Re: [tlug] Classes

[Nick Bikkal <ipod.bikkal@example.com>]

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

On May 27, 2012, at 8:54 PM, Attila Kinali <attila@example.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 27 May 2012 20:25:41 +0900
> Nick Bikkal <ipod.bikkal@example.com> wrote:
> 
>> Fwiw, I have 3 slide rules & have succeeded in reaching 1st
>> base w/ Linux. I now want to break it apart, reassemble it, etc.
>> That one will be tough but a fun challenge...& I have no idea where
>> yo start. :)
> 
> Oh.. depends on what you think is fun to learn :-)
> 
> There are different things:
> 
> * Shell tools and scripting.
>  bash, sed, awk and all those other little tools that are commonly refered
>  as file-utils, text-utils, core-utils etc. They do the ground work for
>  nearly everything in your system that is not coded directly in c.
> 
> * A good way to understand the philosophy behind a system is to see how it
>  boots. Read up on how a boot loader works, how the kernel gets loaded and
>  how the kernel runs its first program... and from there how all the services
>  are started. Then build with that knowledge your own usb boot stick.
> 
> * Oh.. and here is a challange for you: If you have still a floppy drive around
>  (an USB should work as well), try to build a boot floppy with a linux
>  kernel and a root file system. But do not use any boot loader.
>  Hint: use a 2.0 or a 2.2 kernel. Anything after 2.4 is too big to fit on a
>  floppy together with a root filesystem.
>  Hint2: One tool you will need is knl.
> 
> * Networking is a big and very diverse field of things to know. It starts
>  from simple IPv4 basics, with addresses, networks, routing, etc continues
>  with IPv6, TCP, UDP,... and how all these network protocols work.
>  Try once to talk to a IRC server using telnet.
> 
> * Filesystems: Well.. even bigger than networking, and a lot less documented.
>  To understand ext2, read up on the FFS (fast file system) paper by.. uh..
>  don't remember and i'm too lazy to look it up :-)
>  Ext3 with journaling is just a little modification of that. Ext4 adds a bit
>  more complications. But the ext family is not so different from each other
>  and you should be able to understand all of them pretty quickly. IIRC there
>  was a series on file systems on one of the IBM hosted documentation sites.
> 
> * X11: Old. Outdated. But still the thing behind all graphics on Linux.
>  You should get an understanding on how X11 works in principle. What an
>  X server is and why it is called that way. A bit of c knowledge is good
>  to get your hands dirty with writing simple X11 clients.
> 
> etc pp
> 
> And when you are finished with that list, come back and ask again ;-)
> 
>            Attila Kinali
> 
> Attila,

I'll go slowly. It's definitely a whole new world. Thanks for the schematic.

Nick
> 
> -- 
> Why does it take years to find the answers to
> the questions one should have asked long ago?
> 
> -- 
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, 
> please see the instructions at http://lists.tlug.jp/list.html
> 
> The TLUG mailing list is hosted by ASAHI Net, provider of mobile and
> fixed broadband Internet services to individuals and corporations.
> Visit ASAHI Net's English-language Web page: http://asahi-net.jp/en/