Product: 0596002726

This is a general book on Linux and with a general guide to installing Linux. With 2 chapters and 43 pages on installation, its general procedures are next to useless. There is no specific distribution and hardware so at least your installation can be modelled from it.
At least there is a few hints like using Fdisk with /MBR (p88) for dual boot Win/Linux machines.
Almost all of the book is oriented to the command line within a terminal window. The book shows a Windows GUI, Xfree86, Chap 10-11, and Gnome in Appendix B.
I have yet to find a book that makes it straightforward to fully configure a Linux machine with SCSI, sound, network, modem or router, tape backup, CD-RW, USB, FireWire, scanner, photo, HP printer etc so that some real work can be done with StarOffice, Netscape web & email. (Doing things that can be done on Win98SE without breaking a sweat.)
However, I still recommend finding a local Linux User Group and going to an InstallFest (Twin Cities, Minn has a group supported by the Univ of Minn, EE/CS Dept). I have attended one but still didn’t have a fully configured RedHat Linux 9 Server up and running yet. After the 2nd InstallFest, I got my TR-4 tape backup functional and Palm sync’d. I read this book at the local library.
Rating: 3
0596002726
Count: 21