Installation guide

Introduction

Welcome to the Ofﬁcial Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide!

By now, you should have read the Ofﬁcial Red Hat Linux Installation Guide and successfully installed

Red Hat Linux. This manual is designed to help new and intermediate Linux users navigate and

perform common tasks. Keep in mind that Linux looks, feels, and performs differently from other

operating systems you may have used. Forget about the conventions of other operating systems and,

with an open mind, approach Red Hat Linux as a new, interesting, and versatile alternative.

This manual is task-oriented. You will ﬁnd useful tips, hints, warnings, and screen shots interspersed

throughout. First, you will learn the basics of using Red Hat Linux, such as customizing a desktop,

conﬁguring a printer, and getting online. Once the basics are covered, the tasks covered in this manual

become progressively more advanced.

Most users choose to work within either the GNOME or KDE graphical desktop environments (other

desktop environments are also available). The Ofﬁcial Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide focuses

primarily on how to perform tasks in these two environments.

Topics discussed include:

• Using the GNOME and KDE graphical desktop environments

• Managing ﬁles and directories

• Navigating the ﬁlesystem

• Connecting to the Internet

• Upgrading applications

• Pointers to additional resources covering common questions and answers, computer basics, an ex-

planation of Red Hat Linux system directories, and more.

After conquering the basics of your Red Hat Linux system, you may need information on more ad-

vanced topics. You can ﬁnd this information in the Ofﬁcial Red Hat Linux Customization Guide and

the Ofﬁcial Red Hat Linux Reference Guide.

HTML and PDF versions of the Ofﬁcial Red Hat Linux manuals are available on the Documentation

CD and online at http://www.redhat.com/docs/.

Note

Although this manual reﬂects the most current information possible, you should read the Red Hat

Linux Release Notes for information that may not have been available prior to our documentation

being ﬁnalized. They can be found on the Red Hat Linux CD #1 and online at:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux

1. Changes to This Manual

This manual has been expanded to include new features in Red Hat Linux 7.3 as well as topics re-

quested by our readers. Changes to this manual include:

Email Applications

The Ofﬁcial Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide has been reorganized to include a chapter on

using popular email clients including Evolution, KMail, and Mozilla Mail.