Linux

If you have any questions that are not answered in the following section, please contact the Operations Service in A5 or C6, or send an e-mail to lcfibfib.upc.edu

The account accessed from a PC will be the same whether it is running Windows 98 or Linux. This account constitutes the disk space available for any given user on the PC server (FUSIO/FISSIO). In Windows, the account appears on the F: drive, and in Linux it appears in the /home/users/usuari folder.

You will find the Linux folder in your account. This will be the home directory for the Linux sessions, where the usual Linux configuration files will be created and saved (.login, .emacs, etc.). When you open a session you will be in this folder, and you can access your account by moving up a level (cd ..). Do not delete this folder, or you will have problems accessing Linux!

Due to the limitations of the SMB protocol (the protocol Windows uses to communicate with the file server), the file system where you can see your account does not behave like an ordinary UNIX system.

More specifically, you will not be able to use the chmod or chown commands, or make symbolic links.

Bear in mind that, even if you access your account from Linux, the space available is limited. You can find out the space you have left with the quota command. If you need temporary space, you can use the /tmp folder during the current session, but remember that it will be erased upon booting up.

In order to change your password you must choose the option 'Change Password' in the Student's Corner. Remember the LCFiB servers work under a "single password" system, so when you change the password from the Student's Corner, it will change for all the accessible systems.

Here is a list of some of the software available to you:

     Editors:        vi, joe, emacs, xedit and nedit
     Compressors:     zip/unzip, bzip2, tar and gzip
     Browsers:      Netscape
     E-mail:       Netscape
     Graphical environment:      fvwm2
     Compilers:     Java (JDK 1.1.7), gcc and Ada

The floppy disk drives are accessible via the following folders:
/floppy (A: drive) and
/floppy (B: drive)

Great care must be taken when using diskettes in Linux, since it is possible to harm them if they are used incorrectly. The correct way to access the floppy drive is:

• Insert the diskette.
• Type the command floppyon.
• Work with the diskette (using /floppy).
• Type the command floppyoff, BEFORE removing the diskette.
• Remove the diskette.

In order to access the CD-ROM (where available), users must mount it with the mount /cdrom command. It will be accessible via the /cdrom folder. In order to remove the CD-ROM, use the unmount /cdrom command.

For security reasons, there is no connection -- telnet or ftp -- between PCs in the computer rooms. In order to share files between two PCs, you can use the scratch-pad area FUSIO/FISSIO. This area is accessible via the folder /scratch. Be careful, as this area is accessible to everyone!

If you wish to access the LCFiB Unix servers (alabi, alaba, alumbra and ada), try NOT to use telnet.

When using telnet accounts, use the ssh (Secure Shell) command, which has the added advantage of encrypting network traffic (and therefore your password) and configures the X environment of the new session transparently.

The basic syntax of ssh is: ssh server -l username. You can also use the logrem server username script, that will open the session in a new window.

As you know, the text format is different on these two systems. You can go from one format to the other with the following commands: dos2unix, unix2dos, unix2win and win2unix. Linux editor vi and Windows PFE Editor automatically distinguish these two formats.

The differences are as follows:

• Unix uses iso-latin-1characters, and separates the lines with the character cr (carriage return).
• Windows also uses iso-latin-1, but separates the lines with nl (new line) and cr.
• DOS uses cp850 characters and new lines are marked with nl/cr.

You can use the same printers as the other systems. In order to use them, follow the instructions for printing in Unix.

The current Linux system includes two window managers:

• fvwm2 is run by default
• wmaker , window maker

In order to run window maker, the following steps must be taken:

If its the first time, we must execute the following script before running it: init_wmk.

In order to work with it, you need only right click and choose "Start Window Maker", under "Window Managers".

IMPORTANT! If you have not run the init_wmk script and you try to start window maker, you will lose everything you were working on, the graphical environment will close, and the Linux login window will appear.

In order to use any of this software, it is necessary to introduce certain commands to configure the environment. Specifically:

• Before loading StarOffice*, you must type the command inioffice.
• Before running Java 1.1.7 and Java 1.2, you must use the commands "inijava 1.1.7" and "inijava 1.2" respectively.

* If you wish to save your desktop configuration, you must do this in your HOME folder.

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