Customer Reviews

Hacking Knoppix (ExtremeTech)

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

 

 

If your looking for a step-by-step how-to on writing your first letter in OpenOffice.org using Knoppix, you won't find it here. And that's a good thing. Scott Granneman doesn't waste your time with the obvious but instead shows you how to tweak Knoppix and get all the fiddleybits like wifi cards and fonts setup and working.

And when you get tired of playing FrozenBubble Scott shows you how to use Knoppix to do useful things like check network security and fix a broken Windoze box.

Since no one author can know it all, Scott includes lots of pointer to information on the Web. After all that's where the latest info is and it helps the newbie to get in the habit of finding answers on their own.

Even if you've worked with Knoppix for some time, you'll find this book useful and also the perfect gift to introduce a computer friend to Knoppix.

This is the first ExtremeTech title I've ordered - and if this is an example of their overall quality, it will quite likely be the last.

"Hacking Knoppix" is a mediocre rip-off of the much better O'Reilly title Knoppix Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools.

Chapter 1, for example, is entitled "Unraveling the Knoppix Toolkit Maze" which is nothing more than an overview of using several common Linux applications such as OpenOffice. Hardly "hacking" in any true sense of the word. From covering total basics, author Granneman then immerses you in "Asessing Security with Knoppix" and "Clustering with Knoppix". Let me see if I can grasp the logic of this: the first chapter is incredibly elementary and deals with the basics of a common application suite and within 150 pages is dealing with clustering and assessing security?

No.

This is simply a rip-off. It's a collection of "wisdom" gleaned from online sources and put between sazzy covers as a guide to "hacking Knoppix".

More like simply a device to separate you from a few of your hard-earned dollars. Leave this one for the dollar remainder table. As well, I would be extremely wary of any ExtremeTech title: judging by this example, it is a series intended only to exploit the O'Reilly hacks series which are far better.

Jerry

This book gives you real insight to the Knoppix workings. Be it trying to backup a windows partition or scanning it for viruses. It even teaches you how to remaster Knoppix and do it your way. If you want to get the most out of Knoppix this is the book to look for.

I was very disappointed in this book. In each case, there is just enough information, some of which applies to a later version of Knoppix, to turn the package on and then there are references to internet sites which requires hours of searching to find the answers to questions. The author would have done well to explain the function of the commands that he uses. There is an attempt to cover much more material than is possible in a book of this length. The writing style is geared towards an eight grade level with the use of slang and cryptic names. I expect a book to educate the reader, not simply provide a semi-accurate road map to information.

I bought this in conjunction with the knoppix hacks book as it was published more recently than the other book. Like the Hacks book, this has a number of really useful tricks that really show off the use of Linux and Knoppix as a whole. The ability to use Knoppix to cloan PC's and even setup a Master machine to act as a cloan repository on a network is really handy.

I think both this book and knoppix hacks compliment each other very well.

I love this book. There is a lot of really useful information that makes this book a great resource. You'll save a lot of time reading this compared to surfing around the web. The book has very complete content. I am the developer of ParallelKnoppix, and I can testify that the coverage in Chapter 7 is both insightful and accurate. I'll be using this book to help me to improve P-KPX.

...book on linux I have bought in years!

Scott Granneman has written a book that gives you tips you can directly use within knoppix. The information on Helix OS is worth the purchase of the book alone.

It is also written in a very readable way.

I have honestly gained more knowledge from this book that any other on the subject.

A+