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This section lists packages that provide basic system functionality to your Red Hat Linux system.
This section contains the packages that are consider basic to every Red Hat Linux system. You will normally will not see them during the installation process, but they're included here for your information.
The /dev directory contains important files which correspond to the hardware on your system, such as sound cards, serial or printer ports, tape and CD-ROM drives and more. MAKEDEV is a script which helps you create and maintain the files in your /dev directory.
These are the files needed to install MAKEDEV.
The SysVinit package contains a group of processes that control the very basic functions of your system. SysVinit includes the init program, the first program started by the Linux kernel when the system boots. Init then controls the startup, running and shutdown of all other programs.
Adjtimex is a kernel clock management program, which the superuser may use to correct any drift in the system's clock. Users can use adjtimex to view the time variables.
Authconfig is a terminal mode program for setting up Network Information Service (NIS) and shadow (more secure) passwords on your system. Authconfig also configures the system to automatically turn on NIS at system startup.
Basesystem defines the components of a basic Red Hat Linux system (for example, the package installation order to use during bootstrapping). Basesystem should be the first package installed on a system, and it should never be removed.
Chkconfig is a basic system utility. It updates and queries runlevel information for system services. Chkconfig manipulates the numerous symbolic links in /etc/rc.d, so system administrators don't have to manually edit the symbolic links as often.
This is a simple terminal mode program for configuring the directories in the X font server's path. It is mostly intended to be used `internally' by RPM when packages with fonts are added or removed, but it may be useful as a stand-alone utility in some instances.
The Red Hat control panel is an X program launcher for the X Window System. Both convenient and pleasing, the Red Hat control panel allows you easy access to numerous X-based system administration tools included in your Red Hat Linux system.
Eventually, you'll want to work with many of your system administration tools; this package helps you locate and launch many of them.
The crontabs package contains root crontab files. Crontab is the program used to install, uninstall or list the tables used to drive the cron daemon. The cron daemon checks the crontab files to see when particular commands are scheduled to be executed. If commands are scheduled, it executes them.
Crontabs handles a basic system function, so it should be installed on your system.
The Red Hat Linux operating system uses file system entries to represent devices (CD-ROMs, floppy drives, etc.) attached to the machine. All of these entries are in the /dev tree (although they don't have to be). This package contains the most commonly used /dev entries.
The dev package is a basic part of your Red Hat Linux system and it needs to be installed.
The e2fsprogs package contains a number of utilities for creating, checking, modifying and correcting any inconsistencies in second extended (ext2) filesystems. E2fsprogs contains e2fsck (used to repair filesystem inconsistencies after an unclean shutdown), mke2fs (used to initialize a partition to contain an empty ext2 filesystem), debugfs (used to examine the internal structure of a filesystem, to manually repair a corrupted filesystem or to create test cases for e2fsck), tune2fs (used to modify filesystem parameters) and most of the other core ext2fs filesystem utilities.
You should install the e2fsprogs package if you need to manage the performance of an ext2 filesystem.
The eject program allows the user to eject removable media (typically CD-ROMs, floppy disks or Iomega Jaz or Zip disks) using software control. Eject can also control some multi- disk CD changers and even some devices' auto-eject features.
Install eject if you'd like to eject removable media using software control.
The etcskel package is part of the basic Red Hat system. Etcskel provides the /etc/skel directory's files. These files (.Xdefaults, .bash_logout, .bash_profile, .bashrc) are then placed in every new user's home directory when new accounts are created.
fake is a simple utility designed to enable the switching in of backup servers buy bringing up an additional interface and using arp spoofing to take over the ip address. Either additional physically or logical interfaces can be used.
The filesystem package is one of the basic packages that is installed on a Red Hat Linux system. Filesystem contains the basic directory layout for a Linux operating system, including the correct permissions for the directories.
Genromfs is a tool for creating romfs filesystems, which are lightweight, read-only filesystems supported by the Linux kernel.
Heartbeat is a tool that communicates between the nodes of a cluster, sending out timed "heartbeats" to ensure that every node in the cluster is actually alive and healthy. These heartbeats can be sent via: - unadorned serial links arranged in a ring topology - UDP/IP heartbeats over ethernet (or similar) - PPP/UDP using a serial ring topology like the first case
The GNU project uses the texinfo file format for much of its documentation. The info package provides a standalone TTY-based browser program for viewing texinfo files.
You should install info, because GNU's texinfo documentation is a valuable source of information about the software on your system.
The initscripts package contains the basic system scripts used to boot your Red Hat system, change run levels, and shut the system down cleanly. Initscripts also contains the scripts that activate and deactivate most network interfaces.
Linux IP Firewalling Chains is an update to (and hopefully an improvement upon) the normal Linux Firewalling code, for 2.0 and 2.1 kernels. It lets you do things like firewalls, IP masquerading, etc.
ipvsadm is a utility to administer the IP virtual server services offered by the Linux kernel with virtual server patch. The virtual server alters kernel routing tables to masquerade actual servers to appear as a single virtual server.
The isapnptools package contains utilities for configuring ISA Plug-and-Play (PnP) cards/boards which are in compliance with the PnP ISA Specification Version 1.0a. ISA PnP cards use registers instead of jumpers for setting the board address and interrupt assignments. The cards also contain descriptions of the resources which need to be allocated. The BIOS on your system, or isapnptools, uses a protocol described in the specification to find all of the PnP boards and allocate the resources so that none of them conflict.
Note that the BIOS doesn't do a very good job of allocating resources. So isapnptools is suitable for all systems, whether or not they include a PnP BIOS. In fact, a PnP BIOS adds some complications. A PnP BIOS may already activate some cards so that the drivers can find them. Then these tools can unconfigure them or change their settings, causing all sorts of nasty effects. If you have PnP network cards that already work, you should read through the documentation files very carefully before you use isapnptools.
Install isapnptools if you need utilities for configuring ISA PnP cards.
The kbdconfig utility is a terminal mode program which provides a simple interface for setting the keyboard map for your system. You need keyboard maps to use any keyboard other than the US default keyboard. Kbdconfig will load the selected keymap before exiting and configure your machine to use that keymap automatically after rebooting.
You should install kbdconfig if you need a utility for changing your keyboard map.
This package contains the shared library configuration tool, ldconfig, which is required by many packages. It also includes the shared library loader and dynamic loader for Linux libc 5.
Ldconfig is a basic system program which determines run-time link bindings between ld.so and shared libraries. Ldconfig scans a running system and sets up the symbolic links that are used to load shared libraries properly. It also creates a cache (/etc/ld.so.cache) which speeds the loading of programs which use shared libraries.
LILO (LInux LOader) is a basic system program which boots your Linux system. LILO loads the Linux kernel from a floppy or a hard drive, boots the kernel and passes control of the system to the kernel. LILO can also boot other operating systems.
The logrotate utility is designed to simplify the administration of log files on a system which generates a lot of log files. Logrotate allows for the automatic rotation compression, removal and mailing of log files. Logrotate can be set to handle a log file daily, weekly, monthly or when the log file gets to a certain size. Normally, logrotate runs as a daily cron job.
Install the logrotate package if you need a utility to deal with the log files on your system.
Linux supports a special block device called the loop device, which maps a normal file onto a virtual block device. This allows for the file to be used as a "virtual file system" inside another file. Losetup is used to associate loop devices with regular files or block devices, to detach loop devices and to query the status of a loop device.
The mailcap file is used by the metamail program. Metamail reads the mailcap file to determine how it should display non-text or multimedia material. Basically, mailcap associates a particular type of file with a particular program that a mail agent or other program can call in order to handle the file.
Mailcap should be installed to allow certain programs to be able to handle non-text files.
The man package includes three tools for finding information and/or documentation about your Linux system: man, apropos and whatis. The man system formats and displays on-line manual pages about commands or functions on your system. Apropos searches the whatis database (containing short descriptions of system commands) for a string. Whatis searches its own database for a complete word.
The man package should be installed on your system because it is the primary way to find documentation on a Linux system.
The mingetty program is a lightweight, minimalist getty program for use only on virtual consoles. Mingetty is not suitable for serial lines (you should use the mgetty program instead for that purpose).
The mkbootdisk program creates a standalone boot floppy disk for booting the running system. The created boot disk will look for the root filesystem on the device mentioned in /etc/fstab and includes an initial ramdisk image which will load any necessary SCSI modules for the system.
Mkinitrd creates filesystem images for use as initial ramdisk (initrd) images. These ramdisk images are often used to preload the block device modules (SCSI or RAID) needed to access the root filesystem.
In other words, generic kernels can be built without drivers for any SCSI adapters which load the SCSI driver as a module. Since the kernel needs to read those modules, but in this case it isn't able to address the SCSI adapter, an initial ramdisk is used. The initial ramdisk is loaded by the operating system loader (normally LILO) and is available to the kernel as soon as the ramdisk is loaded. The ramdisk image loads the proper SCSI adapter and allows the kernel to mount the root filesystem. The mkinitrd program creates such a ramdisk using information found in the /etc/conf.modules file.
The mkkickstart program writes a kickstart description from the host machine. The kickstart description can then be used, during a CD-ROM or NFS installation, to automatically build that machine's configuration of Red Hat Linux on one or more other machines.
Install mkkickstart if you want to use the kickstart method to automatically install Red Hat Linux.
The mktemp utility takes a given file name template and overwrites a portion of it to create a unique file name. This allows shell scripts and other programs to safely create and use /tmp files.
Install the mktemp package if you need to use shell scripts or other programs which will create and use unique /tmp files.
The mount package contains the mount, umount, swapon and swapoff programs. Accessible files on your system are arranged in one big tree or hierarchy. These files can be spread out over several devices. The mount command attaches a filesystem on some device to your system's file tree. The umount command detaches a filesystem from the tree. Swapon and swapoff, respectively, specify and disable devices and files for paging and swapping.
Mouseconfig is a text-based mouse configuration tool. Mouseconfig sets up the files and links needed for configuring and using a mouse on a Red Hat Linux system. The mouseconfig tool can be used to set the correct mouse type for programs like gpm, and can be used with Xconfigurator to set up the mouse for the X Window System.
The net-tools package contains the basic tools needed for setting up networking: arp, rarp, ifconfig, netstat, ethers and route.
This package includes two LDAP access clients: nss_ldap and pam_ldap.
nss_ldap is a set of C library extensions which allows X.500 and LDAP directory servers to be used as a primary source of aliases, ethers, groups, hosts, networks, protocol, users, RPCs, services and shadow passwords (instead of or in addition to using flat files or NIS).
pam_ldap is a module for Linux-PAM that supports password changes, V2 clients, Netscapes SSL, ypldapd, Netscape Directory Server password policies, access authorization, crypted h ashes, etc.
ntsysv updates and queries runlevel information for system services. ntsysv relieves system administrators of having to directly manipulate the numerous symbolic links in /etc/rc.d.
PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) is a system security tool which allows system administrators to set authentication policy without having to recompile programs which do authentication.
This is pam_ldap, a pluggable authentication module that can be used with linux-PAM. This module supports password changes, V2 clients, Netscapes SSL, ypldapd, Netscape Directory Server password policies, access authorization, crypted hashes, etc.
The passwd package contains a system utility (passwd) which sets and/or changes passwords, using PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules).
To use passwd, you should have PAM installed on your system.
The pwdb package contains libpwdb, the password database library. Libpwdb is a library which implements a generic user information database. Libpwdb was specifically designed to work with Linux's PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules). Libpwdb allows configurable access to and management of security tools like /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow and network authentication systems including NIS and Radius.
The quota package contains system administration tools for monitoring and limiting users' and or groups' disk usage, per filesystem.
The raidtools package includes the tools you need to set up and maintain a software RAID device (using two or more disk drives in combination for fault tolerance and improved performance) on a Linux system. It only works with Linux 2.2 kernels and later, or with a 2.0 kernel specifically patched with newer RAID support.
Install raidtools if you need to set up RAID on your system.
The redhat-logos package (the "Package") contains files of the Red Hat "Shadow Man" logo and the RPM logo (the "Logos"). Red Hat, the Red Hat "Shadow Man" logo, RPM, and the RPM logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
Red Hat, Inc. grants you the right to use the Package during the normal operation of other software programs that call upon the Package. Red Hat, Inc. grants to you the right and license to copy and redistribute the Package, but only in conjunction with copying or redistributing additional software packages that call upon the Package during the normal course of operation. Such rights are granted to you without fee, provided that:
1. The above copyright notice and this license are included with each copy you make, and they remain intact and are not altered, deleted, or modified in any way; 2. You do not modify the Package, or the appearance of any or all of the Logos in any manner; and 3. You do not use any or all of the Logos as, or as part of, a trademark, trade name, or trade identifier; or in any other fashion except as set forth in this license.
NO WARRANTY. THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL RED HAT SOFTWARE, INC. BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS PACKAGE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
The rootfiles package contains basic required files that are placed in the root user's account. These files are basically the same as the files found in the etcskel package, which are placed in regular users' home directories.
The Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) is a powerful command line driven package management system capable of installing, uninstalling, verifying, querying, and updating software packages. Each software package consists of an archive of files along with information about the package like its version, a description, etc.
The setup package contains a set of very important system configuration and setup files, such as passwd, group, profile and more.
You should install the setup package because you will find yourself using its many features for system administration.
The shadow-utils package includes the necessary programs for converting UNIX password files to the shadow password format, plus programs for managing user and group accounts. The pwconv command converts passwords to the shadow password format. The pwunconv command unconverts shadow passwords and generates an npasswd file (a standard UNIX password file). The pwck command checks the integrity of password and shadow files. The lastlog command prints out the last login times for all users. The useradd, userdel and usermod commands are used for managing user accounts. The groupadd, groupdel and groupmod commands are used for managing group accounts.
The Shapecfg program configures and adjusts traffic shaper bandwidth limiters. Traffic shaping means setting parameters or limit to which network traffic should conform--setting limitations on bandwidth consumption.
To use Shapecfg, you must have also installed the kernel which supports the shaper module (kernel versions 2.0.36 or later and late 2.1.x kernels).
Install the shapecfg package if you want to set traffic bandwidth parameters, and if you have the appropriate kernel.
The termcap package provides the /etc/termcap file. /etc/termcap is a database which defines the capabilities of various terminals and terminal emulators. Certain programs use the /etc/termcap file to access various features of terminals (the bell, colors, and graphics, etc.).
The tmpwatch utility recursively searches through specified directories and removes files which have not been accessed in a specified period of time. Tmpwatch is normally used to clean up directories which are used for temporarily holding files (for example, /tmp). Tmpwatch ignores symlinks, won't switch filesystems and only removes empty directories and regular files.
Utempter is a utility which allows some non-privileged programs to have required root access without compromising system security. Utempter accomplishes this feat by acting as a buffer between root and the programs.
The util-linux package contains a large variety of low-level system utilities that are necessary for a Linux system to function. Among many features, Util-linux contains the fdisk configuration tool and login program.
The vixie-cron package contains the Vixie version of cron. Cron is a standard UNIX daemon that runs specified programs at scheduled times. Vixie cron adds better security and more powerful configuration options to the standard version of cron.
The Network Information Service (NIS) is a system which provides network information (login names, passwords, home directories, group information) to all of the machines on a network. NIS can enable users to login on any machine on the network, as long as the machine has the NIS client programs running and the user's password is recorded in the NIS passwd database. NIS was formerly known as Sun Yellow Pages (YP).
This package's NIS implementation is based on FreeBSD's YP and is a special port for glibc 2.x and libc versions 5.4.21 and later. This package only provides the NIS client programs. In order to use the clients, you'll need to already have an NIS server running on your network. An NIS server is provided in the ypserv package.
Install the yp-tools package if you need NIS client programs for machines on your network. You will also need to install the ypbind package on every machine running NIS client programs. If you need an NIS server, you'll need to install the ypserv package on one machine on the network.
This section contains packages for all the daemons available for your Red Hat Linux system. Daemons are programs that run automatically, and perform various system functions for you.
XFree86-xfs contains a font server for XFree86. Xfs can serve fonts to remote X servers. The remote system will be able to use all fonts installed on the font server, even if they are not installed on the remote computer.
Am-utils includes an updated version of Amd, the popular BSD automounter. An automounter is a program which maintains a cache of mounted filesystems. Filesystems are mounted when they are first referenced by the user and unmounted after a certain period of inactivity. Amd supports a variety of filesystems, including NFS, UFS, CD-ROMS and local drives.
You should install am-utils if you need a program for automatically mounting and unmounting filesystems.
The anonftp package contains the files you need in order to allow anonymous FTP access to your machine. Anonymous FTP access allows anyone to download files from your machine without having a user account. Anonymous FTP is a popular way of making programs available via the Internet.
You should install anonftp if you would like to enable anonymous FTP downloads from your machine.
Apache is a powerful, full-featured, efficient and freely-available Web server. Apache is also the most popular Web server on the Internet.
Install the apache package if you need a Web server.
APMD is a set of programs for controlling the Advanced Power Management daemon and utilities found in most modern laptop computers. APMD can watch your notebook's battery and warn users when the battery is low. APMD is also capable of shutting down the PCMCIA sockets before a suspend.
Install the apmd package if you need to control the APM system on your laptop.
At and batch read commands from standard input or from a specified file. At allows you to specify that a command will be run at a particular time (now or a specified time in the future). Batch will execute commands when the system load levels drop to a particular level. Both commands use /bin/sh to run the commands.
You should install the at package if you need a utility that will do time-oriented job control. Note: you should use crontab instead, if it is a recurring job that will need to be repeated at the same time every day/week/etc.
Autofs controls the operation of the automount daemons. The automount daemons automatically mount filesystems when you use them and unmount them after a period of inactivity. Filesystems can include network filesystems, CD-ROMs, floppies and others.
Install this package if you want a program for automatically mounting and unmounting filesystems. If your Red Hat Linux machine is on a network, you should install autofs.
The bdflush process starts the kernel daemon which flushes dirty buffers back to disk (i.e., writes all unwritten data to disk). This helps to prevent the buffers from growing too stale.
Bdflush is a basic system process that must run for your system to operate properly.
BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) is an implementation of the DNS (Domain Name System) protocols. BIND includes a DNS server (named), which resolves host names to IP addresses, and a resolver library (routines for applications to use when interfacing with DNS). A DNS server allows clients to name resources or objects and share the information with other network machines. The named DNS server can be used on workstations as a caching name server, but is generally only needed on one machine for an entire network. Note that the configuration files for making BIND act as a simple caching nameserver are included in the caching-nameserver package.
Install the bind package if you need a DNS server for your network. If you want bind to act a caching name server, you will also need to install the caching-nameserver package.
The bootparamd process provides bootparamd, a server process which provides the information needed by diskless clients in order for them to successfully boot. Bootparamd looks first in /etc/bootparams for an entry for that particular client; if a local bootparams file doesn't exist, it looks at the appropriate Network Information Service (NIS) map. Some network boot loaders (notably Sun's) rely on special boot server code on the server, in addition to the RARP and TFTP servers. This bootparamd server process is compatible with SunOS bootparam clients and servers which need that boot server code.
You should install bootparamd if you need to provide boot information to diskless clients on your network.
The caching-nameserver package includes the configuration files which will make bind, the DNS name server, act as a simple caching nameserver. Many users on dialup connections use this package along with bind for such a purpose.
If you would like to set up a caching name server, you'll need to install the caching-nameserver package; you'll also need to install bind.
Cleanfeed is an automatic spam filter for Usenet news servers and routers (INN, Cyclone, Typhoon, Breeze and NNTPRelay). Cleanfeed is highly configurable, easily modified and very fast. It can be configured to block binary posts to non-binary newsgroups, to cancel already-rejected articles, and to reject some spamming from local users.
Install the cleanfeed package if you need a spam filter for a Usenet news server.
The biff client and comsat server are an antiquated method of asynchronous mail notification. Although they are still supported, most users use their shell's MAIL variable (or csh shell's mail variable) to check for mail, or a dedicated application like xbiff, xmailbox, or the GNOME mail check applet. If the comsat service is not enabled, biff won't work and you'll need to use something else.
You may want to install biff if you'd like to be notified when mail arrives. However, you should probably check out the more modern methodologies of mail notification instead.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a protocol which allows individual devices on an IP network to get their own network configuration information (IP address, subnetmask, broadcast address, etc.) from a DHCP server. The overall purpose of DHCP is to make it easier to administer a large network. The dhcp package includes the DHCP server and a DHCP relay agent.
You should install dhcp if you want to set up a DHCP server on your network. You will also need to install the pump package, which provides the DHCP client daemon, on client machines.
dhcpcd is an implementation of the DHCP client specified in draft-ietf-dhc-dhcp-09 (when -r option is not speci- fied) and RFC1541 (when -r option is specified).
It gets the host information (IP address, netmask, broad- cast address, etc.) from a DHCP server and configures the network interface of the machine on which it is running. It also tries to renew the lease time according to RFC1541 or draft-ietf-dhc-dhcp-09.
EsounD, the Enlightened Sound Daemon, is a server process that mixes several audio streams for playback by a single audio device. For example, if you're listening to music on a CD and you receive a sound-related event from ICQ, the two applications won't have to jockey for the use of your sound card.
Install esound if you'd like to let sound applications share your audio device.
GateD is a modular software program consisting of core services, a routing database, and protocol modules which support multiple routing protocols (RIP versions 1 and 2, DCN HELLO, OSPF version 2, EGP version 2, BGP versions 2 through 4). GateD is designed to handle dynamic routing with a routing database built from the information exchanged by routing protocols.
Install gated if you need a routing daemon.
Gpm provides mouse support to text-based Linux applications like the emacs editor, the Midnight Commander file management system, and other programs. Gpm also provides console cut-and-paste operations using the mouse and includes a program to allow pop-up menus to appear at the click of a mouse button.
Gpm should be installed if you intend to use a mouse with your Red Hat Linux system.
The imap package provides server daemons for both the IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and POP (Post Office Protocol) mail access protocols. The POP protocol uses a "post office" machine to collect mail for users and allows users to download their mail to their local machine for reading. The IMAP protocol provides the functionality of POP, but allows a user to read mail on a remote machine without downloading it to their local machine.
Install the imap package if you need a server to support the IMAP or the POP mail access protocols.
The inews program is used by some news programs (for example, inn and trn) to post Usenet news articles to local news servers. Inews reads an article from a file or standard input, adds headers, performs some consistency checks and then sends the article to the local news server specified in the inn.conf file.
Install inews if you need a program for posting Usenet articles to local news servers.
INN (InterNetNews) is a complete system for serving Usenet news and/or private newsfeeds. INN includes innd, an NNTP (NetNews Transport Protocol) server, and nnrpd, a newsreader that is spawned for each client. Both innd and nnrpd vary slightly from the NNTP protocol, but not in ways that are easily noticed.
Install the inn package if you need a complete system for serving and reading Usenet news. You may also need to install inn-devel, if you are going to use a separate program which interfaces to INN, like newsgate or tin.
The intimed package contains a server (in.timed), which keeps networked machines' clocks correctly synchronized to the server's time.
Install intimed if you need a network time server.
This is the *new* kernel NFS server and related tools. It provides a much higher level of performance than the traditional Linux user-land NFS server.
The lpr package provides the basic system utility for managing printing services. Lpr manages print queues, sends print jobs to local and remote printers and accepts print jobs from remote clients.
If you will be printing from your system, you'll need to install the lpr package.
The mars_nwe (MARtin Stover's NetWare Emulator) package enables Linux to provide both file and print services for NetWare clients (i.e., providing the services of a Novell NetWare file server). Mars_nwe allows the sharing of files between Linux machines and Novell NetWare clients, using NetWare's native IPX protocol suite.
Install the mars_nwe package if you need a Novell NetWare file server on your Red Hat Linux system.
The Midnight Commander file management system will allow you to manipulate the files on a remote machine as if they were local. This is only possible if the remote machine is running the mcserv server program. Mcserv provides clients running Midnight Commander with access to the host's file systems.
Install mcserv on machines if you want to access their file systems remotely using the Midnight Commander file management system.
Mod_perl incorporates a Perl interpreter into the Apache web server, so that the Apache web server can directly execute Perl code. Mod_perl links the Perl runtime library into the Apache web server and provides an object-oriented Perl interface for Apache's C language API. The end result is a quicker CGI script turnaround process, since no external Perl interpreter has to be started.
Install mod_perl if you're installing the Apache web server and you'd like for it to directly incorporate a Perl interpreter.
The netkit-base package contains the basic networking tools ping and inetd. The ping command sends a series of ICMP protocol ECHO_REQUEST packets to a specified network host and can tell you if that machine is alive and receiving network traffic. Inetd listens on certain Internet sockets for connection requests, decides what program should receive each request, and starts up that program.
The netkit-base package should be installed on any machine that is on a network.
Nscd caches name service lookups and can dramatically improve performance with NIS+, and may help with DNS as well. Note that you can't use nscd with 2.0 kernels because of bugs in the kernel-side thread support. Unfortunately, nscd happens to hit these bugs particularly hard.
Install nscd if you need a name service lookup caching daemon, and you're not using a version 2.0 kernel.
OpenLDAP is an open source suite of LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) applications and development tools. The suite includes a stand-alone LDAP server (slapd), a stand-alone LDAP replication server (slurpd), libraries for implementing the LDAP protocol, and utilities, tools, and sample clients.
Install openldap if you need LDAP applications and tools.
PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language. PHP attempts to make it easy for developers to write dynamically generated web pages. PHP also offers built-in database integration for several commercial and non-commercial database management systems, so writing a database-enabled web page with PHP is fairly simple. The most common use of PHP coding is probably as a replacement for CGI scripts. The mod_php module enables the Apache web server to understand and process the embedded PHP language in web pages.
This package contains PHP. If you use applications which specifically rely on PHP/FI (PHP v2 and earlier), you should instead install the PHP/FI module contained in the phpfi package. If you're just starting with PHP, you should install this package. You'll also need to install the Apache web server.
This is a dynamic shared object (DSO) for Apache that will add IMAP support to PHP3. If you need to have IMAP support for PHP3 applications, you will need to install this package in addition to the main php package.
Comprehensive documentation for PHP3, viewable through any web browser.
This is a dynamic shared object (DSO) for Apache that will add PostgreSQL database support to PHP3. If you need back-end support for PostgreSQL, you should install this package in addition to the main php package.
PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language. PHP attempts to make it easy for developers to write dynamically generated web pages. PHP also offers built-in database integration for several commercial and non-commercial database management systems, so writing a database-enabled web page with PHP is fairly simple. The most common use of PHP coding is probably as a replacement for CGI scripts. The mod_php module enables the Apache web server to understand and process the embedded PHP language in web pages.
This package contains PHP/FI, or PHP version 2.01. Unless you use applications which specifically rely on PHP/FI, you should instead install the php package, which contains PHP 3 or later. PHP is an improved and more capable update to PHP/FI.
The pidentd package contains identd, which implements the RFC1413 identification server. Identd looks up specific TCP/IP connections and returns either the user name or other information about the process that owns the connection.
Install pidentd if you need to look up information about specific TCP/IP connections.
The portmapper program is a security tool which prevents theft of NIS (YP), NFS and other sensitive information via the portmapper. A portmapper manages RPC connections, which are used by protocols like NFS and NIS.
The portmap package should be installed on any machine which acts as a server for protocols using RPC.
The ppp package contains the PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) daemon and documentation for PPP support. The PPP protocol provides a method for transmitting datagrams over serial point-to-point links.
The ppp package should be installed if your machine need to support the PPP protocol.
The procmail program is used by Red Hat Linux for all local mail delivery. In addition to just delivering mail, procmail can be used for automatic filtering, presorting and other mail handling jobs. Procmail is also the basis for the SmartList mailing list processor.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and BOOTP (Boot Protocol) are protocols which allow individual devices on an IP network to get their own network configuration information (IP address, subnetmask, broadcast address, etc.) from network servers. The overall purpose of DHCP and BOOTP is to make it easier to administer a large network.
Pump is a combined BOOTP and DHCP client daemon, which allows your machine to retrieve configuration information from a server. You should install this package if you are on a network which uses BOOTP or DHCP.
The routed routing daemon handles incoming RIP traffic and broadcasts outgoing RIP traffic about network traffic routes, in order to maintain current routing tables. These routing tables are essential for a networked computer, so that it knows where packets need to be sent.
The routed package should be installed on any networked machine.
The rusers program allows users to find out who is logged into various machines on the local network. The rusers command produces output similar to who, but for the specified list of hosts or for all machines on the local network.
Install rusers if you need to keep track of who is logged into your local network.
The rwall command sends a message to all of the users logged into a specified host. Actually, your machine's rwall client sends the message to the rwall daemon running on the specified host, and the rwall daemon relays the message to all of the users logged in to that host. The rwall daemon is run from /etc/inetd.conf and is disabled by default on Red Hat Linux systems (it can be very annoying to keep getting all those messages when you're trying to play Quake--I mean trying to get some work done).
Install rwall if you'd like the ability to send messages to users logged in to a specified host machine.
The rwho command displays output similar to the output of the who command (it shows who is logged in) for all machines on the local network running the rwho daemon.
Install the rwho command if you need to keep track of the users who are logged in to your local network.
Samba provides an SMB server which can be used to provide network services to SMB (sometimes called "Lan Manager") clients, including various versions of MS Windows, OS/2, and other Linux machines. Samba uses NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) protocols and does NOT need NetBEUI (Microsoft Raw NetBIOS frame) protocol.
Samba-2 features an almost working NT Domain Control capability and includes the new SWAT (Samba Web Administration Tool) that allows samba's smb.conf file to be remotely managed using your favourite web browser. For the time being this is being enabled on TCP port 901 via inetd.
Please refer to the WHATSNEW.txt document for fixup information. This binary release includes encrypted password support. Please read the smb.conf file and ENCRYPTION.txt in the docs directory for implementation details.
NOTE: Red Hat Linux 5.X Uses PAM which has integrated support for Shadow passwords. Do NOT recompile with the SHADOW_PWD option enabled. Red Hat Linux has built in support for quotas in PAM.
The Sendmail program is a very widely used Mail Transport Agent (MTA). MTAs send mail from one machine to another. Sendmail is not a client program, which you use to read your e-mail. Sendmail is a behind-the-scenes program which actually moves your e-mail over networks or the Internet to where you want it to go.
If you ever need to reconfigure Sendmail, you'll also need to have the sendmail.cf package installed. If you need documentation on Sendmail, you can install the sendmail-doc package.
This package includes the configuration files which you'd need to generate the sendmail.cf file distributed with the sendmail package. You'll need the sendmail-cf package if you ever need to reconfigure and rebuild your sendmail.cf file. For example, the default sendmail.cf file is not configured for UUCP. If someday you needed to send and receive mail over UUCP, you'd need to install the sendmail-cf package to help you reconfigure Sendmail.
Install the sendmail-cf package if you need to reconfigure your sendmail.cf file.
Squid is a high-performance proxy caching server for Web clients, supporting FTP, gopher, and HTTP data objects. Unlike traditional caching software, Squid handles all requests in a single, non-blocking, I/O-driven process. Squid keeps meta data and especially hot objects cached in RAM, caches DNS lookups, supports non-blocking DNS lookups, and implements negative caching of failed requests.
Squid consists of a main server program squid, a Domain Name System lookup program (dnsserver), a program for retrieving FTP data (ftpget), and some management and client tools.
Install squid if you need a proxy caching server.
The sysklogd package contains two system utilities (syslogd and klogd) which provide support for system logging. Syslogd and klogd run as daemons (background processes) and log system messages to different places, like sendmail logs, security logs, error logs, etc.
The tcp_wrappers package provides small daemon programs which can monitor and filter incoming requests for systat, finger, ftp, telnet, rlogin, rsh, exec, tftp, talk and other network services.
Install the tcp_wrappers program if you need a security tool for filtering incoming network services requests.
The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is normally used only for booting diskless workstations. The tftp package provides the user interface for TFTP, which allows users to transfer files to and from a remote machine. This program and TFTP provide very little security, and should not be enabled unless it is expressly needed. The TFTP server is run from /etc/inetd.conf, and is disabled by default on Red Hat Linux systems.
The timed package contains the timed daemon and the timedc program for controlling the timed program. Timed synchronizes its host machine's time with the time on other local network machines. The timedc program is used to control and configure the operation of timed.
Install the timed package if you need a system for keeping networked machines' times in synchronization.
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a protocol used for network management (hence the name). The UCD-SNMP project includes various SNMP tools: an extensible agent, an SNMP library, tools for requesting or setting information from SNMP agents, tools for generating and handling SNMP traps, a version of the netstat command which uses SNMP, and a Tk/Perl mib browser. This package contains the snmpd and snmptrapd daemons, documentation, etc.
Install the ucd-snmp package if you need network management tools. You will probably also want to install the ucd-snmp-utils package, which contains UCD-SNMP utilities.
The wu-ftpd package contains the wu-ftpd FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server daemon. The FTP protocol is a method of transferring files between machines on a network and/or over the Internet. Wu-ftpd's features include logging of transfers, logging of commands, on the fly compression and archiving, classification of users' type and location, per class limits, per directory upload permissions, restricted guest accounts, system wide and per directory messages, directory alias, cdpath, filename filter and virtual host support.
Install the wu-ftpd package if you need to provide FTP service to remote users.
WvDial automatically locates and configures modems and can log into almost any ISP's server without special configuration. You need to input the username, password, and phone number, and then WvDial will negotiate the PPP connection using any mechanism needed.
Install wvdial if you need a utility to configure your modem and set up a PPP connection.
The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize a computer's time with another reference time source. The xntp3 package contains utilities and daemons which will synchronize your computer's time to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) via the NTP protocol and NTP servers. Xntp3 includes ntpdate (a program for retrieving the date and time from remote machines via a network) and xntpd (a daemon which continuously adjusts system time).
Install the xntp3 package if you need tools for keeping your system's time synchronized via the NTP protocol.
The Network Information Service (NIS) is a system which provides network information (login names, passwords, home directories, group information) to all of the machines on a network. NIS can enable users to login on any machine on the network, as long as the machine has the NIS client programs running and the user's password is recorded in the NIS passwd database. NIS was formerly known as Sun Yellow Pages (YP).
This package provides the ypbind daemon. The ypbind daemon binds NIS clients to an NIS domain. Ypbind must be running on any machines which are running NIS client programs.
Install the ypbind package on any machines which are running NIS client programs (included in the yp-tools package). If you need an NIS server, you'll also need to install the ypserv package to a machine on your network.
The Network Information Service (NIS) is a system which provides network information (login names, passwords, home directories, group information) to all of the machines on a network. NIS can enable users to login on any machine on the network, as long as the machine has the NIS client programs running and the user's password is recorded in the NIS passwd database. NIS was formerly known as Sun Yellow Pages (YP).
This package provides the NIS server, which will need to be running on your network. NIS clients do not need to be running the server.
Install ypserv if you need an NIS server for your network. You'll also need to install the yp-tools and ypbind packages onto any NIS client machines.
This section contains packages related to your Red Hat Linux system's kernel. This part of the Linux operating system is central to all system operations.
The kernel package contains the Linux kernel (vmlinuz), the core of your Red Hat Linux operating system. The kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system: memory allocation, process allocation, device input and output, etc.
This package includes a trimmed down version of the Linux kernel. This kernel is used on the installation boot disks only and should not be used for an installed system, as many features in this kernel are turned off because of the size constraints.
The kernel-ibcs package allows you to run programs in the iBCS2 (Intel Binary Compatibility Standard, version 2) and related executable formats. iBCS is a standard for binary portability between UNIX and UNIX-like systems.
Many laptop machines (and some non-laptops) support PCMCIA cards for expansion. Also known as "credit card adapters," PCMCIA cards are small cards for everything from SCSI support to modems. PCMCIA cards are hot swappable (i.e., they can be exchanged without rebooting the system) and quite convenient to use. The kernel-pcmcia-cs package contains a set of loadable kernel modules that implement an applications program interface, a set of client drivers for specific cards and a card manager daemon that can respond to card insertion and removal events by loading and unloading drivers on demand. The daemon also supports hot swapping, so that the cards can be safely inserted and ejected at any time.
Install the kernel-pcmcia-cs package if your system uses PCMCIA cards.
This package includes a SMP version of the Linux kernel. It is required only on machines with two or more CPUs, although it should work fine on single-CPU boxes.
Install the kernel-smp package if your machine uses two or more CPUs.
The kernel-utils package contains ksymoops, a utility that can be used for decrypting the kernel's OOPS output.
The modutils packages includes the kerneld program for automatic loading of modules under 2.0 kernels and unloading of modules under 2.0 and 2.2 kernels, as well as other module management programs. Examples of loaded and unloaded modules are device drivers and filesystems, as well as some other things.
This section lists packages that contain various libraries. These libraries are used by other program to support various functions, such as image manipulation, compatibility with older binary program formats, and screen handling.
ORBit is a high-performance CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) ORB (object request broker). It allows programs to send requests and receive replies from other programs, regardless of the locations of the two programs. CORBA is an architecture that enables communication between program objects, regardless of the programming language they're written in or the operating system they run on.
You will need to install this package if you want to run programs that use the ORBit implementation of CORBA technology.
Xaw3d is an enhanced version of the MIT Athena Widget set for the X Window System. Xaw3d adds a three-dimensional look to applications with minimal or no source code changes.
You should install Xaw3d if you are using applications which incorporate the MIT Athena widget set and you'd like to incorporate a 3D look into those applications.
XFree86-libs contains the shared libraries that most X programs need to run properly. These shared libraries are in a separate package in order to reduce the disk space needed to run X applications on a machine without an X server (i.e., over a network).
If you are installing the X Window System on your machine, you will need to install XFree86-libs. You will also need to install XFree86, one or more of the XFree86 fonts packages, Xconfigurator and X11R6-contrib. If you are going to develop applications that run as X clients, you will also need to install XFree86-devel.
Library to handle various audio file formats. Used by the esound daemon.
CrackLib tests passwords to determine whether they match certain security-oriented characteristics. You can use CrackLib to stop users from choosing passwords which would be easy to guess. CrackLib performs certain tests:
* It tries to generate words from a username and gecos entry and checks those words against the password; * It checks for simplistic patterns in passwords; * It checks for the password in a dictionary.
CrackLib is actually a library containing a particular C function which is used to check the password, as well as other C functions. CrackLib is not a replacement for a passwd program; it must be used in conjunction with an existing passwd program.
Install the cracklib package if you need a program to check users' passwords to see if they are at least minimally secure. If you install CrackLib, you'll also want to install the cracklib-dicts package.
The cracklib-dicts package includes the CrackLib dictionaries. CrackLib will need to use the dictionary appropriate to your system, which is normally put in /usr/dict/words. Cracklib-dicts also contains the utilities necessary for the creation of new dictionaries.
If you are installing CrackLib, you should also install cracklib-dicts.
Fnlib is a library that provides full, scalable 24 bit color font rendering abilities for the X Window System.
The FreeType engine is a free and portable TrueType font rendering engine. It has been developed to provide TT support to a great variety of platforms and environments. Note that FreeType is a library, not a stand-alone application, though some utility applications are included.
Gd is a graphics library for drawing .gif files. Gd allows your code to quickly draw images (lines, arcs, text, multiple colors, cutting and pasting from other images, flood fills) and write out the result as a .gif file. Gd is particularly useful in web applications, where .gifs are commonly used as inline images. Note, however, that gd is not a paint program.
Install gd if you are developing applications which need to draw .gif files. If you install gd, you'll also need to install the gd-devel package.
Gdbm is a GNU database indexing library, including routines which use extensible hashing. Gdbm works in a similar way to standard UNIX dbm routines. Gdbm is useful for developers who write C applications and need access to a simple and efficient database or who are building C applications which will use such a database.
If you're a C developer and your programs need access to simple database routines, you should install gdbm. You'll also need to install gdbm-devel.
Libraries used to communicate between The GIMP and other programs which may function as "GIMP plugins".
Glib is a handy library of utility functions. This C library is designed to solve some portability problems and provide other useful functionality which most programs require.
Glib is used by GDK, GTK+ and many applications. You should install Glib because many of your applications will depend on this library.
The glib package contains a useful library of utility functions, which are necessary for the successful operation of many different programs on your Red Hat Linux system.
The glibc package contains standard libraries which are used by multiple programs on the system. In order to save disk space and memory, as well as to make upgrading easier, common system code is kept in one place and shared between programs. This particular package contains the most important sets of shared libraries: the standard C library and the standard math library. Without these two libraries, a Linux system will not function. The glibc package also contains national language (locale) support and timezone databases.
The gmp package contains GNU MP, a library for arbitrary precision arithmetic, signed integers operations, rational numbers and floating point numbers. GNU MP is designed for speed, for both small and very large operands. GNU MP is fast for several reasons: It uses fullwords as the basic arithmetic type, it uses fast algorithms, it carefully optimizes assembly code for many CPUs' most common inner loops and it generally emphasizes speed over simplicity/elegance in its operations.
Install the gmp package if you need a fast arbitrary precision library.
This package contains extra sound files useful for customizing the sounds that the GNOME desktop environment makes.
GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a user-friendly set of GUI applications and desktop tools to be used in conjunction with a window manager for the X Window System. The gnome-libs package includes libraries that are needed to run GNOME.
The gtk+ package contains the GIMP ToolKit (GTK+), a library for creating graphical user interfaces for the X Window System. GTK+ was originally written for the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) image processing program, but is now used by several other programs as well.
If you are planning on using the GIMP or another program that uses GTK+, you'll need to have the gtk+ package installed.
The X libraries originally written for the GIMP, which are now used by several other programs as well.
This RPM is a set of compatibility libraries needed to run applications linked against the 1.0 series of gtk+ and glib.
The gtk-engines package contains shared objects and configuration files that implement a number of GTK+ theme engines. Theme engines provide different looks for GTK+, so that it can resemble other toolkits or operating systems. The gtk-engines package contains graphical engines for various GTK+ toolkit themes, including Notif, Redmond95, Pixmap and Metal (swing-like).
Imlib is a display depth-independent image loading and rendering library. Imlib is designed to simplify and speed up the process of loading images and obtaining X Window System drawables. Imlib provides many simple manipulation routines which can be used for common operations.
Install imlib if you need an image loading and rendering library for X11R6. You may also want to install the imlib-cfgeditor package, which will help you configure Imlib.
The imlib-cfgeditor package contains the imlib_config program, which you can use to configure the Imlib image loading and rendering library. imlib_config can be used to control how Imlib uses color and handles gamma corrections, etc.
If you're installing the imlib package, you should also install imlib_cfgeditor.
Libraries for the K Desktop Environment: KDE Libraries included: kdecore (KDE core library), kdeui (user interface), kfm (file manager), khtmlw (HTML widget), kfile (file access), kspell (spelling checker), jscript (javascript), kab (addressbook), kimgio (image manipulation), mediatool (sound, mixing and animation).
Support Libraries for the K Desktop Environment, but not part of it.
Libraries included: QwSpriteField, js (javascript), uulib, mimelib, rdb; depending on the Red Hat release, libraries gdbm jpeg and gif are either also included, or the versions supplied by Red Hat are required.
This package also provides extra KDE support for Red Hat Linux: a script "usekde" that users can run to set up KDE as their default desktop (which is also done automatically when a new user is created), and scripts for activating the KDE X Display Manager "kdm" to replace "xdm".
The purpose of PL is to closely mimic the behavior of the property lists used in the GNUstep/OPENSTEP (they're formed with the NSString, NSData, NSArray and NSDictionary classes) and to be duly compatible.
PL enables programs that use configuration or preference3 files to make these compatible with GNUstep/OPENSTEP's user defaults handling mechanism, without needing to use Objective-C or GNUstep/ OPENSTEP themselves.
Older Linux systems (including all Red Hat Linux releases between 2.0 and 4.2, inclusive) were based on libc version 5. The libc package includes the libc5 libraries and other libraries based on libc5. With these libraries installed, old applications which need them will be able to run on your glibc (libc version 6) based system.
The libc package should be installed so that you can run older applications which need libc version 5.
The libelf package contains a library for accessing ELF object files. Libelf allows you to access the internals of the ELF object file format, so you can see the different sections of an ELF file.
Libelf should be installed if you need access to ELF object file internals.
The libglade library allows you to load user interfaces which are stored externally into your program. This allows for alteration of the interface without recompilation of the program. The interfaces can also be edited with GLADE. Currently libglade supports all of the widgets in current releases, keyboard accelerators and automatic signal connection.
The libgr package contains a library of functions which support programs for handling various graphics file formats, including .pbm (portable pitmaps), .pgm (portable graymaps), .pnm (portable anymaps), .ppm (portable pixmaps) and others.
A library that fetches information about the running system such as CPU and memory useage, active processes and more.
On Linux systems, this information is taken directly from the /proc filesystem while on other systems a server is used to read that information from other /dev/kmem, among others.
Install this package for a set of programs that are examples of developing with libgtop.
The libjpeg package contains a library of functions for manipulating JPEG images, as well as simple client programs for accessing the libjpeg functions. Libjpeg client programs include cjpeg, djpeg, jpegtran, rdjpgcom and wrjpgcom. Cjpeg compresses an image file into JPEG format. Djpeg decompresses a JPEG file into a regular image file. Jpegtran can perform various useful transformations on JPEG files. Rdjpgcom displays any text comments included in a JPEG file. Wrjpgcom inserts text comments into a JPEG file.
This package is a library of functions that manipulate jpeg images, along with simple clients for manipulating jpeg images.
This version of the package includes only a library that is needed for preserving the backwards compatibility with previous releases of Red Hat Linux.
The libpng package contains a library of functions for creating and manipulating PNG (Portable Network Graphics) image format files. PNG is a bit-mapped graphics format similar to the GIF format. PNG was created to replace the GIF format, since GIF uses a patented data compression algorithm.
Libpng should be installed if you need to manipulate PNG format image files.
The libstdc++ package contains a snapshot of the EGCS Standard C++ Library v3, an ongoing project to implement the ISO 14882 Standard C++ library.
The libtermcap package contains a basic system library needed to access the termcap database. The termcap library supports easy access to the termcap database, so that programs can output character-based displays in a terminal-independent manner.
The libtiff package contains a library of functions for manipulating TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) image format files. TIFF is a widely used file format for bitmapped images. TIFF files usually end in the .tif extension and they are often quite large.
The libtiff package should be installed if you need to manipulate TIFF format image files.
The libungif package contains a shared library of functions for loading and saving GIF format image files. The libungif library can load any GIF file, but it will save GIFs only in uncompressed format (i.e., it won't use the patented LZW compression used to save "normal" compressed GIF files).
Install the libungif package if you need to manipulate GIF files. You should also install the libungif-progs package.
The libxml package contains the XML library version 1.0, which allows you to manipulate XML files. XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a data format for structured document interchange via the Web.
This package is provided as a backwards compatibility package for older application that might exist on your system but have not been recompiled yet for the new library version.
The curses library routines are a terminal-independent method of updating character screens with reasonable optimization. The ncurses (new curses) library is a freely distributable replacement for the discontinued 4.4BSD classic curses library.
The curses library routines are a terminal-independent method of updating character screens with reasonable optimization. The ncurses (new curses) library is a freely distributable replacement for the discontinued 4.4BSD classic curses library.
Newt is a programming library for color text mode, widget based user interfaces. Newt can be used to add stacked windows, entry widgets, checkboxes, radio buttons, labels, plain text fields, scrollbars, etc., to text mode user interfaces. This package also contains the shared library needed by programs built with newt, as well as a /usr/bin/dialog replacement called whiptail. Newt is based on the slang library.
Popt is a C library for parsing command line parameters. Popt was heavily influenced by the getopt() and getopt_long() functions, but it improves on them by allowing more powerful argument expansion. Popt can parse arbitrary argv[] style arrays and automatically set variables based on command line arguments. Popt allows command line arguments to be aliased via configuration files and includes utility functions for parsing arbitrary strings into argv[] arrays using shell-like rules.
Install popt if you're a C programmer and you'd like to use its capabilities.
The pythonlib package contains Python code used by a variety of Red Hat Linux programs. Pythonlib includes code needed for multifield listboxes and entry widgets with non-standard keybindings, among other things.
Qt is a GUI software toolkit. Qt simplifies the task of writing and maintaining GUI (graphical user interface) applications for X Windows.
Qt is written in C++ and is fully object-oriented. It has everything you need to create professional GUI applications. And it enables you to create them quickly.
Qt is a multi-platform toolkit. When developing software with Qt, you can run it on the X Window System (Unix/X11) or Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 95/98. Simply recompile your source code on the platform you want.
This package contains the shared library needed to run Qt applications, as well as the README files for Qt.
Qt is a GUI software toolkit. Qt simplifies the task of writing and maintaining GUI (graphical user interface) applications for X Windows.
This library provides backwards compatibility for those applications linked against Qt 1.x. For more information about Qt, see the new Qt version 2 packages.
The readline library reads a line from the terminal and returns it, allowing the user to edit the line with standard emacs editing keys. The readline library allows programmers to provide an easy to use and more intuitive interface for users.
If you want to develop programs that will use the readline library, you'll also need to install the readline-devel package.
S-Lang is an interpreted language and a programming library. The S-Lang language was designed so that it can be easily embedded into a program to provide the program with a powerful extension language. The S-Lang library, provided in this package, provides the S-Lang extension language. S-Lang's syntax resembles C, which makes it easy to recode S-Lang procedures in C if you need to.
The svgalib package provides the SVGAlib low-level graphics library for Linux. SVGAlib is a library which allows applications to use full screen graphics on a variety of hardware platforms. Many games and utilities use SVGAlib for their graphics.
You'll need to have the svgalib package installed if you use any of the programs which rely on SVGAlib for their graphics support.
Libwww is a general-purpose Web API written in C for Unix and Windows (Win32). With a highly extensible and layered API, it can accommodate many different types of applications including clients, robots, etc. The purpose of libwww is to provide a highly optimized HTTP sample implementation as well as other Internet protocols and to serve as a testbed for protocol experiments.
The words file is a dictionary of English words for the /usr/dict directory. Programs like ispell use this database of words to check spelling.
The xpm package contains the XPM pixmap library for the X Window System. The XPM library allows applications to display color, pixmapped images, and is used by many popular X programs.
The zlib compression library provides in-memory compression and decompression functions, including integrity checks of the uncompressed data. This version of the library supports only one compression method (deflation), but other algorithms may be added later, which will have the same stream interface. The zlib library is used by many different system programs.
This section lists packages that provide a wide variety of shells for your Red Hat Linux system.
The ash shell is a clone of Berkeley's Bourne shell. Ash supports all of the standard sh shell commands, but is considerably smaller than bash. The ash shell lacks some features (for example, command-line histories), but needs a lot less memory.
You should install ash if you need a lightweight shell with many of the same capabilities as the bash shell.
Bash is a GNU project sh-compatible shell or command language interpreter. Bash (Bourne Again shell) incorporates useful features from the Korn shell (ksh) and the C shell (csh). Most sh scripts can be run by bash without modification.
Bash offers several improvements over sh, including command line editing, unlimited size command history, job control, shell functions and aliases, indexed arrays of unlimited size and integer arithmetic in any base from two to 64. Bash is ultimately intended to conform to the IEEE POSIX P1003.2/ISO 9945.2 Shell and Tools standard.
Bash is the default shell for Red Hat Linux. You should install bash because of its popularity and power. You'll probably end up using it.
Bash is a GNU project sh-compatible shell or command language interpreter. Bash (Bourne Again shell) incorporates useful features from the Korn shell (ksh) and the C shell (csh). Most sh scripts can be run by bash without modification.
Bash offers several improvements over sh, including command line editing, unlimited size command history, job control, shell functions and aliases, indexed arrays of unlimited size and integer arithmetic in any base from two to 64. Bash is ultimately intended to conform to the IEEE POSIX P1003.2/ISO 9945.2 Shell and Tools standard.
Midnight Commander is a visual shell much like a file manager, only with many more features. It is a text mode application, but it also includes mouse support if you are running GPM. Midnight Commander's coolest features are its abilities to FTP, view tar and zip files, and to poke into RPMs for specific files.
The pdksh package contains PD-ksh, a clone of the Korn shell (ksh). The ksh shell is a command interpreter intended for both interactive and shell script use. Ksh's command language is a superset of the sh shell language.
Install the pdksh package if you want to use a version of the ksh shell.
Sash is a simple, standalone, statically linked shell which includes simplified versions of built-in commands like ls, dd and gzip. Sash is statically linked so that it can work without shared libraries, so it is particularly useful for recovering from certain types of system failures. Sash can also be used to safely upgrade to new versions of shared libraries.
The GNU shell utilities are a set of useful system utilities which are often used in shell scripts. The sh-utils package includes basename (to remove the path prefix from a specified pathname), chroot (to change the root directory), date (to print/set the system time and date), dirname (to remove the last level or the filename from a given path), echo (to print a line of text), env (to display/modify the environment), expr (to evaluate expressions), factor (to print prime factors), false (to return an unsuccessful exit status), groups (to print the groups a specified user is a member of), id (to print the real/effective uid/gid), logname (to print the current login name), nice (to modify a scheduling priority), nohup (to allow a command to continue running after logging out), pathchk (to check a file name's portability), printenv (to print environment variables), printf (to format and print data), pwd (to print the current directory), seq (to print numeric sequences), sleep (to suspend execution for a specified time), stty (to print/change terminal settings), su (to become another user or the superuser), tee (to send output to multiple files), test (to evaluate an expression), true (to return a successful exit status), tty (to print the terminal name), uname (to print system information), users (to print current users' names), who (to print a list of the users who are currently logged in), whoami (to print the effective user id), and yes (to print a string indefinitely).
Tcsh is an enhanced but completely compatible version of csh, the C shell. Tcsh is a command language interpreter which can be used both as an interactive login shell and as a shell script command processor. Tcsh includes a command line editor, programmable word completion, spelling correction, a history mechanism, job control and a C language like syntax.
The zsh shell is a command interpreter usable as an interactive login shell and as a shell script command processor. Zsh resembles the ksh shell (the Korn shell), but includes many enhancements. Zsh supports command line editing, built-in spelling correction, programmable command completion, shell functions (with autoloading), a history mechanism and more.
Install the zsh package if you'd like to try out a different shell.