If you are using one of the prepackaged Linux distributions, it will
contain the major networking applications and utilities along with a
coherent set of sample files. The only case in which you might have to
obtain and install new utilities is when you install a new kernel
release. As they occasionally involve changes in the kernel networking
layer, you will need to update the basic configuration tools. This
update at least involves recompiling, but sometimes you may also be
required to obtain the latest set of binaries. These binaries are
available at their official home site at ftp.inka.de/pub/comp/Linux/networking/NetTools/,
packaged in an archive called
net-tools-XXX.tar.gz, where
XXX is the version number. The release matching
Linux 2.0 is net-tools-1.45.
If you want to compile and install the standard TCP/IP network applications
yourself, you can obtain the sources from most Linux FTP servers. All modern
Linux distributions include a fairly comprehensive range of TCP/IP network
applications, such as World Wide Web browsers, telnet and
ftp programs, and other network applications, such as
talk. If you do find something that you do need to compile
yourself, the chances are good that it will compile under Linux from
source quite simply if you follow the instructions included in the source
package.
