Any Linux people around?

[Kai]

Okay, i hate to admit it, but i've got almost zero experience with Linux. I tried it as an OS a while back, and it was unintuitive, complicated and frustrating. It was like trying to drink coffee wearing a blindfold and boxing gloves - it made NO sense and i got in a mess.

So, unfortunately, my new boss has decided i need to be 'up to speed' with linux (despite the fact that only one client uses Linux, and the rest are on Windows - which i can handle).

He's given me a list of tasks to accomplish. Now the VPN is running Debian, so that makes it easy, supposedly. But the documentation might as well be written in fucking Klingon for all the help it is - my brain hurts, and i just don't get it

Install Apache2? Done. Works on SSL too.

Install CVS? Done. Dunno what it does, but it's apparrently installed correctly.

Install ViewVC. Now i've installed it, the package is there, all the files are there, but i don't know how the fuck to configure it, and all the readme's/how-to's i've found don't give you a simple walkthrough of *WHAT* to do and *HOW*.

If i don't get it done by the end of the month, i'm just going to tell my boss i can't do it, and to find someone else for the job. No point in being paid to do a job i'm incapable of doing.

I'm seriously fucked off with this shit. Does ANYONE have a clue wtf is going on?

 

[GrimJack]

Have you read http://viewvc.tigris.org/source/browse/*checkout*/viewvc/branches/1.1.x/INSTALL already?

VPN is running Debian??? Blink... blink... Does that mean your linux distro is Debian?

 

[Kai]

Yeah i VPN into a Debian Server (i'm pretty sure its a virtual server). Had a look at the documentation, but it's making my head hurt

Problem is - the directories its referring to don't exist as such - stuff is scattered around in /usr/lib, /usr/bin and /etc/viewvc :/

 

[foreverpsycotic]

http://mally.stanford.edu/~sr/computing/basic-unix.html

http://www.pixelbeat.org/cmdline.html

Those should help a bit. I don't know linux too well, but I work a lot with OSX and that is UNIX based. Kinda sorta the same thing.

 

[GrimJack]

Different paths are a pain in the ass, but not impossible to deal with. I spend a fair bit of time on my Ubuntu box trying to remember where exactly something is located.

I started writing it all down in a text file that I keep easily available. Once you've got that, most of the config issues are just cut / paste.

 

[Kai]

I think i've got the filesystem heirarchy nailed down - and where stuff *is*, and the basics such as ls/cp/dir/rm etc i remembered from when i tried out Slackware in 96 - it's the config files that make no sense to me, at least, not at the moment. It feels totally alien going from 17 years of GUI use, to go BACK to a command line. It feels almost arcane.

 

[GrimJack]

Here's a useful reference, too... I use it as my wallpaper.

 

[7Matt-GE]

^^ very helpful, i run a debian box out of my house (FTP, Apache, Dhcp,) the basics i plan on acquiring some bigger and faster hardware so i can run a virtual management service off of a linux box so i can utilize a virtual environment through various laptops and tablets i own.

 

[Apollonius]

Perhaps http://chschneider.eu/linux/server/apache2.shtml will help?
Just a basic setup but maybe something your missing is mentioned.

 

[Kai]

Got Apache2 setup, ssl, cgi enabled, viewvc installed and configured, as well as bugzilla - had someone walk me through it, was simple once he explained it! Next step though, is FOSWiki

 

[KicknAsphlt]

i remembered from when i tried out Slackware in 96

Slackware is more of a 'purist' or 'tinkerer' flavor of Linux -- it's very minimalistic in intuition and doing stuff for the user, allowing the user to COMPLETELY config everything how they want. Now granted, back in '96 pretty much all flavors were in the same vein, but most Linux distros today are a LOT more user-friendly as far as use and configuration.

As far as the configuration of this software you have to get familiar with, how are the directories differing between what the guide is saying and what's actually happening? A comparison between the directories being used and referenced may help.