~kjcole/edubuntu.cookbook-delete/wip : revision 9

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Chapter 16. Appendices

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16.1. Business plan template

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The following may be used as a guideline when drawing up a

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business plan for your tuXlab. You need to submit a business

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plan in order to apply for a tuXlab from the Shuttleworth

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Foundation. Please feel free to add any other information you

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feel is applicable to the application or business plan.

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_________________________________________________________

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16.1.1. Section 1: School information

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Please supply some general information about your school.

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* Background

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* Mission

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* Vision

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* Achievements

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_________________________________________________________

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16.1.2. Section 2: Goals and objectives for a computer lab (tuXlab

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or other)

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* What are your plans to promote open source software?

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* How will lab use be integrated into the school timetable?

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* What are your plans to involve the community? Please

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address issues such as benefits and development

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opportunities for the community.

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* What are your plans regarding staff development using the

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computer lab?

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_________________________________________________________

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16.1.3. Section 3: State of readiness

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* Please provide a statement of needs, including your

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current computer equipment, if any.

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* Physical infrastructure --- current infrastructure as well

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as outstanding requirements (see Section 16.2).

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* Plan of lab --- i.e. size and layout of room, including

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measurements (please supply a diagram).

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* Do you have a Computer Committee already established?

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* Who is the Facilitator?

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* Please detail your roll-out strategy: financial plans and

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actual work in measurable terms

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_________________________________________________________

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16.1.4. Section 4: Opportunities and Risks

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* What are the risks involved for you with establishing a

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lab? Address e.g. financial considerations, burglary as

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factor, etc.

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* How will you be addressing possible risks?

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* What specific opportunities will be created for you if you

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have a computer lab.

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_________________________________________________________

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16.1.5. Section 5: General

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* How do you plan to sustain the tuXlab? For example, do you

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have a network of volunteers, will you be establishing an

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internet cafe or service bureau, etc.

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* What types of skills transfer do you envisage?

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Should you require any further assistance please contact:

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Casey-Lea Olson Open Source Project Administrator

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Tel. 021 970 1232 |

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Fax. 021 970 1233

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<casey@shuttleworthfoundation.org>

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_________________________________________________________

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16.2. tuXlab School Criteria

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Schools are selected, and the project implementation

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initiated, based on fulfilment of the following minimum

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criteria and expectations.

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The School will be required to:

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* Complete an initial survey activities;

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* Submit a business plan including its initial plans to

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introduce the tuXlab into school;

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* Establish a computer committee;

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* Ensure that a representative participates in the

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establishment of two tuXlabs prior to selection, as well

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as participation in at least two labs post installation;

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* Identify a room to house the tuXlab;

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* Secure the room with mesh window bars, safety gates and an

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alarm;

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* Ensure that the electrical system is suitable and

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sufficient electrical points are available;

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* Install trunking for networking cable;

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* Provide a cabinet to securely protect server and

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networking switch;

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* Install a telephone line for telephonic support and e-mail

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connectivity;

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* Ensure that desk space and seating is available;

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* Ensure participation from the educators and learners

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during the installation process;

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* Appoint or employ a facilitator for training and on-site

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support for a one-year period;

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* Actively play a role in the successful operation of the

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cluster unit;

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* Attend a monthly tuXlab meeting; and

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* Open the tuXlab at least one Saturday of each month for an

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"Open day".

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Additional criteria may be set for each school.

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Based on successful selection, the exact terms of this project

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will be outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding.

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Should you have any further queries with regards to the above

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requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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_________________________________________________________

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16.3. Credits

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This book is a real open source project, and in writing it I

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have incorporated work from a number of other people. Here is

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a short list in alphabetical order. I'm sure I've missed some

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people, so please let me know.

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* Jonathan Carter, for his excellent Troubleshooting Guide.

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* Jason Hudson, for the outline that started off this book.

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* Alistair Otter (XXX?) for his tuXlabs book

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* Andy Rabagliati, for various documents on the

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http://wizzy.org/ site.

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* Hilton Theunissen and Casey-Lea Olson, for various policy

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and operating procedures documents on the

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http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org site.

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_________________________________________________________

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16.4. Glossary

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Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ( ADSL)

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ADSL is a technology for transmitting digital data

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across normal copper phone lines at high speeds. It is

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a short-range technology, requiring subscribers to be

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within a few kilometres of the exchange providing the

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service. It is called Asymmetric because download

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speeds are configured to be far higher than upload

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speeds (you can receive more quickly than you can

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send).

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Application Programming Interface (API)

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Just as a program has a range of menus, icons and

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buttons with which a user can control it, it can have a

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set of method calls and data structures that can be

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used by other programs to control it. This is the API.

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Basic In/Out System ( BIOS)

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A small program in non-volatile storage that is

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executed immediately after a computer is powered up.

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Normally, it passes control to the boot loader of the

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selected boot media as soon as possible. However, it

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also displays some diagnostic information while

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executing, including a prompt to enter configuration

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mode. While in configuration mode, you may set various

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basic properties of the computer, such as the time of

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the system clock and the selected boot media (e.g.

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CD-ROM, hard disk, or network).

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boot

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When a computer is powered up, control immediately

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passes to the BIOS. The BIOS finds the program code

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that should be executed to continue the startup

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process, until the operating system is up and running.

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The whole procedure is called booting up, from the

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expression "pulling yourself up by your bootlaces".

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Picture a cartoon figure on flat land, grabbing hold of

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his bootlaces and pulling himself up into the air until

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he's flying. A computer manages something similar, when

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it changes from an inert lump of plastic to a running

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system.

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Central Processing Unit ( CPU)

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The CPU is the core of the computer. It's one of the

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smaller pieces, consisting of a flat square of silicon,

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but it contains most of the computer's complexity, in

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the form of millions of transistors. When the computer

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is executing programs, all of the instructions as well

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as the data are fetched from RAM and processed by the

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CPU.

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Common Gateway Interface (CGI)

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This is a specification for calling scripts that are

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triggered through the web. The CGI standard specifies

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what data must be passed to the script.

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daemon

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A program that runs on a server, waiting for requests

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and servicing them. The program runs permanently, as

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long as the service should be offered.

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Document Object Model ( DOM)

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When a web browser parses an HTML page, it doesn't just

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write out text to the screen and have done with it. It

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needs to hold on to the entire structure in order to be

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able to rewrite it using Javascript, changing parts of

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the page in-place and reflowing the resulting document

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immediately. This internal structure is called the

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Document Object Model. You can read all about it at the

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World Wide Web Consortium's Document Object Model page.

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Domain Name System ( DNS)

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The Domain Name System is part of the core

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infrastructure of the internet. It consists of a

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massive globally distributed database that matches IP

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addresses (e.g. 216.239.57.99) to domain names that

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humans like to remember (e.g. google.com). As long as

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they keep to the rules, anyone can run a DNS server to

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resolve local address and to cache global addresses. No

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DNS server needs to store all the domain names on

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earth: the job is distributed among ISPs who each take

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responsibility for different sections of the namespace.

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If your local nameserver doesn't know an IP address, it

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knows who to ask to get an answer.

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If DNS is unavailable, all the services that depend on

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it (such as web browsing and email) don't work.

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Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol ( DHCP)

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See Section 9.2.

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Etherboot

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See PXE in Section 16.4.

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Internet Service Provider ( ISP)

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A business which provides internet access to its

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customers. The nature of this service may vary widely,

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from dialup access and email for home users to wireless

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broadband and website hosting for big media companies

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and everything in between.

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platform independence

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A platform is a short name for the entire software

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environment which a specific program requires in order

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to run. Programs may target an operating system (the

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Windows, Linux or Macintosh platforms), or a virtual

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machine (the Java platform, which is available across

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operating systems). Increasingly, web applications such

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as Google's Gmail email service target the web browser

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as platform.

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When a program is capable of being run on many

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different platforms, it is called cross-platform. In

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this case, it either needs to be rather self-contained,

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not making use of any special capabilities of any

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specific platform, or it needs to contain alternative

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implementations for all the platforms it caters for.

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Power On Self Test ( POST)

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The POST is a series of hardcoded self-tests that a

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computer's BIOS performs to see whether basic resources

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such as its CPU, memory, and keyboard are present and

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functional.

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Pre-boot eXecution Environment ( PXE)

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A small program on the network card that allows a

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computer to boot from the network. The PXE takes care

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of finding a server from which to boot, and

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transferring the boot loader from the server to the

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client across the network.

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Programmable ROM ( PROM)

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This is a kind of memory that can be written exactly

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once. After it's been written, its contents is fixed.

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It's generally used for things like network cards with

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the facility to boot from the network. Such cards can

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be used in many different environments, requiring

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different software. However, once deployed in some

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environment, it normally stays there. Therefor the

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required software can be written to a PROM on the card,

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effectively locking down the card to the deployed

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environment.

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Media Access Control address ( MAC address)

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In computer networking, a MAC address is a code on most

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forms of networking equipment that allows for that

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device to be uniquely identified.

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Network File System ( NFS)

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A local filesystem reads data from a hard disk. NFS is

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a protocol that allows a remote filesystem to be

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mounted on a path of the local filesystem, so that data

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read from files on that path is not read from a local

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disk, but from a server on the network.

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netmask

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In Section 8.4 networking, the netmask specifies all

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the IP addresses that belong to a particular network.

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RAM disk

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A physical hard disk stores data on magnetic platters.

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A RAM disk emulates a hard disk using the computer's

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memory. Whereas a hard disk stores data permanently

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until it is rewritten, a RAM disk only exists as a

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running program, and goes away when the program stops

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or the computer is powered down.

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Random Access Memory ( RAM)

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Memory that stores code and data only as long as the

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computer is powered up. At the first hint of a power

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interruption, RAM becomes as blank as a beach washed

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clean by the tide. RAM can be written to, and during

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execution, programs are continuously rewriting its

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contents.

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Read Only Memory ( ROM)

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Memory that stores code and data permanently, whether

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or not the workstation is powered up. It cannot be

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written to: every time it's read, it's exactly the

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same.

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Read the FINE Manual ( RTFM)

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Linux is a self-documenting system. All Linux programs

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come with technical documentation, and most commands

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accept a --help option that will start you off. The

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information is sometimes cryptic, or just very dense,

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but if you don't read it two, three, four or five

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times, you'll find yourself asking the same questions

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again and again, and never progressing beyond the

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basics.

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You'll also find that people answer your questions with

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a terse " RTFM!", meaning that the answer is right

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there in the manual. Don't take offence, look it up.

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root

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Linux systems loosely use a tree metaphor to explain

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some aspects of their structure. So, for example, the

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user who is the system administrator, with all

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privileges to make or break the system, is the root

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user. The root user can create other users and groups

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with more limited privileges, like the branches of a

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tree that are separate and thinner than the trunk.

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root filesystem

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The filesystem is an hierarchical tree structure. The

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directory which contains all the others is called the

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root, and is written like this: /. This is a

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subdirectory of the root directory: /etc. This is a

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file in that subdirectory: /etc/hosts.

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shell

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Another metaphor used to express the structure of a

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Linux system is that of a nut containing a kernel. The

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kernel is hidden inside, it is surrounded by a shell.

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As user you can't interact with the kernel directly,

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you interact with a shell program. This is a program

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which accepts commands and gives feedback, all via a

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textual command line interface. The shell has a number

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of builtin commands, but it also does job control,

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starting and stopping programs that run under its

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control.

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The shell has a full complement of flow control

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structures, so that it can be used to write programs.

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These are called shell scripts. Shell scripts are most

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often used to coordinate the execution of other

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programs.

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Simple Mail Transfer Protocol ( SMTP)

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When you send an email, your mail server looks at the

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headers of the mail to see where it should be

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delivered. It then uses DNS to look up the IP address

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of the mail server on the receiving end. When it knows

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whom to contact, it starts an SMTP conversation with

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the remote mailserver. It asks the server what version

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of the protocol it supports (so that it knows how to

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encode the mail, if necessary) and whether the server

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is accepting mail for the user you want to reach. When

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the two servers have gotten to know one another, the

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mail is transferred and queued for the remote user to

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read.

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symbolic links

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A file can only be stored in one place on a disk. If

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you want it to appear to be in other places as well,

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you can make a symbolic link from there to the real

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location of the file. By most commands, the link will

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be transparent: it will be treated exactly as though

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the file really exists in that location.

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Notes

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[1]

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See Chapter 5.

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[2]

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This consensus is reflected in standards, such as the Portable

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Operating System Interface ( POSIX).

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[3]

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Source for the following paragraphs:

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http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/schools.html

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[4]

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This paragraph is from

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http://wizzy.org.za/article/articleview/4/1/3.

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[5]

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See tuXlab room layout from the Shuttleworth Foundation's

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site.

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[6]

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See Infrastructure and Security

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[7]

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See Chapter 8 for an explanation of what switches do.

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[8]

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http://wizzy.org.za/article/articlestatic/5/1/2/

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[9]

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http://wizzy.org.za/article/articlestatic/5/1/2/

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[10]

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See http://wizzy.org.za/article/articleview/18/1/3

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[11]

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See http://wizzy.org.za/article/articleview/4/1/3

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[12]

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See http://wizzy.org.za/article/articleview/18/1/3

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[13]

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See http://wizzy.org.za/article/articlestatic/19/1/2/

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[14]

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See http://wizzy.com/wizzy/mail.html

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[15]

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See http://wizzy.com/wizzy/batch.html

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[16]

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For more information, see http://www.k12ltsp.org/install.html

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[17]

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See http://wizzy.org.za/article/articlestatic/19/1/2/

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[18]

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See http://wizzy.org.za/article/articlestatic/23/1/2/

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[19]

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Incidentally, this emphasises the importance of a public

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domain. Current legislation in the United States effectively

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allows work to be kept out of the public domain indefinitely.

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This is bad news for future generations.

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[20]

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The following overview comes from the first edition of

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TUX&GNU@school

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[21]

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Of course, it's always possible to trick someone into running

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a script that will damage their data. This is how many viruses

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work. Rather than trying to manage this through technology, in

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the classroom situation it's probably better to teach learners

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that it's better to help one another (and keep backups in case

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things go wrong).

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[22]

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This section incorporates the tuXlab Troubleshooting Guide by

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Jonathan Carter (version 1.0, December 2004).

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[23]

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GRUB is the Grand Unified Bootloader, so called because

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various alternatives existed with different strengths and

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weaknesses. GRUB was written to try and take the best from

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them and make the choice of a bootloader less of an issue.

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Briefly, the bootloader is the first software program that

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runs when a computer starts. It is responsible for loading and

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transferring control to the operating system kernel (see

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Section 3.1.2). You can read more about GRUB in the FSF

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software directory.

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