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I have seen people switching between consoles and X Windows and launching a variety of applications, all at one time. This seems rather cool! I would like some tips on using this interface.
Yes, the X approach is nothing if not cool. After launching an X Window session, you can reach other consoles by typing a "ctl-alt-F#" combination. If you try this in X by typing "ctl-alt-F2", you will see a new console session waiting for login and use. I think it's quite handy to have full-screen functionality when the need arises. Keep in mind that you always reach your default X session at "ctl-alt-F7".
Another great X feature, implemented by most modern window managers, is the pager utility. The pager utility provides a variety of virtual desktops that you can use to run programs. Each virtual desktop occupies a full-screen, making it more convenient to run many applications simultaneously by reducing desktop clutter. For example, you can start Corel Word- Perfect 8 full-screen in one desktop, move to a second to start downloading mail, then switch a third containing several xterm windows.
Now that I have Linux all set up, how do I get my e-mail delivered to my new, screamin' power system?
Linux seems to handle Internet e-mail differently from Windows. This general impression is accurate since Linux (and UNIX) allows you to split e-mail functions into several different pieces, each handled by a different "agent". The first such agent is the transport agent, which routes e-mail around networks. On many Linux distributions this function is handled by a famous Open Source program calledsendmail. Check out http//www.sendmail.org or do aman sendmail to see what it does.
Another important function is the retrieval agent, handled by programs likefetchmail. To me, Eric Raymond'sfetchmail is the unknown champion of Linux e-mail. It will go out and poll more than one account, retrieve your mail, and even sort it. And if you have a system which usesprocmail,fetchmail will deliver the mail toprocmail to sort out.
So how does one usefetchmail? One can callfetchmail from the command line with the commandfetchmail -u username pop. email.account.com. Just substitute your particular username and pop account. You must have a system that resolves itself on the Internet so ensure that/etc/resolv.conf works and that you can see Web sites by entering their name.
A last e-mail agent is the filtering agent, as implemented in programs likeprocmail.Procmail runs in the background with some preparation and sorts, moves, deletes, or forwards email. I useprocmail to sort out the several e-mail lists I belong to. Usually,procmail is included on each distribution. To get an idea about its versatility and power, typeman procmailex at a console or xterm prompt. This man page gives you a fair indication of its use. Also, navigate to Yahoo! and search onprocmail.
You will find Infinite Ink'sprocmail FAQ there. The FAQ offers comprehensive information on how to set upprocmail to manage mailing lists. This brief tour of e-mail agents will get you on the road to e-mail Nirvana. Note that the e-mail reader (client) you choose may eliminate the need forfetchmail, because some Linux e-mail clients include mail fetching. These includeXFmail,kmail, andmutt. To add a retrieval agent tomutt, you must recompile with the "enable POP3" option.
All of these programs can be found at your favorite Linux megasite like http//www.xnet.com/~blatura/ linapps.shtml. However, you can easily start with a fine client included with each distribution: the venerable Pine. Give Pine a try. It has been around for quite some time so it has a rather rich feature set and a rather unusual interface. Choosing an e-mail client seems to be a long personal experiment for most people in the Linux world, but you can do worse than to get started with Pine. Take a look at Pine's configuration when starting it, though, to ensure you have the basic information in there correctly. Pine can use either your local system or a remote SMTP server to send mail. I will leave some experimentation for you since it's good for the soul.
What tools can I use to monitor my system's memory and hard disk utilization or see a system usage display?
Administration and management tools ship with each Linux distribution as bundled components of the overall toolset. Red Hat, for instance, includes both the control-panel and the toollinuxconf, which can be used on any system with the required libraries installed.
Xosview is a fine graphical tool for overall management and support.Xosview continuously monitors system state data like memory, network connections, swapfile usage, etc. The desktop environments KDE and GNOME include their own graphical tools for monitoring system operations like printing.
In the classic console tools department you'll findtop for monitoring overall processes running at a given time,df for determining the free space on a disk, andps for process monitoring. Try looking up any of these with your on-board resources likeman top orman df.
Michael Perry documents tech support issues and spends hours staring at and posting to Linux newsgroups. He can be reached at .
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