Install linux on x box

Linux offers educational opportunities for free - operating system - Product Information

By now most folks have heard of Linux and the useful real-world things it can do. Equally impressive, however, is its educational potential. Students at any level, from high school to post-graduate, can employ Linux as a classroom-in-a-box. Whether used formally in a classroom setting or informally in self-teaching mode, Linux is the ideal teaching tool for computing.

Load Linux on a spare 486 PC, arm yourself with a pile of O'Reilly & Associates books, subscribe to some key newsgroups, and you're ready to enroll.

Networking

Linux is chock-a-block full of networking options. You can learn how to set up a primary or secondary DNS server, a boot or DHCP server, a PPP server, an NFS or FTP server. If you want to experiment in a Novell environment, you simply install the MARS-NWE (Netware Emulator) and learn to configure Linux to fit in as a Novell server. Want to learn how to configure a NetBIOS network? Install SAMBA and learn how to set up Linux to mimic an NT server. Set up a cluster of Win95 units with Linux as the print and file server. Add Netatalk to serve Macs. Got that mastered? Now you can move on to configuring Linux as a router, a proxy server and a firewall.

Internet

Next you can learn how to set up Linux as an SMTP server and an Internet mailhub for POP or IMAP clients. And while you're at it, maybe learn how to set up Linux as a news server. And install Majordomo to set up Linux as a listserver. And, of course, install Apache and learn how to configure the world's most popular Web server.

Development

But don't stop there. Now that you have that Web server running, it's time to learn how to write CGI-BIN scripts in Perl, Python, C or Java. Want interactive, database-driven Web pages? Add the PHP module to Apache and you've got an embedded server-based scripting language that rivals Microsoft's ASP. Need a relational database? Lots of free ones to choose from, but try MySQL from Sweden. Very fast and you can practise populating tables and writing SQL queries. Good training if you want to move up to Oracle later. Of course there's X Window. Not only do you use it and learn how to configure it to your taste, it's also good for learning your way into GUI programming. C, C++, Objective C, Java, Scheme, LISP, Fortran, Python and Tcl/Tk are among the languages you can install from your Linux CD-ROM.

Writing/Publishing

Need to do some technical writing and report writing? Learn LyX, the almost-WYSIWYG front end to LaTeX, and you can learn how to create logical, attractive, typeset reports and books. Want to publish that report or book on the Web? Run latex2html and you have a perfectly done Web publication, including TOC and Index.

Graphics

Want to create graphics for Web use? Fire up the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) and you have a tool about halfway between PaintShopPro and Photoshop. It even has layers. And you can learn how to morph images with xmorph.

Administration

Once you set up the Linux box, you must learn how to administer user accounts and groups, how to restrict FTP access to the directories you want, how to shadow passwords and otherwise tend to security issues, and how to update files when security alerts are issued. And, of course, how to back up files to tape or other media.

Oh, and did we mention that all of the above is free? No licensing fees or restrictions. And, yes, source code is included. All the major Linux distributions come with all the things mentioned here, plus much more.

Full CD-ROM distributions cost around $50. The bottom line is that Linux provides the most complete learning environment available for studying computer systems and networks.

Educators take note: this free OS and wonderful collection of software could change the way you approach teaching computer studies. It's the real deal.

Gene Wilburn is ITS manager at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. He can be reached at genew@rom.on.ca