Sam Franc <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > " /dev/hda1 /dos vfat defaults,umask=002,uid=0,gid=35 0 0" > I am a complete novice and want to install Linux, but I see I need to > learn a new language before I start.
The precise line you're quoting is an entry in a table. Knowing the column headings helps a lot when understanding what it means, but everyone in the discussion did not quote them because they are there to see in everyone's local linux installation. I know it can look confusing, but you wouldn't expect to be able to understand random lines from a CONFIG.SYS file on a dos/windows instalation just as that, either, would you? The good news are 1) You do *not* need to learn how to parse this before you start. In fact, the best way to learn linux (or any other OS) is to try to install it and mess with it until it works the way you want it to. 2) You don't need to *learn* it at all, not as in being able to memoize it when away from your computer, at least. I don't think anybody knows the syntax of every configuration file in a Debian system by heart, but most of us get along anyhow. The most important ability to have is the ability to look up the precise details in the on-line documentation when one needs them. 3) Linux offers more knobs and turns for controlling precisely how it behaves than any other OS you've ever worked with. The full amount of customability is much too big for a pretty graphical set-up screen to handle well, so one has to use text-based config files instead. It pays off tremendously, though. 4) It is usually possible to actually understand what the black magic in linux configuration files do. The role and format of each file is generally well documented in the on-line help. Contrast this to the situation on a windows box where the CONFIG.SYS file (not to mention the registration database) mostly consists of opaque entries that some automatic installation tool decided you want, without also deciding that you want to know why you want them. -- Henning Makholm http://www.diku.dk/students/makholm
