The Stainless Steel Rat's Jump Pad
Home |
Hackers |
Other Items of Interest |
Programming Languages |
Comparison of Programming Languages |
What's Wrong with Microsoft |
Programming Languages |
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
=================
Introduction
Machine List
Partitioning your Hard Disk
Basic partitioning information
Estimating space requirements
Partitioning your disk(s)
Repartitioning Existing Disks
Partition Types and Names
Drive Setup
Apple HD SC Setup
pdisk
Installing the Mac OS-side files
Once you are in the MkLinux Installer
Getting started with MkLinux
Logging in as root
Creating a user account
Mounting the CD
Installing a package
Removing a package
Where to go next
Books
Online
Thanks
Last words
Introduction
============
Welcome to MkLinux Developer Release 3! MkLinux, as you probably realize, is
Apple Computer's Mach 3-based version of the GNU/Linux operating system.
Versions of MkLinux run on the Intel, PA-RISC, and PowerPC architectures.
This disc contains the version of MkLinux which runs on PowerPC-based Apple
Power Macintosh and related systems.
With DR3, MkLinux binary executables are compatible with the other PowerPC
Linux systems (e.g., LinuxPPC). In addition, MkLinux file systems are byte-
order compatible with other (e.g., Intel-based) Linux file systems. Also,
MkLinux DR3 supports dynamic shared libraries, for greatly reduced disk and
RAM storage and faster program loading.
Developer Release 3 has been a long time (over a year!) in development. It
supports many more machines since the last release (DR2.1) and offers much
more flexibility in terms of installation options. As a result of this
flexibility, the installation process has become rather more complex. We have
tried to retain as much simplicity as possible, however!
If, after reading these notes carefully, you still have trouble getting
MkLinux to run, please make use of the wide variety of user-contributed
support resources. Specifically, you should start with the "Frequently Asked
Questions" (FAQ) on Apple's MkLinux web page (www.mklinux.apple.com).
If the FAQ does not help you, please use the MkLinux mailing lists. The
"mklinux-setup" list is probably most appropriate for problems you might
encounter while installing MkLinux DR3. Submit your question (in detailed
form) to the mklinux-setup email list (the MkLinux web site has links to a
sign-on form). The members on the setup list are very helpful and
knowledgeable about a wide range of machines.
Please do not contact directly Apple Computer's MkLinux team or Prime Time
Freeware for support on MkLinux. Put simply, neither organization has the
resources to help you. You will get better results with the FAQ and mailing
lists.
Machine List
============
MkLinux DR3 will run on the following PowerPC-based Macintoshes:
Power Macintosh 6100 Power Macintosh 9500
Performa 61xx Power Macintosh 9500/180MP
Workgroup Server 6150 Power Macintosh 9515
Power Macintosh 7100 Power Macintosh 9600
Power Macintosh 8100 Power Macintosh 9600/200MP
Power Macintosh 8115 Workgroup Server 9650
Workgroup Server 8150
Workgroup Server 9150 Power Macintosh 4400
Power Macintosh 5400
Power Macintosh 7200 Performa 54xx
Power Macintosh 7215 Power Macintosh 5500
Power Macintosh 7220 Performa 6360
Workgroup Server 7250 Power Macintosh 6400
Power Macintosh 7300 Performa 64xx
Workgroup Server 7350 Power Macintosh 6500
Power Macintosh 7500 20th Anniversary Macintosh
Power Macintosh 7600
Power Macintosh 8200 PowerBook 3400
Power Macintosh 8500 Power Macintosh G3 Desktop
Power Macintosh 8515 Power Macintosh G3 Minitower
Workgroup Server 8550 PowerBook G3
Power Macintosh 8600
Notes:
Some of the high-end Power Macintoshes and Workgroup Servers use a PCI-based
SCSI adapter to access Fast-Wide or Ultra-Wide SCSI devices. At this time,
MkLinux cannot access SCSI devices attached via PCI adapters. In order to use
MkLinux DR3 on these machines, you will need to attach a separate SCSI disk to
the Macintosh's onboard or external SCSI connector.
MkLinux has some difficulty accessing various IDE drives that have been
shipped on some Macintosh systems. MkLinux will not recognize these drives;
thus, the MkLinux installer will not report them in its drive list. As an
alternative, you can install MkLinux DR3 onto an external SCSI drive. Check
the Frequently Asked Questions on www.mklinux.apple.com for current
information, patches, workarounds, etc.
MkLinux DR3 will run on many of the Macintosh clones. If you have one of
these machines, your best bet is to try the installation process and see how
things go. If you have problems, send a note to the mklinux-setup list.
Partitioning your Hard Disk
===========================
Partitioning your disk is probably the most difficult step in getting MkLinux
installed onto your Macintosh. If you are already familiar with partitioning
disks on Macintosh systems, you should at least skim this section and proceed
with your own partitioning method.
Unfortunately, there is no simple partitioning recipe that will work for every
situation. Practically every MkLinux installation is unique; each may
require different tools and methods to accomplish. The best we can do is to
provide you with information about partitioning tools and MkLinux's
requirements, then let you determine which method best serves your needs.
If you are new to disk partitioning concepts, or partitioning disks on
Macintoshes, then you will want to pay close attention to this section. Even
if you are completely unfamiliar with disk partitioning concepts, we feel that
if you read this section carefully, you _will_ be able to get through the
partitioning task. Don't give up, it's really not that difficult. Also,
you may want to make use of the helpful people who read and post to the
mklinux-setup mailing list.
Basic partitioning information
------------------------------
Most of the disk space that MkLinux needs in order to operate does not reside
in regular Mac OS volumes. Instead, MkLinux has its own filesystems, which
must reside in separate disk partitions.
MkLinux uses two distinct types of disk partitions. It uses "swap" space to
store idle portions of the memory used by running programs. It uses
"filesystem" space to store directories (i.e., folders) and files.
The amount of swap space MkLinux needs depends on what sorts of tasks the
machine will be doing and how much physical RAM you have installed. The swap
space is combined with the physical RAM in the system to produce the total
amount of virtual memory available for all running programs. The minimum
amount of swap space that the MkLinux DR3 install process will allow is 8 MB.
Typically, 64 MB of swap space is just fine.
If you have very little RAM or expect to be running many users or programs at
once, you may want to provide more swap space. Please keep in mind that the
maximum usable size of a MkLinux swap partition is 128 MB. You are free,
however, to have more than one swap partition.
The MkLinux filesystem has (like Mac OS) a hierarchical directory structure:
files may exist at any level of the directory hierarchy. Unlike Mac OS,
however, MkLinux can graft whole filesystem trees (residing in separate
partitions) onto the main ("root") filesystem.
This grafting ability, modelled after UNIX, is called "mounting" a filesystem.
The directory under which the mounted filesystem appears is called a "mount
point". By carefully choosing the sizes of your filesystem partitions and
their mount points, you can create a unified filesystem tree with branches
existing in separate partitions or even separate disk drives.
MkLinux filesystem partitions are limited, at present, to a maximum of two GB
each. Therefore, if you want to have an overall MkLinux filesystem that will
hold more than 2 GB, you'll need to use multiple partitions.
How you envision using your MkLinux system will help determine where you might
consider mounting extra filesystems. For example, if you expect that you will
be loading many extra programs (or packages) after your initial MkLinux
install, you might want to dedicate a whole partition to the "/usr" portion
of your filesystem. If you expect to have several users, you may want to let
"/home" (and its subdirectories) reside in its own partition. If you expect a
large amount of email or Usenet news to flow through the system, consider
giving "/var" its own partition.
Finally, if you're not sure how your system will be used, or which areas of
the filesystem might need their own partition, you can simply put the whole
MkLinux filesystem into one partition. The 2 GB rule mentioned above still
applies, but a single partition filesystem is all you need to get started.
Estimating space requirements
-----------------------------
The MkLinux DR3 CD contains 420 packages that can be installed initially and
233 "extra" packages which can be installed later, as desired. The initial
installation process provides quite a bit of flexibility in choosing which
of the initial 420 packages to install. Follow-on installation is even more
flexible, allowing any desired package(s) to be installed.
It would be ridiculous for us to list the disk space requirements of every
combination allowed by the initial installation. So, we will provide the
space requirements for three typical MkLinux installations.
The MkLinux installer has a page where you choose several broad categories of
packages to be installed. The install configuration called "Absolute Minimum"
unchecks (de-selects) every option on the selection page. "Default
Selections" makes no changes on the selections page. "Everything" installs
all 420 packages.
partition "Absolute Minimum" "Default Selections" "Everything"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
/ 15 15 16
/opt 0 33 47
/usr 41 136 398
/var 2 4 10
/home 0 0 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
totals 58 188 474
All values are in Megabytes (where 1 Megabyte = 1024*1024 bytes).
Given the five partitions shown above, the table shows the space usage in the
partition after each of the three separate installations. It is not necessary
for you to create all five of these MkLinux filesystem partitions. In fact,
the "/opt" partition is not found on most Linux installations.
In general, you will want to have fewer partitions in your installation than
the five shown above. As you eliminate partitions, incorporate their space
into that of the root partition (labelled "/" in the table).
To help you get started, we will walk through two common examples. An
"Everything" installation, using the three partitions "/", "/usr", and
"/home", will require at least 73 MB for "/", 398 MB for "/usr", and 3 MB for
"/home". A "Default Selections" installation, with a single filesystem
partition, will require at least 188 MB in that ("/") partition.
Of course, you will want to leave some extra space in your filesystems so that
you can actually use your MkLinux system without running out of space on the
first day! If you will be installing some of the 233 "extra" packages on the
CD, then you should increase the amount available in "/usr", as most of those
packages install files somewhere under the "/usr" directory.
If you want to add several user accounts to your system so that your friends
can log in, you will want to have plenty of space available for "/home" to
grow. "/home" is also the default location of any "anonymous FTP" space or
web pages that you may want to host on your MkLinux system. If you expect
your MkLinux system to be handling lots of email or Usenet news, ensure that
the "/var" directory has plenty of room to grow.
Hopefully, you now have some idea of what partitions you will want for
MkLinux. The next step is to actually make these MkLinux partitions.
Partitioning your disk(s)
-------------------------
There are three partitioning programs included on this CD. Each has its
strengths and weaknesses when applied to the task of partitioning your disk
for MkLinux. These differences are discussed below. However, before we
begin, it is important that you understand some of the basic concepts of disk
partitioning on Macintosh systems.
Whether you realize it or not, your system disk is already partitioned. Most
of the space on your disk is probably allocated to one partition that contains
a large Mac OS volume. There are several smaller partitions, however, which
hold other bits of information:
* There is exactly one "Partition Map" partition which holds the
partitioning information itself.
* There is probably at least one "Driver Partition" which enables Mac OS
to access the Mac OS volumes on the disk.
* There may be a "Patch Partition" which has been used to store patches to
the Mac OS operating system.
* Finally, any "free" space must be accounted for in other partitions.
Partitions are contiguous areas on your disk. Filesystems are data structures
that exist inside partitions. Mac OS Standard (also known as HFS) and Mac OS
Extended (also known as HFS+) volumes are two types of filesystems that may
exist in partitions.
If you open a volume on your desktop and see something like "353.3 MB in disk
844.7 MB available", the 844.7 MB is unused space _inside_ that Mac OS
filesystem. The message does NOT refer to free partition space. To find out
if you have free partition space on your disk, you will need to use a tool
(such as a partitioner) that looks at the actual partition map.
Repartitioning Existing Disks
-----------------------------
Although (for safety!) we recommend the use of a separate disk for MkLinux,
this is not absolutely necessary. It is possible to repartition your existing
disk, shrink the Mac OS portion, and install MkLinux in the remaining space.
In most instances, however, shrinking your existing Mac OS volume (and the
surrounding partition) will require that the Mac OS volume be reinitialized,
destroying everything you may have in the volume. Obviously, you would want
to back up all your important files before destroying your existing volume!
It is possible to shrink a Mac OS volume (and the partition that contains it)
while keeping the data intact. The tools supplied in this MkLinux
distribution cannot perform this task. However, the task can be accomplished
with at least one third-party disk partitioning program (FWB's Hard Disk
Toolkit). If this is an approach you would like to take, you will need to
obtain HDT and use it to make free partition space. You may use either HDT
or the tools supplied on this CD to add the desired MkLinux partitions.
Partition Types and Names
-------------------------
Every Macintosh partition has a "type" and a "name". Both of these pieces of
information are simple strings. Usually, the name of a partition can be
anything you want. However, there are several important types that you should
know about, including:
Apple_partition_map partition map
Apple_Driver43 disk drivers
Apple_Patches Mac OS patches
Apple_HFS Mac OS volumes
Apple_UNIX_SVR2 MkLinux partitions
Both standard (HFS) and extended (HFS+) Mac OS volumes are usually contained
in partitions with the "Apple_HFS" type. The name of an Apple_HFS partition
may not be the same as the name of the Mac OS volume that it contains.
The names of the MkLinux filesystem partitions are ignored, so it's handy to
name them for their intended purpose (e.g., root, home, usr, var, tmp, etc.).
The MkLinux installer assigns partitions named "swap" for use as swap space.
This disc contains three partitioning programs, with varying capabilities:
Drive Setup standard Mac OS utility; partitions Apple drives
(both IDE and SCSI); doesn't make A/UX (MkLinux)
partitions
Apple HD SC Setup older Mac OS utility; partitions any SCSI drive;
makes A/UX partitions
pdisk Mac OS/Mklinux utility; makes A/UX partitions
Drive Setup
-----------
Drive Setup is the standard partitioning utility that is shipped with Mac OS.
It can create multiple MacOS partitions on your drive, leave free partition
space (e.g., for use by pdisk), deposit the latest Apple disk drivers onto the
disk, and create actual Mac OS standard and extended volumes in created
partititions. It can partition (Apple-branded) SCSI and IDE drives.
Drive Setup cannot create the A/UX-style partitions used by MkLinux. One
common method is to use Drive Setup to create free partition space on your
drive, then use pdisk to create MkLinux partitions in the free space. An
alternative is to have Drive Setup create extra Mac OS partitions, then use
pdisk to change them to MkLinux partitions before use.
Apple HD SC Setup
-----------------
Apple HD SC Setup is an older partitioner from Apple that still comes in handy
occasionally. HD SC Setup originated in an era when Apple used SCSI drives
exclusively. Therefore it will not recognize your IDE drives. It can,
however, make A/UX partitions, as used by MkLinux.
By default, HD SC Setup will work on Apple drives only, but it can be
patched (AT YOUR OWN RISK) to accept other drives:
Copy Apple HD SC Setup 7.3.5 from the CD to a writable Mac OS drive.
Change the one byte in the "wfwr" ID 67 resource from "00" to "FF".
For more information, see www.euronet.nl/users/ernstoud/patch.html
pdisk
-----
The pdisk partitioner was adapted from a Linux partitioner. Pdisk can do
practically anything to your partition table. It runs on Apple-sanctioned as
well as non-Apple drives. Pdisk can even modify the partition table of the
disk that you're currently running from. However, pdisk has some problems.
The main problem is that pdisk is not a typical Mac OS application. It has a
command-line interface that can be intimidating to many. Another disadvantage
is that it does not do anything to areas of the disk other than the partition
map. Consequently it cannot install a driver onto your disk, nor can it
create HFS or HFS+ volumes. (However, it is important to note that it is not
necessary to have a driver partition on a disk that doesn't have an HFS
partition.)
Pdisk has two variants. One is a program that runs under Mac OS. The other
is a MkLinux program that is available to you when the MkLinux installer is
running. The Mac OS version uses Mac OS facilities to access the disks;
the MkLinux version uses MkLinux's facilities. However, the "engine" in pdisk
is the same between the two versions. So, once you learn to use one, you will
know how to use the other.
Even though it can be intimidating at first, we recommend that you learn
enough of pdisk to at least display the partition table on a disk. A good
reference on how to use pdisk is located in the "pdisk.html" file in the
"MacOS Utilities" folder on this disc. Just point your favorite browser to
the pdisk.html file. Of all the partitioners mentioned, pdisk is the best one
to show your disk's true partition layout.
Installing the Mac OS-side files
================================
There are five files in the "Mac Files" folder. Copy the two files "MkLinux
Booter" and "Mach Kernel" to your Extensions folder. Copy the control panel
"MkLinux" to your Control Panels folder. Copy the two files "lilo.conf" and
"MkLinux.prefs" to your Preferences folder.
The initial boot of MkLinux just runs the installer. Currently, things are
set to install from a SCSI CD-ROM drive. If your machine has a SCSI CD-ROM
drive, you will not need to change anything. Skip ahead a few paragraphs to
where you "Restart your Macintosh".
If your machine has an ATAPI CD-ROM, then you will need to change a setting.
If you have one of the following machines, you probably have an ATAPI CD-ROM
drive:
Power Macintosh 4400
Any "Tanzania" based clone
PowerBook 3400
PowerBook G3
Power Macintosh G3
To determine whether your machine has an ATAPI CD-ROM drive, insert a disc
into your drive, click once on the disc's desktop icon, and run "Get Info"
(from the File menu). If the "Where:" line ends in "(ATAPI ..)", you have an
ATAPI CD-ROM drive and you will need to change the rootdev setting.
To change MkLinux so that it will retrieve the installer from an ATAPI CD-ROM
drive, launch the "MkLinux" control panel and select "Custom...". SimpleText
will be launched to edit your "lilo.conf" file. Change your rootdev according
to the instructions in the lilo.conf file. (Basically, you will change a line
so that it reads: "rootdev=/dev/hdc").
Restart your Macintosh. Upon reboot, you should see the MkLinux "splash
screen". It is set to default boot into Mac OS. Click on the "MkLinux"
button, and the MkLinux installer should run.
Once you are in the MkLinux Installer
=====================================
The MkLinux installer is adapted from the well-known "Red Hat Linux"
installer, originally written by Red Hat Software. The installer was ported
to MkLinux with the intent of making as few changes as possible. Therefore,
you will probably notice that there are still many references to "Red Hat
Linux". Also, there are some concepts presented that are appropriate for
other Linux installations, but inappropriate for MkLinux. Don't worry; with
some basic instruction, you will be able to use the installer to get your
MkLinux system installed with the desired collection of packages.
When you get to the first page of the installer, you should see a blue back-
ground and a white text window with black characters. If you don't get these
colors, you may want to reboot into Mac OS and use the "Monitors and Sound"
control panel to choose a 256-color scheme.
The following keys will help you navigate while using the installer:
Tab Move to the next field
Return Select the current highlighted choice
Up/Down Arrow Move up/down in a list of items
Space Check or Uncheck the selected list item
Below is a step-by-step description of the various installation screens.
"Welcome to MkLinux" Screen
Simply press Return to continue to the next screen.
"Keyboard Type" Screen
Select a keyboard type. This controls the keyboard mapping. Not all
the listed keyboard mappings work properly. If you find this is the
case for your selection, start over and select "us" as your keyboard
type. You should be able to continue through the installation.
"Installation Method" Screen
Since the packages to be installed reside on the CD, choose "Local
CD-ROM".
"Installation Path" Screen
Choose "Install". The other option, "Upgrade", is intended to add
packages to an already installed Red Hat system, and is not supported
in this release.
"Partition Disks" Screen
The installer will show you a list of disks on your system that MkLinux
has recognized. If you select one and choose "Edit", you will be able
to view and optionally change that disk's partition map using the
MkLinux version of pdisk. When you have finished viewing/editing the
partition maps on various disks, choose "Done".
(Don't confuse this screen with the upcoming "Partition Disk" screen.)
"Select Root Partition" Screen
The installer will list every partition that is appropriate for an
MkLinux filesystem. Pick one to use for your "root" partition.
Only partitions of type "Apple_UNIX_SVR2" are shown. Also, any
partitions you designated as swap partitions (by putting the word "swap"
in the name) will not be shown.
"Partition Disk" Screen
This page will list the other partitions that are available to be
mounted. Use the arrow keys to highlight a particular partition, then
press Return. A follow-on dialog will tell the installer where you
would like to have the filesystem in that partition mounted. You may
also use this page to mount your Mac OS Standard (HFS) volumes. Please
note, however, that the HFS volumes will be mounted read-only.
Any MkLinux partitions you designated as swap partitions (by putting
the word "swap" in the name) will not be shown.
(Don't confuse this screen with the previous "Partition Disks" screen.)
"Active Swap Space" Screen
The installer will give you a list of every partition that is suitable
to be a MkLinux swap partition. Remember, use the Space bar to
set/unset which partitions you want to use for swap.
"Find installation files" Screen
This isn't a real screen. However, you may notice a significant pause
here. Be patient; if you have a relatively slow CD-ROM drive, you may
need to wait a few minutes.
"Format Partitions" Screen
The installer will give you a list of partitions. You will need to use
the arrow keys and space bar to select which partitions to format. If
you have never used MkLinux in these partitions, you must reformat all
of them. If you have used MkLinux DR2.1 (or an earlier version), we
suggest that you reformat _all_ your MkLinux partitions. If you have
used MkLinux "pre-DR3", we suggest that you format at least the system
partitions, such as / (the root partition), /usr, or /var.
"Components to Install" Screen
At this point, the installer will present you with a list of selected
collections of packages. Use the Space bar to select the ones that
seem appropriate for your installation.
At the very end of the list, there is an item labelled "Everything".
Selecting "Everything" will install every package (all 420 of them!)
available in the main package set, even those not represented in the
other groups.
There is also a box that you can check labelled "Select individual
packages". If this box is checked when you leave this screen, you will
go to a set of screens where you can select the packages individually.
"Install log" Screen
This is just an informative message explaining that an installation log
will be saved and will be viewable after the installation in the file
"/tmp/install.log".
"Install System" Screens
At this point, the installer will proceed to create the filesystems in
your MkLinux partitions, then install the packages that you selected.
A progress bar will be displayed, along with estimates of how much time
it will take to complete installing the packages.
There are a few packages that write to the installer screen, making the
display somewhat messy. You may safely ignore these messages.
"Configure Mouse" Screen
Choose ADB Mouse. Note: the "emulate three buttons" option is not
applicable in MkLinux at this time.
"Network Configuration" Screen
If your MkLinux system is connected to a TCP/IP-based Local Area
Network, and you want to configure your system to operate on this
network at this time, choose "Yes".
The installer will bring up two screens, the first is the "Configure
TCP/IP" screen. You will need to know an IP address for your system,
the Net Mask, a Default Gateway address, and a DNS nameserver address.
If you don't know these values, you should ask your Network
Administrator.
Checking "Configure device with bootp" (with the Space bar) indicates
that you want to query the network for a set of values appropriate for
your machine.
The "Configure Network" screen allows you to enter your domain name and
host name. Also, if you have any alternate nameservers, you should
enter them here.
"Configure Timezones" Screen
This is the place to set your local timezone. Use the up and down
arrow keys to select the correct timezone from the list.
You should always check the "Hardware clock set to GMT" box if you want
MkLinux to read your Mac OS clock correctly. Don't worry; this will
not affect your Mac OS clock in any way.
"Services" Screen
The installer will present a list of the services that can be started
automatically when your MkLinux system boots. If you are not familiar
with which services you want and which ones you don't want, it is safe
to simply leave the checkboxes unchanged.
"Configure Printer" Screen
If you choose "Yes" on this screen, the installer will present you with
a few more screens asking fairly straight-forward questions about your
printer. Please note that, at this time, you cannot set up an
AppleTalk printer using this mechanism.
"Root Password" Screen
You must pick a password for the "root" account. Remember this
password, because the "root" account will be the first thing you need
once the MkLinux installation is complete. Note that when you type the
password, the characters do not appear.
"Info" Screen
Be sure to remember or write down the "rootdev" value that the
installer tells you on this screen. You will need it in a few steps.
"Done" Screen
When you press ok, the system will reboot. You will need to go into
Mac OS at least one more time to change the rootdev setting (mentioned
in the previous screen).
When the system reboots, the MkLinux "Splash Screen" will appear again.
Select "Mac OS". Once Mac OS has booted, invoke the MkLinux Control
Panel. Press the "Custom..." button in the control panel. The
SimpleText editor will be launched and you will be editing the
"lilo.conf" file. Change the line that contains "rootdev=/dev/XXXX" to
the value that the installer gave you. Save the file and quit.
This is a good time to choose your "Startup Selection". Click the
button next to either Mac OS or MkLinux. (This sets the default choice
at the MkLinux Splash Screen. At the splash screen, you can always
override the default choice.)
Close the MkLinux Control Panel and restart your Macintosh. Choose
MkLinux. (If MkLinux is the default OS, you may simply choose to wait
10 seconds.) MkLinux should now boot, placing you at the "login
prompt".
Getting started with MkLinux
============================
Now that you have Mklinux installed, you'll want to start using it to do
useful and fun things. It is not possible for us to describe here everything
that you can do with MkLinux. For more assistance with using MkLinux (or
practically any Linux system), please see the references below. For now, here
are a few simple things that you can do with MkLinux to get started.
Logging in as root
------------------
At the "login:" prompt, type "root" then return and enter root's
password at the password prompt. (Root's password is the one you chose
during the installation process.)
In general, you should use the root account to do system administration
only. For instance, you would want to use the root account to add
packages, remove packages, configure your networking, and in some cases
shut the system down. For day-to-day operation of your MkLinux system,
you should create and use a user account for yourself.
Creating a user account
-----------------------
Log in as root and use the "adduser" command. For instance, if you want
to create an account for Joe, you would issue the command:
adduser joe
This will create an account for joe, along with an associated home
directory "/home/joe".
Joe's account will need to have an initial password. Still as root,
issue the following command:
passwd joe
You will be prompted to enter an initial password for Joe's account.
Mounting the CD
---------------
If you want to add some packages or access files from the MkLinux DR3
CD, you will first need to "mount" the CD. While logged in as root,
issue the following command:
mount -r -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
The CD is now mounted and accessible in your filesystem directory tree
under /mnt/cdrom. If you issue the commands:
cd /mnt/cdrom
ls
You will see the contents of the top directory on the CD.
Once you have finished accessing the files on the CD, you will need to
"unmount" the CD before you can remove it from the CD-ROM drive. Issue
the following commands (as root):
cd # Change directory to be outside /mnt/cdrom
umount /mnt/cdrom
Installing a package
--------------------
There are two separate directories on the MkLinux DR3 CD that contain
packages that you can install. Assuming that you mounted the CD under
/mnt/cdrom, the main packages directory will be here:
/mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
The extra packages will be here:
/mnt/cdrom/extra/RPMS
For example, if you want to install the "zsh" package, you should issue
the following commands (as root):
cd /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS # change directory to the packages dir
rpm -ihv zsh-3.0.5-1b.ppc.rpm # install the zsh package
A complete listing and description of the main packages is in the file:
/mnt/cdrom/RedHat/rpmcontents.gz
Similarly, there is a listing of the extra packages:
/mnt/cdrom/extras/rpmcontents.gz
These rpmcontents files are compressed text files. To view them, issue
a command such as this:
zless /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/rpmcontents.gz
Removing a package
------------------
You can remove packages easily. For instance, if you had installed the
"inn" package (The Internet News System) during the initial installation,
and now you realize that you do not intend to run Usenet news service on
your MkLinux system, then you might want to remove the inn package. As
root, issue the command:
rpm -e inn
Starting the X Window System:
You may start X, the graphics system popular with practically every Unix
system, by issuing the command:
startx
Typically, you would run X from your regular user account.
Where to go next
================
Books
-----
MkLinux - Microkernel Linux for the Power Macintosh
Prime Time Freeware (www.ptf.com) publishes book/CD collections of
Open Source software. At the request of Apple Computer, PTF created
a Reference Release for MkLinux. The release contains information
on installing, using, and modifying the MkLinux system.
Running Linux
O'Reilly and Associates (www.oreilly.com) is a leading publisher of
books on Unix-related topics. "Running Linux", although written with
standard Linux in mind, is a very useful supplement for the MkLinux
Reference Release.
Online
------
www.mklinux.apple.com
www.linux.org
Thanks
======
This release of MkLinux would not have been possible without the efforts of
many people. We are grateful to everyone who has used, tested, reported bugs,
made suggestions, or even submitted fixes to earlier versions of MkLinux.
There are so many people involved, it would be impossible to list them all.
However, there are a few individuals who have made significant contributions
recently that have been extremely beneficial in the production of MkLinux
Developer Release 3:
Mark Hatle (Mankato State University) ported the Red Hat Installer for use
with MkLinux. In doing so, he had to fix portions of MkLinux so that the
Installer would operate correctly. Mark has also assisted with the DR3 RPM
package set.
Jack Howarth (University of Cincinatti College of Medicine) helped
tremendously with the DR3 RPM package set. From the earliest "pre-DR3"
snapshot, hundreds of RPMs had to be updated, adjusted, or simply rebuilt.
Jack's diligence in this area has made for an excellent package set.
Brad Midgley (Pacific HiTech, Inc.) ported some HFS code to work properly in
the Mach Bootstrap task. This is a key piece to getting the Red Hat installer
running as the initial MkLinux installation is booted from an HFS filesystem.
James Pearson (University College London) modified mkisofs, yielding the
utility "mkhybrid". mkhybrid can create a CD-ROM image that has both ISO-9660
and Apple HFS filesystem structures. The MkLinux DR3 CD image was created
with "mkhybrid".
Gary Thomas (The Open Group, Research Institute) has contributed far too many
things to list that are directly applicable to MkLinux DR3.
And finally, we would like to thank the entire Linux/PPC team for their
efforts in porting so many software packages. In most cases these packages
run unmodified on both Linux/PPC and MkLinux systems.
Last words
===========
Be sure to check the MkLinux website:
http://www.mklinux.apple.com/
for further information on current and future developments with MkLinux.
On behalf of everyone involved in making MkLinux Developer Release 3 a
reality, we hope you find that MkLinux is both fun and useful.
The MkLinux Team
Apple Computer
July, 1998