Linux  in No Time

ISBN  0-130-31976-7   Price £19.99  UK
Ute Hertzhog
  11 Chapters and index in 563 pages
 

Contents

     Dear Reader
     The keyboard
     The mouse

1    Installation
2    Basics and First Steps
3    Working with programs
4    Modifying KDE
5    Working with files, directories
6    KDE Applications and utilities
7    Managing the system
8    Installing software
9    Working with Star Office
10  Linux and the internet
11  Networking with Linux

Troubleshooting
Appendix
Glossary
Index

Synopsis

        Linux can be difficult to understand for first time users.  Then again, so are other types of software.  This particular book gives some help for the first time user.  The most useful part is about modifying the KDE.  This is the most frequently asked question from people who are using Linux for the first time.

 
Review

    Quite a few programmers out there make the mistake of assuming that the first time user of Linux can use a command line.  Since this is simply not the truth books like Linux in no Time have become a necessity and are a welcome addition to the computers users book shelf.  Also, within the UK there is a strong misunderstanding that Linux is not desktop software.  This book is a welcome addition to the Prentice-Hall Linux stable which helps the beginner to understand that Linux on the desktop is completely desirable and also a good deal more reliable than other software which does blue screen quite a bit.  The myth that Linux is not ready for the enterprise is dispelled.

The choice of distribution for the simple graphical explanation and easy English is Open Linux, or SuSE Linux or RedHat Linux.  This is easy to install as are the Libranet and Mandrake distributions and so if you use any of those for the first time the book will help you with those as well.   The days when you had to guess your way through a non-graphical installation have now gone forever.

The most useful parts of the book are... working with files, working with Star Office, Linux and the internet, networking with Linux.    This is the kind of invaluable information that most Linux "gurus" know nothing about.  Ask them about kernel code or GUI code and they just reel it off the top of their heads.  Ask them about Star Office and they just say "What's that ?".  I learned a few things about Star Office myself whilst reading this book.

If you are someone who is just starting out with Linux then you should try to get hold of this book.  You will quickly learn all of the things that I had to teach myself without help from anyone.

 

Review by  Richard Ibbotson