Customer Reviews

Debian Gnu/Linux: Guide to Installation and Usage

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

 

 

Once I got the defective CD replaced by New Riders (something they were very quick about btw) I was able to get Debian installed with few problems. However, once it was in I found the book fairly useless, as it's coverage of many topics (such as getting XFree86 running) left me reaching for my copy of _Running Linux_. To make matters worse the book was also light on helping explain those aspects of the distribution that were peculiar to Debain. Where's the discussion of apt? I'd easily recommend one of the other Debain books over this one.

It's a fairly slim volume, but it seems to cover all of the bases for someone new to Debian. My recommendation would be: buy this book and something like "Running Linux", so you can combine the best of both books.

Incidentally, if you got the wrong CD (disc 2 instead of disc 1), contact the publisher (New Riders) and they'll replace it free.

New Riders is an upstart publisher of technical books, and their creation are cut above the rest, and of about the same quality of writing, and editorial level as O'Reilly books. This book is a very nice book and CD combo, which will get you started with the free, and volunteer maintained distribution of Linux. Debian is especially notable for its package system, which allows easy, and seemless installation of new packages, or update of already installed ones over the network, and internet. (So you get the freshest possible versions from the debian site, or its mirrors.) This book not only describes all that is necessary to make a competent, and well tought out installation of Debian Linux system on your PC, but also gives enough basic usage instructions to allow new users to get up and running, and to be able to get around. Highly advised if you need a good introduction to Linux, or if you want a distribution, with good installation manual.

I bought this book only to find out after 2 hours of frustration that the CD-ROM supplied was the wrong one. I emailed the publishers who replied to me within 20 minutes; the CD-ROM, together with a brand new copy of the book arrived 5 days later having crossed the Atlantic via UPS. Okay, so New Riders made a mistake ... to paraphrase "Good companies make mistakes; GREAT companies fix them".

It's not a bad book, but the CD is badly damaged. I could not get it to install files to my harddisk, the paths are not what the install program thinks they should be. I haven't had time to mess with it today, but I think it will work if you use floppies to boot. And then install from the cd. Otherwise its a good first linux book, although some things could have been dealt with better, like the X section. It would be great to get more on Modems & serial ports, and some info on dealing with hardware, IRQ issues, etc. The botched CD really makes Debian look bad, which sucks because Debian GNU/Linux is absolutely the best!

The book is annoyingly (SP?) slim and the CDROM is trashed. This book was a complete waste of money.

I bought this book mostly to get Debian 2.1 release on CD. Unfortunately the CD is useless - there are some basic files missing so that you cannot complete the installation.

The actual book doesn't provide enough in depth information to be really useful. It maybe helpful to a novice user, however because the CD is bad I can't see how a novice user would be able to install the system in the first place.

I purchased this book hoping for more about Debian and less about Linux in general, I was disappointed in that respect. I was even more disappointed when the first pages explained how to create a boot disk, only to find out the utility and the images are not on the CD where the documentation says they are.

'I live in low-land Guatemala. The heat and moisture kills. Our ISP uses an airconditioned building to run our up/dn link and Wlan. I pay.

We do not have, and can not afford, hand-held alphanumeric presentation systems. It appears that with Debian's tying of installation information to hand-held fragile presentation systems then, Amazon must wait for a new paperback book to sell to us.

I greatly do not like back-tying products into systems that must be purchased, and then they do not function in low-land Guatemala.

The work of Othman never disappoints. Staggering in width and sheer masculine bulk, he unpacks the most abstruse of technical concepts while swimming Boricuan waters and rescuing Kosovar refugees in his spare time. Othman is a boon to all of us in need of insight, wit and utter fabulousness. Read him to reach nirvana.