Our evolutionary process of expanding the scope of this Installation Guide continues. As before, we've updated the chapters related to the actual installation process. We've also updated the New Features chapter to reflect all the good stuff that's been added to Red Hat Linux 5.2. We consider this to be ``business as usual''.
We've also made some changes as a direct result of customer feedback. Some people have expressed confusion over all the different terms and acronyms that seem to surround computer technology in general, and Linux in particular. For those people, we've added a glossary. While it's not our goal to include a complete data processing dictionary with every copy of Red Hat Linux, if you think a particular word should be present but is not, feel free to let us know via docs@redhat.com.
As the linuxconf system configuration tool continues to mature, we've created a new system configuration chapter containing task-based linuxconf documentation, as well as those vestiges of the control-panel tools that still remain. Our goal is to continue adding linuxconf documentation; what you see here is just a first step in that process.
We've also worked on the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Installation Guide, adding more of the ``timeless'' questions that seem to persist from release to release, while weeding out version-specific questions that, if you think about it, will always be somewhat dated, given the nature of printed documentation.
The package list has proven to be quite popular; this time we've improved it by adding icons showing whether a given package is part of one of several pre-defined sets of packages.
All of this has resulted in the Installation Guide putting on a little weight -- 100 pages, to be exact. This is a trend that we expect to continue, which leads us right into the next subject...
If you spot a typo in the Installation Guide, or if you've thought of a way to make this manual better, we'd love to hear from you! Please send mail to:
Be sure to mention the manual's identifier:
That way we'll know exactly which version of the guide you have. If you have a suggestion, try to be as specific as possible when describing it. If you've found an error, please include the section number and some of the surrounding text so we can find it easily. We may not be able to respond to every message sent to us, but you can be sure that we'll be reading them all!
Thanks go out to the past authors of this manual. A great deal of their work is still here. A great, big ``Thank You'' is also owed to the Red Hat Linux 5.2 development team for putting up with the many questions, comments, and pleading requests for reviews of this manual. Without them, I wouldn't be here writing this, you wouldn't be there reading this, and things wouldn't be nearly as much fun. Thanks, guys!
Thanks are also due to all the readers of past Installation Guides that took the time to send corrections, suggestions, and even the occasional ``well done''. I've tried to incorporate as much of your feedback as possible (pagecount and deadlines permitting). Keep the feedback coming -- it's the only way I know whether you're getting what you need from our documentation!
Thanks to Paul Gerwe (one of our new writers) for his hard work documenting linuxconf. Thanks also go to Support Genius Stephen Smoogen for his work on the new FAQ. It's been a pleasure working with you both.
Last but far from least is the support group at Red Hat Software. They have given many insightful suggestions regarding this manual, based on extensive experience with thousands of Red Hat Linux customers. So if you find yourself breezing through the installation chapters, it's due in no small part to their input. I thank them.