Linux Considerations

I encourage you to read some high level information about the Linux Operating System.

If you just want to know what you need to run the digital amateur radio software skip to the end.

1. Linux Information:
   • You can do anything from the command prompt (“DOS” looking window)
   • You can do most things using a GUI (Graphic User Interface)
   • CASE is IMPORTANT – in Linux the file name “RARC.TXT” is not the same as “rarc.txt” and the command “ls” (list files) is not the same as “LS”.
2. Linux Background:
   • Linux was originally designed as a multi-user system.
     • Users – All “normal” users have their own directory.
       • This directory is /home/<username>
       • This directory can be abbreviated as ~ (tilde). For example as user “dave” my home directory is /home/dave. I can list the directory contents by typing either: ls /home/dave or ls ~
       • Users have complete control of their directory, including the ability to create, edit and delete files and sub directories.
       • Users can allow or restrict which of the files in their directory can be listed ( ls ) viewed, edited deleted. By default other users have read authority to other users files, but that can be easily changed by the file owner(s).
       • User permissions are important. “Normal” users are not allowed to run privileged commands. e.g. commands that can affect the overall operation of the system. e.g. they cannot run system updates ( apt ).
     • Groups
       • A “group” may have permissions or authorities.
       • One or many users may be part of a group.
       • To determine which groups you are in type: groups
     • Super User (a.k.a. root).
       • The user “root” is the superuser of the system.
       • As a normal user, you can escalate your privileges to root/super user by prefacing your command with sudo (Super User DO). e.g. if you need to do a system update (apt update) the system would prevent that, unless you ran sudo apt update.
       • Most current Linux systems disable the user account root, to help prevent system vulnerabilities. If you break in, as a “normal” user, you can do some damage, but if you break in as root, you can see, alter and delete everything (including the operating system itself).
3. Important Amateur Radio specific information
   • You need to access the USB ports of your computer to communicate with your radio.
     • As a “normal” Linux user you normally can’t do that.
     • To have access to the USB ports, you will need to join two “groups”: dialout and tty.
     • To add yourself to those groups use the following commands:
       • sudo usermod -aG dialout <your username>
       • sudo usermod -aG tty <your username>

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