What is the purpose of /etc/rc.d/init.d directory? What’s contained in this directory?

Doing your schoolwork and you never bothered to listen in class? :p

The init.d directory contains the startup scripts on an operating system that has adopted the SysV style of arranging startup items.

hhahaa, ya something like that... its actually take home final exam.. i tried to read the book.. went through the entire book and it didnt explain it really well... thanks anyways...

i tried to install linux and was following the book.. i put it on a new partition and on the 3rd disc my screen just went blank.. i think it might have to do with the /swap file.. i dont think i did it correctly... any comments on this issue?

On Linux, there's a separate swap partition which is typically 2x your installed ram. you didn't state the vendor name, so what's happening on 'the 3rd disk'
would be just guessing.

run the hardware compatibility suite to ensure it should work.
verify sufficient partition space to load and configure the system type
(eg: workstations vs. server)

Many installers come with an option to test your installation media. Could be your third CD is bad.

is there any virtual linux sites where you can just go and practise the commands?

You could ask someone at your uni. for an account.. maybe they'd even give you root access :evil:

oops, uni. is for us Aussies. I think its called a college elsewhere.. or maybe you study Linux stuff at high-school where-ever you are.

is there any virtual linux sites where you can just go and practise the commands?
Just download the windows version of DamnSmallLinux.

Sorry, I should have been more serious.

what you really need to try is cygwin!
you basically get a terminal screen that behaves much like a standard linux console screen.

you can have things like perl installed without much effort because cygwin manages it all for you.. and then it's just a windows app that you start like anything else.

goto Cygwin.com (http://www.cygwin.com/)
you will love it, and it'll do exactly what you want.. you may even like it so much that you never bother installing a REAL linux distro.

Balzi

You could try one of thoses Linux Live CDs. You can boot from a Live CD which contains a linux distribution.