Introduction to Duke Statistics Computing
This brief document is intended to introduce you to the Duke Statistics computing environment, and especially to the responsibilities of users. Links to useful information about email and web pages follows this list of user responsibilities:
Responsibilities of All Users
All users are expected to read and abide by the policies and standards documented on the DSS Computing Policies pages.
Differences between your Duke Statistics and Duke NetID Accounts
Duke Statistics maintains our own set of accounts. All new accounts use the same userid as the Duke NetID, but your Duke Stats account is separate with its own password, email, files, etc.
Information on accessing and using your Duke NetID account is available at http://www.oit.duke.edu/
Computing Environment
Duke Statistics maintains a complex heterogeneous system that evolves over time. While some staff and faculty members have personal computers running some form of Windows or MacOS, and limited support is available for these platforms, most Duke Statistics machines run some form of Unix: currently CentOS 5 Linux for all Intel- and AMD-based hardware. We support both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Linux on these platforms. Effort is made to keep the multi-architecture environment as consistent as possible; still, there are some inevitable differences. For data/file conversion purposes, please note that Duke University maintains public Windows PC clusters in the basement of Old Chemistry in Room 016 and also in Room 104A Perkins Library machines. For more details, see the following URL: http://www.oit.duke.edu/comp-print/labs/index.html.
Getting Help using Statistics Computers
In addition to this system documentation, you can find help about individual Unix commands with the commands man (manual, the online documentation for Unix) and apropos (try man man to get started), or for more recent additions with the command info (or C-h i within emacs). And you can always send e-mail requests to help@stat.duke.edu or ask the system administrator, Lance Brown (brown@stat.duke.edu, 684-5419).
Getting Started using Linux
The standard desktop computer for most faculty and all graduate students runs CentOS5 Linux. If you are not familiar with Linux these links may help you get started: