On Mon, 2002-02-04 at 13:54, Tom Nicholson wrote:
I'd like one of my machines to boot to a regular text login. How do I set that up?
Here's what I would try: Basically, you have to get to a console, then run yast. One way to do that is to re-boot your machine, and at SuSE's prompt, type "init 3". This will boot up to the text-login you are longing for :-) So, you can verify that you like it. From this console, log in. Then type "yast" which will run Yast1. I think you want to select the "system" choice, then something like "boot". Anyway, you want to find a drop-down selection for graphical or text login. Once you make this change, SuSEConfig will run. Re-boot, and verify that it works as you want. This is the only way I'm sure about runing Yast. I hope those more familiar will give more suggestions (ie can you get to a console from XDM/KDM/GDM? Is it safe to Ctrl-Alt-F2 to a console, run yast, then Alt-F7 back to X?).
I can't believe how long it's taking me to make the crossover to Linux /unix commands.
After a while it grows on you. I still feel I'm a newbie (8 years using Linux), because I hang out with others who seem super-human. Occasionally I find myself suddenly re-configuing LILO, exporting an X-display, mounting NFS disks, SSH'ing to home, and I start to think that maybe something has "stuck" :-) Linux is a moving target, though. I can recall really sweating over XFree86 configuration, counting dot-clocks, etc. Now it happens automatically, and differently. Ditto for printers. Jeepers - even sound... I had to compile a kernel just to get sound (so I could play Doom :-) ), and again that's automatic now. There's a lot of stuff I've learned, related to Linux, that I've only enjoyed briefly before having to throw out... My only suggestions: -learn the "real Linux (or Unix)" commands. Don't "help yourself" by trying to create aliases to DOS-like commands. -use Linux. If you have a choice of two ways to do something (DOS/Linux), opt for the Linux way. -push through problems. This can be a toughie, but being able to Google-search through dejanews.com is a real blessing. Beyond on-line resources, HOW-TO's are great, and some books (see below).
like I want to see a listing of just directories. ls *. doesn't do it. I know I saw it explained in some book or manual somewhere.
Well, sometimes 'man ls' (as in "manual") will help. Sometimes these man-pages are really cryptic, though. In the specific case of ls, I can only think of following it by grep, which will filter the output: ls -ap | grep / (this isn't very elegant, and may in fact miss some of what you want, but in essence: it performs a complete listing of the current directory, and pipes the output to 'grep'. grep will search for the string '/', which it will find following every directory entry (as a result of the -p option in ls. You'll then see the display.) Hopefully this will steer you onto a helpful course, and hopefully someone else will chime in with a better example :-) As for books; I'm a great fan of treeware, and some of the best I know of: Unix System Administration Handbook, third edition. Covers 3 flavours of Unix, plus RedHat. But, it's the *principles*. ISBN 0-13-020601-6. Not so useful for commands, but good for getting to "think *nix". An excellent how-to, not a good reference. Great for getting to know what info is stored in what files, where those files are, and what should go in them. As the title says: Administrative. VI Tutorial (an SSC Pocket Tutorial). ISBN 0-916151-54-9. I long ago realized that I could count on vi being available and it works. I still don't like it, but I have had to learn to live with it, and this tiny book helped. Focussed reference, with some how-to. Linux in a Nutshell, by O'Reilly. ISBN 0-596-00025-1. A great reference, not really a how-to. I like a lot of the O'Reilly books, and this is a good example of their work. Understanding Unix. ISBN 0-89588-649-9. I *love* Stan Kelly-Bootle, so I bought his book. It's a hands-on mix that's a good "how-to". Not Linux-focussed. When I pick it up, I only get a lukewarm feeling from it, so I can't call it a favourite. But he does show you how to think and combine command-line tools to achieve results. I hope this long-winded reply helps, Tom. -- Gordon Pritchard, P.Eng., Member IEEE Technical University of B.C. - Research Lab Engineer mailto:gordon.pritchard@techbc.ca direct phone: 604-586-6186