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As this section's name implies, this is where you can find most of the applications available with Red Hat Linux. We've split the applications into several different categories to make finding things a bit easier.
(If you noticed that we said "most of the applications" above, you can find more apps by looking at X11's application section towards the end of the appendix.)
This section lists packages that provide utilities for data archiving.
Cdrecord allows you to create CDs on a CD-Recorder (SCSI/ATAPI). Supports data, audio, mixed, multi-session and CD+ discs etc.
GNU cpio copies files into or out of a cpio or tar archive. Archives are files which contain a collection of other files plus information about them, such as their file name, owner, timestamps, and access permissions. The archive can be another file on the disk, a magnetic tape, or a pipe. GNU cpio supports the following archive formats: binary, old ASCII, new ASCII, crc, HPUX binary, HPUX old ASCII, old tar and POSIX.1 tar. By default, cpio creates binary format archives, so that they are compatible with older cpio programs. When it is extracting files from archives, cpio automatically recognizes which kind of archive it is reading and can read archives created on machines with a different byte-order.
Install cpio if you need a program to manage file archives.
The dump package contains both dump and restore. Dump examines files in a filesystem, determines which ones need to be backed up, and copies those files to a specified disk, tape or other storage medium. The restore command performs the inverse function of dump; it can restore a full backup of a filesystem. Subsequent incremental backups can then be layered on top of the full backup. Single files and directory subtrees may also be restored from full or partial backups.
Install dump if you need a system for both backing up filesystems and restoring filesystems after backups.
LHA is an archiving and compression utility for LHarc format archives. LHA is mostly used in the DOS world, but can be used under Linux to extract DOS files from LHA archives.
Install the lha package if you need to extract DOS files from LHA archives.
The ncompress package contains the compress and uncompress file compression and decompression utilities, which are compatible with the original UNIX compress utility (.Z file extensions). These utilities can't handle gzipped (.gz file extensions) files, but gzip can handle compressed files.
The rmt utility provides remote access to tape devices for programs like dump (a filesystem backup program), restore (a program for restoring files from a backup) and tar (an archiving program).
The sharutils package contains the GNU shar utilities, a set of tools for encoding and decoding packages of files (in binary or text format) in a special plain text format called shell archives (shar). This format can be sent through e-mail (which can be problematic for regular binary files). The shar utility supports a wide range of capabilities (compressing, uuencoding, splitting long files for multi-part mailings, providing checksums), which make it very flexible at creating shar files. After the files have been sent, the unshar tool scans mail messages looking for shar files. Unshar automatically strips off mail headers and introductory text and then unpacks the shar files.
Install sharutils if you send binary files through e-mail.
Taper is a backup and restoration program with a friendly user interface. Files may be backed up to a tape drive or to a hard disk. The interface for selecting files to be backed up/restored is very similar to the Midnight Commander interface, and allows easy traversal of directories. Taper supports recursive selection of directories. Taper also supports backing up SCSI, ftape, zftape and removable drives. By default, taper is set for incremental backups and automatic most recent restore.
Install the taper package if you need a user friendly file backup and restoration program.
The GNU tar program saves many files together into one archive and can restore individual files (or all of the files) from the archive. Tar can also be used to add supplemental files to an archive and to update or list files in the archive. Tar includes multivolume support, automatic archive compression/ decompression, the ability to perform remote archives and the ability to perform incremental and full backups.
If you want to use Tar for remote backups, you'll also need to install the rmt package.
You should install the tar package, because you'll find its compression and decompression utilities essential for working with files.
The UNARJ program is used to uncompress .arj format archives. The .arj format archive was mostly used on DOS machines.
Install the unarj package if you need to uncompress .arj format archives.
The unzip utility is used to list, test, or extract files from a zip archive. Zip archives are commonly found on MS-DOS systems. The zip utility, included in the zip package, creates zip archives. Zip and unzip are both compatible with archives created by PKWARE(R)'s PKZIP for MS-DOS, but the programs' options and default behaviors do differ in some respects.
Install the unzip package if you need to list, test or extract files from a zip archive.
The zip program is a compression and file packaging utility. Zip is analogous to a combination of the UNIX tar and compress commands and is compatible with PKZIP (a compression and file packaging utility for MS-DOS systems).
Install the zip package if you need to compress files using the zip program.
This section contains packages that help you communicate -- either via fax, on-line chat, or simple terminal emulation.
Dip is a modem dialer. Dip handles the connections needed for dialup IP links like SLIP or PPP. Dip can handle both incoming and outgoing connections, using password security for incoming connections. Dip is useful for setting up PPP and SLIP connections, but isn't required for either. Netcfg uses dip for setting up SLIP connections.
Install dip if you need a utility which will handle dialup IP connections.
Efax is a small ANSI C/POSIX program that sends and receives faxes using any Class 1, 2 or 2.0 fax modem.
You need to install efax if you want to send faxes and you have a Class 1, 2 or 2.0 fax modem.
The getty_ps package contains the getty and uugetty programs, basic programs for accomplishing the login process on a Red Hat Linux system. Getty and uugetty are used to accept logins on the console or a terminal. Getty is invoked by the init process to open tty lines and set their modes, to print the login prompt and get the user's name, and to initiate a login process for the user. Uugetty works just like getty, except that uugetty creates and uses lock files to prevent two or more processes from conflicting in their use of a tty line. Getty and uugetty can also handle answer a modem for dialup connections, but mgetty is recommended for that purpose.
KPilot allows you to synchronize your PalmPilot with your desktop. It allows you to backup and restore the various databases (Addressbook, ToDo List, Memos, etc.) as well as install applications to the pilot. Two "conduits" for the third party application KOrganizer are included which will let you sync your ToDo list and Calendar with that program.
Lrzsz (consisting of lrz and lsz) is a cosmetically modified zmodem/ymodem/xmodem package built from the public-domain version of the rzsz package. Lrzsz was created to provide a working GNU copylefted Zmodem solution for Linux systems.
You should install lrzsz if you're also installing a Zmodem communications program that uses lrzsz. If you're installing minicom, you need to install lrzsz.
The mgetty package contains a "smart" getty which allows logins over a serial line (i.e., through a modem). If you're using a Class 2 or 2.0 modem, mgetty can receive faxes. If you also need to send faxes, you'll need to install the sendfax program.
If you'll be dialing in to your system using a modem, you should install the mgetty package. If you'd like to send faxes using mgetty and your modem, you'll need to install the mgetty-sendfax program. If you need a viewer for faxes, you'll also need to install the mgetty-viewfax package.
Sendfax is a standalone backend program for sending fax files. The mgetty program (a getty replacement for handling logins over a serial line) plus sendfax will allow you to send faxes through a Class 2 modem.
If you'd like to send faxes over a Class 2 modem, you'll need to install the mgetty-sendfax and the mgetty packages.
Viewfax displays the fax files received using mgetty in an X11 window. Viewfax is capable of zooming in and out on the displayed fax.
If you're installing the mgetty-viewfax package, you'll also need to install mgetty.
The mgetty-voice package contains the vgetty system, which enables mgetty and your modem to support voice capabilities. In simple terms, vgetty lets your modem act as an answering machine. How well the system will work depends upon your modem, which may or may not be able to handle this kind of implementation.
Install mgetty-voice along with mgetty if you'd like to try having your modem act as an answering machine.
Minicom is a simple text-based modem control and terminal emulation program somewhat similar to MSDOS Telix. Minicom includes a dialing directory, full ANSI and VT100 emulation, an (external) scripting language, and other features.
Minicom should be installed if you need a simple modem control program or terminal emulator.
This suite of tools allows you to upload and download programs and data files between a *nix machine and the USR Pilot. It has a few extra utils that will allow for things like syncing the Pilot's calendar app with Ical. Note that you might still need to consult the sources for pilot-link if you would like the Python, Tcl, or Perl bindings.
The sliplogin utility turns the terminal line on standard input into a SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) link to a remote host. Sliplogin is usually used to allow dial-in SLIP connections.
Install the sliplogin package if you need to support dial-in SLIP connections.
The uucp command copies files between systems. Uucp is primarily used by remote machines downloading and uploading email and news files to local machines.
Install the uucp package if you need to use uucp to transfer files between machines.
This section contains packages that provide basic database support for Red Hat Linux.
Postgresql includes the programs needed to create and run a PostgreSQL server, which will in turn allow you to create and maintain PostgreSQL databases. PostgreSQL is an advanced Object-Relational database management system (DBMS) that supports almost all SQL constructs (including transactions, subselects and user-defined types and functions).
You should install postgresql if you want to create and maintain your own PostgreSQL databases and/or your own PostgreSQL server. If you are installing postgresql, you should also install postgresql-data, which will help you get started with PostgreSQL.
postgresql-jdbc includes the jar file that you'll need to access a PostgreSQL database management system server.
Postgresql-odbc includes the odbc driver and sample configuration files that you'll need to access a PostgreSQL database management system server.
postgresql-perl includes the perl-based client programs and client libraries that you'll need to access a PostgreSQL database management system server.
postgresql-python includes the python-based client programs and client libraries that you'll need to access a PostgreSQL database management system server.
postgresql-server includes the programs needed to create and run a PostgreSQL server, which will in turn allow you to create and maintain PostgreSQL databases. PostgreSQL is an advanced Object-Relational database management system (DBMS) that supports almost all SQL constructs (including transactions, subselects and user-defined types and functions).
You should install postgresql if you want to create and maintain your own PostgreSQL databases and/or your own PostgreSQL server.
postgresql-tcl includes the tcl-based client programs and client libraries that you'll need to access a PostgreSQL database management system server. This package contains the tcl client libraries, as well as pgaccess, a wish-based utility for manipulating PostgreSQL databases.
postgresql-test includes the source and pre-built binaries of the various tests included with PostgreSQL, such as the regression tests and benchmarks.
In this section, we have an assortment of packages that provide basic (and in some cases not so basic) file editing capabilities.
GXedit is a fast, easy-to-use editor which is both network- oriented and very secure. GXedit is a graphical text editor which features a toolbar, network bar and tooltips, spell checking, inline help, the ability to send text as e-mail, macros and more. GXedit was designed to balance these and many other features without becoming too bloated.
You'll need GTK+ to use GXedit.
Emacs is a powerful, customizable, self-documenting, modeless text editor. Emacs contains special code editing features, a scripting language (elisp), and the capability to read mail, news and more without leaving the editor.
This package includes the libraries you need to run the Emacs editor, so you need to install this package if you intend to use Emacs. You also need to install the actual Emacs program package (emacs-nox or emacs-X11). Install emacs-nox if you are not going to use the X Window System; install emacs-X11 if you will be using X.
Emacs-X11 includes the Emacs text editor program for use with the X Window System (it provides support for the mouse and other GUI elements). Emacs-X11 will also run Emacs outside of X, but it has a larger memory footprint than the 'non-X' Emacs package (emacs-nox).
Install emacs-X11 if you're going to use Emacs with the X Window System. You should also install emacs-X11 if you're going to run Emacs both with and without X (it will work fine both ways). You'll also need to install the emacs package in order to run Emacs.
Emacs-el contains the emacs-elisp sources for many of the elisp programs included with the main Emacs text editor package.
You need to install emacs-el only if you intend to modify any of the Emacs packages or see some elisp examples.
The Emacs Lisp code for input methods for various international character scripts.
Emacs-nox is the Emacs text editor program without support for the X Window System.
You need to install this package only if you plan on exclusively using Emacs without the X Window System (emacs-X11 will work both in X and out of X, but emacs-nox will only work outside of X). You'll also need to install the emacs package in order to run Emacs.
gEdit is a small but powerful text editor designed specifically for the GNOME GUI desktop. gEdit includes a plug-in API (which supports extensibility while keeping the core binary small), support for editing multiple documents using notebook tabs, and standard text editor functions.
You'll need to have GNOME and GTK+ installed to use gEdit.
gnotepad+ is an easy-to-use, yet fairly feature-rich, simple text editor for systems running X11 and using GTK+. It is designed for as little bloat as possible, while still providing many of the common features found in a modern GUI-based text editor.
Jed is a fast, compact editor based on the slang screen library. Jed features include emulation of the Emacs, EDT, WordStar and Brief editors; support for extensive customization with slang macros, colors, keybindings, etc.; and a variety of programming modes with syntax highlighting.
You should install jed if you've used it before and you like it, or if you haven't used any text editors before and you're still deciding what you'd like to use. You'll also need to have slang installed.
The jed-common package contains files (such as .sl files) that are needed by any jed binary in order to run.
Xjed is a version of the Jed text editor that will work with the X Window System.
You should install xjed if you like Jed and you'd like to use it with X. You'll also need to have the X Window System installed.
Joe is an easy to use, modeless text editor which is very easy to use. Joe uses the same WordStar keybindings used in Borland's development environment.
You should install joe if you've used it before and you liked it, or if you're still deciding what text editor you'd like to use, or if you have a fondness for WordStar. If you're just starting out, you should probably install joe because it is very easy to use.
VIM (VIsual editor iMproved) is an updated and improved version of the vi editor. Vi was the first real screen-based editor for UNIX, and is still very popular. VIM improves on vi by adding new features: multiple windows, multi-level undo, block highlighting and more. VIM-X11 is a version of the VIM editor which will run within the X Window System. If you install this package, you can run VIM as an X application with a full GUI interface and mouse support.
Install the vim-X11 package if you'd like to try out a version of vi with graphics and mouse capabilities. You'll also need to install the vim-common package.
VIM (VIsual editor iMproved) is an updated and improved version of the vi editor. Vi was the first real screen-based editor for UNIX, and is still very popular. VIM improves on vi by adding new features: multiple windows, multi-level undo, block highlighting and more. The vim-common package contains files which every VIM binary will need in order to run.
If you are installing any version of the VIM editor, you'll also need to the vim-common package installed.
VIM (VIsual editor iMproved) is an updated and improved version of the vi editor. Vi was the first real screen-based editor for UNIX, and is still very popular. VIM improves on vi by adding new features: multiple windows, multi-level undo, block highlighting and more. The vim-enhanced package contains a version of VIM with extra, recently introduced features like Python and Perl interpreters.
Install the vim-enhanced package if you'd like to use a version of the VIM editor which includes recently added enhancements like interpreters for the Python and Perl scripting languages. You'll also need to install the vim-common package.
VIM (VIsual editor iMproved) is an updated and improved version of the vi editor. Vi was the first real screen-based editor for UNIX, and is still very popular. VIM improves on vi by adding new features: multiple windows, multi-level undo, block highlighting and more. The vim-minimal package includes a minimal version of VIM, which is installed into /bin/vi for use when only the root partition is present.
In this section are packages that let your Red Hat Linux system run programs meant for other operating systems.
Dosemu is a DOS emulator. Once you've installed dosemu, start the DOS emulator by typing in the dos command.
You need to install dosemu if you use DOS programs and you want to be able to run them on your Red Hat Linux system. You may also need to install the dosemu-freedos package.
Generally, the dosemu DOS emulator requires either that your system have some version of DOS available or that your system's partitions were formatted and installed with DOS. If your system does not meet either of the previous requirements, you can instead use the dosemu- freedos package, which contains an hdimage file which will be installed in teh /var/lib/dosemu directory. The hdimage file is already bootable with FreeDOS.
You will need to edit your /etc/dosemu.conf file to add the image to the list of disk 'drives' used by dosemu.
Install dosemu-freedos if you are installing the dosemu package and you don't have a version of DOS available on your system, and your system's partitions were not formatted and installed with DOS.
Xdosemu is a version of the dosemu DOS emulator that runs with the X ]Window System. Xdosemu provides VGA graphics and mouse support.
Install xdosemu if you need to run DOS programs on your system, and you'd like to do so with the convenience of graphics support and mouse capabilities.
This section contains packages for those of you that are into engineering.
The bc package includes bc and dc. Bc is an arbitrary precision numeric processing arithmetic language. Dc is an interactive arbitrary precision stack based calculator, which can be used as a text mode calculator.
Install the bc package if you need its number handling capabilities or if you would like to use its text mode calculator.
Gnuplot is a command-line driven, interactive function plotting program especially suited for scientific data representation. Gnuplot can be used to plot functions and data points in both two and three dimensions and in many different formats.
Install gnuplot if you need a graphics package for scientific data representation.
Units converts an amount from one unit to another, or tells you what mathematical operation you need to perform to convert from one unit to another. Units can only handle multiplicative scale changes (i.e., it can't tell you how to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit, which requires an additive step in addition to the multiplicative conversion).
Units is a handy little program which contains a large number of conversions, from au's to parsecs and tablespoons to cups. You probably don't need to install it, but it comes in handy sometimes.
The xlispstat package contains XLISP-PLUS, an implementation of the Lisp programming language for the X Window System. XLISP-PLUS also includes extensions for performing advanced statistical computations.
Install the xlispstat package if you need a version of the Lisp programming language for X with statistics extensions.
This section lists packages containing file-related utility programs.
Bzip2 is a freely available, patent-free, high quality data compressor. Bzip2 compresses files to within 10 to 15 percent of the capabilities of the best techniques available. However, bzip2 has the added benefit of being approximately two times faster at compression and six times faster at decompression than those techniques. Bzip2 is not the fastest compression utility, but it does strike a balance between speed and compression capability.
Install bzip2 if you need a compression utility.
The file command is used to identify a particular file according to the type of data contained by the file. File can identify many different file types, including ELF binaries, system libraries, RPM packages, and different graphics formats.
You should install the file package, since the file command is such a useful utility.
The fileutils package includes a number of GNU versions of common and popular file management utilities. Fileutils includes the following tools: chgrp (changes a file's group ownership), chown (changes a file's ownership), chmod (changes a file's permissions), cp (copies files), dd (copies and converts files), df (shows a filesystem's disk usage), dir (gives a brief directory listing), dircolors (the setup program for the color version of the ls command), du (shows disk usage), install (copies files and sets permissions), ln (creates file links), ls (lists directory contents), mkdir (creates directories), mkfifo (creates FIFOs or named pipes), mknod (creates special files), mv (renames files), rm (removes/deletes files), rmdir (removes empty directories), sync (synchronizes memory and disk), touch (changes file timestamps), and vdir (provides long directory listings).
You should install the fileutils package, because it includes many file management utilities that you'll use frequently.
The findutils package contains programs which will help you locate files on your system. The find utility searches through a hierarchy of directories looking for files which match a certain set of criteria (such as a filename pattern). The locate utility searches a database (create by updatedb) to quickly find a file matching a given pattern. The xargs utility builds and executes command lines from standard input arguments (usually lists of file names generated by the find command).
You should install findutils because it includes tools that are very useful for finding things on your system.
GIT (GNU Interactive Tools) provides an extensible file system browser, an ASCII/hexadecimal file viewer, a process viewer/killer and other related utilities and shell scripts. GIT can be used to increase the speed and efficiency of copying and moving files and directories, invoking editors, compressing and uncompressing files, creating and expanding archives, compiling programs, sending mail and more. GIT uses standard ANSI color sequences, if they are available.
You should install the git package if you are interested in using its file management capabilities.
The gzip package contains the popular GNU gzip data compression program. Gzipped files have a .gz extension.
Gzip should be installed on your Red Hat Linux system, because it is a very commonly used data compression program.
Slocate is a security-enhanced version of locate. Just like locate, slocate searches through a central database (which is updated nightly) for files which match a given pattern. Slocate allows you to quickly find files anywhere on your system.
The stat utility prints out filesystem level information about a specified file, including size, permissions, link count, inode, etc.
The tree utility recursively displays the contents of directories in a tree-like format. Tree is basically a UNIX port of the tree DOS utility.
Install tree if you think it would be useful to view the contents of specified directories in a tree-like format.
This section lists packages that contain Internet-related applications.
Elm is a popular terminal mode email user agent. Elm includes all standard mailhandling features, including MIME support via metamail.
Elm is still used by some people, but is no longer in development. If you've used Elm before and you're devoted to it, you should install the elm package. If you would like to use metamail's MIME support, you'll also need to install the metamail package.
Exmh provides an X interface for MH/nmh mail, a feature-rich email handling system. Exmh supports almost all (but not all) of MH's features: viewing the messages in a folder, reading/deleting/refiling messages, and sorting arriving mail into different folders before the messages are read. Exmh highlights which folders have new mail, and indicates which messages have not been read (so you don't lose the sorted, unread mail).
If you like MH/nmh mail, you should install exmh, because it makes the MH/nmh mail system much more user friendly. You may also want to use exmh if you prefer a graphical user interface for your mail client. Note that you will also have to install the nmh package.
Faces is a program for visually monitoring a list (typically a list of incoming mail messages, a list of jobs in a print queue or a list of system users). Faces operates in five different modes: monitoring for new mail, monitoring an entire mail file, monitoring a specified print queue, monitoring users on a machine and custom monitoring. Faces also includes a utility for including a face image (a compressed, scanned image) with mail messages. The image has to be compressed in a certain way, which can then be uncompressed and displayed on-the-fly in the mail program. This feature of faces is typically used with the exmh mail handling system.
Install faces if you'd like to use its list monitoring capability or its face image inclusion capability. If you would like to include face images in email, you'll also need to install the faces-xface package. If you would like to develop xface applications, you'll need to also install faces-devel.
The Faces program includes the ability to send a compressed image along with an email message. Faces-xface includes the utilities that mail user agent programs need to handle X-Face mail header. When an email program reads the X-face header line in an email message, it calls these utilities to display the face image included in the message.
You'll need to install faces-xface if you want your mail program to display Faces' X-face images.
Fetchmail is a remote mail retrieval and forwarding utility intended for use over on-demand TCP/IP links, like SLIP or PPP connections. Fetchmail supports every remote-mail protocol currently in use on the Internet (POP2, POP3, RPOP, APOP, KPOP, all IMAPs, ESMTP ETRN) for retrieval. Then Fetchmail forwards the mail through SMTP, so you can read it through your normal mail client.
Install fetchmail if you need to retrieve mail over SLIP or PPP connections.
Fetchmailconf is a tcl/tk application for graphically configuring your .fetchmailrc preferences file. Fetchmail has many options which can be daunting to the new user. This utility takes some of the guesswork and hassle out of setting up fetchmail.
Finger is a utility which allows users to see information about system users (login name, home directory, name, how long they've been logged in to the system, etc.). The finger package includes a standard finger client and server. The server daemon (fingerd) runs from /etc/inetd.conf, which must be modified to disable finger requests.
You should install finger if your system is used by multiple users and you'd like finger information to be available.
The ftp package provides the standard UNIX command-line FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client. FTP is a widely used protocol for transferring files over the Internet and for archiving files.
If your system is on a network, you should install ftp in order to do file transfers.
The fwhois program is a different style of the whois program. Both fwhois and whois query Internet whois databases to find information about system users. Fwhois is smaller and more compact than whois, and runs in a different manner.
Install fwhois if you or your system's users need a program for querying whois databases. You may also want to install whois, and then decide for yourself which program you prefer.
gFTP is a multi-threaded FTP client for the X Window System. gFTP supports simultaneous downloads, resumption of interrupted file transfers, file transfer queues to allow downloading of multiple files, support for downloading entire directories/subdirectories, a bookmarks menu to allow quick connection to FTP sites, caching of remote directory listings, local and remote chmod, drag and drop, a connection manager and much more.
Install gftp if you need an FTP client. You'll also need to install GTK+ 1.2.3 or higher and X11R6.
IrcII is a popular Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client. IRC clients communicate with IRC servers, enabling users to "chat" via the Internet.
Install ircii if you want to participate in chat rooms.
Network applications for the K Desktop Environment.
Includes: karchie (ftp archive searcher); kbiff (mail delivery notification) kfinger ("finger" utility); kmail (mail client); knu (network utilities); korn (mailbox monitor tool); kppp (easy PPP connection configuration); krn (news reader); ktalkd (talk daemon); ksirc (irc client).
Lynx is a text-based Web browser. Lynx does not display any images, but it does support frames, tables and most other HTML tags. Lynx's advantage over graphical browsers is its speed--Lynx starts and exits quickly and swiftly displays Web pages.
Install lynx if you would like to try this fast, non-graphical browser (you may learn to appreciate its strengths).
The mailx package installs the /bin/mail program, which is used to send quick email messages (i.e., without opening up a full-featured mail user agent). Mail is often used in shell scripts.
You should install mailx because of its quick email sending ability, which is especially useful if you're planning on writing any shell scripts.
Metamail is a system for handling multimedia mail, using the mailcap file. Metamail reads the mailcap file, which tells Metamail what helper program to call in order to handle a particular type of non-text mail. Note that metamail can also add multimedia support to certain non-mail programs.
Metamail should be installed if you need to add multimedia support to mail programs and some other programs, using the mailcap file.
Mutt is a text mode mail user agent. Mutt supports color, threading, arbitrary key remapping, and a lot of customization.
You should install mutt if you've used mutt in the past and you prefer it, or if you're new to mail programs and you haven't decided which one you're going to use.
The nc package contains Netcat (the program is actually nc), a simple utility for reading and writing data across network connections, using the TCP or UDP protocols. Netcat is intended to be a reliable back-end tool which can be used directly or easily driven by other programs and scripts. Netcat is also a feature-rich network debugging and exploration tool, since it can create many different connections and has many built-in capabilities.
You may want to install the netcat package if you are administering a network and you'd like to use its debugging and network exploration capabilities.
Ncftp is an improved FTP client. Ncftp's improvements include support for command line editing, command histories, recursive gets, automatic anonymous logins and more.
Install ncftp if you use FTP to transfer files and you'd like to try some of ncftp's additional features.
This package contains the files that are shared between the Netscape Navigator Web browser and the Netscape Communicator suite of tools (the Navigator Web browser, an e-mail client, a news reader and Web page editor).
Install the netscape-common package if you're installing the netscape-navigator and/or the netscape-communicator program.
Netscape Communicator is the industry-leading Web browser. It supports the latest HTML standards, Java, JavaScript and some style sheets. It also includes a full-featured Usenet news reader as well as a complete e-mail client.
Information on the Netscape Communicator license may be fund in the file /usr/doc/netscape-common-4.51/LICENSE.
Netscape Navigator is the industry-leading Web browser. It supports the latest HTML standards, Java, JavaScript and some style sheets.
Information on the Netscape Navigator license may be found in the file /usr/doc/netscape-common-4.51/LICENSE.
This will install the basic Netscape Navigator Web browser. If you want additional features, such as the Usenet news reader and HTML editor, you should install the netscape-communicator package.
Nmh is an email system based on the MH email system and is intended to be a (mostly) compatible drop-in replacement for MH. Nmh isn't a single comprehensive program. Instead, it consists of a number of fairly simple single-purpose programs for sending, receiving, saving, retrieving and otherwise manipulating email messages. You can freely intersperse nmh commands with other shell commands or write custom scripts which utilize nmh commands. If you want to use nmh as a true email user agent, you'll want to also install exmh to provide a user interface for it--nmh only has a command line interface.
If you'd like to use nmh commands in shell scripts, or if you'd like to use nmh and exmh together as your email user agent, you should install nmh.
Pine is a very popular, easy to use, full-featured email user agent which includes a simple text editor called pico. Pine supports MIME extensions and can also be used to read news. Pine also supports IMAP, mail and MH style folders.
Pine should be installed because Pine is a very commonly used email user agent and it is currently in development.
The rsh package contains a set of programs which allow users to run commmands on remote machines, login to other machines and copy files between machines (rsh, rlogin and rcp). All three of these commands use rhosts style authentication. This package contains the clients and servers needed for all of these services. It also contains a server for rexec, an alternate method of executing remote commands. All of these servers are run by inetd and configured using /etc/inetd.conf and PAM. The rexecd server is disabled by default, but the other servers are enabled.
The rsh package should be installed to enable remote access to other machines.
Rsync uses a quick and reliable algorithm to very quickly bring remote and host files into sync. Rsync is fast because it just sends the differences in the files over the network (instead of sending the complete files). Rsync is often used as a very powerful mirroring process or just as a more capable replacement for the rcp command. A technical report which describes the rsync algorithm is included in this package.
Install rsync if you need a powerful mirroring program.
SLRN is a powerful, easy to use, threaded Internet news reader. SLRN is highly customizable and allows you to design complex filters to sort or kill news articles. SLRN works well over slow network connections, and includes a utility for reading news off-line.
Install slrn if you need a full-featured news reader, if you have a slow network connection, or if you'd like to save on-line time by reading your news off-line.
This package provides slrnpull, which allows set up of a small news spool for offline news reading.
The ntalk package provides client and daemon programs for the Internet talk protocol, which allows you to chat with other users on different systems. Talk is a communication program which copies lines from one terminal to the terminal of another user.
Install ntalk if you'd like to use talk for chatting with users on different systems.
Tcpdump is a command-line tool for monitoring network traffic. Tcpdump can capture and display the packet headers on a particular network interface or on all interfaces. Tcpdump can display all of the packet headers, or just the ones that match particular criteria.
Install tcpdump if you need a program to monitor network traffic.
Telnet is a popular protocol for logging into remote systems over the Internet. The telnet package provides a command line telnet client as well as a telnet daemon, which will support remote logins into the host machine. The telnet daemon is enabled by default. You may disable the telnet daemon by editing /etc/inetd.conf.
Install the telnet package if you want to telnet to remote machines and/or support remote logins to your own machine.
Tin is a basic, easy to use Internet news reader. Tin can read news locally or remotely via an NNTP (Network News Transport Protocol) server.
Install tin if you need a basic news reader.
The traceroute utility displays the route used by IP packets on their way to a specified network (or Internet) host. Traceroute displays the IP number and host name (if possible) of the machines along the route taken by the packets. Traceroute is used as a network debugging tool. If you're having network connectivity problems, traceroute will show you where the trouble is coming from along the route.
Install traceroute if you need a tool for diagnosing network connectivity problems.
Trn is a basic news reader that supports threading. This version is configured to read news from an NNTP news server.
Install trn if you need a basic news reader that shows you newsgroup postings in threaded format.
urlview extracts URLs from a given text file, and presents a menu of URLs to view using a user specified command.
Web applications built using Libwww: Robot, Command line tool, line mode browser. The Robot can crawl web sites faster, and with lower load, than any other web walker that we know of, due to its extensive pipelining and use of HTTP/1.1.
The command line tool (w3c) is very useful for manipulation of Web sites that implement more than just HTTP GET (e.g. PUT, POST, etc.).
The line mode browser is a minimal line mode web browser; often useful to convert to ascii text. Currently unavailable until someone updates it to some new interfaces. (hint, hint...)
GNU Wget is a file retrieval utility which can use either the HTTP or FTP protocols. Wget features include the ability to work in the background while you're logged out, recursive retrieval of directories, file name wildcard matching, remote file timestamp storage and comparison, use of Rest with FTP servers and Range with HTTP servers to retrieve files over slow or unstable connections, support for Proxy servers, and configurability.
Install wget if you need to retrieve large numbers of files with HTTP or FTP, or if you need a utility for mirroring web sites or FTP directories.
X-Chat is yet another IRC client for the X Window System, using the Gtk+ toolkit. It is pretty easy to use compared to the other Gtk+ IRC clients and the interface is quite nicely designed.
The xmailbox program is an X Window System program which notifies you when mail arrives. Xmailbox is similar to the xbiff program, but it offers more features and notification options.
Install the xmailbox package if you'd like a graphical program for X which will notify you when new mail arrives.
A simple Usenet News reader for the X Window System. Xrn allows you to point and click your way through reading, replying and posting news messages.
Install the xrn package if you need a simple news reader for X.
The YTalk program is essentially a chat program for multiple users. YTalk works just like the UNIX talk program and even communicates with the same talk daemon(s), but YTalk allows for multiple connections (unlike UNIX talk). YTalk also supports redirection of program output to other users as well as an easy-to-use menu of commands.
Install the ytalk package if you need a chat program for multiple users.
This section contains packages that help you work with graphics-related material. This section contains packages that let you use your Red Hat Linux system's sound capabilities.
ImageMagick(TM) is an image display and manipulation tool for the X Window System. ImageMagick can read and write JPEG, TIFF, PNM, GIF and Photo CD image formats. It can resize, rotate, sharpen, color reduce or add special effects to an image, and when finished you can either save the completed work in the original format or a different one. ImageMagick also includes command line programs for creating animated or transparent .gifs, creating composite images, creating thumbnail images, and more.
ImageMagick is one of your choices if you need a program to manipulate and display images. If you'd also like to develop your own applications which use ImageMagick code or APIs, you'll need to install ImageMagick-devel as well.
aKtion! is a video player based on xanim. It supports many different file formats:
FLI animations. FLC animations. IFF animations. GIF87a and GIF89a files. GIF89a animation extension support. DL animations. Formats 1, 2 and most of 3. Amiga MovieSetter animations(For those Eric Schwartz fans). Utah Raster Toolkit RLE images and anims. AVI animations. Quicktime Animations. SGI Movie Format Files.
Aumix is a tty-based, interactive method of controlling a sound card mixer. It lets you adjust the input levels from the CD, microphone, and board synthesizers, as well as the output volume. Aumix can adjust audio mixers from the command line, from a script, or interactively at the console or terminal with an ncurses-based interface.
Install aumix if you need to control an audio mixer. If you want to use Aumix's GUI, you'll need to install ncurses and gpm for mouse support.
The awesfx package contains necessary utilities for the AWE32 sound driver.
If you must use an AWE32 sound driver, you should install this package.
The cdp program plays audio CDs in your computer's CD-ROM drive. Cdp includes a full-screen interface version and a command line version.
Install cdp to play audio CDs on your system.
Cdparanoia (Paranoia III) reads digital audio directly from a CD, then writes the data to a file or pipe in WAV, AIFC or raw 16 bit linear PCM format. Cdparanoia's strength lies in its ability to handle a variety of hardware, including inexpensive drives prone to misalignment, frame jitter and loss of streaming during atomic reads. Cdparanoia is also good at reading and repairing data from damaged CDs.
If you use a desktop environment like GNOME you can use these images to spruce up your background.
The ee package contains the Electric Eyes image viewer for the GNOME desktop environment. Electric Eyes is primary an image viewer, but it also allows many types of image manipulations. Electric Eyes can handle almost any type of image.
Install the ee package if you need an image viewer.
eXtace is a audio visualization plugin for the GNOME GUI desktop environment. It connects to EsounD (the Enlightened Sound Daemon) and displays the audio data as either a 3D textured landscape, a 3D pointed landscape, a 16-128 channel graphic EQ, or a colored Oscilloscope.
Giftrans will convert an existing GIF87 file to GIF89 format. In other words, Giftrans can make one color in a .gif image (normally the background) transparent.
Install the giftrans package if you need a quick, small, one-purpose graphics program to make transparent .gifs out of existing .gifs.
The GIMP is an image manipulation program suitable for photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. Many people find it extremely useful in creating logos and other graphics for web pages. The GIMP has many of the tools and filters you would expect to find in similar commercial offerings, and some interesting extras as well.
The GIMP provides a large image manipulation toolbox, including channel operations and layers, effects, sub-pixel imaging and anti-aliasing, and conversions, all with multi-level undo.
This version of The GIMP includes a scripting facility, but many of the included scripts rely on fonts that we cannot distribute. The GIMP ftp site has a package of fonts that you can install by yourself, which includes all the fonts needed to run the included scripts. Some of the fonts have unusual licensing requirements; all the licenses are documented in the package. Get ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/fonts/freefonts-0.10.tar.gz and ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/fonts/sharefonts-0.10.tar.gz if you are so inclined. Alternatively, choose fonts which exist on your system before running the scripts.
Patterns, gradients etc. for gimp. This package isn't required, but contains lots of goodies for gimp.
If you use the GNOME desktop environment, you may want to install this package of complementary sounds.
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-media package will install media features like the GNOME CD player.
Install gnome-media if you want to use GNOME's multimedia capabilities.
Graphics applications for the K Desktop Environment.
Includes: kdvi (displays TeX .dvi files); kfax (displays fax files); kfract (a fractal generator); kghostview (displays postscript files); kiconedit (icon editor); kpaint (a simple drawing program); ksnapshot (screen capture utility); kview (image viewer for GIF, JPEG, TIFF, etc.).
Multimedia applications for the K Desktop Environment. Included: kmedia (media player); kmid (midi/karaoke player); kmidi (midi-to-wav player/converter); kmix (mixer); kscd (CD audio player)
The libgr-progs package contains a group of scripts for manipulating the graphics files in formats which are supported by the libgr library. For example, libgr-progs includes the rasttopnm script, which will convert a Sun rasterfile into a portable anymap. Libgr-progs contains many other scripts for converting from one graphics file format to another.
If you need to use these conversion scripts, you should install libgr-progs. You'll also need to install the libgr package.
The libungif-progs package contains various programs for manipulating GIF format image files.
Install this package if you need to manipulate GIF format image files. You'll also need to install the libungif package.
MikMod is one of the best and most well known MOD music file players for UNIX-like systems. This particular distribution is intended to compile fairly painlessly in a Linux environment. MikMod uses the OSS /dev/dsp driver including all recent kernels for output, and will also write .wav files. Supported file formats include MOD, STM, S3M, MTM, XM, ULT, and IT. The player uses ncurses for console output and supports transparent loading from gzip/pkzip/zoo archives and the loading/saving of playlists.
Install the mikmod package if you need a MOD music file player.
Mpg123 is a fast, free and portable MPEG audio player for Unix. It supports MPEG 1.0/2.0 layers 1, 2 and 3 ("mp3" files). For full CD quality playback (44 kHz, 16 bit, stereo) a Pentium CPU is required. Mono and/or reduced quality playback (22 kHz or 11 kHz) is possible on 486 CPUs.
For information on the MP3 License, please visit: http://www.mpeg.org/
The multimedia package contains several X Window System utilities for handling multimedia files: xplaycd, xmixer and xgetfile. Xplaycd is a CD player for playing audio CDs on your machine's CD-ROM drive. Xmixer controls the volume settings on your machine's sound card. Xgetfile is a versatile file browser, intended for use in shell scripts.
Install the multimedia package if you need an audio CD player, a sound card volume controller, or a file browser for use in shell scripts.
Playmidi plays MIDI (Musicial Instrument Digital Interface) sound files through a sound card synthesizer. This package includes basic drum samples for use with simple FM synthesizers.
Install playmidi if you want to play MIDI files using your computer's sound card.
Playmidi-X11 provides an X Window System interface for playing MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) sound files through a sound card synthesizer. This package includes basic drum samples for use with simple FM synthesizers.
Install playmidi-X11 if you want to use an X interface to play MIDI sound files using your computer's sound card.
Sndconfig is a text based tool which sets up the configuration files you'll need to use a sound card with a Red Hat Linux system. Sndconfig can be used to set the proper sound type for programs which use the /dev/dsp, /dev/audio and /dev/mixer devices. The sound settings are saved by the aumix and sysV runlevel scripts.
Install sndconfig if you need to configure your sound card.
SoX (Sound eXchange) is a sound file format converter for Linux, UNIX and DOS PCs. The self-described 'Swiss Army knife of sound tools,' SoX can convert between many different digitized sound formats and perform simple sound manipulation functions, including sound effects.
Install the sox package if you'd like to convert sound file formats or manipulate some sounds.
The transfig utility creates a makefile which translates FIG (created by xfig) or PIC figures into a specified LaTeX graphics language (for example, PostScript(TM)). Transfig is used to create TeX documents which are portable (i.e., they can be printed in a wide variety of environments).
The XAnim program is an animation/video/audio viewer for the X Window System. XAnim can display a large variety of animation, audio and video formats.
Install the xanim package if you need a viewer for an animation, video or audio file.
Xfig is an X Window System tool for creating basic vector graphics, including bezier curves, lines, rulers and more. The resulting graphics can be saved, printed on PostScript printers or converted to a variety of other formats (e.g., X11 bitmaps, Encapsulated PostScript, LaTeX).
You should install xfig if you need a simple program to create vector graphics.
Xmms is an MP3 player for the X Window System with an interface similar to WinAMP's. Xmms supports playlists, streaming content and other sound sources (like CDs), and has a configurable interface.
For information on the MP3 License, please visit: http://www.mpeg.org/.
The xmms-gnome package contains a GNOME panel applet that allows you to control the Xmms MP3 player.
XPaint is an X Window System color image editing program which supports most standard paint program options. XPaint also supports advanced features like image processing algorithms. XPaint allows you to edit multiple images simultaneously and supports a variety of image formats, including PPM, XBM, TIFF, JPEG, etc.
Install the xpaint package if you need a paint program for X.
This section lists packages that will enhance your productivity.
The GNOME Personal Information Manager consists of applications to make keeping up with your busy life easier.
Currently these apps are present:
- gnomecal : personal calendar and todo list - gnomecard: contact list of friends and business associates
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. Gnumeric is a spreadsheet program for GNOME. This program is intended to be a replacement for a commercial spreadsheet, so quite a bit of work has gone into the program.
Install gnumeric if you want to use a spreadsheet program with GNOME.
Ical is an X Window System based calendar program. Ical will easily create/edit/delete entries, create repeating entries, remind you about upcoming appointments, print and list item occurrences, and allow shared calendars between different users.
Install ical if you need a calendar program to track your schedule. You'll need to have the X Window System installed in order to use ical.
KOrganizer is a complete calendar and scheduling program for KDE. It allows interchange with other calendar applications through the industry standard vCalendar file format.
This section lists packages that can aid in the production of high-quality electronic and paper-based publications.
Enscript is a print filter. It can take ASCII input and format it into PostScript output. At the same time, it can also do nice transformations like putting two ASCII pages on one physical page (side by side) or changing fonts.
This package contains several utilities which allow you to view and manipulate true type fonts. They are mainly useful for debugging and testing purposes, and are not required for using the FreeType library.
Ghostscript is a set of software that provides a PostScript(TM) interpreter, a set of C procedures (the Ghostscript library, which implements the graphics capabilities in the PostScript language) and an interpreter for Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Ghostscript translates PostScript code into many common, bitmapped formats, like those understood by your printer or screen. Ghostscript is normally used to display PostScript files and to print PostScript files to non-PostScript printers.
If you need to display PostScript files or print them to non-PostScript printers, you should install ghostscript. If you install ghostscript, you also need to install the ghostscript-fonts package.
These fonts can be used by the GhostScript interpreter during text rendering. They are in addition to the shared fonts between GhostScript and X11.
Groff is a document formatting system. Groff takes standard text and formatting commands as input and produces formatted output. The created documents can be shown on a display or printed on a printer. Groff's formatting commands allow you to specify font type and size, bold type, italic type, the number and size of columns on a page, and more.
You should install groff if you want to use it as a document formatting system. Groff can also be used to format man pages. If you are going to use groff with the X Window System, you'll also need to install the groff-gxditview package.
Gxditview displays the groff text processor's output on an X Window System display.
If you are going to use groff as a text processor, you should install gxditview so that you preview your processed text files in X. You'll also need to install the groff package and the X Window System.
Gv provides a user interface for the ghostscript PostScript(TM) interpreter. Derived from the ghostview program, gv can display PostScript and PDF documents using the X Window System.
Install the gv package if you'd like to view PostScript and PDF documents on your system. You'll also need to have the ghostscript package installed, as well as the X Window System.
Lout is a high-level language for document formatting. Lout reads a high-level description of a document (similar in style to LaTeX) and can produce a PostScript(TM) file for printing or produce plain text. Lout supports the typesetting of documents which contain floating figures, table, diagrams, rotated and scaled text or graphics, footnotes, running headers, footers, an index, a table of contents and bibliography, cross-references, mathematical equations and statistical graphs. Lout can be extended with definitions that should be easier to write than other languages, since Lout is a high-level language. Lout supports (with hyphenation) a variety of languages: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.
Install the lout package if you'd like to try the Lout document formatting system. Unless you're already a Lout expert, you'll probably want to also install the lout-doc package, which contains the documentation for Lout.
The lout-doc package includes all of the documentation for the Lout document formatting language. The documentation includes manuals for regular users and for experts, written in Lout and available as PostScript(TM) files. The documentation provides good examples for how to write large documents with Lout.
If you're installing the lout package, you should install the lout-doc package.
The mpage utility takes plain text files or PostScript(TM) documents as input, reduces the size of the text, and prints the files on a PostScript printer with several pages on each sheet of paper. Mpage is very useful for viewing large printouts without using up tons of paper. Mpage supports many different layout options for the printed pages.
Mpage should be installed if you need a useful utility for viewing long text documents without wasting paper.
The printtool is a printer configuration tool with a graphical user interface. Printtool can manage both local and remote printers, including Windows (SMB) and NetWare (NCP) printers.
Printtool should be installed so that you can manage local and remote printers.
The rhs-printfilters package contains a set of print filters which are primarily meant to be used with the Red Hat printtool. These print filters provide an easy way for users to handle printing numerous file formats.
SGMLtools is a text formatting package based on SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language). SGMLtools allows you to produce LaTeX, HTML, GNU info, LyX, RTF, plain text (via groff), and other format outputs from a single source. SGMLtools is intended for writing technical software documentation.
Install SGMLTools if you need a text formatting program that can produce a variety of different formats from a single source file. You should probably also install and try SGMLTtools if you're going to write technical software documentation.
TeTeX is an implementation of TeX for Linux or UNIX systems. TeX takes a text file and a set of formatting commands as input and creates a typesetter independent .dvi (DeVice Independent) file as output. Usually, TeX is used in conjunction with a higher level formatting package like LaTeX or PlainTeX, since TeX by itself is not very user-friendly.
Install tetex if you want to use the TeX text formatting system. If you are installing tetex, you will also need to install tetex-afm (a PostScript(TM) font converter for TeX), tetex-dvilj (for converting .dvi files to HP PCL format for printing on HP and HP compatible printers), tetex-dvips (for converting .dvi files to PostScript format for printing on PostScript printers), tetex-latex (a higher level formatting package which provides an easier-to-use interface for TeX) and tetex-xdvi (for previewing .dvi files in X). Unless you're an expert at using TeX, you'll also want to install the tetex-doc package, which includes the documentation for TeX.
Tetex-afm provides afm2tfm, a converter for PostScript font metric files. PostScript fonts are accompanied by .afm font metric files which describe the characteristics of each font. To use PostScript fonts with TeX, TeX needs .tfm files that contain similar information. Afm2tfm will convert .afm files to .tfm files.
If you are installing tetex in order to use the TeX text formatting system, you will need to install tetex-afm. You will also need to install tetex-dvilj (for converting .dvi files to HP PCL format for printing on HP and HP compatible printers), tetex-dvips (for converting .dvi files to PostScript format for printing on PostScript printers), tetex-latex (a higher level formatting package which provides an easier-to-use interface for TeX) and tetex-xdvi (for previewing .dvi files in X). Unless you're an expert at using TeX, you'll probably also want to install the tetex-doc package, which includes documentation for TeX.
The tetex-doc package contains documentation for the TeX text formatting system.
If you want to use TeX and you're not an expert at it, you should install the tetex-doc package. You'll also need to install the tetex package, tetex-afm (a PostScript font converter for TeX), tetex-dvilj (for converting .dvi files to HP PCL format for printing on HP and HP compatible printers), tetex-dvips (for converting .dvi files to PostScript format for printing on PostScript printers), tetex-latex (a higher level formatting package which provides an easier-to-use interface for TeX) and tetex-xdvi (for previewing .dvi files).
Dvilj and dvilj's siblings (included in this package) will convert TeX text formatting system output .dvi files to HP PCL (HP Printer Control Language) commands. Using dvilj, you can print TeX files to HP LaserJet+ and fully compatible printers. With dvilj2p, you can print to HP LaserJet IIP and fully compatible printers. And with dvilj4, you can print to HP LaserJet4 and fully compatible printers.
If you are installing tetex, so that you can use the TeX text formatting system, you will also need to install tetex-dvilj. In addition, you will need to install tetex-afm (for converting PostScript font description files), tetex-dvips (for converting .dvi files to PostScript format for printing on PostScript printers), tetex-latex (a higher level formatting package which provides an easier-to-use interface for TeX) and tetex-xdvi (for previewing .dvi files in X). If you're installing TeX and you're not a TeX expert, you'll also want to install the tetex-doc package, which contains documentation for TeX.
Dvips converts .dvi files produced by the TeX text formatting system (or by another processor like GFtoDVI) to PostScript(TM) format. Normally the PostScript file is sent directly to your printer.
If you are installing tetex, so that you can use the TeX text formatting system, you will also need to install tetex-dvips. In addition, you will need to install tetex-afm (for converting PostScript font description files), tetex-dvilj (for converting .dvi files to HP PCL format for printing on HP and HP compatible printers), tetex-latex (a higher level formatting package which provides an easier-to-use interface for TeX) and tetex-xdvi (for previewing .dvi files in X). If you're installing TeX and you're not an expert at it, you'll also want to install the tetex-doc package, which contains documentation for the TeX system.
The tetex-fonts package contains fonts used by both the Xdvi previewer and the TeX text formatting system.
You will need to install tetex-fonts if you wish to use either tetex-xdvi (for previewing .dvi files in X) or the tetex package (the core of the TeX text formatting system).
LaTeX is a front end for the TeX text formatting system. Easier to use than TeX, LaTeX is essentially a set of TeX macros which provide convenient, predefined document formats for users.
If you are installing tetex, so that you can use the TeX text formatting system, you will also need to install tetex-latex. In addition, you will need to install tetex-afm (for converting PostScript font description files), tetex-dvilj (for converting .dvi files to HP PCL format for printing on HP and HP compatible printers), tetex-dvips (for converting .dvi files to PostScript format for printing on PostScript printers) and tetex-xdvi (for previewing .dvi files in X). If you're not an expert at TeX, you'll probably also want to install the tetex-doc package, which contains documentation for TeX.
Xdvi allows you to preview the TeX text formatting system's output .dvi files on an X Window System.
If you are installing tetex, so that you can use the TeX text formatting system, you will also need to install tetex-xdvi. In addition, you will need to install tetex-afm (a PostScript font converter for TeX), tetex-dvilj (for converting .dvi files to HP PCL format for printing on HP and HP compatible printers), tetex-dvips (for converting .dvi files to PostScript format for printing on PostScript printers), and tetex-latex (a higher level formatting package which provides an easier-to-use interface for TeX). If you're not a TeX expert, you'll probably also want to install the tetex-doc package, which contains documentation for the TeX text formatting system.
Texinfo is a documentation system that can produce both online information and printed output from a single source file. Normally, you'd have to write two separate documents: one for online help or other online information and the other for a typeset manual or other printed work. Using Texinfo, you only need to write one source document. Then when the work needs revision, you only have to revise one source document. The GNU Project uses the Texinfo file format for most of its documentation.
Install texinfo if you want a documentation system for producing both online and print documentation from the same source file and/or if you are going to write documentation for the GNU Project.
Xpdf is an X Window System based viewer for Portable Document Format (PDF) files. PDF files are sometimes called Acrobat files, after Adobe Acrobat (Adobe's PDF viewer). Xpdf is a small and efficient program which uses standard X fonts.
Install the xpdf package if you need a viewer for PDF files.
This section lists packages that provide utilities that perform various system-related functions.
SVGATextMode is a utility for reprogramming (S)VGA hardware, which can improve the appearance of text consoles. You should install SVGATextMode if you want to alter the appearance of your text consoles. The utility uses a configuration file (Xconfig or XF86Config) to set up textmodes with higher resolution, larger fonts, higher display refresh rates, etc.
Although SVGATextMode can be used to program any text mode size, your results will depend on your VGA card.
The arpwatch package contains arpwatch and arpsnmp. Arpwatch and arpsnmp are both network monitoring tools. Both utilities monitor Ethernet or FDDI network traffic and build databases of Ethernet/IP address pairs, and can report certain changes via email.
Install the arpwatch package if you need networking monitoring devices which will automatically keep traffic of the IP addresses on your network.
This is an authentication module for Apache that allows you to authenticate HTTP clients using user entries in an LDAP directory.
autorun automagically recognozises all available CDROMs in your system and mounts them upon insertion and executes a possibles autorun executable on the CD. To allow an ordinary user to do this you have to add the options user,exec in /etc/fstab to the cdroms you want to use.
Bind-utils contains a collection of utilities for querying DNS (Domain Name Service) name servers to find out information about Internet hosts. These tools will provide you with the IP addresses for given host names, as well as other information about registered domains and network addresses.
You should install bind-utils if you need to get information from DNS name servers.
Comanche (COnfiguration MANager for apaCHE) is a front-end for the Apache Web server, the most popular Web server used on the Internet. Comanche aims to to make it easier to manage and configure Apache.
Install the commanche package if you need a configuration manager for the Apache Web server. You'll also need to install the apache package.
The console-tools package contains tools for managing a Linux system's console's behavior, including the keyboard, the screen fonts, the virtual terminals and font files.
Dialog is a utility that allows you to show dialog boxes (containing questions or messages) in TTY (text mode) interfaces. Dialog is called from within a shell script. The following dialog boxes are implemented: yes/no, menu, input, message, text, info, checklist, radiolist, and gauge.
Install dialog if you would like to create TTY dialog boxes.
The mkdosfs program is used to create an MS-DOS FAT file system on a Linux system device, usually a disk partition.
The mkdosfs package should be installed if your machine needs to support MS-DOS style file systems.
Ext2ed is a program which provides a text and window interface for examining and editing an ext2 filesystem. Ext2ed is supposed to be easier to use than debugfs, but debugfs is more powerful. Note that this program should only be used by someone who is very experienced at hacking filesystems.
Install ext2ed if you want to examine and/or edit your ext2 filesystem, and you know what you're doing.
fbset is a utility for querying and changing video modes of fbcon consoles.
GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a user-friendly set of applications and desktop tools to be used in conjunction with a window manager for the X Window System. The gnome-linuxconf package includes GNOME's front end for the linuxconf system configuration utility.
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-utils package includes a set of utilities for GNOME, including Gcalc, Gdialog, Gdiskfree, and many others.
GnoRPM is a graphical front-end to to the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM). GnoRPM is similar to Glint, but is written using the GTK+ widget set and the GNOME libraries. GnoRPM is currently in development, so some features are missing, but you can currently query, install, upgrade, uninstall and verify packages using a GUI interface.
GNOME is the GNU Network Object Model Environment. This powerful environment is both easy to use and easy to configure.
This package will install the GNOME system monitor gtop, which shows memory graphs and processes.
Hdparm is a useful system utility for setting (E)IDE hard drive parameters. For example, hdparm can be used to tweak hard drive performance and to spin down hard drives for power conservation.
Linux 2.2 maintains compatibility with the basic configuration utilities of the network (ifconfig, route) but a new utility is required to exploit the new characteristics and features of the kernel. This package includes the new utilities (/sbin/ip, /sbin/rtmon).
The ipxutils package includes utilities (ipx_configure, ipx_internal_net, ipx_interface, ipx_route) necessary for configuring and debugging IPX interfaces and networks under Linux. IPX is the low-level protocol used by Novell's NetWare file server system to transfer data.
Install ipxutils if you need to configure IPX networking on your network.
This package contains a collection of utilities. It is required for configuration of isdn-subsystem.
Binary images and loader for Multitech IntelligentSerialInternal (ISI) data files.
System Administration tools for the K Desktop Environment.
Included with this package are: kdat (tape backup); ksysv (sysV init editor); kuser (user administration tool)
Utilities for the K Desktop Environment. Includes: ark (tar/gzip archive manager); kab (address book); karm (personal time tracker); kcalc (scientific calculator); kedit (simple text editor); kfloppy (floppy formatting tool); khexedit (hex editor); kjots (note taker); klipper (clipboard tool); kljettool(HP printer configuration tool); klpq (print queue manager) knotes (post-it notes for the desktop); kpm (process manager similar to 'top', but more advanced);kwrite (improved text editor).
The kernelcfg package contains an X Window System based graphical user interface tool for configuring the kernel daemon (kerneld). Kerneld automatically loads some hardware and software support into memory as needed and unloads the support when it is no longer being used. The kernel configurator tool can be used to tell kerneld what hardware support to load when it is presented with a generic hardware request.
Kernelcfg should be installed because it is a useful utility for managing the kernel daemon.
The nfs-server-clients package contains the showmount program. Showmount queries the mount daemon on a remote host for information about the NFS (Network File System) server on the remote host. For example, showmount can display the clients which are mounted on that host. This package is not needed to mount NFS volumes.
Install nfs-server-clients if you'd like to use the showmount tool for querying NFS servers.
Kpackage is a GUI interface to the RPM, Debian, Slackware and BSD package managers, it is similar in some ways to GLINT. Kpackage is part of the K Desktop Environment and, as a result, it was designed from the outset to integrate with the KDE file manager.
Kudzu is a hardware probing tool run at system boot time to determine what hardware has been added or removed from the system.
Linuxconf is an extremely capable system configuration tool. Linuxconf provides four different interfaces for you to choose from: command line, character-cell (like the installation program), an X Window System based GUI and a web-based interface. Linuxconf can manage a large proportion of your system's operations, including networking, user accounts, file systems, boot parameters, and more.
Linuxconf will simplify the process of configuring your system. Unless you are completely happy with configuring your system manually, you should install the linuxconf package and use linuxconf instead.
The macutils package includes a set of utilities for manipulating files that are commonly used by Macintosh machines. Macutils includes utilities like binhex, hexbin, macunpack, etc.
Install macutils if you need to manipulate files that are commonly used by Macintosh machines.
The mkxauth utility helps create and maintain X authentication databases (.Xauthority files). Mkxauth is used to create an .Xauthority file or to merge keys from another local or remote .Xauthority file. .Xauthority files are used by the xauth user-oriented access control program, which grants or denies access to X servers based on the contents of the .Xauthority file.
The mkxauth package should be installed if you're going to use user-oriented access control to provide security for your X Window System (a good idea).
The modemtool is a simple graphical configuration tool for selecting the serial port to which your modem is connected.
Install modemtool if you use a modem.
The mt-st package contains the mt and st tape drive management programs. Mt (for magnetic tape drives) and st (for SCSI tape devices) can control rewinding, ejecting, skipping files and blocks and more.
Install mt-st if you need a tool to manage tape drives.
Mtools is a collection of utilities for accessing MS-DOS files. Mtools allow you to read, write and move around MS-DOS filesystem files (normally on MS-DOS floppy disks). Mtools supports Windows95 style long file names, OS/2 Xdf disks, and 2m disks.
Mtools should be installed if you need to use MS-DOS disks.
Ncpfs is a filesystem which understands the Novell NetWare(TM) NCP protocol. Functionally, NCP is used for NetWare the way NFS is used in the TCP/IP world. For a Linux system to mount a NetWare filesystem, it needs a special mount program. The ncpfs package contains such a mount program plus other tools for configuring and using the ncpfs filesystem.
Install the ncpfs package if you need to use the ncpfs filesystem to use Novell NetWare files or services.
A Red Hat Linux tool which provides a graphical user interface for setting up and configuring networking for your machine.
The open command starts a specified command with the first available virtual console, or on a virtual console that you specify.
Install the open package if you regularly use virtual consoles to run programs.
This package contains various utilities for inspecting and setting devices connected to the PCI bus.
It requires kernel version 2.1.82 or newer (supporting the /proc/bus/pci interface).
The psmisc package contains utilities for managing processes on your system: pstree, killall and fuser. The pstree command displays a tree structure of all of the running processes on your system. The killall command sends a specified signal (SIGTERM if nothing is specified) to processes identified by name. The fuser command identifies the PIDs of processes that are using specified files or filesystems.
The procinfo command gets system data from the /proc directory (the kernel filesystem), formats it and displays it on standard output. You can use procinfo to acquire information about your system from the kernel as it is running.
Install procinfo if you'd like to use it to gather and display system data.
The procps package contains a set of system utilities which provide system information. Procps includes ps, free, sessreg, skill, snice, tload, top, uptime, vmstat, w, and watch. The ps command displays a snapshot of running processes. The top command provides a repetitive update of the statuses of running processes. The free command displays the amounts of free and used memory on your system. Sessreg is a simple program for managing utmp/wtmp entries for xdm sessions. The skill command sends a terminate command (or another specified signal) to a specified set of processes. The snice command is used to change the scheduling priority of specified processes. The tload command prints a graph of the current system load average to a specified tty. The uptime command displays the current time, how long the system has been running, how many users are logged on and system load averages for the past one, five and fifteen minutes. The w command displays a list of the users who are currently logged on and what they're running. The watch program watches a running program. The vmstat command displays virtual memory statistics about processes, memory, paging, block I/O, traps and CPU activity.
The procps-X11 package contains the XConsole shell script, a backwards-compatibility wrapper for the xconsole program. The xconsole program displays system messages which are usually sent to /dev/console.
The psacct package contains several utilities for monitoring process activities, including ac, lastcomm, accton and sa. The ac command displays statistics about how long users have been logged on. The lastcomm command displays information about previous executed commands. The accton command turns process accounting on or off. The sa command summarizes information about previously executed commmands.
Install the psacct package if you'd like to use its utilities for monitoring process activities on your system.
The rdate utility retrieves the date and time from another machine on your network, using the protocol described in RFC 868. If you run rdate as root, it will set your machine's local time to the time of the machine that you queried. Note that rdate isn't scrupulously accurate. If you are worried about milliseconds, get the xntpd program instead.
The rdist program maintains identical copies of files on multiple hosts. If possible, rdist will preserve the owner, group, mode and mtime of files and it can update programs that are executing.
The rp3 program provides an easy-to-use interface for configuring PPP connections, and for activating and monitoring any type of network configuration. rp3 includes a GNOME panel applet, a more highly functional replacement for usernet, and a graphical configuration tool that takes you through the process of setting up a PPP connection from start to finish, one step at a time.
The rhmask utility creates mask files from original and updated files. The mask files, which may be the latest new versions of software, can then be freely distributed on public Internet servers. The mask files are only useful for people who who already have a copy of the original package. The rhmask utility uses a simple XOR scheme for creating the file mask and uses file size and md5 sums to ensure the integrity of the result.
Install the rhmask package if you need a utility for creating file masks.
The rpm2html utility automatically generates web pages that describe a set of RPM packages. The goals of rpm2html are to identify the dependencies between various packages, and to find the package(s) that will provide the resources needed to install a given package. Rpm2html analyzes the provides and requires of the given set of RPMs, and then shows the dependency cross-references using hypertext links. Rpm2html can now dump the metadata associated with RPM files into standard RDF files.
Rpmfind will query the local RPM database, or will request the associated RDF file for a program on a remote database, for information on a specified program. Specifically, rpmfind will tell you what packages are needed to install the program to satisfy all dependencies and the size of the packages (so you can estimate download time). Rpmfind can then download the packages for you.
Samba-client provides some SMB clients, which complement the built-in SMB filesystem in Linux. These allow the accessing of SMB shares, and printing to SMB printers.
Samba-common provides files necessary for both the server and client packages of Samba.
The screen utility allows you to have multiple logins on just one terminal. Screen is useful for users who telnet into a machine or are connected via a dumb terminal, but want to use more than just one login.
Install the screen package if you need a screen manager that can support multiple logins on one terminal.
Setconsole is a basic system utility for setting up the /etc/inittab, /dev/systty and /dev/console files to handle a new console. The console can be either the local terminal (i.e., directly attached to the system via a video card) or a serial console.
Setserial is a basic system utility for displaying or setting serial port information. Setserial can reveal and allow you to alter the I/O port and IRQ that a particular serial device is using, and more.
You should install setserial because you may find it useful for detecting and/or altering device information.
Setuptool is a user-friendly text mode menu utility which allows you to access all of the text mode configuration programs included in the Red Hat Linx operating system.
You should install the setuptool package because you will find yourself using its features for essential system administration.
The statserial utility displays a table of the signals on a standard 9-pin or 25-pin serial port and indicates the status of the handshaking lines. Statserial is useful for debugging serial port and/or modem problems.
Install the statserial package if you need a tool to help debug serial port or modem problems.
The Swatch utility monitors system log files, filters out unwanted data and takes specified actions (i.e., sending email, executing a script, etc.) based upon what it finds in the log files.
Install the swatch package if you need a program that will monitor log files and alert you in certain situations.
The symlinks utility performs maintenance on symbolic links. Symlinks checks for symlink problems, including dangling symlinks which point to nonexistent files. Symlinks can also automatically convert absolute symlinks to relative symlinks.
Install the symlinks package if you need a program for maintaining symlinks on your system.
The GNU time utility runs another program, collects information about the resources used by that program while it is running and displays the results.
Time can help developers optimize their programs.
The timeconfig package contains two utilities: timeconfig and setclock. Timeconfig provides a simple text mode tool for configuring the time parameters in /etc/sysconfig/clock and /etc/localtime. The setclock tool sets the hardware clock on the system to the current time stored in the system clock.
The timetool utility provides a graphical user interface for setting the current date and time on your system.
Tksysv is an X Window System based graphical interface for editing the services provided by different runlevels. Tksysv is used to set which services are stopped and which services are started in the different runlevels on your system.
Install the tksysv package if you'd like to use a graphical tool for editing runlevel services.
The tunelp utility sets various parameters for lp devices (/dev/lp0, /dev/lp1, /dev/lp2). Tunelp can set parameters like the lp device's interrupt usage, polling rate, etc.
Install the tunelp package if you need a utility for setting lp device parameters.
The ucd-snmp package contains various utilities for use with the UCD-SNMP network management project.
Install this package if you need utilities for managing your network using the SNMP protocol. You'll also need to install the ucd-snmp package.
The usermode package contains several graphical tools for users: userinfo, usermount and userpasswd. Userinfo allows users to change their finger information. Usermount lets users mount, unmount, and format filesystems. Userpasswd allows users to change their passwords.
Install the usermode package if you would like to provide users with graphical tools for certain account management tasks.
The vlock program locks one or more sessions on the console. Vlock can lock the current terminal (local or remote) or the entire virtual console system, which completely disables all console access. The vlock program unlocks when either the password of the user who started vlock or the root password is typed.
Install vlock if you need to disable access to one console or to all virtual consoles.
The which command shows the full pathname of a specified program, if the specified program is in your PATH.
The xcpustate utility is an X Window System based monitor which shows the amount of time that the CPU is spending in different states. On a Linux system, xcpustate displays a bar that indicates the amounts of idle, user, nice and system time (from left to right) used by the CPU.
Install the xcpustate package if you'd like to use a horizontal bar style CPU state monitor.
xisdnload displays a periodically updating histogram of the ISDN load average.
The xosview utility displays a set of bar graphs which show the current system state, including memory usage, CPU usage, system load, etc. Xosview runs under the X Window System.
Install the xosview package if you need a graphical tool for monitoring your system's performance.
Xsysinfo is a graphic kernel monitoring tool for the X Window System. Xsysinfo displays vertical bars for certain kernel parameters: CPU load average, CPU load, memory and swap sizes.
Install the xsysinfo package if you'd like to use a graphical kernel monitoring tool.
Xtoolwait is a utility which starts an X client in the background, waits for a window to be mapped on the root window, and then exits. Xtoolwait can improve performance for users who start a bunch of X clients automatically (for example, xterm, xlock, xconsole, whatever) when the X session starts.
Install xtoolwait if you'd like to try to speed up the startup time for X sessions.
This section lists packages that provide utilities related to the handling and manipulation of text.
Diffutils includes four utilities: diff, cmp, diff3 and sdiff. Diff compares two files and shows the differences, line by line. The cmp command shows the offset and line numbers where two files differ, or cmp can show the characters that differ between the two files. The diff3 command shows the differences between three files. Diff3 can be used when two people have made independent changes to a common original; diff3 can produce a merged file that contains both persons' changes and warnings about conflicts. The sdiff command can be used to merge two files interactively.
Install diffutils if you need to compare text files.
Ed is a line-oriented text editor, used to create, display, and modify text files (both interactively and via shell scripts). For most purposes, ed has been replaced in normal usage by full-screen editors (emacs and vi, for example).
Ed was the original UNIX editor, and may be used by some programs. In general, however, you probably don't need to install it and you probably won't use it much.
The gawk packages contains the GNU version of awk, a text processing utility. Awk interprets a special-purpose programming language to do quick and easy text pattern matching and reformatting jobs. Gawk should be upwardly compatible with the Bell Labs research version of awk and is almost completely compliant with the 1993 POSIX 1003.2 standard for awk.
Install the gawk package if you need a text processing utility. Gawk is considered to be a standard Linux tool for processing text.
The GNU versions of commonly used grep utilities. Grep searches one or more input files for lines which contain a match to a specified pattern and then prints the matching lines. GNU's grep utilities include grep, egrep and fgrep.
You should install grep on your system, because it is a very useful utility for searching through text files, for system administration tasks, etc.
Indent is a GNU program for beautifying C code, so that it is easier to read. Indent can also convert from one C writing style to a different one. Indent understands correct C syntax and tries to handle incorrect C syntax.
Install the indent package if you are developing applications in C and you'd like to format your code automatically.
Ispell is the GNU interactive spelling checker. Ispell will check a text file for spelling and typographical errors. When it finds a word that is not in the dictionary, it will suggest correctly spelled words for the misspelled word.
You should install ispell if you need a program for spell checking (and who dosn't...).
The less utility is a text file browser that resembles more, but has more capabilities. Less allows you to move backwards in the file as well as forwards. Since less doesn't have to read the entire input file before it starts, less starts up more quickly than text editors (for example, vi).
You should install less because it is a basic utility for viewing text files, and you'll use it frequently.
A GNU implementation of the traditional UNIX macro processor. M4 is useful for writing text files which can be logically parsed, and is used by many programs as part of their build process. M4 has built-in functions for including files, running shell commands, doing arithmetic, etc. The autoconf program needs m4 for generating configure scripts, but not for running configure scripts.
Install m4 if you need a macro processor.
Mawk is a version of the awk programming language. Awk interprets a special-purpose programming language to do quick text pattern matching and reformatting. Mawk improves on awk in certain ways and can sometimes outperform gawk, the standard awk program for Linux. Mawk conforms to the POSIX 1003.2 (draft 11.3) definition of awk.
You should install mawk if you use awk.
The rgrep utility can recursively descend through directories as it greps for the specified pattern. Note that this ability does take a toll on rgrep's performance, which is somewhat slow. Rgrep will also highlight the matching expression.
Install the rgrep package if you need a recursive grep which can highlight the matching expression.
The sed (Stream EDitor) editor is a stream or batch (non-interactive) editor. Sed takes text as input, performs an operation or set of operations on the text and outputs the modified text. The operations that sed performs (substitutions, deletions, insertions, etc.) can be specified in a script file or from the command line.
A set of GNU utilities for modifying the contents of files, including programs for splitting, joining, comparing and modifying files.