A.2. Internet

Internet information sources are widespread and web sites devoted to GNU/Linux and its use or configuration numerous. However, there are other places than web sites.

Your preferred source of information should be the Mandrake Linux official Web site. In particular, check out the support section.

A.2.1. Web Sites Devoted to GNU/Linux

A.2.1.1. MUO

MandrakeUser.org (MUO) is the Mandrake Linux users database. With over 200 pages and growing, it is arguably the largest collection of Mandrake Linux-related documentation on the web. Apart from the online version of our present wonderful handbook, that is... :-)

MUO collects submissions by Mandrake Linux users. It also features a discussion forum and a community newsletter. The articles are targeted towards beginners and semi-advanced users. They do not simply repeat what may be read somewhere else. Their aim is to be practical. In short, they do their job!

Topics range from administrative issues, like the handling of the shell, to the tweaking of X's performances, GNU/Linux's graphical subsystem.

It may be found at MUO

Note

If you are familiar with Mandrake Linux's web sites, you probably know Mandrake Forum. For those who are unaware of that site, it acts as a forum for Mandrake Linux users. There, you will find suggestions, questions as well as news related to Mandrake Linux and GNU/Linux. Please note that these two platforms (MUO and Mandrake Forum) will be merged very soon.

A.2.1.2. Demos and Tutorials

A specific section of the Mandrake Linux web site is devoted to numerous demos and tutorials. They discuss, among other topics, installation and graphical environments; many aspects of the configuration of your system such as network, packages maintenance, server configuration, etc. Some of the tutorials are also accessible from the installation CD in the tutorial directory.

A.2.1.3. Security Related Web Sites

http://www.securityportal.com/

This site is devoted to general security issues on the Internet and contains some very interesting articles covering many aspects of the topic. A weekly newsletter is also available.

Another service (with a charge) is the customized sending of security threats.

http://www.securityfocus.com/

A very well organized site which reviews current attacks, gives out vulnerability advisories for a remarkably great number of products, including Mandrake Linux's.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/

This one is entirely devoted to Linux and includes news, advisories, newsletters, and many resources such as documentation, forums, tools, etc.

http://linux.com/enhance/

An excellent site regularly fed with articles on present security issues. This section of the Linux.com also features articles about desktop issues, sound, etc.

A.2.1.4. Other Linux Web Sites

Out of the multiple existing web sites, here are some of the most exhaustive:

http://www.linux.org/

one of the very first sites devoted to Linux which contains a whole slew of links to other useful sites.

http://freshmeat.net/

this is the place to visit to get the latest applications available in the Linux world.

http://www.linux-howto.com/

info and more info :-)

http://www.linuxgazette.com/

a well done online publication with interesting articles about new projects and present issues, tutorials, etc.

And, of course, remember about your favorite search engines. Generally speaking, it is the most practical information seeking tool. A few carefully chosen keywords in a search engine will often produce the needed answers to your specific problem. In Google, you can even make a GNU/Linux-oriented search by typing http://www.google.com/linux/.

A.2.2. Mailing Lists

Mailing lists still remain very popular in spite of the multiplication of other means of communication. Almost every piece of GNU/Linux software has its own mailing list geared towards users, developers, announcers, etc.

The Mandrake Linux project has its own support lists.

Here, we can not give out a list of addresses but bear in mind that it very often is the best mean to get in touch with the best experts on a particular subject. Some pieces of advice, however:

A.2.3. Newsgroups

Before asking for help on newsgroups, it is advisable to find out if your problem has already been covered (or solved) on Dejanews, which has been acquired by Google. If nothing is relevant to your question, access this newsgroup entirely devoted to Mandrake Linux. Or you may also join many other groups in the comp.os.linux.* "hierarchy":

Before posting to one of these groups, make sure you did your homework and read the available documentation on your specific issue. If you have not, you will most likely get the following answer: RTFM. And nothing more!


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