Content









9.1

Pre-Installation Tasks



9.1.3

Selecting the appropriate
parameters for installation







These are the first steps that will be taken after the proper
installation method has been selected and the system has been booted.
Some of the first screens displayed will give options for selecting
certain parameters for the operating system. These choices include
things like the language that will be used, and the hardware detection
phase. All of these procedures provide a means for applying the
parameters that the system will need so that the system can be
prepared for the next phase, which will be selecting the proper
packages to install.
Language
One of the first options to be displayed will be the choice of
what language is to be used. Figure
provides
an example of the language selection screen that is used during
installation. This should be a fairly simple step. Obviously, the
choice to make here would be to select the language of the person who
will be using the system or the language of the person installing the
OS on the computer.
License Terms
Although not as strict with Linux as it might be with other
operating systems like Microsoft, license terms are important and it
is just as important that the person who is doing the installation
read these terms. Although Linux is open source there is sometimes
proprietary software that might be bundled with the distribution.
Therefore, by not following the terms of this license agreement there
could be the possibility of copyright violations.
Installation Class
Once the license terms have been accepted, the next step will be
to select the type of installation to be done. Depending on which
distribution is being installed this phase will be different to some
extent. Some distributions will prompt the user to select a
recommended or expert installation at this point. Other distributions,
such as Red Hat, will give an option of choosing to do a Workstation,
Server, or Custom Installation. When installing Linux for the first
time, choosing the recommended type installation may be the easiest
method. However, by choosing this method, there will not be the
options to make any choices about the type of installation that is
being done. If the workstation option with Red Hat 7.2 is chosen,
this will install the basic features that a workstation might
need including The X Window system. It will not install server
features such as FTP, HTTP, or Telnet daemons. If the server
installation is chosen, these features will be installed, however The
X Window system will not. This means that the command line will only
be an option for administering the server. The custom installation
option will allow the choice of what options are to be installed. For
example, choose to have the X Window system installed as well as some
of the daemons that might be needed for a server like FTP, HTTP, and
Telnet.
Mouse and Keyboard
After selecting the appropriate type of installation class, the
system will go through a step in which it will detect the systems hard
disks. Then the system will detect the system mouse and keyboard.
Linux can autodetect the mouse and keyboard and the correct one will
most likely be selected. A window will be displayed to choose the type
of mouse and keyboard that is attached to the computer if it is not auto
detected. Figures
and
provide
examples of the keyboard and mouse selection screens. Features like
the number of buttons the mouse has and if it has a wheel or not can
be selected. Linux supports many kinds of keyboards as well and the
correct option should be selected. There are not many options here
besides choosing if it is a US keyboard or US Keyboard
(International). Choose US keyboard if the keyboard was sold in the
United States. Choose US Keyboard (International) if it was not.