lcdproc/docs/lcdproc-user/introduction.docbook

<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>

<sect1 id="what-is-this">
<title>About this Document</title>

<para>
This document was meant as a tutorial for LCDproc users. It tries to introduce
you into the world of LCDproc giving you an overview of the project.
After reading this document you will be able to set up your own LCDproc'ed system.
</para>

<note><para>
Please note that this document is still "under construction". We hope to finish it
until the final release of LCDproc, which will probably take place in May or June 2002.
If you run into any trouble feel free to write to the LCDproc mailing list.
See <ulink url="http://lcdproc.omnipotent.net/mail.php3">http://lcdproc.omnipotent.net/mail.php3</ulink>
for details on how to subscribe to the list.
</para>
<para>
Therefore you might want to have a look at <ulink url="http://lcdproc.sourceforge.net/docs/">http://lcdproc.sourceforge.net/docs/</ulink>,
to get the latest version of this document (, unless you want to generate it yourself from the
docbook files in the CVS).
</para></note>

<para>
This document was written for LCDproc 0.4.3. At the time of writing there had already
been the "LCDproc User's Guide" written by William W. Ferrel in 1999. His version covered
an early version of LCDproc and therefore concentrated on Matrix Orbital displays.
</para>

<para>
William's document was "recycled" for the description of the Matrix Orbital display driver
and for other parts of this document.
</para>

<para>
In several other places e-mails and other documents have been included in this
document. The authors of those are listed below every such document.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="what-is-lcdproc">
<title>What is LCDproc?</title>

<para>
LCDproc is a client/server suite including drivers for all kinds of
nifty LCD displays.
</para>
<para>
The server 'LCDd' makes it possible to display text and other data on
an LCD display. As well LCDd can handle certain input devices.
</para>
<para>
Support for devices is added by drivers. We distinguish between output
and input drivers.
LCDd currently supports only one single output driver, which may at the
same time handle input. Nevertheless several input (only) drivers are
supported.
</para>
<para>Currently there are drivers for several serial devices:
Matrix Orbital, Crystal Fontz, Bayrad, LB216, LCDM001 (kernelconcepts.de),
Wirz-SLI and PIC-an-LCD; and some devices connected to the LPT port:
HD44780, STV5730, T6963, SED1520 and SED1330.
There are input (only) drivers for LIRC and joysticks.
</para>
<para>
Clients can connect to LCDd through common sockets.
</para>
<para>
Various clients are available. The "main" client
<application>lcdproc</application>, which is shipped with the LCDproc
distribution, can display things like CPU load, system load, memory
usage, uptime, and a lot more.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="lcdd">
<title>The LCDproc Server - LCDd</title>

<para>
<application>LCDd</application> is one of those well known *NIX daemons.
BUT it's not just *one* daemon. It's the one that is supposed to drive
your LCD ;)
</para>

<para>
<application>LCDd</application> can either be run from the command line
or automatically by the init scripts shipped with the distribution.
</para>

<para>
As other daemons, <application>LCDd</application> has to be configured.
In this respect a lot has changed since LCDproc 0.4.1. While LCDd retrieved
all its configuration settings from the command line in 0.4.1, it now has a
configuration file, which is normally <filename>/etc/LCDd.conf</filename>.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="lcdproc">
<title>The LCDproc "Main" Client - lcdproc</title>

<para>
While <application>LCDd</application> only offer the functionality of
displaying text on a display, <application>lcdproc</application> actually
retrieves data worth displaying.
</para>

<para>
<application>lcdproc</application> gets its information from the
<filename>/proc</filename> filesystem.
</para>

<para>
<application>lcdproc</application> can connect to an LCDproc
server either on the local system or on a remote system as long as it
is reachable. It extracts the same statistics regardless of where it
sends this information. The statistics it gathers include CPU
utilization, memory utilization, disk utilization, network utilization,
system uptime, time, and date, and so on. It displays this information
in assorted ways, and can be tailored to taste.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="other-clients">
<title>Other LCDproc Clients</title>

<para>
As it is rather simple to write an LCDproc client, you can find various
clients on the Internet.
</para>
<para>
Unfortunately we cannot provide a list of LCDproc clients (yet). So, have
fun searching <ulink url="http://www.google.com">google</ulink> or
<ulink url="http://freshmeat.net">freshmeat</ulink>. Simply type 'lcdproc'
for the keyword.
</para>

</sect1>

</chapter>