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Christopher Negus

"Linux Bible, 2008 Edition: Boot up to Ubuntu, Fedora, KNOPPIX, Debian, openSUSE, and 11 Other Distributions"


Using Ethernet Connections to the Internet
Most Linux systems today will either automatically detect or allow you to set up your Internet connection
when you install Linux. Here??™s the general (default) way that a network connection on a
desktop system, with Linux installed, is started up:
1. Check whether you have an Ethernet port on your computer (most recent computers
have one). If so, connect your Ethernet card to the equipment that gets you to the
Internet (cable modem, DSL router/bridge, or network hub/switch). If not, you can
purchase an Ethernet card at any retailer that sells computer hardware.
2. Ensure that appropriate drivers are available for the card and bring up the interface (typically,
the first wired Ethernet card is assigned to the eth0 interface). Usually, simply starting
the computer causes the card to be detected and the appropriate driver to be loaded.
3. Get an IP address using DHCP if there is a DHCP server available through the interface.
Most ISPs and businesses expect you to connect to their networks using DHCP, so they
will have provided a DHCP server to the equipment where you connect your computer
to the network.
As long as your desktop system is connected to a network that has a DHCP server willing to give it
an IP address, you can be up and browsing the Web in no time.


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