How do I connect to the Internet with Linux?

This is by far and away the question most frequently asked of the Linux community; not just on #Linux, but also in news groups and other Linux discussion forums. This is the reason that the procedure is well documented in the ISP-Hookup-HOWTO, and the PPP-HOWTO. (Note that both of these documents are normally installed with Linux in the /usr/doc/HOWTO/ directory.) However, despite the existence of these excellent documents, many people seem reluctant to read them or find them hard to understand. For this reason, one of #Linux's chanops (cmos) has written a CGI-script that generates dial-up scripts for you. These scripts will probably not work straight out of the box for you, so you'll have to tweak them a little, but it's a start.

If you have a Red Hat distribution, you don't need the CGI script. Red Hat comes with a tool called netcfg which is a part of Red Hat's control-panel application. This will also make the scripts. Again, this may not work straight away for your particular ISP.

For the Slackware distribution, pppconfig can help you set up PPP.

For Debian, in addition to pppconfig, xisp can help.

More links, just in case you're really needy:

• Setting up an Internet Connection Detailed textual description of how to get PPP up and running. Includes running pppd through minicom, options file, using PAP and CHAP, dialing, routing problems, using a chatscript, disconnecting and troubleshooting.
• The Ezppp project. Graphical utilities for setting up PPP. The #Linuxhelp page on PPP Gives textual instructions on how to setup PPP. Apparently not highly recommended, but it's included for completeness.
• OldMonk's PPP Links More links for PPP scripts.