Product: Linux Bible

This review originally appeared in the AZTCS journal.

There are things I don’t like about this book.

In Chapter 3, I’m disappointed there isn’t more detail about alternate window managers. I think too many people feel KDE and GNOME are the only choices available … or the desktop is Linux … or don’t know they can start with a blank xwindow and make their own desktop and menus.

The book should include more about shell scripting, not so much to teach it as to give an idea of the power available. I feel slighted he didn’t mention Emacs in the text editor section; honestly I think this is a tremendous oversight on his part as Emacs is a popular and powerful text editor.

Another thing I didn’t like was with the CD/DVD set. A lot of older computers don’t have DVD readers making installation of the distros on DVD more difficult.

There are several things I like about the book. I think it gives an objective view of Linux. The author introduces and quickly acquaints the reader with the command-line. Many authors seem to feel the command line should be avoided, but Negus plunges in and makes the use of the command-line, if not easy, at least not scary. The command-line is a part of Linux. He is not afraid to expose his readers to the terminal and to its use.

The CD/DVD collection contains an excellent range of distros … from a distro that will run from a floppy (I recently used a floppy distro to fix a forgotten password in XP) to some desktops that are a little cramped on a PIII with 512 MB memory. Negus shows, although there are some specialized distributions, most have the tools and versitiliy to handle any task. If you want to surf the web and check your email and chat on-line, build a full webhost, add a firewall to your home network, recover files from a crashed Windows system or are looking for something VERY interesting to do with your computer, Linux probably has something for you.

His instructions are generally clear and concise. Where necessary, Negus gives step-by-step examples. He explains but, to me, manages to balance between overinforming to the point of boredom and talking down to the audience. I read 2 or 3 of his other books and his style generally is informative and as technical as necessary but not overly so.

Of the several beginning to intermediate Linix books I read in the last few years, this book is the best.
Rating: 4
0470230193
Count: 52