  Configuration HOWTO
  By Guido Gonzato, guido@ibogfs.cineca.it
  v1.2.2, 10 April 1998

  This HOWTO aims at making the fine--tuning of your newly installed
  Linux box quicker and easier. Here you will find a set of configura
  tions for the most common applications, so you can start to work with
  a well-usable system.
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents


  1. Introduction

     1.1 Why This HOWTO
     1.2 What We Will Be Configuring

  2. General System Setup

     2.1 Keyboard
     2.2 Kernel Matters
     2.3 (TT
     2.4 Hard Disk Performance
     2.5 Parallel Port Zip Drive
     2.6 Device Drivers
     2.7 Bootup Messages
     2.8 Hostname
     2.9 Mouse
     2.10 Mount Points
     2.11 (TT
        2.11.1 Security Tip
     2.12 Printer Configuration

  3. Software Configuration

     3.1 (TT
     3.2 (TT
     3.3 (TT
     3.4 (TT
     3.5 (TT
     3.6 (TT
     3.7 (TT
     3.8 TeX and Friends
     3.9 PPP
     3.10 POP Client
     3.11 X Window System
     3.12 Fortran
     3.13 Users' Configurations
     3.14 Upgrading

  4. The End

     4.1 Copyright
     4.2 Feedback
     4.3 Disclaimer


  ______________________________________________________________________

  1.  Introduction





  1.1.  Why This HOWTO


  I have installed Linux on many PCs and noted that current
  distributions are terrific but, annoyingly, lack some basic
  configuration. Most applications will work out of the box, but some
  won't. Moreover, I have noted that the same questions crop up on
  c.o.l.setup over and over again.

  To try and remedy this situation, and to have a memorandum for fresh
  installations, I wrote a do--this--and--that list that I later
  expanded to become this HOWTO. Here you will find a handful of
  configuration examples for the most common applications, programs, and
  services, which should save you a fair amount of time and work.

  A few of the examples outlined in this HOWTO are somewhat distribution
  dependent. I only have access to Red Hat and Caldera OpenLinux
  machines, so don't take any of my tips as gospel if you have
  Slackware, Debian or other distributions. In any case, reading
  documentation and the HOWTOs always pays off, so you're advised to do
  so anyway.



  1.2.  What We Will Be Configuring


  There can be endless hardware configurations for a PC, but in my
  experience one is quite common: a PC fitted with a large HD split into
  three partitions (one for DOS/Windows, one for Linux, one for the
  swap), sound card, modem, CD--ROM drive, printer, mouse. A parallel
  port Zip Drive is also becoming commonplace.

  This is the hardware I'll assume you want to configure, but it's easy
  to adapt the following tips to different configurations. It's
  implicitly assumed that you'll be root when editing/fixing/hacking.

  And now, lads, sleeves up.



  2.  General System Setup




  2.1.  Keyboard


  First of all, how to configure the keyboard. If you missed this step
  during installation or have changed your keyboard, you'll have to:


    choose a suitable key table from /usr/lib/kbd/keytables/; for
     example, it.map selects the Italian keyboard;

    edit the file /etc/sysconfig/keyboard so as it reads:
     KEYTABLE="/usr/lib/kbd/keytables/it.map";

    to set up the keyboard repeat rate and delay time, add this line to
     /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit or, if you have Caldera, /etc/rc.d/rc.boot:



       /sbin/kbdrate -s -r 16 -d 500  # or whatever you like

  Upon the next reboot, the keyboard will work fine. To avoid rebooting
  and load the key table only, cd to /etc/rc.d/init.d and issue the
  command ./keytable start.



  2.2.  Kernel Matters


  IMHO, the first thing to do next is build a kernel that best suits
  your system. It's very simple to do but, in any case, refer to the
  README file in /usr/src/linux/ or the Kernel HOWTO. Hints:


    consider carefully your needs. Choosing a kernel configuration,
     applying the patches, and compiling it once and for all is more
     productive than reconfiguring and recompiling each month; this is
     especially true if your Linux box is a server. Don't forget to
     include support for all the hardware you might likely add in the
     future (e.g. SCSI, Zip, net cards, etc);

    if your PC is based on a Cyrix CPU, apply appropriate patches to
     improve performance. Information on
     <http://www.linuxhq.com/patch/20-p0591.html> ;

    notebook users will want to improve their LCD screen legibility by
     applying the Noblink patch. The latest version is called noblink-
     X.X.tar.gz and is available on
     <ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/kernel/patches/console> .  Install
     the package, then add to your /etc/profile the line



       /usr/local/bin/cursor bgreen  # or other colour





    again for notebook users, if you plan to use a PCMCIA modem/fax
     don't compile serial support as a module; compile it in the kernel,
     otherwise your PCMCIA modem won't work;

    remember, Linux won't see your sound card unless you configure it
     properly. It's easy in most cases, but remember to enable all
     options (don't forget /dev/dsp and /dev/sound);

    if you get those pesky messages from modprobe indicating that some
     modules can't be located, that means that your /etc/conf.modules
     needs mending. If you don't use the ipx and appletalk modules, add
     these lines:



       alias net-pf-4 off
       alias net-pf-5 off





    to save time the next time you reconfigure and recompile the
     kernel, it's a good idea to save your configuration on a file and
     keep it in a safe place.


  2.3.  sendmail  Lock


  On some systems, sendmail locks the machine at boot time. Quick fix:
  make sure your /etc/hosts contains a line that reads



       127.0.0.1 localhost




  See also Section ``Hostname''.



  2.4.  Hard Disk Performance


  Your hard disk's performance can be greatly enhanced by carefully
  using hdparm(8). If your Linux distribution doesn't include it, you'll
  find on   <ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/hardware> ; look for
  a file called hdparm-X.Y.tar.gz.

  I can't give you a general recipe, as many details depend on your hard
  disk and HD controller. Since you risk to toast your filesystem,
  please read the man page carefully before using some options. At its
  simplest, you could add the following line to /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit:



       /sbin/hdparm -c1 /dev/hda  # first IDE drive assumed




  which enables (E)IDE 32-bit I/O support. As for the `-m' option, this
  is what hdparm author Mark Lord emailed me:

       (...) if your system uses components from the past couple of
       years, it will be fine.  Older than that, there *may* be a
       problem (unlikely).  The really buggy chips were the CMD0646
       and RZ1000 chips, used *extensively* on 486 and (early) 586
       motherboards about 2-3 years ago.



  2.5.  Parallel Port Zip Drive


  To use the parallel port version of the Zip drive you can use the
  default driver that comes with recent (2.x.x) kernels. During kernel
  configuration, make sure that SCSI support and SCSI disk support are
  enabled (either in the kernel or as a module). Remember, there can be
  conflicts between the printer and the Zip drive on the same parallel
  port.

  Zip disks are sold preformatted on partition /dev/sda4. To enable the
  Zip, all you have to do is issue



       #~ chmod 666 /dev/sda4  # everyone can access the Zip Drive
       #~ insmod ppa

  and the Zip can now be mounted as usual (better write the last line in
  /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit). You also access the Zip drive via mtools adding
  this line to your /etc/mtools.conf:



       drive z: file="/dev/sda4" exclusive




  There's a better ppa driver than the standard one, though: have a look
  at   <http://www.torque.net/~campbell> .



  2.6.  Device Drivers


  Devices in /dev (or better, links to the actual device drivers) may be
  missing. Check what devices your mouse, modem, and CD--ROM drive
  correspond to, then do what follows:



       ~# cd /dev
       /dev# ln -s /dev/cua0 mouse
       /dev# ln -s /dev/cua1 modem
       /dev# ln -s /dev/hdb cdrom




  and, if you want, do chmod 666 to these devices (not the links, the
  actual devices!) to make them fully accessible by every user. Tip: in
  some laptops the mouse device is /dev/psaux: take this into account
  when configuring X11.

  In addition, you'll want to make the floppy accessible by non-root
  users with chmod 666 /dev/fd*. This is bound to cause security
  problems, but I don't know the details. Comments are welcome.



  2.7.  Bootup Messages


  If you want to customise the bootup messages, check whether your
  /etc/rc.d/rc.local overwrites /etc/issue and /etc/motd. If so, fire up
  your editor and go ahead.



  2.8.  Hostname


  Issuing the command hostname new_host_name may not be enough. To avoid
  the dreaded sendmail lock, follow these steps:


    edit /etc/sysconfig/network and change the hostname therein (e.g.
     new_host_name.localdomain);

    edit /etc/HOSTNAME appropriately;


    append the new hostname in the line in /etc/hosts:


       127.0.0.1       localhost  new_host_name.locadomain







  2.9.  Mouse


  gpm mouse services are useful to perform cut and paste in tty mode,
  and to use the mouse in some applications. Check that you have a file
  called /etc/sysconfig/mouse and that it reads:



       MOUSETYPE="Microsoft"
       XEMU3=yes




  Moreover, you must have a file /etc/rc.d/init.d/gpm. Of course, make
  sure this configuration is right for your mouse type. Tip: in some
  laptops, MOUSETYPE is ``PS/2''.

  For Caldera, all you have to do is append this line to
  /etc/rc.d/rc.boot:



       /usr/bin/gpm






  2.10.  Mount Points


  It's handy to have mount points for the floppy and other devices. For
  example, you can do the following:



       ~# cd /mnt
       /# mkdir a: ; mkdir floppy ; mkdir cdrom ; mkdir win ; mkdir zip




  This creates mount points for an MS-DOS floppy, an ext2 floppy, the
  CD-ROM, the DOS partition, and the parallel port Zip drive.

  Now edit the file /etc/fstab and add the following entries:






  /dev/fd0        /mnt/a:         msdos           user,noauto 0 1
  /dev/fd0        /mnt/floppy     ext2            user,noauto 0 1
  /dev/cdrom      /mnt/cdrom      iso9660         ro,user,noauto 0 1
  /dev/sda4       /mnt/zip        vfat            user,noauto 0 1
  /dev/hda1       /mnt/win        vfat            user,noauto 0 1




  Obviously, you must use the correct device in the first field. To
  access fat32 partitions, there's a kernel patch and information on
  <http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/chaffee/fat32.html> .



  2.11.  lilo (8) and LOADLIN


  Many users run both Linux and DOS/Windows on their PC, and want to
  choose at boot time which os to use. Let's suppose that /dev/hda1
  contains DOS/Windows and that /dev/hda2 contains Linux.

  Do what follows:



       ~# fdisk
       Using /dev/hda as default device!

       Command (m for help):a
       Partition number (1-4): 2

       Command (m for help):w
       ~#




  This makes the Linux partition bootable; this step ought to be carried
  out by activate when running LILO's QuickInst, but it won't work with
  my Red Hat.

  Write this basic /etc/lilo.conf file:



       boot = /dev/hda2
       compact
       delay = 50
       # message = /boot/bootmesg.txt  # write your own
       root = current
       image = /boot/vmlinuz  # boot linux by default as this entry comes first
         label = linux
       other = /dev/hda1
         table = /dev/hda
         label = dos




  Now issue /sbin/lilo and you're set. Being lilo a crucial part of your
  installation, you're strongly advised to read its documentation
  anyway.

  To boot Linux from DOS/Windows without resetting, put LOADLIN.EXE in a
  directory (in the DOS partition!) included in the DOS path; then copy
  your kernel to, say, C:\DOS\VMLINUZ. The following .BAT file will boot
  Linux:



       rem   linux.bat
       smartdrv /C
       loadlin c:\dos\vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 r




  If you use Windows 95, set the properties of this .BAT so as it starts
  in MS-DOS mode.


  2.11.1.  Security Tip


  Making a backup copy of your MBR before installing Linux could save
  your bacon. Use restorrb (included in the FIPS package) before
  installation, or you can use a Linux rescue floppy and issue this
  command:



       rescue:~# dd if=/dev/hda of=MBR bs=512 count=1




  then make at least two copies of the file MBR on floppies. Should
  disaster strike, you'll be able to restore your old MBR by issuing:



       rescue:~# dd if=/mnt/MBR of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1




  assuming that a floppy containing MBR is mounted under /mnt.
  Alternatively, use a DOS rescue floppy to issue FDISK /MBR.



  2.12.  Printer Configuration


  Red Hat and Caldera have a fine configuration tool, printtool; if you
  don't use these distributions, manual configuration follows.

  Let's suppose you have a non-PostScript printer you want to use to
  print raw text (e.g., C source files) and PostScript files via
  Ghostscript, which is assumed to be already installed.

  Setting up the printer involves a few steps:


    find out which one the parallel print device is: try



       ~# echo "hello, world" > /dev/lp0
       ~# echo "hello, world" > /dev/lp1

  and take note which one works.

    make two spool directories:



       ~# cd /var/spool/lpd
       /var/spool/lpd/# mkdir raw ; mkdir postscript





    if your printer exibits the ``staircase effect'' (most inkjets do),
     you'll need a filter. Try to print two lines with



       ~# echo "first line" > /dev/lp1 ; echo "second line" > /dev/lp1





  if the output is like this:



       first line
                 second line





  then save this script as /var/spool/lpd/raw/filter:



       #!/bin/sh
       # This filter does away with the "staircase effect"
       awk '{print $0, "\r"}'





  and make it executable with chmod 755 /var/spool/lpd/raw/filter.

    make a filter for PostScript emulation. Write the following filter
     as /var/spool/lpd/postscript/filter:















  #!/bin/sh

  DEVICE=djet500
  RESOLUTION=300x300
  PAPERSIZE=a4
  SENDEOF=

  nenscript -TUS -ZB -p- |
  if [ "$DEVICE" = "PostScript" ]; then
          cat -
  else
          gs -q -sDEVICE=$DEVICE \
                  -r$RESOLUTION \
                  -sPAPERSIZE=$PAPERSIZE \
                  -dNOPAUSE \
                  -dSAFER \
                  -sOutputFile=- -
  fi

  if [ "$SENDEOF" != "" ]; then
          printf "\004"
  fi





  (in this example an HP DeskJet printer is assumed. Fix it to suit your
  printer).

    finally, add the following entries in /etc/printcap:



       # /etc/printcap
       lp|ps|PS|PostScript|djps:\
               :sd=/var/spool/lpd/postscript:\
               :mx#0:\
               :lp=/dev/lp1:\
               :if=/var/spool/lpd/postscript/filter:\
               :sh:
       raw:\
               :sd=/var/spool/lpd/raw:\
               :mx#0:\
               :lp=/dev/lp1:\
               :if=/var/spool/lpd/raw/filter:\
               :sh:





  For more complex or exotic printing configurations, the Printing-HOWTO
  awaits you.

  If you use printtool, be aware that the GSDEVICE chosen by Printtool
  will work, but not necessarily at its best for your printer. You may
  consider fiddling a bit with the file postscript.cfg; for instance, I
  changed GSDEVICE from cdj500 to djet500 and now my prints come out
  much quicker.






  3.  Software Configuration


  These are the the configuration files we are going to custimise:
  /etc/profile /etc/bashrc .bashrc .bash_profile .inputrc .less .lessrc
  .xinitrc .fvwmrc .fvwm2rc95 .Xmodmap .Xdefaults .jedrc. .abbrevs.sl
  .joerc .emacs . Don't add users until you have completed your system
  configuration; you'll put the dot files in /etc/skel.



  3.1.  bash (1)


  To tailor bash's behaviour, these are the main files to edit:


    /etc/bashrc contains system wide aliases and functions;

    /etc/profile contains system wide environment stuff and startup
     programs;

    $HOME/.bashrc contains user aliases and functions;

    $HOME/.bash_profile contains user environment stuff and startup
     programs;

    $HOME/.inputrc contains key bindings and other bits.

  Examples of these files are shown below. First, the most important:
  /etc/profile. It's used to configure a lot of features in your Linux
  box, as you will see in the following sections.


































  ______________________________________________________________________
  # /etc/profile

  # System wide environment and startup programs
  # Functions and aliases go in /etc/bashrc

  # This file sets up the following features:
  #
  #   o path
  #   o prompts
  #   o a few environment variables
  #   o colour ls
  #   o less
  #
  # Users can override these settings and/or add others in their
  # $HOME/.bash_profile

  # set a decent path

  echo $PATH | grep X11R6 > /dev/null
  if [ $? = 1 ] ; then   # add entries to the path
    PATH="$PATH:/usr/X11R6/bin:$HOME/bin:."
  fi

  # notify the user: login or non-login shell. If login, the prompt is
  # coloured in blue; otherwise in magenta. Root's prompt is red.

  USER=`whoami`
  if [ $LOGNAME = $USER ] ; then
    COLOUR=44
  else
    COLOUR=45
  fi

  if [ $USER = 'root' ] ; then
    COLOUR=41
  fi

  # put a real escape character instead of ^[. To do this:
  # emacs: ^Q ESC   vi: ^V ESC   joe: ` 0 2 7   jed: ` ESC
  # Remove `;1' if you don't like the `bold' attribute.
  ESC=^[
  PS1='$ESC[$COLOUR;37;1m$USER:$ESC[37;40;1m\w\$ '
  PS2="Continue> "

  # no core dumps, please

  ulimit -c 0

  # set umask

  if [ `id -gn` = `id -un` -a `id -u` -gt 14 ]; then
    umask 002
  else
    umask 022
  fi

  # a few variables

  USER=`id -un`
  LOGNAME=$USER
  MAIL="/var/spool/mail/$USER"
  EDITOR=jed
  HOSTNAME=`/bin/hostname`
  HISTSIZE=1000
  HISTFILESIZE=1000
  export PATH PS1 PS2 USER LOGNAME MAIL EDITOR HOSTNAME HISTSIZE HISTFILESIZE

  # enable colour ls

  eval `dircolors /etc/DIR_COLORS -b`
  export LS_OPTIONS='-F -s -T 0 --color=tty'

  # customise less

  LESS='-M-Q'
  LESSEDIT="%E ?lt+%lt. %f"
  LESSOPEN="| lesspipe.sh %s"
  VISUAL=jed
  LESSCHARSET=latin1
  export LESS LESSEDIT LESSOPEN VISUAL LESSCHARSET

  for i in /etc/profile.d/*.sh ; do
    if [ -x $i ]; then
      . $i
    fi
  done
  ______________________________________________________________________



  This is a sample /etc/bashrc:


  ______________________________________________________________________
  # /etc/bashrc

  # System wide functions and aliases
  # Environment stuff goes in /etc/profile

  alias which="type -path"
  alias d="ls"
  alias dir="d"
  ______________________________________________________________________



  This is a sample .bashrc:
























  ______________________________________________________________________
  # $HOME/.bashrc
  # Source global definitions

  if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
    . /etc/bashrc
  fi

  # this is needed to notify the user that they are in non-login shell

  if [ "$GET_PS1" = "" ] ; then
    COLOUR=45
  # put a real escape character instead of ^[
    ESC=^[
    PS1='$ESC[$COLOUR;37m`whoami`:$ESC[37;40m\w\$ '
    export PS1
  fi

  # aliases

  alias cp='cp -i'
  alias l=less
  alias lyx='lyx -width 900 -height 700'
  alias mv='mv -i'
  alias rm='rm -i'
  alias x=startx

  # A few useful functions

  inst() # Install a .tar.gz archive in the current directory.
  { gzip -dc $1 | tar xvf - }

  cz() # List the contents of a .zip archive.
  { unzip -l $* }

  ctgz() # List the contents of a .tar.gz archive.
  {
    for file in $* ; do
      gzip -dc ${file} | tar tf -
    done
  }

  tgz() # Create a .tgz archive a la zip.
  {
    name=$1 ; tar -cvf $1 ; shift
    tar -rf ${name} $*
    gzip -S .tgz ${name}
  }
  ______________________________________________________________________



  This is a sample .bash_profile:













  ______________________________________________________________________
  # $HOME/.bash_profile

  # User specific environment and startup programs
  # This file contains user-defined settings that override
  # those in /etc/profile

  # Get the aliases and functions
  if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
    GET_PS1="NO"  # don't change the prompt colour
    . ~/.bashrc
  fi

  # set a few `default' directories
  export CDPATH="$CDPATH:$HOME:$HOME/text:$HOME/text/geology"

  # fix rxvt 2.45 backspace
  if [ "$COLORTERM" != "" ] ; then
    stty erase ^?
    ESC=^[  # put a real escape character instead of ^[
    echo -n "$ESC[36l"
  fi
  ______________________________________________________________________



  This is a sample .inputrc:


  ______________________________________________________________________
  # $HOME/.inputrc

  # key bindings

  "\e[1~": beginning-of-line
  "\e[3~": delete-char
  "\e[4~": end-of-line
  # (F1 .. F5) are "\e[[A" ... "\e[[E"
  "\e[[A": "info \C-m"

  set bell-style visible          # please don't beep
  set meta-flag On                # allow 8-bit input (i.e, accented letters)
  set convert-meta Off            # don't strip 8-bit characters
  set output-meta On              # display 8-bit characters correctly
  set horizontal-scroll-mode On   # scroll long command lines
  set show-all-if-ambiguous On    # after TAB is pressed
  ______________________________________________________________________



  To make the backspace and delete keys work correctly in in xterm and
  other X11 applications, the following is also needed:


    put this in your .xinitrc:


       usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
       xmodmap $usermodmap





    put this in your .Xmodmap:

  keycode 22 = BackSpace
  keycode 107 = Delete




  this fixes the console. To fix xterm:

    put this in your .Xdefaults:


       xterm*VT100.Translations: #override <Key>BackSpace: string(0x7F)\n\
               <Key>Delete:        string(0x1b) string("[3~")\n\
               <Key>Home:          string(0x1b) string("[1~")\n\
               <Key>End:           string(0x1b) string("[4~")\n\
               Ctrl<Key>Prior:     string(0x1b) string("[40~")\n\
               Ctrl<Key>Next:      string(0x1b) string("[41~")

       nxterm*VT100.Translations: #override <Key>BackSpace: string(0x7F)\n\
               <Key>Delete:        string(0x1b) string("[3~")\n\
               <Key>Home:          string(0x1b) string("[1~")\n\
               <Key>End:           string(0x1b) string("[4~")\n\
               Ctrl<Key>Prior:     string(0x1b) string("[40~")\n\
               Ctrl<Key>Next:      string(0x1b) string("[41~")





  rxvt is a wee bit more complicated, as some compile--time options
  influence its behaviour. See the above .bash_profile.

  More info in bash(1) and readline(3) man pages.

  Don't expect every application to work correctly! If you run joe in
  xterm, for instance, some keys won't work; the same holds for versions
  of rxvt older than 2.21.



  3.2.  ls (1)


  ls can display directory listings using colours to highlight different
  file types. To enable this feature, add these lines to /etc/profile:



       eval `dircolors /etc/DIR_COLORS -b`
       export LS_OPTIONS='-F -T 0 --color=tty'




  (If you don't have the file /etc/DIR_COLORS, remove the reference to
  it in the first line.) This sets the environment variable LS_COLORS
  that contains the colour list set up in /etc/DIR_COLORS.  Note: don't
  ask me why, but this won't work with rxvt older than v. 2.21; use some
  flavour of xterm instead. It looks like rxvt has a bug that prevents
  it from inheriting the environment correctly in some circumstances.

  Caldera's ls doesn't have colours, but there's an equivalent color-ls.
  Add this in /etc/bashrc:



  alias ls="color-ls $LS_OPTIONS"






  3.3.  less (1)


  With this excellent pager you can browse not only plain text files,
  but also gzip compressed, tar and zip archives, man pages, and what
  have you. Its configuration involves a few steps:


    to use it with the movement keys, have this plain ASCII file
     .lesskey in your home directory:



       ^[[A   back-line
       ^[[B   forw-line
       ^[[C   right-scroll
       ^[[D   left-scroll
       ^[OA   back-line
       ^[OB   forw-line
       ^[OC   right-scroll
       ^[OD   left-scroll
       ^[[6~  forw-scroll
       ^[[5~  back-scroll
       ^[[1~  goto-line
       ^[[4~  goto-end
       ^[[7~  goto-line
       ^[[8~  goto-end





  then run the command lesskey. This creates a binary file .less con
  taining the key bindings.

    write the following file as /usr/bin/lesspipe.sh:























     ___________________________________________________________________
     #!/bin/sh
     # This is a preprocessor for 'less'.  It is used when this environment
     # variable is set:   LESSOPEN="|lesspipe.sh %s"

     lesspipe() {
       case "$1" in
       *.tar) tar tf $1 2>/dev/null ;; # View contents of .tar and .tgz files
       *.tgz|*.tar.gz|*.tar.Z|*.tar.z) tar ztf $1 2>/dev/null ;;
       *.Z|*.z|*.gz) gzip -dc $1  2>/dev/null ;; # View compressed files correctly
       *.zip) unzip -l $1 2>/dev/null ;; # View archives
       *.arj) unarj -l $1 2>/dev/null ;;
       *.rpm) rpm -q -p -i -l $1 2>/dev/null ;;
       *.cpio) cpio --list -F $1 2>/dev/null ;;
       *.1|*.2|*.3|*.4|*.5|*.6|*.7|*.8|*.9|*.n|*.man) FILE=`file -L $1`
         FILE=`echo $FILE | cut -d ' ' -f 2`
         if [ "$FILE" = "troff" ]; then
           groff -s -p -t -e -Tascii -mandoc $1
         fi ;;
       *) file $1 | grep text > /dev/null ;
         if [ $? = 1 ] ; then # it's not some kind of text
           strings $1
         fi ;;
       esac
     }

     lesspipe $1
     ___________________________________________________________________



  and remember to make it executable with chmod 755 lesspipe.sh.

    put these lines in /etc/profile:


       LESS="-M-Q"                     # long prompt, silent
       LESSEDIT="%E ?lt+%lt. %f"       # edit top line
       LESSOPEN="| lesspipe.sh %s"     # filter
       VISUAL=jed                      # default editor---insert your favourite
       LESSCHARSET=latin1              # display accented letters if needed
       export LESS LESSEDIT LESSOPEN VISUAL LESSCHARSET





  The variable LESSCHARSET depends on the fact that I live in Italy and
  want to use the ISO 8859/1 character set. You fellow Americans,
  Japanese, Russians and so on had better not set it.



  3.4.  emacs (1)


  I don't use emacs, so I have only one piece of advice to give you.
  Some emacs distributions don't come preconfigured for colours and
  syntax highlighting. Write this in your .emacs:


       (global-font-lock-mode t)
       (setq font-lock-maximum-decoration t)



  This only works in X11. I'll leave it to you to peruse all of emacs'
  documentation to find out how to tailor it to your
  needs---potentially, it can take months of hacking...



  3.5.  joe (1)


  Some people report that joe works with colours under X11, but not in
  tty.  In addition, some special keys don't work. To my knowledge, no
  one has found a solution to the former small nag; someone suggested
  hacking on /etc/termcap.

  If you experience that problem, a quick and dirty (and inelegant)
  solution is this:



       ~$ export TERM=vt100
       ~$ joe myfile
          (edit your file)
       ~$ export TERM=linux






  3.6.  jed (1)


  This is my favourite editor: it does what I need, it's lighter and
  easier to configure than emacs, and IMHO emulates other editors quite
  better.  Many users at my university want jed to emulate EDT, VMS'
  system editor.

  jed's configuration files are .jedrc and /usr/lib/jed/lib/*; the
  former can be adapted from jed.rc in the latter directory.


    to make jed use the special keys correctly, write the file
     /usr/lib/jed/lib/defaults.sl whose only line reads:



       () = evalfile("linux");





    edit /usr/lib/jed/lib/linux.sl; remove the comment from the line
     that reads Info_Directory = "/usr/info"; and add /bin/mail after
     UCB_Mailer =;

    making jed emulate EDT (or other editors) is straightforward: you
     just have to edit a couple of lines in .jedrc.  If you want to use
     the numeric keypad `+' to delete words instead of a single
     character, add this in .jedrc:






  unsetkey("\eOl");
  unsetkey("\eOP\eOl");
  setkey("edt_wdel", "\eOl");
  setkey("edt_uwdel", "\eOP\eOl");





  after the line that reads () = evalfile("edt");.

    to make xjed use the numeric keypad for EDT emulation, insert the
     following in .Xmodmap:



       keycode 77  = KP_F1
       keycode 112 = KP_F2
       keycode 63  = KP_F3
       keycode 82  = KP_F4
       keycode 86  = KP_Separator





  Moreover, make sure that your /etc/X11/XF86Config contains the follow
  ing lines:



       #    ServerNumLock  # must be commented out
           XkbDisable





  This applies to XFree 3.2. Unless you use a standard American keyboard
  though, note that ``XkbDisable'' brings some little problems. You'll
  find out by yourself.

    colour customization for xjed is done adding lines like these in
     .Xdefaults:



       xjed*Geometry: 80x32+150+50
       xjed*font: 10x20
       xjed*background: midnight blue





    the ``abbreviation'' feature is an invaluable timesaver. Write a
     file like the following as $HOME/.abbrevs.sl:









  create_abbrev_table ("Global", "");
  define_abbrev ("Global", "GG", "Guido Gonzato");
  create_abbrev_table ("TeX", "\\A-Za-z0-9");
  define_abbrev ("TeX", "\\beq", "\\begin{equation}");
  define_abbrev ("TeX", "\\eeq", "\\end{equation}");
  % and so on...





  and type ESC x abbrev_mode to enable it. To have the abbreviation on
  by default, add entries like these in your .jedrc:



       define text_mode_hook ()
       {
         set_abbrev_mode (1);
       }
       %
       define fortran_hook ()
       {
         set_abbrev_mode (1);
         use_abbrev_table ("Fortran");
       }
       % and so on...








  3.7.  efax (1)


  This package is probably the most convenient for simple
  sending/receiving of faxes. You'll have to tailor the script
  /usr/bin/fax; easy job, but a couple of quirks caused me quite an
  headache:


    DIALPREFIX: chances are that simply putting `T' or `P' won't work
     in many countries. Put `ATDT' or `ATDP' instead;

    INIT and RESET: these strings contain the initialisers `-i' and
     `-k', needed by efax. If you want to add an AT command, add it to
     the appropriate string leaving out `AT' and preceding the rest with
     either `-i' or `-k'. For example: to add the `ATX3' command to
     INIT, you'll append `-iX3'.



  3.8.  TeX and Friends


  I'll assume you have the teTeX distribution. Just a couple of things
  here:


    to configure the hyphenation pattern for your language, edit the
     file /usr/lib/texmf/texmf/tex/generic/config/language.dat, then do:


  ~# texconfig init ; texconfig hyphen





    if you add a LaTeX package, after adding the files under
     /usr/lib/texmf/texmf/tex/latex/ run the command texhash so that
     teTeX recognises the new package;

    to tailor dvips, the file to edit is
     /usr/lib/texmf/texmf/dvips/config/config.ps. Be aware that the
     fields regarding the default resolution also affect xdvi's
     behaviour; if you experience annoying attempts to create fonts each
     time you run it, put the line



       XDvi*mfmode:





  in .Xdefault. This should help.



  3.9.  PPP


  I'll take it for granted that your kernel has PPP + TCP/IP support
  compiled in, that loopback is enabled, and that you already have the
  pppd package correctly installed and suid root. Obviously, your ISP
  must support PPP.

  There are now two ways to get PPP to work: a) manual configuration,
  and b) a configuration program that automagically sees to it.
  Whichever option you choose, have the following information on hand:


    your ISP's telephone number;

    your ISP's name server;

    your ISP's mail and news server;

    your ISP's domain;

    your username and password.

  Manual configuration is a drudgery. It's about editing files and
  writing scripts; not too much work, but it's easy to make mistakes and
  newcomers are often intimidated. The PPP HOWTO is there for you.
  Alternatively, there are tools that ask for the information above and
  do all the work.

  You'll be surely better off if you reach out for a friend who's
  already connected and download one of the following nice tools:


    an X11--based tool is EzPPP, whose home page is
       <http://www.serv.net/~cameron/ezppp/index.html> .  Very easy to
     use, almost self--explanatory;


    for tty--based connections, try the tools available on
       <ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/serial/ppp>. One
     of the finest is pppsetup-X.XX.tar.gz.

    the simplest configuration tool to date is surely wvdial.  You feed
     it your ISP's phone number, your username, your password, and
     you're in business. From the README file: ``There is a (currently
     cheesy) web page for wvdial at:
     <http://www.worldvisions.ca/wvdial>''.  Very fine tool.



  3.10.  POP Client


  To retrieve your mail from a POP server, you use a POP client like
  fetchpop or fetchmail. The latter is more advanced, and is probably
  the only option if your ISP's PPP server can't deal with the command
  LAST. They're available on
  <ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/mail/pop>.

  To configure these clients:


    fetchpop: the first time you run it, you'll be prompted for some
     information. Answer the questions and you're set.

    fetchmail: adapt this sample .fetchmailrc:



       # $HOME/.fetchmailrc
       poll mbox.myisp.com with protocol pop3;
         user john there with password _Loo%ny is john here





  You must set the permissions to this file with the command chmod 600
  .fetchmailrc, otherwise fetchmail will rightly refuse to start. This
  example is very basic and assumes that you have a running sendmail;
  there are endless possibilities of configuration. Check out on .



  3.11.  X Window System


  Once you've managed to make X work (right video card etc.), there are
  endless possibilities of configuration; it depends on the window
  manager you use. In any case, it's all down to editing one or more
  ASCII files in your home directory. As for the window manager:


    fvwm: copy /etc/X11/fvwm/system.fvwmrc to your home directory as
     .fvwmrc, browse it and start experimenting. This contributed
     system.fvwmrc is IMHO a wee bit too simple and doesn't do justice
     to fvwm.

    fvwm95-2: copy /etc/X11/fvwm95-2/fvwm2rc95 to your home as
     .fvwm2rc95, then edit it. The contributed example is quite good.

    TheNextLevel: this is rather harder to configure. Copy
     /etc/X11/TheNextLevel/.* to your home dir, browse them carefully,
     then try and tailor them. The first one to look at is
     .fvwm2rc.defines.

  In addition, make sure you have a proper .xinitrc. An example:



       #!/bin/sh

       # $HOME/.xinitrc

       # set a few keys correctly

       usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
       xmodmap $usermodmap

       xset s noblank  # turn off the screen saver
       xset s 300 2    # screen saver start after 5 min
       xsetroot -solid "medium blue" &

       # rxvt saves a lot of memory, but versions older than 2.21 have bugs
       # affecting the keys and the way the environment is inherited. Upgrade
       # or use xterm instead.

       xterm -ls -bg black -fg white -sb -sl 500 -j -ls -fn 10x20 -fb 10x20bold \
       -title "Color xterm" -geometry 80x25+150+0 &

       fvwm95-2






  3.12.  Fortran


  In my experience, if you need Fortran a good alternative to g77 is the
  Fortran-to-C translator f2c and the front end yaf77.

  Get yaf77-X.Y.tgz from
  <ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/devel/lang/fortran> .



  3.13.  Users' Configurations


  It's a good idea to let new users have a few configuration files ready
  when they first log in. Put the following files in /etc/skel:
   .bashrc .bash_profile .bash_logout .inputrc .less .xinitrc
   .fvwmrc .fvwm2rc95 .Xmodmap .Xdefaults .jedrc .abbrevs.sl. joerc
   .emacs

  Note that .pinerc can't be fully tailored; make sure that at least the
  fields user-domain, smtp-server, and nntp-server are properly set up.



  3.14.  Upgrading


  If you upgrade your machine, remember to save a few additional files
  beforehand. Some of them are: /etc/X11/XF86Config, /usr/bin/fax, ...



  4.  The End




  4.1.  Copyright


  Unless otherwise stated, Linux HOWTO documents are copyrighted by
  their respective authors. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and
  distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic,
  as long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial
  redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would
  like to be notified of any such distributions.

  All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating
  any Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice.
  That is, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose
  additional restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules
  may be granted under certain conditions; please contact the Linux
  HOWTO coordinator at the address given below.

  In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through
  as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright
  on the HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to
  redistribute the HOWTOs.

  If you have questions, please contact Tim Bynum, the Linux HOWTO
  coordinator, at linux-howto@sunsite.unc.edu via email.



  4.2.  Feedback


  Perhaps even more than other HOWTOs, this one needs and welcomes your
  suggestions, criticisms, and contributions. Not only is feedback
  welcome: it's necessary. If you think something is missing or wrong,
  please email me.  If you have a distribution other than Red Hat or
  Caldera and your config files are different or placed in other
  directories, please tell me and I'll include your tips. My aim is
  making life with Linux as easy as possible.

  Linux has a huge number of packages, so it's impossible to include
  directions for all of them. Please keep your requests/suggestions
  pertinent to the ``most reasonable'' programs---I'll leave it to your
  common sense.



  4.3.  Disclaimer


  ``Configuration HOWTO'' was written by Guido Gonzato,
  guido@ibogfs.cineca.it.  Many thanks to all other HOWTO authors and
  man pages writers/maintainers, whose work I've shamelessly pilfered.

  This document is provided ``as is''. I put great effort into writing
  it as accurately as I could, but you use the information contained in
  it at your own risk. In no event shall I be liable for any damages
  resulting from the use of this work.

  I hope you'll find this work useful. Whenever I install a new Linux
  box, I actually do...


  Enjoy,

  Guido   =8-)































































