To kick this column off, I answered the ten questions most often asked by new
Linux users. In the next issue, I will respond to your own questions; e-mail them to me at stumpmike@linuxcare.com. The author of the toughest question — the stumper — gets a mug!
To kick this column off, I answered the ten questions most often asked by new Linux users. In the next issue, I will respond to your own questions; e-mail them to me at stumpmike@linuxcare.com. The author of the toughest question — the stumper — gets a mug!
What is the easiest way to get online using Linux?
If you are using Red Hat Linux, simply use the bundled network configurator tool to add a PPP interface, and then enter basic information such as your dialup phone number and IP address, and you should be up and running.
Debian users can use the pppconfig package to configure PPP via a series of menus and dialogs.
If you use the KDE desktop environment (included with most Linux distributions), an easy option is kppp. Configuring kppp requires a few entries into setup menus. Before a non-root user can successfully use kppp, pppd must be setuid to root. To see how to do this, peruse the PPP HOWTO. This may already be done in your distribution.
Another option is wvdial, a handy dialing program. How do I get wvdial if I can’t get online, you ask? You can always download wvdial to a Windows machine, copy it to a floppy, and then transfer it to your Linux system. Remember that DOS file systems truncate file names, so rename the file back to its original…
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