Troubleshooting problems with Linux by searching the Web can be an efficient and productive way to get answers to vexing problems. One of the most basic rules for conducting productive searches is to use specific search terms to find specific answers. For example, if you simply search for “Fedora Linux,” you end up with too many links and too much information. But if you search for “Fedora Core sound,” you are more likely to find the information you need. If you receive an error message, use it; otherwise, use the Linux kernel diagnostic message as your search criterion.

Other effective techniques include

Invest some time and experiment with your favorite search engine’s features—more productive searches will result. In addition to sharpening your search skills, also take the time to choose the best search engine for your needs.

Some of the fastest and most comprehensive search engines on the Web are powered by Linux, so it makes sense to use the best available resources. Out of the myriad number of websites with search engines, http://google.com stands out from the crowd, with 81 million or more users per month. The site uses advanced hardware and software to bring speed and efficiency to your searches. If you are looking for specific Linux answers, take advantage of Google’s Linux page at http://google.com/linux.

Why is Google (named after a math number) so powerful? You can get a quick idea from the company itself at http://www.google.com/technology/index.html. Part of its success is because of great algorithms, good programming, and simple interface design, but most users really seem to appreciate Google’s uncanny capability to provide links to what you are looking for in the first page of a search return. Google’s early success was also assured because the site ran its search engine on clusters of thousands of PCs running a version of Red Hat Linux!

Google has the largest database size of any search engine on the Web, with more than eight billion web pages searched and indexed. The database size is important because empty search results are useless to online users, and the capability to return hits on esoteric subjects can make the difference between success and failure or satisfaction and frustration. Some of Google’s features include a GoogleScout link to return similar pages on the results page, the capability to see the exact version of a web page as returned to a search engine (known as a cached feature), advanced searches, and more recently, a link to an active Usenet news feed!

To get a better idea of what Google can offer you, browse to http://www.google.com/options/. You will find links to more than two dozen different services and tools covering specialized searches, databases, information links, translators, and other helpful browsing tools.

You can quickly and easily view a list of the installed RPM packages installed on your Fedora system, along with a short description of each package, by using the rpm command:

$ rpm -qai | less

Fedora users can also use the yum command to view package names and information about not only installed packages, but any available updated packages, like this:

$ yum info | less

If you use Fedora and only want to see info about your installed packages, use the yum command’s installed list option like so:

$ yum info installed | less

However, you might want to generate a text file that contains all this information for your records. This is fairly easy to do by piping the output from the yum command into a file like so:

$ yum info available > ~/availablepackages.txtor
$ yum infor installed > ~/installedpackages.txt

Linux certification courses are part of the rapidly growing information technology training industry. Hundreds of different vendors now offer courses about and testing of Linux skill sets. However, because Linux is open-source software, there are no formal rules or mandates concerning what knowledge or level of expertise is required for certification. If you are interested in certification using Red Hat Linux and would like to pursue a career or obtain employment with a company using Red Hat Linux, you really should seek training from the best and most qualified company: Red Hat.

That said, the following websites might be of interest if you would like to pursue a certification track for Red Hat or other Linux distributions:

Commercial support for Linux and Red Hat Linux is an essential ingredient to the success of Linux in the corporate and business community. Although hundreds, if not thousands, of consultants well versed in Linux and UNIX are available on call for a fee, here is a short list of the best-known Linux support providers:

Nearly all Linux distributions include thousands of pages of documentation in the form of manual pages, HOWTO documents (in various formats, such as text and HTML), mini-HOWTO documents, or software package documentation (usually found under the /usr/share/doc/ directory). However, the definitive site for reading the latest versions of these documents is the Linux Documentation Project, found at http://www.tldp.org.

If you are all Linux distributions include tlooking for more extensive and detailed information concerning a Linux subject, try reading one of the many Linux guides. These guides, available for a number of subjects, dwell on technical topics in more detail and at a more leisurely pace than a HOWTO. You can find copies of

Mini-CD Linux distributions are used for many different purposes. Some distributions are used to boot to a read-only firewall configuration; others are used to provide as complete a rescue environment as possible; whereas others are used to either install or help jumpstart an install of a full distribution. Mini-CDs are available in a wide variety of sizes, such as 3″ CD-Rs (or CD-RW) with sizes ranging from 185MB to 210MB. You can also download an .iso image and create a Linux bootable business card, typically fitting on a 40MB or 50MB credit card–sized CD-R (consider using a mini–CD-RW, especially if you want to upgrade your distribution often). Here are some links to these distributions:

Choosing a Linux distribution (distro) for an Intel-based PC is generally a matter of personal preference or need. Many Linux users prefer Red Hat’s distro because of its excellent support, commercial support options, and widespread use around the world. However, many different Linux distributions are available for download. One of the best places to start looking for a new distro or new version of your favorite distro is http://www.distrowatch.com:

One of the definitive sites for getting information about running Linux on your laptop is Kenneth Harker’s Linux Laptop site. Although not as actively updated as in the past, this site (http://www.linux-laptop.net) still contains the world’s largest collection of Linux and laptop information, with links to user experiences and details concerning specific laptop models.

Another site to check is Werner Heuser’s Tuxmobil-Mobile UNIX website at http://www.tuxmobil.org. The site contains links to information about topics such as IrDA, Linux PDAs, and cell phones. Linux Zaurus PDA users can browse to http://www.openzaurus.org to download a complete open source replacement operating system for the Zaurus 5000 and 5500 models.

Although much technical information is available on the Internet regarding the X Window System, finding answers to specific questions when troubleshooting can be problematic. If you are having a problem using X, first try to determine whether the problem is software or hardware related. When searching or asking for help (such as on Usenet’s comp.os.linux.x newsgroup, which you can access through Google’s Groups link; see the next section for other helpful Linux newsgroups), try to be as specific as possible. Some critical factors or information needed to adequately assess a problem include the Linux distribution in use; the kernel version used; the version of X used; the brand, name, and model of your video card; the names, brands, and models of your monitor and other related hardware.

This section lists just some of the basic resources for Linux XFree86 users. Definitive technical information regarding X is available from http://www.X.org:

The Fedora Project is always expanding, with many users finding Fedora for the first time. You can find many other knowledgeable users with answers to your questions by participating in one of Fedora’s mailing lists. The lists are focused on using, testing, developing and participating in Fedora’s development:

Red Hat provides a comprehensive archive and mailing list management web page at http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/. You can use this page to subscribe to one of more than 40 mailing lists related to Red Hat and Fedora. Some of the more pertinent lists are