Customer Reviews

Beginning Ubuntu Linux

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are interested in how to get the most out of Desktop Ubuntu Linux, then look no further! Should your interest lie in other recognised derivatives of Ubuntu (Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Mythbuntu, Server Ubuntu, Ubuntu Studio or Xubuntu) or the Ubuntu Community, then another book may better suit your needs, for example Official Ubuntu Book, The (4th Edition).

With 750 pages devoted to how to install, configure, customise and maintain Ubuntu Linux and how to use it for office and multimedia activities, the authors are able to go into considerable depth in an easy to follow manner, using screen-shots as appropriate. It is the fourth edition, after all, written around version 9.04 of Ubuntu Linux.

The book is broken into eight sections; Introduction, Installation, Getting Started, The Shell and Beyond, Multimedia, Office Tasks, System Maintenance and a sixty page appendix. Finally there is a 25 page comprehensive index and the font wouldn't want to be any smaller!

For first time Linux users with previous Windows experience, chapter 3 provides good coverage of the preinstallation steps for a PC with an existing Windows installation. Chapter 4 covers the use of the Live DVD, running Ubuntu within Windows using Wibi as well as how to perform a full installation. Chapters 6 and 8 contain much useful information to assist you with installation and initial Ubuntu configuration. While there are brief references throughout the book on the GRUB boot loader, I feel GRUB deserves more detailed coverage, considering how critical this is to being able to access your Operating System(s). Perhaps this can be include in the next edition, as these sections will need updating with the change to GRUB2 with Ubuntu 9.10. Chapter 7 provides a quick overview on how to use Ubuntu and includes a useful 2 page comparison of where to find the Ubuntu equivalents of Windows features, which is further expanded in chapter 11.

Chapter 8 justifies the book on its own with over sixty pages working through how to get everything working correctly in Ubuntu. Most importantly, should your wireless hardware not be automatically supported by Ubuntu, there is an excellent, detailed explanation of how to get your wireless connection working in Ubuntu using a Windows driver.

The Office Tasks section goes into reasonable detail of how to use the Open Office Suite (about eighty pages in all), including a chapter on Base, Open Office's database application.

For those who wish to get the most out of Ubuntu, the five chapters in Part 4 introduce the reader to the BASH shell and how to use shell commands. While the coverage is excellent and takes the reader up to an intermediate level of expertise, I'm surprised that checking log messages isn't covered. Part 7 (System Maintenance) builds on the command line skills from part 4 and includes a nifty chapter on how to optimise your system beyond those incorporated by the Ubuntu developers in recent releases.

If you have decided to switch to Ubuntu Linux, this book will help you get Ubuntu installed and operating effectively and prove a valuable reference guide, irrespective of whether you previously used Windows or another Linux Distro.

excellent book for a low price. I have used it to teach Linux for the past few years - each year upgrading to the current edition

If you have any experience with Microsoft Windows then the first half of this book will be a refresher for you. I found the book written well and informative. It wasn't until I got to the second half of the book that I started to learn a few things. I think this book makes a good book for hand holding and jumping into Ubuntu. There are a lot of similarities with Windows, which the book points out, and total differences too. I would recommend having Ubuntu installed on your computer while going through the book. If you install the CD version that comes with the book you will have an older version. However, if you go to [...] and download the newest version, which is what I did, some examples in the book will not coincide correctly. I was able to work my way through the differences as most experienced computer users also will. In short, a good book to get you off and running with Ubuntu. I turned my laptop into a dual-boot system and run the Ubuntu side everyday. I figure the more you use it the more you will get used to it. Good luck and good bye.

I read the reviews before ordering this book, and was glad to see that it did meet my needs as a Ubuntu Linux beginner looking for answers. I am glad that it focuses on Ubuntu Linux and deals with Windows as needed, versus ignoring it.

There are so many versions of Linux, that I am glad to have chosen Ubuntu soon after some false starts with other obsolete versions. Even though there are other Linux versions that might be useful due to smaller size or some other attribute, the thought and planning that went into providing a solid, reliable foundation is apparent with Ubuntu and this book helps get you up to speed and comfortable in using it.

You may not be an expert with all the capabilities of Unbuntu after reading this book, but you will probably be far more confident with Unbuntu Linux, than most people will ever be with Windows. I would consider it a must have for new Unbuntu Linux users and thankful it does not waste time delving into other versions of Linux.

It's great for beginners, if you want to buy a book to learn about it. :3 Really informative and has a CD as a list of commands on every chapter.

I read the contents of this book almost cover to cover; I only skipped the multimedia section. I read this because I was interested in reading "Automating Linux and Unix System Administration," and it listed "Beginning Ubuntu" as preceding it in a sequence.

In short, this book is an above average introduction to the world of Linux, but best suited complete Linux novices. There is very little in this book that would be of interest to someone who has basic experience with Linux in general. There were a few bits here and there that were new to me, but it represented the kind of information that I could have absorbed from a man page if I needed to learn more about a particular program.

The book included a concise and clear introduction to the BASH shell, the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, pipes and file redirection. I think this is probably the most difficult chapter to right for a book targeted at novices, and it seemed very clear to me.

There are two things I think are missing from this book. One is a procedure for surviving a major upgrade. Every ubuntu user is going to do this sooner or later. A novice could use some advice interpreting the various dialogs that will pop up during a distribution upgrade. Another is a guide about compiling programs from source. Yes, every program will be a little bit different, but there is some basic information that pulls together knowledge of the FHS, what packages are required to compile software, and the like, that a novice would definitely not know if they needed to build a package from source. Oftentimes, the best way to obtain support for a particular package via mailing lists, forums or IRC is to attempt to use the latest version; some communities will refuse to help you unless you are running the latest version. Other communities are even worse, displaying will be openly contemptuous if you reveal you're using the version offered in the ubuntu repositories.

Lots of good info in this book for newbies and experienced users alike. Great for getting you up to speed on Ubuntu

This is a great book for beginning Ubuntu users! It has ALL the basic and the where to go for other info...
Terry - Hayward, CA

I'd really love to break out of the Microsoft jail. In the past year, I've spent hundreds of dollars upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 and having viruses, worms, and Trojan horses removed from my Microsoft shackled computers. When those computers aren't functioning, and I have to get on-line, I turn to an ASUS netbook with Linux Xandros as its operating system. It's slow, the miniscule keyboard cripples my fingers, and many programs don't work, but it's always virus free and I can get my work done. I'd love to move totally to one of the Linux operating systems, preferably Linux Ubuntu, but getting started is virtually impossible for the layperson. Beginning Ubuntu Linux isn't really "beginning.." You do have to have a sizable knowledge base in computer software. With a human teacher (impossible to find) and this book, I think I could learn successfully, but without a real live tutor, it's much too complicated for me.