Product Description

Great Content from a Bestselling Author: The Linux Bible 2008 Edition is the best first Linux book for new or migrating users. By focusing on the building-block nature of Linux, and offering true up-to-date descriptions of Linux technology, the Bible helps the reader learn how to jump headlong into Linux, regardless of the Linux distribution they choose. Descriptions of different Linux distributions helps users choose the Linux distribution that's right for them. Detailed installation instructions, step-by-step descriptions of key desktop and server components, and the actual distributions on CD and DVD, let readers get started using Linux immediately. The Bible will serve a broad range of readers, from those starting with Linux to anyone looking to evaluate different Linux distributions. It also covers broad usage including Linux desktops, servers, and firewall/routers.

New features: Instead of just telling you about how the technology works, new "Bringing Linux In" sections describe how people have implemented Linux in the real world. New sections describe real-life examples, such as how:

• A Small office created an inexpensive Web, print, and file server
• A do-it-yourselfer combined Linux audio and video features to create a home multimedia center
• A school build a computer lab with free educational software
• A large corporation deployed thousands of Linux systems

Unique CD and DVD: No other book on the market includes so many Linux distributions on CD and DVD. Our DVD and CD will include the latest versions of at least the following Linux distributions: Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE, KNOPPIX, Gentoo, Slackware, Mandriva, Damn Small Linux, SLAX, BackTrack, GeeXbox, and others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #407213 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 888 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780470230190
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
The perfect book to help you make the move to Linux

With Linux, you can start with a full-featured desktop computer and scale up to powerful corporate servers. Get the most out of Linux for your home, small business, school, or corporate computing needs with this comprehensive reference as your guide. You'll walk through 16 different Linux distributions, find step-by-step instructions, and see how other enterprising Linux do-it-yourselfers are creating powerful and inexpensive systems. This is the book you need to succeed with Linux.

• Master Linux for desktops, servers, and workstations

• Find, install, and use tons of free and open source software

• Create your own cool apps with useful programming tools

• Launch all your music, video, images, and documents in Linux

• Browse, e-mail, or chat over the Internet from a Linux desktop

• Set up your own e-mail and Web (LAMP) servers

• Make safe connections with firewalls and other security tools

A total of 16 different Linux distributions are included on the DVD and CD-ROM.

• To try out Linux, boot directly to KNOPPIX, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Gentoo, BackTrack, and other live Linux distributions
• To keep Linux permanently, install Fedora, Ubuntu, openSUSE, Debian, Damn Small Linux, Slackware Linux, and other distributions to your hard disk

What's on the DVD and CD-ROM?

DVD Includes

• Ubuntu Linux (live/install)

• Fedora Linux (install)

• openSUSE (live/install)

• KNOPPIX (live)

• Freespire (live/install)

• Gentoo Linux (install)

• Slackware® Linux (install)

• BackTrack (live)

• Mandriva One (live/install)

CD-ROM Includes

• Debian GNU/Linux (install)

• Damn Small Linux (live/install)

• SLAX (live/install)

• System Rescue CD (live)

• INSERT (live)

• Puppy Linux (live)

• Gentoo Linux (install)

• Coyote Linux (floppy firewall)

System Requirements:
All software built for x86 computers
See chapters on each distribution for system requirements

About the Author
Chris Negus has written or co-written dozens of books on Linux and UNIX, including Red Hat Linux Bible (all editions), Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible, Linux Troubleshooting Bible, Linux Toys, and Linux Toys II. In late 2007, Chris co-authored three books for the new Linux Toolbox series for power users: Fedora Linux Toolbox, SUSE Linux Toolbox, and Ubuntu Linux Toolbox. For eight years, he worked with the organization at AT&T that developed UNIX before moving to Utah to contribute to Novell’s short-lived UnixWare project in the early 1990s. When not writing about Linux, Chris enjoys playing soccer and just hanging out with his family.

Customer Reviews

A good choice for the right situation...
It seems like a lot of the Linux books out there right now pick a single distribution and teach you that one. Wiley's Linux Bible (2005 Edition) by Christopher Negus takes a different approach that may be valuable to you.

Chapter List:
Part 1 - Linux First Steps: Starting With Linux; Running Commands from the Shell; Getting into the Desktop
Part 2 - Running The Show: Learning Basic Administration; Getting on the Internet; Securing Linux
Part 3 - Choosing and Installing a Linux Distribution: Installing Linux; Running Fedora Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux; Running Debian GNU/Linux; Running SUSE Linux; Running KNOPPIX; Running Yellow Dog Linux; Running Gentoo Linux; Running Slackware Linux; Running Linspire; Running Mandrakelinux; Running a Linux Firewall/Router; Running Bootable Linux Distribution
Part 4 - Running Applications: Paying Music and Video; Working with Words and Images; E-Mailing and Web Browsing; Gaming Alone and Online
Part 5 - Running Servers: Running a Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) Server; Running a Mail Server; Running a Print Server; Running a File Server
Part 6 - Programming in Linux: Programming Environments and Interfaces; Programming Tools and Utilities
Appendix A: Media; Appendix B: Entering the Linux Community; Index

The main difference I see in this book is the lack of focus on a particular distribution. The different chapters (with the exception of Part 3) are all designed to teach you the basics of Linux apart from any flavor. This allows you to learn core skills that can transfer between whatever distribution you might be using at any given time. Part 3 gives a short coverage of each major distribution available on the market. If you're wondering about the pros and cons of each, this section of the book will help you decide where you want to start your specific distribution-specific learning.

Like all Bible titles, this is pretty big (800+ pages). While there's a lot of useful information, I don't know that I'd recommend this to be your *only* Linux book. 200+ pages deal with the distribution information, which leaves considerably less room for core Linux information. The other chapters cover the gamut of Linux software (server, desktop, productivity, internet, games, etc.), so there's not a lot in in-depth coverage on any one particular area. I'd probably position this as a very good entry level book to teach the reader about Linux and help them decide what distribution to pick. From there, I'd pick a book specific to my distribution of choice and continue my learning.

If your the right audience and in the right situation, this book will work well for you...

Good for the beginner, perhaps...
The back of the book claims it's recommended "Beginner to Advanced." That's a bit of a stretch. This is probably a good book for someone new to the glories of Linux who wants to be told what and when to type. It also provides a decent overview of what specific applications are out there. This book answers questions like, "Are there any applications that'll let me hook up my digital camera?" If you're looking for a tome-like reference book that'll be there when you need to find out how to configure some obscure daemon or interpret cryptic dmesg output, then you should probably look elsewhere. (And if you find it elsewhere, let me know!)

The book comes with alot of linux distros on a DVD and CD, but most of these are several versions out of data at this point and you'll probably end up downloading newer ISO's and burning your own CD's anyway. If you already know which distrubution you're going to use, get a book specific to it.

Excellent, even while out of date.
While the Linux world develops by the day, and new advances and Kernels are constantly being updated, this book remains a helpful and near essential tool for a beginning Linux user. From the absolute basics to a moderately advanced approach, this book offers a huge amount of tips as to which direction to approach Linux. I would suggest that anyone reading this book actually download and install the most recent distributions rather than installing the outdated ones on the disks.

The author definitely has a strong presence throughout the book, giving a tone of guidance necessary to those new to the operating system.

Though this book is excellent in it's own respect, never rely solely upon it, and stock up on Linux books. This book seems to wax over the command line, among other small facets of Linux that need to be explored in greater detail, so I would Suggest Linux in a Nutshell, or any of the other fantastic O'Reilly books as a companion to this book

Content: 4/5
Exploration: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Completeness: 5/5
Overall: 5/5