Getting online with Linux, Dial up connection

If you are a new user to Linux, you probably can't wait to get to the Internet using your new operating system. As I promised from the beginning of this book Linux is not difficult, you just think it is difficult because you heard it was. The truth it is very simple.
Throughout my career I have been doing data recovery and when somebody asks me “is it difficult?” My answer is, “it is very simple man”. I give no further explanation; I just know that I know how to do it. I want you to have one thing in your head, “no one appreciates your knowledge when it comes to computers”. Everyone wants service for free; even the most outstanding politician wants service for free because they think that you have to do it for free.
Hey! What is this? You thought that computer professionals make a lot of money. Of course not! Unless you have a degree, know nothing and you are working for a big company or the government. If you don't believe me, how many of you technicians have talked to these big companies and have talked to support and encountered someone who does not know what he or she is talking about.
Well the purpose of this book is, to give you some understanding of how things are done in the real world, and gain some respect from those who think that they know too much, but know too little.

The dial up

Do you remember what I said about hardware compatibility? If you followed my advice from the beginning then the rest is piece of cake. If your modem is a real modem (hardware control flow) it is probably already installed and configured during installation. If the modem is supported, configuring the dial up will be quick and easy; it is done using Kppp or the networking through the control center. Let's start the Xwindow so you can look at what I am talking about.
[user1@localhost user1]$ startx
On your command line type startx and hit enter.
The graphical interface will start and will display a welcome wizard.

• Click on next.
• This wizard gives you an option for choosing a Desktop.
• On the drop down menu select KDE
• The KDE display also offers you a choice of Themes (look and feel).

a) default KDE b) KDE Redmond c) KDE Platinum d) KDE Solaris

• Clicking on any of those options gives you a sample to the right panel
• Select one and click next

You can proceed with the wizard or just click cancel to get right to the desktop.
Note: At the bottom of your desktop is the task bar; there are several icons, among them should be an icon for control center (system configuration tool).
On the very left side of your screen there is a big K. That is the start button, click on it to display the program menu.

Presenting the Control Center

Let's take a quick look at the control center so you can see what is available there for system administration.

1. On your task bar click on the control center icon (see fig.1)
2. If the icon is not on the task bar, use the KDE Menu => Configuration => Mandrake Control center.
3. You are prompted for a password (enter the root password)

Fig 1

Under this control center you can do anything, it is mainly for system administration.
There is an interesting icon in the control center (Hardware => Hardware List), very useful for hardware troubleshooting.
Click on the hardware List to view all hardware detected by your Linux system. The hardware list is very useful. It runs a detection process and returns a list of detected hardware. Clicking on any device on the list gives a description of the device on the right panel. Learn how to use this panel. It even gives a module name that makes the device work with your Linux operating system.