1. "What is Linux?"
2. "Why do we have Linux machines at EECS?"
3. "What is a Linux Distribution"
4. "What distribution of Linux does EECS use?"
5. "Where can I learn how to use Linux?"
6. "What is a desktop environment?"
7. "What is Gnome"
8. "What is KDE?"
9. "How do I reset my desktop environment to the default settings?"
10. "Can I switch between Gnome and KDE on EECS machines?"
11. "What is X Windows?"
12. "What is the BASh?"
13. "How do I check my quota in Linux?"
14. "How can I get help on the _____ command?"
15. "I can't log into Linux, what should I do?"
16. "How do I submit an EECS help ticket?"
17. "What is SSH?"
18. "I don't have a Linux machine at home, but would like to work from home. What can I do?"
19. "How can I copy files between my home machine and EECS?"
20. "Are there any restrictions on SSH that would prevent me from running X program?"
21. "Where can I get a SSH client to remotely log into the EECS linux machines?"
22. "How do I log into the Linux console instead of logging into X windows?"
23. "What e-mail clients are available on the EECS linux machines?"
24. "What web browsers are available on the EECS linux machines?"
25. "What programming environments are available on EECS linux machines?"
26. "What text editors are available on the EECS linux machines?"
27. "What programming languages are supported on the EECS linux machines?"
28. "Can I install my own software on the linux machines?"
29. "Why are we using X distribution of Linux? We should be using Y!"
30. "I would like X to be installed on the Linux machines. What should I do?"
31. "I found a bug on the EECS Linux machines. What should I do?"
32. "My question isn't on this list! What do I do now?"

Linux is just another kind of operating system, or “OS.” You are probably familiar with the Windows OS, created by Microsoft, or the MacOS, created by Apple. These are nothing more than programs which are in charge of your machine. They distribute resources, communicate with the network, and control every aspect of the computer's operation.

While Windows, Apple, and Linux machines perform similar functions, Linux carries a few enormous advantages over the others. Nobody owns Linux, like Microsoft owns Windows. Every piece of computer code that's used in the Linux OS is available to the public. This makes it possible for technically savvy users, like your IT staff, to manipulate it to be far more useful in certain areas. Basically, Linux gives you control over every aspect of its function, while Windows and MacOS keeps their inner workings secret. Most importantly, Linux is growing in popularity, and can be found more and more in industry. It has proven application, and knowledge of it is a useful skill. Finally, it is completely free to anybody, including you, and including our entire department.

Since Linux's original creation, its community has found needs for different operating systems, and modified Linux to fit those needs. Soon various different types of Linux emerged. These are known as “Distributions.” Some popular ones are “Redhat,” “Ubuntu,” and “Slackware,” but there are many, many, more. When it gets down to the basics, however, they are all the same. It is common to refer to them as different “flavors” of Linux.

The EECS department currently maintains a distribution called “Fedora.” This is closely related to the “Redhat” (http://www.redhat.com/) distribution, and uses much of its programming. We use it primarily because of those ties to Redhat. As an industry-accepted distribution, Redhat's long term support scheme makes it ideal for distributions in large scale computer labs, such as Eaton Hall.

There are many, many, resources on learning Linux available on the internet for free use. A very good place to start is at linux.org's beginner tutorial:(http://www.linux.org/lessons/beginner/index.html) For specific information about various programs or operations, try a Google search.

A desktop environment is what we use to refer to the visual aspect of the computer's function. For instance, you have a desktop on your computer, where your icons go, and information is displayed like pages, sitting on that desktop. The two most popular desktop environment generators, by far, are known as “Gnome”(http://www.gnome.org/) and “KDE.”(http://www.kde.org/)

Gnome is the default desktop environment on EECS linux workstations. Built from the GtK widget toolkit, it maintains ease-of-use and simplicity by blocking access to certain customizations.(http://www.gnome.org/)

KDE stands for “The K Desktop Environment.” This desktop environment is built from the Qt widget toolkit, and performs all of the functions of gnome. However, KDE is generally FAR more configurable, and complicated than gnome, and can replicate almost any interface, give enough modification.(http://www.kde.org/)

Switch to a tty terminal by pressing <Ctrl> + <Alt> + <F1>. Enter your user name and password at the prompts.

If you want to reset gnome, enter:

rm -rf ~/.g* ~/.local ~/.metacity ~/.dbus ~/.nautilus

If you want to reset KDE, enter:

rm -rf ~/.kde* ~/.qt* ~/.local ~/.dbus

Hit <Ctrl> + <Alt> + <F7> to get back to X windows. Then restart X with <Ctrl> + <Alt> + <Backspace>. your configuration will have returned to its default settings.

If you are unsure of what desktop environment you are running; then run both commands.

Both desktop environments are available at the login screen, and switching between them is easy. Simply click “sessions” in the lower left corner of the login screen, and select the environment of your choice. When you log in, X Windows will use the specified Desktop Environment. If not, try logging out, and then back in again.

X windows, simply put, translates between the desktop environment, and the internal workings of the operating system. Most of its functionality is behind the scenes, but it is responsible for all inputs and outputs on a Linux machine. Interestingly enough, if you use SSH, you can have the X windows output of a program forwarded to your machine. This is discussed in more detail in the question about SSH. If something on your computer crashes in an unrecoverable way, simply press <Ctrl> + <Alt> + <Backspace>. This will force X Windows to restart, and you will be sent back to the login screen. (http://www.x.org/)

BASh, or 'The Bourne Again Shell' is a way of directly submitting commands to the OS, circumventing X windows, and the desktop environment entirely. Knowledge of its use is essential for advanced Linux use, and entire books have been written on its utilization. If you would like to directly login to BASh, see,“How do I log into the Linux console instead of logging into X windows?” If you're using gnome, simply go to the top left, and click applications>system>terminal. If you're using KDE, go to the 'f' icon in the lower right, then to the “Applications” tab, then system>terminal, or simply type 'terminal' into the search bar. If it lists two different terminals, either one will work. The window that opens is like a gateway through the GUI and is known as a 'shell.' In Windows, there is a program that functions in a similar way, known a MS-DOS, but its abilities are very limited compared to the Linux shell. BASh is just one of many shell programs, but is definitely the most widespread. (http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/bash.html)

Simply open BASh, and enter the following:

quota

In BASh, when you want to check on the functions of any command, and some configuration files, simply enter

man <command>

where '<command>' is the thing you need help with. This will display the manual for that command, with a technical description of its uses, and options associated with it. If that doesn't give you what you're looking for, try a Google search. If you aren't sure how the manual works, enter:

man man

The possible causes of a login failure are numerous, but here are the most common ones.

• Network Connectivity:

Ensure that your machine is plugged into the network. If that doesn't work, try another machine.

• Disabled Account:

If you can't log into any of the Windows machines either, you should check with the help desk. They'll be able to tell you for sure if your account is disabled.

• Over quota:

If your account isn't disabled, you're most likely over your server space quota, and you will need to remove, or archive some files before you will be granted access. You can do this using a text based terminal, discussed below. If that doesn't work, you can also use SSH, also discussed below.

• Corrupted Configuration script:

See “How do I reset my desktop environment to the default settings?” above.

If none of these fix your problem, reboot the machine, and try again. If the problem persists after a reboot, see “How do I submit an EECS help ticket?”

Go to http://eecs.ku.edu/facilities/help_desk/request and follow the appropriate links.

SSH is an acronym that stands for “Secure Shell.” It allows a client to log into a remote server, and input commands into a shell as if they were there. If there's a high level of bandwidth between the two locations, it's possible to send the Desktop environment components to the client computer. The EECS servers fully support this protocol. For directions on how to use it, see the next question.

The simplest way to access the EECS servers is through the SSH protocol. This is very easy to do on MacOS. Go to Applications>Utilities>Terminal in finder, and enter:

ssh -X jhawk@cycle1.eecs.ku.edu

where 'jhawk' is your EECS username. You will then be prompted for your password. After entry, you will be on a shell, sitting in your home directory, just as if you were logged into an EECS workstation! EECS has 4 cycle servers that you can SSH into. Just replace cycle1 with cycle2, cycle3, or cycle 4. An even more interesting feature, on Macs, or other Linux machines, is that you can run programs off of the eecs server, and the '-X' option will allow the output to be sent to your outside computer, so after I log in, if I enter:

firefox

It will open your EECS account's version of firefox, and send the output to your home computer.

Keep in mind that the performance of programs run in this way is severely limited by the low bandwidth of an internet connection.

If you use Windows, you won't be able to get support for X windows forwarding. However, you can still use the SSH text interface through a third party program. The procedures for these programs vary. The EECS department reccommends that you use PuTTY. (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html)

To copy things TO the server, using the MacOS terminal, or Linux machine, enter:

scp <file to copy> jhawk@cycle1.eecs.ku.edu:~/<target directory on server>

remember to replace '<file to copy>', 'jhawk', and '<target directory on server>', with the path of the file to copy, your username, and the directory on the server that you want it to go to, respectively.

Windows users will once again need third party software. EECS once again reccommends PuTTY: (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html) OR Winscp: (http://winscp.net/eng/index.php)

In a word, no. If your program isn't running properly over SSH, it won't be working properly in the lab either.

If you use MacOS, you're in luck, as it has an SSH client built into it. In finder, go to Applications>Utilities>Terminal. If you use windows, EECS recommends that you use PuTTY. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

First, create a folder in your home directory, and move all of the files that you want to compress into the folder. If you would like to do this in the command line, simply enter:

mkdir myarchive; mv old1 old2 old3 myarchive

This creates a directory named 'myarchive' with mkdir, and moves the miscellaneous files 'old1', 'old2', and 'old3' into it. These can be replaced with alternate names, and extra files can be inserted into the file list. There isn't a limit to the number you can move.

Next, we're going to compress our folder using the bzip compression filter, and combine them in a 'tar' archive, generally referred to as a 'tarball.' Enter the following, with appropriate replacements.

tar -cjvf myarchive.tar.bz2 myarchive/

After this is completed, you can remove the original archive folder, and its contents:

rm -rf myarchive/

When you want to unarchive your tarball, so that you can access the files inside, enter:

tar -xjvf myarchive.tar.bz2

By default, Linux workstations will prompt for a login to X windows, and your desktop environment of choice. If you want to login to a text environment, the process is very easy. Simply press <Ctrl> + <Alt> + <F*>, where <F*> is any of the first six “F” keys at the top of your keyboard. This will send you to a text based login screen. Simply login, and you'll be in a shell, with absolutely no desktop environment. To logout, enter:

exit

By default, all Linux terminals have Mozilla Thunderbird, an email client very similar to Outlook. Gnome and KDE also both have various other generic mail clients.

By default, all Linux terminals have Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/). This is the recommended web browser.

All available programming environments are available under 'applications,' in the folder 'development.' This includes KDevelop, Basic IDE, and others.

Our machines have Emacs, Xemacs, Eclipse, and Vim, accessible from the shell, as well as the easier to use Gedit, which can be used from the shell, or the development menu.

Our machines support many popular languages, such as C, C++, Java, Python, Perl, Ruby, C#, R, Haskill and PHP. Others are available. If you would like support for your favorite language, and it isn't supported, see “I would like X to be installed on the Linux machines. What should I do?”

Due to the nature of many programs, this action is only done by the EECS IT staff. We have to consider the resource use on our servers, as well as the disk space requirements. See “I would like X to be installed on the Linux machines. What should I do?”

Currently, we use Fedora 9. We are aware that there are a great deal of different distributions of Linux, and we are aware that you have a favorite that you think we should be using, but here is why we don't. Fedora 9 is lightweight, and works great with our available hardware. Most importantly, it's based on “Redhat Package Manager,” which allows for great amounts of flexibility when it comes to software distribution, and in a specialized environment such as an engineering library, that is a necessity. In addition, its foundation in Redhat means that it has gained industry acceptance. You are welcome to put in a suggestion at http://www.eecs.ku.edu/facilities/help_desk/suggestion, but there are no guarantees. We appreciate your compliance.

Submit a help ticket with appropriate links and information at: http://www.eecs.ku.edu/facilities/help_desk/request

Software installation criteria is as follows:

• If you require the software for a class, your professor or TA has requested it before the semester, and it will be available already. If required software is not installed, please ask your professor to submit a help request for the software, and the software will be installed.
• If the software is useful but not required for your class, your request will be evaluated by EECS staff and faculty before inclusion on EECS wrokstations.
• If you just want the software for personal use, it will be evaluated for usefulness and a decision will be made. If it is deemed as helpful to the department's mission, it will be added.

If you have come across an instability in our system, or programs begin behaving erratically, it is best to submit a help ticket at: (http://www.eecs.ku.edu/facilities/help_desk/request)

For questions concerning Linux in general, the internet is an absolute wealth of information on the topic. One can go from their first time using Linux to “guru” level with the web as his or her only resource.

If your question specifically pertains to EECS Linux labs, please submit a help ticket. We can provide you with an answer in 48 hours on most issues.