Customer Reviews

Customizing and Upgrading Linux

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

 

 

This is an interesting book. If you're looking for how to set up any of the standard UNIX type services like DNS or a Samba server, this is not the book for you. But it does cover stuff like installing over a network, configuring XFree86, installation on SCSI, and kernel building, which are topics not always or often covered in other books. All in all, a handy reference for a Linux bookshelf.

As an experienced Unix person but new to Linux, I found this book to be very helpful and relevant to getting Linux up and running, and then updated. Updating the kernel is really a complex task, and was very well explained by the McKinnons. I've tried to follow a couple of other books and found them to be less helpful than the mcKinnons' book.
It's well worth the money, and is an essential reference guide for anyone working with Linux -- especially us newcomers.

I'm sorry I can't say that this was a great book. The authors clearly have put forth a great dea of effort.
The book failed to provide any real information on customizing and upgrading. Fully half the book describes various installation techniques, all of which are covered very well in the basic 'Installation guide' provided with most versions of Linux.
The next chapter, Video config, spend a great deal of space on discussing CRT technology, but then only weakly connected it to xf86config. The chapter on printers relatively useful.
The next chapter discussed RPM at length. Then kernel RPM.
The use of packages is pretty straight forward, but the authors managed to get two chapters worth out of it.
The final chapter was actually useful but extremely small. The entire topic of building a kernel was treated in only a few pages (when you discount for pictures). That was it, end of book :-(
Overall, I was expecting a book that I would be able to look in the index for a topic like 'configuring name servers' and find the page that describes it. Alas, I was quite disappointed with the fairly brief treatment the book gave to the more interesting aspects of 'Configuring and Upgrading Linux'

In both this book and their Installing Linux book the McKinnons' really demonstrate the value of experience. Their classroom-tested approach makes for an accessible read.

This book cover details of Linux I have not found discussed in other books. It shows how to upgrade the kernel, as well as how to adapt installations to meet specific needs, which is key for any professional working with Linux.