Help

A great deal of support documentation is already installed on your system, and is also accessible from online sources. Table 3-1 lists Help tools and resources accessible on your Red Hat Linux system. Both the GNOME and KDE desktops feature Help systems that use a browser-like interface to display help files. To start the GNOME or KDE Help browser, select the Help entry in the main menu. You can then choose from the respective desktop user guides like the KDE manual, Linux Man pages, and GNU info pages. The GNOME Help Browser also accesses documents for GNOME applications like the File Roller archive tool and Evolution mail client. The GNOME Help browser and the KDE Help Center also incorporate browser capabilities, including bookmarks and history lists for documents you view.

Both GNOME and KDE, along with other applications, also provide context-sensitive help. Each KDE and GNOME application features detailed manuals that are displayed using their respective Help browsers. Also, system administrative tools feature detailed explanations for each task.

Note

The complete set of Red Hat manuals is provided on the DVD-ROM under the Documentation directory.

On your system, the /usr/share/doc directory contains documentation files installed by each application. Within each directory, you can usually find HOW-TO, README, and INSTALL documents for that application.

You can also access the online manual for Linux commands from the command line interface using the man command. Enter man with the command on which you want information. The following example asks for information on the ls command:

$ man ls

Pressing the SPACEBAR key advances you to the next page. Pressing the B key moves you back a page. When you finish, press the Q key to quit the man utility and return to the command line. You activate a search by pressing either the slash (/) or question mark (?). The / searches forward and the ? searches backward. When you press the /, a line opens at the bottom of your screen, and you then enter a word to search for. Press ENTER to activate the search. You can repeat the same search by pressing the N key. You needn't reenter the pattern.

Tip

You can also use either the GNOME or KDE Help system to display Man pages.

When you start up your browser, a default Web page lists links for documentation both on your own system and at the Red Hat Web site. To use the Red Hat Web site, you first must be connected to the Internet. Your CD-ROM and your GNOME and KDE help centers also contain extensive documentation showing you how to use the desktop and taking you through a detailed explanation of Linux applications. Other documentation provides tutorials on different Linux topics.

Online documentation for GNU applications, such as the gcc compiler and the Emacs editor, also exist as info pages accessible from the GNOME and KDE Help Centers. You can also access this documentation by entering the command info. This brings up a special screen listing different GNU applications. The info interface has its own set of commands. You can learn more about it by entering info info. Typing m opens a line at the bottom of the screen where you can enter the first few letters of the application. Pressing ENTER brings up the info file on that application.

Table 3-1: Linux Help Resources

Resource	Description
KDE Help Center	KDE Help tool, GUI interface for documentation on KDE desktop and applications, Man pages, and info documents
GNOME Help Browser	GNOME Help tool, GUI interface for accessing documentation for the GNOME desktop and applications, Man pages, and info documents
/usr/share/doc	Location of application documentation
man command	Linux Man pages, detailed information on Linux commands, including syntax and options
info application	GNU info pages, documentation on GNU applications
www.redhat.com	Online documentation, guides, HOW-TOs, and FAQs. Located under "Support and Documentation."
fedora.redhat.com	Online documentation, guides, HOW-TOs, and FAQs for Fedora Linux