Networking :: Help with networking basics



Can someone point me to information on the basics of networking under DSL?  I've tried searching and wandering around the forum but all I've found so far is information on specific situations that's over my head.

I know very little about Linux, but I'm comfotable learning new things.  (I go back to the days of CP/M!)

I've got a home LAN with 2 desktops running XP, a fairly old HP laptop running XP, and a couple of steam-driven boxes running Windows 98SE and Windows ME respectively.  

The machine I use most of the time is the 98SE.  It's got a P3 500MHz and 128Mg of memory.  

The only thing I really need the network for under Linux is shring the internet connection.  The cable "modem" connects to a NetGear WGR614 which (if I understand what's going on) is acting as a DHCP server.

File sharing would be nice but not essential.  (File sharing under Windows works on alternate Tuesdays when the moon is full and the balance of trade with Lithuania is favorable).

Any guidance, links or references would be appreciated.

Also, any opinions on whether DSL-N or Xbuntu might work better for me?

Thanks.
CP/M! I was trying to remember what my first computer build was running as an OS years back.  

If you have a DHCP on your LAN and if you have a wired connection, you should not have to do anything to get an IP address for your DSL box and be able to connect to the internet.  Running the command ifconfig -a in a terminal on your DSL should show you how you computer is configure.  For example:

Quote

david@1[~]$ ifconfig -a
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
         inet addr:192.168.1.100  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
         UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
         RX packets:33096 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
         TX packets:39895 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
         collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
         RX bytes:13016278 (12.4 MiB)  TX bytes:4953755 (4.7 MiB)
         Interrupt:58 Base address:0xe400


Here you can see the IP address assigned your computer and the receive and transmit bytes.  Read the man page (man ifconfig) or goolge the command to find whatelse it provides.  It does much more than allowing you to view the current interface.

Additionally you might want to research the DLS control pannel.  There are several utilities provided for network setup.  Take a look at the DSLpanel icon on your desk top.

DSL provide serveral ways to share files with windows machines.  Two common methods are by setting up a secure shell server (ssh and sshd) and using samba which works with windows network neighborhood.  There is information on these in the forum and wiki as well as the internet.

As far as what Linux distro is best depends on what you are trying to do and personal taste.  DSL is tailored for older low resource machines and I have not found a Linux distro that I like better in those environments.  That is not to say that it does everything I would like it to do but for me it is better than anything else I have tried upto now.  The other main reason I use it is that I find it easier to configure that most other Linux distros that have serveral layers of applications I need to work through before I get to the nuts of bolts of the OS.

However, if I want a Linux OS running on a newer machine with lots of memory and CPU speed etc., my favorite at the moment is MEPIS.  With MEPIS there is very little for me to ticker with, I just use the system configuration tools to set it up.

original here.