Linux Administration Handbook, Second Edition

27.17. Exercises

E27.1	What is a null modem cable? How is it used to connect DCE and DTE serial devices?
E27.2	Can you use a 3-wire serial cable for a serial modem connection? For a serial printer? Why or why not?
E27.3	How does traditional serial hardware flow control work? What can be done if a system does not understand hardware flow control?
E27.4	What is a pseudo-terminal? What programs use pseudo-terminals?
E27.5	Devise inittab entries that a. Run a program called server-fallback, wait for it to finish, and then immediately halt the system if the power fails. b. Respawn a server called unstable-srv if it crashes. c. Run a script called clean-temp that removes all temporary files each time the system is rebooted. ...