general

This book is mis-labeled. On the back cover, the book is rated from beginner to advanced. This book is only for a *beginner*. The book totally stops once you are passed the gui config programs. Towards the back of the book in the server sections, important details are left out. Some chapters are a cut, paste, edit. Unfortunately, the edits took out important details. The "Red Hat Linux 9 Bible" is more authoritative than this book.

If you want to get started with Linux this is the way to go. Fedora Core (the next step past Red Hat 9) is easy to install and start playing with. The book starts by helping you get installed and trouble shooting any problems (you're not likely to have any problems with install though). I installed it on two very different machines without a hitch. It then takes you through using the graphical user interface (GUI) with Linux. Both Gnome and KDE are covered and I recommend you work through both to see which one you like better or if you want to try a different GUI. After learning to work with the GUI, which is very intuitive if you've used that other OS before, the book then covers using the shell (the command line interface). And all of that is only the first 162 pages of this 1065 page book. It then continues to give you a very solid foundation in Linux, specifically Red Hat Linux. This book also comes with the full 3 CD Fedora Core 1 installation set, which is very nice if you don't have a high speed connection to download it. After reading this book and working along with it in Fedora Core 1, you will have a solid foundation in Linux and be ready to explore this awesome OS further.

Tip: If you have a hard drive just for Linux and don't want to mess with your other drive, unplug your other drive and install Fedora Core. You can then slave your other drive off the Linux drive and add an entry to the GRUB config file to set a dual boot without ever changing anything on your other drive. To add the entry to GRUB open your grub.conf file and add this under the Linux title entry:

title Other OS
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

For XP you might not need the two map lines but you need them for older versions. That set up assumes you have two hard drives with Linux on the first drive and that other OS on the second. Make the title whatever you want. After adding this you will get a choice the next time you boot and your other drive is still unchanged if you ever want to make it the master again. You won't though once you give Linux a chance.

Are you interested in Linux and don't know where to start?

This book has everything you need to get started.

The book has 3 CDs with the Fedora Core 1 OS. It has over 1000 pages of information describing every aspect of installing and using the Operating System.

And it is readable.

The author seems to understand that not everyone is a "techie", so he has obviously gone to great pains to make his instruction understandable. At the same time, he hasn't simplified it to the point of leaving critical exceptions to procedures out (a failure of most books about Linux).

All applications are listed and described, including many esoteric applications that may be vital to only a few users.

Although enthusiastic about Linux, the author is pretty realistic about its comparison to other operating systems, such as Microsoft's Windows. If you want to get from point A to point B, and you don't care about the price of the ticket, Linux may not be for you. But if you care about "travelling in style" this book is the ultimate guide.

Consider that for the price of this book you can obtain:

OpenOffice, Koffice (2 office productivity suites!)
OpenOffice Writer, Abiword, Kword (3 word processors!)
OpenOffice Calc, Gnumeric (2 spreadsheet applications!)
OpenOffice Impress, Kpresenter (2 presentation programs!)
Mozilla, Epiphany, Konqueror (3 internet browsers!)
Evolution, Kmail, Mozilla Mail (3 e-mail readers!)
Gnu Image Manipulation Program (an image editor for artists)
Gnucash (a financial application)

...And literally hundreds of other special applications including games, and educational programs for children and adults.

With the Fedora Operating System and this book, you can tweak your Computer to look like, and to do anything you dream of doing-- wasn't that why people became interested in computers in the first place?

How much would you have to spend for Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Adobe Photoshop, Quicken or Microsoft Money? Add it up!