Arch Linux

kgostanek

Member

Registered: 2008-08-18

Posts: 7

General Linux Questions from New "Hobbyist"

I am a new Linux enthusiast. I hope to understand it, and have some questions. I understand that some of my questions are general and do not request that one person address them all.

(1) I've installed Arch, Sabayon, and Ubuntu on separate partitions. Arch does not recognize the other partitions. I've tried to add the Ubuntu partition to fstab, but no luck. How do I get Arch to recognize the other partitions, so I can mount them?

(2) Will Arch support the 2.6.26.2 kernel if I compile it manually?

(3) Most documentation for the zenmm kernel assumes knowledge I don't have. Where can I get more information?

(4) During kernel compilation, what is the significance of the "mismatch" warnings?

(5) For my job, I use a proprietary (functional) programming language and understand programming logic. What resources (books, ebooks, articles, etc) might be appropriate to quickly understand C or C++? Is C++ the best choice for understanding Linux? What are some other good choices that are equally powerful?

How about a good ebook for computer science in general?

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help.

Mr.Elendig

#archlinux@freenode channel op

From: The intertubes

Registered: 2004-11-07

Posts: 3,528

Re: General Linux Questions from New "Hobbyist"

1. fstab, eg '/dev/sda5 /home/<user>/ubuntu-home ext3 defaults 0 0' man fstab and man mount for more info.

2. If you really want to compile your own kernel, then I recomend to use a PKGBUILD to do so, since it will make upgrading etc easier.

5. If you want to understand linux as in the linux kernel, then C would be prefered, since that's what's it's written in. For understanding linux as in gnu/linux, you don't need to know any spesific language. Better to look at how the parts works and interacts, than how to impliment/use it in some spesific language, since general knowledge can be applied to all languages and situations, but knowing how to do sockets in C, won't help you mutch at all in most other languages.

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Evil #archlinux@freenode channel op and general support dude.
. files on github, Screenshots, Random pics and the rest

mcmillan

Member

Registered: 2006-04-06

Posts: 665

Re: General Linux Questions from New "Hobbyist"

1. If Mr. Elendig's answer wasn't enough post your fstab and tell us what partitions ubuntu uses and we can help figure out where you went wrong.

2. The 2.6.26.2 kernel is the most recent version in the repository so Arch will obviously be able to run it. If you just want to compile in order to get more of a sense of your computer then using the PKGBUILD is a good place to get started initially.