Subject: Linux Installation and Getting Started v2.0 now available
From: [email-masked] (Matt Welsh)
To: [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked] (Lasu), [email-masked] (Olaf Kirch), [email-masked], [email-masked] (Larry Greenfield), [email-masked] (Karl Fogel), [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 1994 17:38:37 EST

The Linux Documentation Project proudly presents...

               Linux Installation and Getting Started  
                 by Matt Welsh <[email-masked]>
                        v2.0, 14 January 1993

Linux Installation and Getting Started is a book for anyone wishing to 
dive into the Linux world. It covers what Linux is, how to get it, and how 
to install it on your machine. Also included is an introductory tutorial to 
using Linux for UNIX novices, and chapters on Linux system administration and 
advanced features of Linux, such as the X Window System, TCP/IP networking, 
and more. 

This is the second edition of this book. It has been greatly expanded. 
I have completely rewritten the first three chapters and updated the
rest of the book to be up-to-date with recent changes in the system. 

The most important change is that the book is now a GENERAL guide for
(theoretically) any distribution of Linux. It is no longer specific to SLS.

Of course, the tradeoff for generality is that the installation instructions
are not specific for any particular distribution. However, most (if not
all) distributions currently have their own README's and installation
instructions. Coupled with these distribution-specific instructions, 
``Linux Installation and Getting Started'' makes a great installation and
new-user guide for any release.

This book is freely distributable under certain conditions (see below). 
This license allows anyone to print and distribute verbatim copies of
the book. I encourage publishing companies and printing houses to do so.
In particular, I encourage distributors of Linux software to use this book
as an installation guide. (After all, that's why I wrote it!) If you don't 
find the instructions contained therein specific enough, you can provide 
your own short "installation supplement" to go along with the book. 

The book has been uploaded to sunsite.unc.edu in the directory
/pub/Linux/docs/LDP/install-guide. Other sites, such as tsx-11, should mirror
this soon.

The files below ending in the .gz extension have been compressed with
gzip. Gzip is available from many FTP sites, including prep.ai.mit.edu
in /pub/gnu. The files without the .gz extension are plain, uncompressed
files. Many readers were having trouble getting Gzip for MS-DOS and
other platforms, so I am providing both gzipped and ungzipped versions
of the files on the FTP sites. 

The gzipped files are identical to their non-gzipped counterparts.
You only need to get one or the other, not both.

The files are:

        install-guide-2.0.ps
	install-guide-2.0.ps.gz
           PostScript output, ready to print, 188 pages. 
           Should print fine on US letter or A4 paper. You can
           also view this with Ghostview, although some readers
           have reported that Ghostview chokes on large documents
           generated by dvips. I haven't been able to test this.

        install-guide-2.0.dvi
        install-guide-2.0.dvi.gz
           .dvi (device independent) TeX output. 188 pages.
           You can view this with xdvi or convert to another
           with the various DVI tools if you wish. (For example,
	   dvips will generate PostScript from this file, 
	   dvilj2p will produce HP LaserJet IIP output, etc.
	   See the comp.text.tex FAQ for details.)

        install-guide-1.0.txt
        install-guide-1.0.txt.gz
           Plain ASCII output. This is made available mostly for 
           previewing purposes---it is rather ugly. This is ASCII for 
	   the FIRST EDITION of the book (version 1.0), which is 
	   quite outdated. I DO NOT recommend reasing the plain 
	   ASCII if you can help it---the PostScript and .dvi
	   versions look very nice in comparison. I haven't had time 
	   to generate ASCII for v2.0 yet---even with existing tools 
	   this is a very clumsy task. About 180 pages (66 lines per 
	   page).

        install-guide-2.0.tar.gz
           Complete LaTeX source, including formatting macros
           and style file. You only need this if you want to 
           format the book from scratch. Otherwise you only need
           one of the above files. This is a gzipped UNIX tar file. 

I hope that this book helps people start using Linux. It is freely 
distributable by the terms listed below:

Linux Installation and Getting Started may be reproduced and distributed 
in whole or in part, subject to the following conditions:

Linux Installation and Getting Started is Copyright (c)1992-1994 by Matt 
Welsh, [email-masked]. 205 Gray St NE, Wilson, NC, 27893 USA.

        * The copyright notice above and this permission notice must be
          preserved complete on all complete or partial copies.

        * Any translation or derivative work of Linux Installation and 
          Getting Started must be approved by the author in writing before 
          distribution.

        * If you distribute Linux Installation and Getting Started in 
          part, instructions for obtaining the complete version of this 
          manual must be included, and a means for obtaining a complete 
          version provided.

        * Small portions may be reproduced as illustrations for reviews or 
          quotes in other works without this permission notice if proper 
          citation is given.

        * The GNU General Public License referenced below may be
          reproduced under the conditions given within it.

Exceptions to these rules may be granted for academic purposes: Write
to Matt Welsh, at the above address, or email [email-masked],
and ask.  These restrictions are here to protect us as authors, not to 
restrict you as educators and learners.

In short, you don't need my permission to copy, print, or distribute the
complete book, verbatim, but you do need my permission to translate
the book or to produce a derivative work from it. Just get in touch with
me if you have questions. 

All source code in Linux Installation and Getting Started
is placed under the GNU General Public License, available via anonymous
FTP from prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/COPYING.

Please send me any comments or suggestions. I usually appreciate
general comments, instead of cdiffs, because they allow me to
rewrite the sections myself. Besides, if thirty people send me cdiffs
on the same section, I can't use them all. :)

Enjoy!
mdw

--
Matt Welsh, [email-masked]