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Forum Discussion
Netgear version of available Linux commands
Is there documentation regarding which of the Linux 'commands/apps' are available with the current OS. I started out looking for the man command and then several others I tried were not available...
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I am, by all standards a Linux novice, and my staff is equally unskilled in Lunix knowledge. We like to pride ourselves in helping make widgets and improving profitability. That is why we have Netgear merchandise.
I did an apt-get install man/
Received a 47 line output telling me stuff was happening and when it was done got a 'man 7 undocumented' error message. Same error message for a 'man ls' command. apt-get install
Your advice to be very "careful not to overright any existing files with updated ones..." was interesting. For the novice recognizing what constitutes this condition is not possible.
Again I ask the simple question "Is there documentation regarding which of the Linux 'commands/apps' are available with the current OS."
Finally as a second question what commands will 'damage' the Netgear system if installed.
The NAS is not intended to be used as a generic Linux system. Netgear, in fact, warns that it may deny support if they determine that you've used SSH to change things you should not that have caused or contributed to the problem. So, of course, they're not going to assist you in doing that by documenting the available commands. Given you are a self-proclaimed Linux newbie, you really shouldn't be messing around "under the hood" unless you are following some pretty specific instructions or just using basic status type commands.
if you want to become more proficient in Linux, a virtual machine is the recommended way to go. I personally prefer VirtualBox. If you make a VM snapshot before doing anything, you can always get back to where you started.
As for man on the NAS, most of the man pages themselves are also not installed, so it'll be of marginal help even if you do get it working.
Thank you for your reply. Although technically adroit it is essentially worthless from the standpoint of a user with almost 50 systems under management nationwide.
And now I feel compelled to digress.
Netgear sells merchandise to make systems and people more productive. The GUI interface is very important to most users since they just want to get stuff done.
As an example, neither you or I need to understand aspiration theory and pressure sensitive venturi to use your car, you just expect it to work. The fluid flow equations for that system are quite complicated, some would say elegant. That said, most of the world just wants it to work.
I do not need a lecture on how I can damage the system or how I should understand Lunix. I want a system that works and can be managed. CLI interfaces are a poor substitute for a GUI but that is what we get with the current version of ReadyNAS systems..
Think about the early versions of CPM or DOS and the available served market -- in the tens of thousands. Now think about Windows based systems – intuitive GUI and generally used throughout the world. with a population in the tens/hundreds of millions. LibreOffice essentially copied the Windows paradigm and even exchanges data almost flawlessly between the two implementations.
So we get back to the essential question, are some of the Linux commands and apps available for semi-capable users to employ in their daily management goals. Pretty simple question and since nobody has chimed in, my guess is that they are not available.
My personal view is that a splendid product like the ReadyNAS systems is being held back by the lack of an intuitive GUI or at least a fuller complement of Linux commands.
Digital999 wrote:So we get back to the essential question, are some of the Linux commands and apps available for semi-capable users to employ in their daily management goals. Pretty simple question and since nobody has chimed in, my guess is that they are not available.
My personal view is that a splendid product like the ReadyNAS systems is being held back by the lack of an intuitive GUI or at least a fuller complement of Linux commands.
The design of the NAS OS is not such that they have provided command line tools for user administration. If that's what you wanted, you bought the wrong product. Perhaps you should look into FreeNAS.
What do you find non-intuitive about the GUI, keeping in mind it's intended purpose as a NAS/SAN, not a general purpose computer?
What do you find non-intuitive about the GUI, keeping in mind it's intended purpose as a NAS/SAN, not a general purpose computer?
Start thinking about the ReadyNAS system as an object of production. Management goals relate to acquisition cost, technical support costs, replacement lifecycle, failure prediction and response, etc.
At the current time there are several commands that are very important and not part of the GUI ... smartctrl app for information about disks and the essential equivalent of TOP for evaluation of CPU and other resource utilization.
Generally speaking the CLI interface of all systems (Lunix or Windows or Apple) provide a powerful interface that can be daunting for the semi-technical user. GUI interfaces provide a shell around those powerful commands that is user friendly and provides some degree of protection against inadvertandt action by operations personnel. Additionally they enscapulate the data that is or should be important to the user in a friendly manner.
Back to the automobile example -- understanding carburator/aspiration theory is not required for the average user to start and ue the automobile. The gas guage is one example of a GUI -- there are others related to this imperfect example.
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