Learning Debian GNU/Linux by Bill McCarty Unconfirmed error reports are from readers. They have not yet been approved or disproved by the author or editor and represent solely the opinion of the reader. This page was updated March 16, 2001. Here's the key to the markup: [page-number]: serious technical mistake {page-number}: minor technical mistake : important language/formatting problem (page-number): language change or minor formatting problem ?page-number?: reader question or request for clarification UNCONFIRMED errors and suggestions from readers: ?i? The included CD-ROM is NOT Official Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 The included CD-ROM contains an Unofficial hybrid of Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 {slink} + the unstable Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 {potato}. It installs the 2.2.12-20 kernel. This hybrid was created by Joey Hess of VA Linux, I have spoken with Mr. Hess myself and confirmed this. He refers to this distribution as "slink and a half". VA Linux will provide NO support for the distribution included in this book. Instead they will direct you to purchase a copy of their boxed distribution. The book was written with the assumption that you would be using the Official Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 {slink}. The book, hardcopy and web version, should clearly, and boldly, state that this is not the case. Neither the book, this website, nor the CD make any mention of the non-standard distribution provided. {30} The second paragraph reads "Do not remove ..." The directory "\dosutils\.." does not exist on the CD Rom. Instead, these files are found in "\tools\.." {36} In Item 5, you need to specify the file name as \boot\resc1440.bin. The book leaves off the first slash mark. Instruction 5. should read: "When prompted, specify the file name of the disk image source as f:\boot\resc1440.bin and press Enter." Not: " When prompted, specify the file name of the disk image source as \boot\resc1440.bin and press Enter." {36} Step 4 says to CD to a file. It should either be: "Run the command \tools\rawrite\rawrite" or: "Run the command cd \tools\rawrite, and then run rawrite". The way it's written now, the CD command won't work. If you take out the CD in step 4, it's all good. For that matter, the missing backslash in step 5 is a non-issue. (36) In item 4: cd tools\rawrite2\rawrite2and should be: cd tools\rawrite2\rawrite2 and (39) last line, last word: "scdx" should be "sdx" ("sdx" is the Linux naming convention for SCSI hard drives; "scdx", if anything, must be the naming convention for SCSI CD-ROM drives.) {47} On my version of Table 3-3, there was no "net - dummy" module. This led me to worry whether I had installed the system correctly at all. {47} As other reader states: There is no net dummy module to install. Should it really be something else? {55} The book states that "The most appropriate profile for most initial users of Linux is the Basic" install. I think the author must have meant Standard, because the Basic install does not include a single package that the author then goes on having the reader use (like X). The Basic install contains only the most essential programs to run Linux at all - you can't do much of anything with it, and you can't do anything outside command line. [55] Figure 3-21; I hate to keep quoting other reader but he's done a very thorough job, and he's right. I also believe author was wrong to suggest that you should use Basic install, rather than Standard, since most of the modules he later talks about were never installed by Basic. And, there's no clearcut method in text stating how to change the install. So once you've installed Basic you're stuck with it. I'm still trying to figure out how to install what I would have gotten if I'd chosen Standard to begin with. ?58? In the first paragraph, the first message received is: "Do you want to dleet .deb files ?" A novice should be instructed as to the best course of action for this. {60} The second paragraph "HOWTOs" describes where the HOWTO files will be found. Unfortunately, after installing the copy of Linux supplied with the book I have found that the HOWTO files are not present. There is also a typo in this paragraph, in the second line 'direcotry' should be 'directory'. [64] 1st paragraph; The command prompt is the RedHat default without an explanation of why or how. It is entirely possible to redefine PS1 (an environment variable) to look this way, of course, but it can be confusing. For example, I use: EXPORT PS1='[\t]\w$' in my /etc/profile so my prompt displays the current time in brackets. Is the point that the different prompts are configurable? If so, I think a discussion of that's a good idea. Letting the reader change something she is constantly seeing gives that feeling of power. Maybe a note of it in chapter 4 (comparing it to DOS $p$g perhaps) with a pointer to man PS1 for more info ?64? In the first paragraph, the command prompt I got after following the instructions on the CD rom was: "debian~:#" The prompt: "root@desktop:/root#" is used throughout chapters 4 and 5 and is the one used in the Red Hat system. By contrast, Chapter 7 uses: "debian~:#" This is very confusing ! ?68? The "Using man" paragraph refers to a colon prompt. On my version there was no colon prompt, but rather a more complex one. Figure 4-1 also shows a colon prompt. These appear to be from the Red Hat distribution. {80} There are 2 places in this book, this being one of them, where say an -i option is automatically supplied by Linux. That would be nice and I often set up aliases to do just that on Unix systems. But the version of Debian I installed according to the directions in this book does NOT automatically supply the -i option to the rm command. If you run rm filename that file is removed. {90} Under "Useful Linux Programs," the pico editor is not on this distribution, but rather the "ae" editor. The Index is similarly wrong in referring to 'pico' and its commands at these pages. [95] If you have a ps/2 mouse you need to configure X to find your mouse in /dev/psaux rather than /dev/mouse or /dev ttS0. The book does not reveal this rather important piece of information. (109) Line 2 reads: "amouse" It should read: "a mouse" [115] The instructions in the book do not enable you to load the GNOME desktop, only the window manager. You will not be able to proceed without loading the GNOME packages from another source because they are not on the cd (at least the one that came with my book.) There are no desktop managers on the cd, only window managers. (140) In the first line: If a network services fails should read: If a network service fails {169} In the script in the middle of the page: inconfig lo 127.0.0.1 should be: ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1 Also the last line of script didn't seem to work. It is, according to book: route add default gw ${GATEWAY} metric 1 I had to change it to: route add default gw xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx metric 1, with xxxs being my real IP address. I'm not sure if this is an error or not. I did have GATEWAY correctly defined in line above so it makes me wonder if script just doesn't work as written? (169) In the second line: if that werver should read: if that server (169) After the code example: The lines you're concerned with are lines four through eight should be: The lines you're concerned with are lines four through seven (170) At the bottom of the page, the /etc/hosts.conf/ file should be the /etc/hosts.conf file (without the extra slash.) [192] The instruction is wrong if you're running pcmcia. The latter manages dynamically the existence of the link /dev/modem. Futzing with it (as in your example) is a fruitless pursuit. {214} Last paragraph: the first sentence of this paragraph staates, "If your FTP server fails to respond properly, check the line you added to the inetd.conf file." This implies that somewhere you tell what line to add to inetd.conf to enable an FTP server, but I can't find any such line, or any other reference to inetd.conf in the book. [214] Same error mentioned by another reader. "If your FTP server fails to respond properly, check the line you added to the inetd.conf file." But this is the ONLY mention of inetd.conf in the entire book! What line should we have added. I must say I've found a surprising number of sloppy errors of this sort in the book. I'll try to include the others. But if I hadn't also bought Running Linux I wouldn't have gotten very far in getting Linux up and running. (249) Line 6 reads: "Suppose the script...permitted read access." It should read: "Suppose the script...(read and) excecute access." {Appendix C} None of the Gnome of Widow Maker packages were available on my CD rom. Moreover, I could not find all of the ones listed in the appendix on the web site. Even the ones I did manage to download would have been too large to transfer by floppy to my half-installed Linux OS. (I had to use MS Internet Explorer on my Win95 partition because I could not install Gnome and therefore not use the Netscape Navigator for Linux.) (Index) Your index shows "Y" index page (and it exists), but the other index pages are missing the letter "Y" in the selection line to access other index pages. e.g.: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/debian/chapter/index/idx_l.html does not have a "Y" but: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/debian/chapter/index.html does show a"Y", and idx_y.html exists.