Text: "Linux Networking: Hands-On" by Tom Sinclair

• Organizations/Projects
• Unix/Linux Resources
• Applications and Tools
• Debian Resources
• Tutorials and HOWTOs
• Linux and Technology Podcasts
• General Resources
• Online References
• Just for Fun
• Course Notes

Organizations/Projects

The Free Software Foundation - Where it all got started, with Richard Stallman.

The Apache Group - Creators of the world's most popular Web server (plus a host of other software)

The Mozilla Project - A very nice Web browser, which gets better by the day.

The Samba Project - Windows file/print/authentication services that run on UNIX/Linux.

Kernel.org - The home of GNU/Linux kernel hackers.

The Linux Home Page - The Mothership.

KDE - the home of KDE.

The Linux Benchmarking Project - Just what it says. This site attempts to be a repository of benchmarking software and benchmarking results data for comparisons.

Linux Benchmarking Suite Home Page - Another site that supplies a wide variety of benchmarking tools as well as information on how to use them.

10 Mistakes new Linux Administrators make - A TechRepublic article with some good suggestions.

UNIX/Linux Resources

The Linux Documentation Project - This is your new best friend.  How to perform almost any task in Linux (also most UNIXes. I used this documentation to put together a DNS on a Solaris box.)

Linux-mafia.com Knowledgebase - An excellent source of information. It's really easy to spend a lot of time here, just going from one link to another but it's worth it, as there is stuff here you won't easily find anywhere else.

Webmin - The home of Webmin, the GUI management console that runs on just about every UNIX-based operating system you can name. 

DistroWatch - A good site to keep track of/compare/contrast the different distributions of Linux.

LWN Distributions List - Another nicely organized guide to the many flavors of Linux.

The Live CD List - A reasonably up to date listing of Live CD Linux distributions, sorted by functionality.

Linux Weekly News - A good overview of what's happening in the Linux/Open Source world. There are daily items, but the weekly newsletter is subscription-only. (You can read it a week later for free, however.) I recommend getting a subscription which can be had for as little as $2.50 a month.

Linux Gazette - A free monthly journal chock-full of hints, tips and informative articles.  You can read it online  or offline in a number of different formats.

Linux Today - Updated several times a day, this is the place for the latest news and view from around the Web.

AlmostFreeLinux - This site offers CDs of a good variety of Linux distributions, for as little as $2 a disc. If you're stuck with dial-up Internet or just don't want to have to store all those ISOs, this is a pretty good option.

LinuxCD.org - Another site that sells cheap CDs of various Linux distributions.

SysAdmin Magazine - This magazine is an invaluable tool for any serious UNIX system administrator.  Each month covers a different topic from Backup/Recovery to Security.  The articles and code apply to just about any version of UNIX (or Linux or BSD) without modification.  Their Web site has selected articles and downloadable code for the tools featured in their magazine.  (I have back issues available for loan in my office.)

The System Administrator's Guild - (SAGE) - A special technical group of the USENIX organization, designed to "advance the status of computer system administration as a profession, establish standards of professional excellence and recognize those who attain them, develop guidelines for improving the technical and managerial capabilities of members of the profession, and promote activities that advance the state of the art or the community."  (You have to be a member of USENIX to join SAGE. See below.)

USENIX - "USENIX is the Advanced Computing Systems Association. Since 1975 the USENIX Association has brought together the community of engineers, system administrators, scientists, and technicians working on the cutting edge of the computing world." (From their Web page.)  Student memberships are available for as low as $30/year.

The Linux Link Tech Show - An online program all about Linux and open source.  Basically three highly technical folks sit around and geek out about whatever topics that take their attention.  Lots of good information, plenty of nerdy humor and they have good guests like Eric Raymond and Leo LaPorte.  It's available as a podcast through iTunes or you can download the sound file from the Web site.  Caution: strong language.  Best Quote: "Yeah, blinky lights is cool."

Applications and Tools

OpenLDAP - Set up your own industry standard directory service (or just an e-mail address book) using this free, open-source software.  Integrates nicely with Active Directory, eDirectory, NDS and Sun's iPlanet Directory Server.

The OpenOffice.org Project - Building a free, open source competitor to Microsoft Office.  

Kerberos - This industry standard authentication protocol was originally designed by MIT and includes servers and clients for multiple platforms.  (Plus, it's free.)

PAM - Short for Pluggable Authentication Modules, PAM allows amazing flexibility for authentication and authorization.  Instead of rewriting your software to use a new authentication system, just add the appropriate PAM.  You can even authenticate your UNIX box against Active Directory using PAM!

WebDAV - Short for Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning, this uses HTTP to share out file systems in a simple, cross-platform way.  (Microsoft's 'Web Folders' feature is actually a WebDAV client and Apple uses WebDAV to serve their iDisk network storage.)

Using Samba as a Primary Domain Controller - This step-by-step tutorial from IBM requires (free) registration but is a great resource. Very well-written and pretty easy to follow.

Qmail - A very good secure mailer.  The author has a cash bounty for anyone who can document a security hole in qmail and nobody has collected since 1997.  A nice replacement for sendmail, as it's easier to configure and more secure.

Life with Qmail - A very good source of documentation for qmail, from installation to troubleshooting.  Available in online and offline formats.

Qmail Rocks!  - The home page says this is 'a free and open resource for anyone needing help with the installation and configuration of Dan Bernstein's qmail MTA and also as an effort to contribute back to the qmail community. '

System Recovery Using Knoppix - This is a good, if a little dated, exploration of the tools available on a Knoppix boot CD that allow you to perform system rescue and recovery on both Linux and Windows boxes.

Fun Things You Can Do With a PGP/GnuPG Key - Just what the title implies. Okay, it's nerdy fun like encrypting your instant messaging, but fun nonetheless.

Debian Resources

Debian Home - Tons of documentation here. Useful because once you've installed Knoppix to your hard drive, it's essentially Debian.

Debian Packages - Package and File search. A good resource.

Tutorials and HOWTOs

APT HOWTO - An excellent  guide to the Debian package management system.

Learn the Linux Command Line - A nice, online tutorial on using the Linux shell, suitable for both beginners and folks who want to brush up their skills.

Basic Linux Commands - A nice little memory refresher.

Commands for Guru Wannabes - From the folks who gave us 'Basic Linux Commands' above, here are some more heavy duty tools.

Beginner Commands for Server Administration - Last, but not least, some basic but powerful command line tools for administering Linux services.

Tutorial for using vi - This was written by Bill Joy and Mark Horton when they were graduate students at Stanford and they developed the vi editor.  It's supposed to be a gentle introduction.

UNIX 101: vi Editor - Another beginner's tutorial.

Domain Name Service - An excellent tutorial on DNS. Very clearly written and nicely laid out.

OpenSSL Command Line HOWTO - A very good guide to all the functionality of the openssl command.  

The Linux-PAM System Administrator's Guide - A good introduction to PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules)

Linux and Technology Podcasts

The Linux Link Tech Show - This one is a lot of fun. The discussion ranges over a wide field of Linux and/or OSS topics and the hosts are usually drunk.

General Resources

O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf - An online reference shelf, consisting of almost 3000 titles from top technical publishers like O'Reilly, Addison-Wesley and Prentice-Hall.  The service is subscription-based, starting at $14.99 a month, but you can try it free for two weeks.  Not for everyone, but possibly worth a look.  (NOTE: I'm not affiliated with this, except as a very satisfied customer.)

SoftPro Books - This is an excellent source for computer and networking books. You can order online or go to one of their local stores. (They have one at Yosemite and Arapahoe in Englewood and another in Boulder.) You can usually get 10-20% off the list price and if you join their 'frequent shoppers' club (it's free) you can get additional savings. 

GoCertify - A nice site that has information on just about every technical certification you can get -- who offers it, what you need to get it, where you can get training and where/how you can take the test.

BrainBench - Another certification site, but this one does their own online certification exams in a wide variety of technical subjects.

Think Geek - Subtitled "stuff for smart masses", I guess you might consider this Sharper Image for Smart People. Cool stuff! (NOTE: I am not affilliated with Think Geek in any capacity.)

Online References

Google - One of the best search engines out there for the technically inclined. 

Wikibooks - A collection of online books that anyone can edit.

igrep - They bill themselves as "the first (and only) vertical niche search engine specifically aimed at developers and other people deeply interested in technology".  I can't say for sure if this is completely true, but I've been impressed with the sample searches that I've run so far.

 Just for Fun

Computer Stupidities - This site collects actual dialogues between real users and real tech support folk. The range of misunderstandings and confusion is frequently hilarious.

Peter's Evil Overlord List - Thinking about a career as an Evil Overlord? Think you have what it takes to be the next Darth Vader? Check out this site for a collection of SuperVillain Do's and Don'ts including 'My ventilation shafts will be too small to crawl through'.

The Voice Actor Page - Want to know who does the voice of Larry 3000 on Time Squad?  Find the answer to this and many more questions about the men and women who do the talking for your favorite cartoon characters.  Search alphbetically by show title or actor name.  (By the way, Larry is voiced by none other than Mark Hamill.) 

Stupid Plot Tricks - Expanding on the Evil Overlord lists, this contains lists of rules for henchman, good guys/gals, bad guys/gals and even sidekicks.  Very funny read.

Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics - This site examines many popular movies to see if the action is in line with real physical laws.  An interesting, entertaining and even educational read.

Movie-a-Minute - A very funny site, with brief summaries of many popular films. As a sample, here's their treatment of "The Matrix":

Keanu Reeves
Hey everybody, look! Look at me! I'm in a movie that doesn't suck!
Audience
GASP!
Keanu Reeves
Yes, it's true! Not only that, despite my total lack of acting ability, I very nearly didn't suck in this movie!
(faints)

THE END

Book-a-Minute - From the folks who brought you 'Movie-a-Minute'. Here's their treatment of Frank Herbert's "Dune":

Frank Herbert
I'm lots smarter than you are. I challenge you to understand even one of my paragraphs!
Reader
Gee, Frank Herbert is smart. I can't even find the plot.

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