannot imagine a linux system to run really well if you dont "muck" in /etc/* .

/etc is one of the most important folders also security wise. Like you said, its nice cause you can actually control your system the way you want. But you cannot control it if you dont muck inside /etc by hand. chkconfig, yast, etc will not give you 100% control over your OS. The MOST important tool on any *nix system is "vi". (editor)

So vi in /etc is really an important step not only to "control" your system, but also to actually learn it inside out. I would advice you to learn howto configure your system by hand in shell, before you trust the GUI, chkconfig, yast etc.....

Thats one of the fun parts of linux. Exploring it.

Good luck.

[the_JinX]

I muck about in all my config files..

I know what all the lines in my /etc/rc.d/rc.*'s do.. hell I wrote most of them from scrach..

This way I know what I got and use and if something fails, I know what failed me..
The box boots up in half the time a standard configuration boots (well about, i think even less then half) and it is safer that way.

Even if you look at it from the stupidest angle, you got security thrue obscurity..

Since I stopt using YAST and linuxconf (or whatever that RedHat app was called) I feel more of a man. And I know my box is a hell of a lot safer and (for me and only me) easier to maintain..

<shameless advertisement>wanna check out my /etc/apache/httpd.conf in action: http://tp2.be</shameless>

and ofcourse I #'ed out all the RPC crap and some other stupid services in the /etc/inetd.conf

the /etc/X11/XF86Config has the famous:

Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

added for the wheelmouse..


I manage and maintain 7 lboxes with slackware linux on 'm, rangeing from routers, firewalls and servers to high-end desktop machines
(well some others have root on most boxes (routers and servers) too, but you get the point)

[don]

I much about in my /etc* and rc*, just not as much as I would like. Time restrictions and all :-)
My new job has me working in Windows almost exclusively, and my time for *nix is little at the
moment. My main OS at home SuSE which I enjoy immeasurably. I've also administered a small
Solaris/HP-UX network for a little while.
I was just wondering if with the recent ease of Linux if more people were treating it like Windows now. Either way who cares! Give M$ some competition, and a real alternative.

[instronics]

I use SuSE as my main OS too, and yes...at the very begining i used the GUI and yast to get started....until (i got really lucky) i went to germany to the company suse itself and took the admin classes which opened my eyes regarding manuall configuration. Now i do everything manually. Its great. But i also understand your point that time is really important. Im also stuck with windows (due to my line of work), but i spend alot of my free time dedicated to linux.

By the way, which version of SuSE do you use?

I use 7.3 at the moment. I have tried out 8.1, but i hate it (the /etc/rc.config is not the same anymore, aswell as many other files and folders) which really pissed me off. They took out yast1 aswell, and made many changes to the system. KDE 3 is buggy and keeps crashing. So i went back to 7.3, using blackbox and all is well now.

I want to get myself freeBSD to check it out, i have heard that its neat.

Cheers.

[don]

I use SuSE 8.1 myself and I like it actually. Seen as I have not used 7.3 I suppose that is not
really a qualified endorsement! I am lucky in as much as I've used most distros and proprietary
ones as well. I have so many projects on the go plus courses plus work.... I just don't have as
much time as I would like to hone my linux skills. I have not had any KDE 3.0 probs though.
I would recommend OpenBSD myself it is more secure out of the box. ;-)
Cheers!