Running Linux, Third Edition

Getting Help

You will undoubtedly require some degree of assistance during your adventures in the Linux world. Even the most wizardly of Unix wizards is occasionally stumped by some quirk or feature of Linux, and it’s important to know how and where to find help when you need it.

The primary means of getting help in the Linux world are Internet mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups. If you don’t have online access to these sources, you might be able to find comparable Linux discussion forums on other online services, such as on local BBSes, CompuServe, and so on.

A number of businesses provide commercial support for Linux. A “subscription fee” allows you to call consultants for help with your Linux problems. Several vendors provide commercial support. However, if you have access to Usenet and Internet mail, you may find the free support found there just as useful.

Keeping the following suggestions in mind should improve your experiences with Linux and guarantee you more success in finding help to your problems:

Consult all available documentation first.

The first thing to do when encountering a problem is consult the various sources of information listed in the previous section and Appendix A. These documents were laboriously written for people like you—people who need help with the Linux system. Even books written for Unix in general are applicable to Linux, and you should take advantage of them. Impossible as it might seem, more than likely you will find the answer to your problems ...