Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186190 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 367 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781934356227
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
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About the Author

Customer Reviews

Become a Ubuntu Kung Fu master!
The book was written for version 8.04 of Ubuntu, but will work great with 8.10 too! While reading and reviewing the book, you ought to have a machine nearby to test the hacks and hints. They are absolutely amazing. There are over 300 tips in the book, and each is a gem in its own right. The tips range rom optimizing the speed of your machine, to GUI hacks, hardware, messing with media, security enhancements, and system administration.

The table of contents is really great too! First it list each hack/tip in order of the book, then it shows you the tips organized into groups of topics, system admin, security, etc. Also each tip has information on getting to the next tips that are related.

Truly this book is for anyone who is using Ubuntu who hasn't been working with the code directly and would like to know more about the OS and what it can do.

Just after reading the first few tips I was able to reduce the boot times on my laptop from minute and twenty seconds to under thirty seconds. I was also able to accurately graph the results of these changes by installing and using bootchart, a tip from the Ubuntu Kung Fu book.

If you are looking for a good book to help you enhance your understanding of Linux and Ubuntu, this is the book, get it now at Amazon, or from the Pragmatic Bookshelf.

Great Book!
Ubuntu Kung Fu: Tips, Tricks, Hints, and Hacks

I have read a lot of linux books over the years, and this is one of the first that I really enjoyed. It is set up for both newbie and guru alike, crammed with tips and tricks, arranged in a way that you can just browse and pick, or use it kinda like a Ubuntu cookbook, if you will.

I ended up reading it cover to cover, picking and choosing my favorites and immediately implementing them upon my linux machines, and marking my favorites for my next install.

I definitely recommend this book for both novice and expert alike, it is a breath of fresh air when compared to those linux books that seem obsessed with the installation of linux and tend to forget about the neat stuff...

Get your black belt in Ubuntu Kung Fu!
As I've noted elsewhere (see below), I've been a sucker for "Tips & Tricks" and "Annoyances" books for many years. Keir Thomas's book is, for me, a best-of-breed entry in this genre. He tackles user-level (not coder) problems and perspective, and brings Ubuntu Linux advice, techniques and tips not found elsewhere.

The book is organized into only three chapters: After an introductory chapter, one finds "2 An Ubuntu Administration Crash Course" to be a cogent and useful primer, one of the best of this sort I've found so far. The focus here is on helping with the transition from Windows to Linux/Ubuntu, and it succeeds as a quick orientation for the less experienced "system non-administrator."

The meat is all in "3 The Tips", of which there are exactly 315. One can indeed "start reading them anywhere," as they're arranged in purely random order. But there's much of value here -- I found well over 120 that I had to highlight, either for immediate application to my Ubuntu system, or to return to later. That's not a bad return on investment!

Minor grousing about the order of tip presentation aside, I think this book is nearly an exemplar of its kind, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has become, or is becoming, an Ubuntu Linux user and enthusiast. It usefully helps bridge the gap between the Microsoft Windows experience and the not-so-different world of the Linux desktop. It provides ample practical help and knowledge to advance your productive use of Ubuntu Linux.

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