Linux

To install tomcat5 (or tomcat 6) on Fedora 14 or CentOS,

1. Run yum install tomcat5 tomcat5-webapps tomcat5-admin-webapps (or to install tomcat6 run yum install tomcat6 tomcat6-webapps tomcat6-admin-webapps )
2. Your configuration files are in /etc/tomcat5. (or /etc/tomcat6)

Note this tutorial sets up two seperate solr applications in tomcat, not multi core in one java application.

ApacheSolr for Drupal 6 improves on the out-of-the-box search experience for Drupal users. The easiest way to get Solr running on your Drupal web site is to use the hosted service provided by Acquia; it is way easier than running your own Solr. You simply point your queries to their Solr server and you’re done.

I like to start by following these guides, with a few short cuts and additions:

The Perfect Desktop - Fedora 14 i686 (GNOME)

This is a great screen by screen guide to help you download and install Fedora 14

easyLife

After installing Fedora 14 the big short cut is to use easyLife, download and install easyLife for Fedora 14 here.  This provides one application that you can use to add all the "not completly opensource" stuff you really need to make Fedora useful.  Things like the following list are just a couple of clicks away:

Tips on how to set up Ubuntu and some useful tips.

The state of the Linux desktop

I'm a fan of Fedora and Ubuntu, but for different reasons. Fedora, while unpolished, is a solid distro for adventurous Linux users and developers who want to be on the bleeding edge. Power users deserve a good distro that is usable and feature-complete without a lot of polish or distraction - and that's what Fedora is.
Ubuntu is the flip side. It's very polished, closing in on Apple in terms of usability and applications. It's not quite there yet, but getting closer and certainly a persuasive distro for people switching from Windows. If you're looking to get a friend started with Linux, don't hesitate to begin with Ubuntu.

To add this repo:

wget http://rpms.famillecollet.com/remi-release-11.rpm
rpm -Uvh remi-release-11.rpmwget http://rpms.famillecollet.com/remi-release-11.rpm
rpm -Uvh remi-release-11.rpm

To update Firefox, you must enable the repo, as it is disabled by default

yum --enablerepo=remi update firefox

To get a list of all available php modules, use this command (as root):

yum list | grep php-

You use rsync in the same way you use rcp. You must  specify  a  source and a destination, one of which may be remote.

rsync -avz foo:src/bar /data/tmp

rsync -av /var/samba/ server:/opt/samba  # no compression

Webmin Cpanel like open source web control panel for your server

by default it is installed on port :10000