Customer Reviews

Linux Bible 2010 Edition: Boot Up to Ubuntu, Fedora, KNOPPIX, Debian, openSUSE, and 13 Other Distributions

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It seems like a lot of the Linux books out there right now pick a single distribution and teach you that one. Wiley's Linux Bible (2005 Edition) by Christopher Negus takes a different approach that may be valuable to you.

Chapter List:
Part 1 - Linux First Steps: Starting With Linux; Running Commands from the Shell; Getting into the Desktop
Part 2 - Running The Show: Learning Basic Administration; Getting on the Internet; Securing Linux
Part 3 - Choosing and Installing a Linux Distribution: Installing Linux; Running Fedora Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux; Running Debian GNU/Linux; Running SUSE Linux; Running KNOPPIX; Running Yellow Dog Linux; Running Gentoo Linux; Running Slackware Linux; Running Linspire; Running Mandrakelinux; Running a Linux Firewall/Router; Running Bootable Linux Distribution
Part 4 - Running Applications: Paying Music and Video; Working with Words and Images; E-Mailing and Web Browsing; Gaming Alone and Online
Part 5 - Running Servers: Running a Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) Server; Running a Mail Server; Running a Print Server; Running a File Server
Part 6 - Programming in Linux: Programming Environments and Interfaces; Programming Tools and Utilities
Appendix A: Media; Appendix B: Entering the Linux Community; Index

The main difference I see in this book is the lack of focus on a particular distribution. The different chapters (with the exception of Part 3) are all designed to teach you the basics of Linux apart from any flavor. This allows you to learn core skills that can transfer between whatever distribution you might be using at any given time. Part 3 gives a short coverage of each major distribution available on the market. If you're wondering about the pros and cons of each, this section of the book will help you decide where you want to start your specific distribution-specific learning.

Like all Bible titles, this is pretty big (800+ pages). While there's a lot of useful information, I don't know that I'd recommend this to be your *only* Linux book. 200+ pages deal with the distribution information, which leaves considerably less room for core Linux information. The other chapters cover the gamut of Linux software (server, desktop, productivity, internet, games, etc.), so there's not a lot in in-depth coverage on any one particular area. I'd probably position this as a very good entry level book to teach the reader about Linux and help them decide what distribution to pick. From there, I'd pick a book specific to my distribution of choice and continue my learning.

If your the right audience and in the right situation, this book will work well for you...

The back of the book claims it's recommended "Beginner to Advanced." That's a bit of a stretch. This is probably a good book for someone new to the glories of Linux who wants to be told what and when to type. It also provides a decent overview of what specific applications are out there. This book answers questions like, "Are there any applications that'll let me hook up my digital camera?" If you're looking for a tome-like reference book that'll be there when you need to find out how to configure some obscure daemon or interpret cryptic dmesg output, then you should probably look elsewhere. (And if you find it elsewhere, let me know!)

The book comes with alot of linux distros on a DVD and CD, but most of these are several versions out of data at this point and you'll probably end up downloading newer ISO's and burning your own CD's anyway. If you already know which distrubution you're going to use, get a book specific to it.

While the Linux world develops by the day, and new advances and Kernels are constantly being updated, this book remains a helpful and near essential tool for a beginning Linux user. From the absolute basics to a moderately advanced approach, this book offers a huge amount of tips as to which direction to approach Linux. I would suggest that anyone reading this book actually download and install the most recent distributions rather than installing the outdated ones on the disks.

The author definitely has a strong presence throughout the book, giving a tone of guidance necessary to those new to the operating system.

Though this book is excellent in it's own respect, never rely solely upon it, and stock up on Linux books. This book seems to wax over the command line, among other small facets of Linux that need to be explored in greater detail, so I would Suggest Linux in a Nutshell, or any of the other fantastic O'Reilly books as a companion to this book

Content: 4/5
Exploration: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Completeness: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

I've listed some of the ways that the Linux Bible helps people have a good first experience with Linux or with a Linux distribution that's new to them. If this stuff sounds cool to you, you should consider buying the book.

The Linux Bible includes a DVD that boots to a live Linux (called KNOPPIX), where you can test that Linux works BEFORE you touch your hard disk. If it does, you can reboot and install Red Hat's Fedora Linux from the same DVD. If you only have a CD drive, the book also includes a CD with a small, bootable Linux and a Debian Linux installer. (Six other Linux distributions are included as well.)

If you only have one computer and it's dedicated to Windows, you can resize your hard disk to allow Linux to coexist with it. Linux Bible tells you how to resize Windows partitions and gives you tools for doing it.

Because security is critical to any computer connected to the Internet, Linux Bible describes how to set up firewalls, watch incoming ports (with Portsentry), scan incoming mail, and monitor log files.

Linux Bible describes how to connect to the Internet, do email and Web browsing, play music and video, and write documents. It also introduces how to set up Web, mail, print, and file servers.

Any introductory Linux book you buy should have a good tutorial on the shell and at least an overview of major administration tools (such as YaST and system-config tools). Linux Bible has those things.

Because Linux is represented by several Linux distributions, Linux Bible describes how those distributions are different, communities surrounding them, and where you can go to get help (forums, mailing lists, etc.) for each of them.

-- Chris Negus
Author: Linux Bible

I am very disappointed with the Linux (2008 Edition) Bible. It is basically a fluff volume (800+ pages of fluff) that provides little help in trying to use Linux. Best comparison I can think of is: You buy your first car, and with no practical knowledge of cars, have a flat tire on the way home. You look in the owners manual for instructions on changing the flat. The manual says, "there is a jack and lug wrench in the car for changing tires." Nothing more. This example relates to many sections of the book. Take, again for example, "Kudzu Hardware Detection" on page 286. This section states that Kudzu detects your system hardware each time you start Fedora. Okay, so what if it doesn't? Not a word on how to make it run, how to make it detect hardware, or what to do if it fails to detect. This lack of real information is repeated throughout the book. A (very) brief introduction to topics but nothing that is remotely useful. I feel I really wasted my money.

Linux may well be the successor to Windows. Its design, based on Unix (a multi-user, multi-task operating system), was from its start multi-tasking and multi-user. Windows was built on DOS, a single user, single-tasking operating system, which was evolved slightly from the CP/M operating system created by the small company Digital Research. Windows began as a paste-up on DOS. (Digital Research had a GUI operating system before Windows, on which using Ventura Publisher, I wrote two illustrated engineering textbooks. Linux has, by now, almost too many variations. That is to be expected, since in the open software movement anyone can attempt to build a better mousetrap on the shoulders of those who have gone before. (He just can't make by treating it as a trade secret!)
In the Linux Bibble the buyer receives a DVD and a CD, which together contain seven different Linux systems. What's more, some of them can be run on your Windows PC directly from the optical drive without ever writing to your hard disk. Although program fetching is a bit slower than
when from a hard disk, since your memory is used to store data, operation is still quick.
The major alternative to using "the Bible" to explore using Linux is to download gigbytes of system loads and write them to your own CD or DVD. In that case you also must go back to the 'net for help that you can locate more quickly in the pages of "the Bible". It's well worth its cost and saves a great deal of time (or money, if you choose to buy individual distributions and their documentation.
I have tested Linux three times in past years, going a long way back. Each time, something I really needed was not easily available, for example connection to the Internet. In this case, using a PC that was hard-wired to my router, connection to the Internet was automatic. Linux has come a long way, thanks to thousands of volunteers. This time I will join the bandwagon. It doesn't mean I will stop using Windows, but I plan to use Linux for most web activity. Since I already used Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird under Windows, and use Open Office in Windows for text, spreadsheets and other office tasks, I plan to move everything I can to Linux while still retaining current Windows.

This review originally appeared in the AZTCS journal.

There are things I don't like about this book.

In Chapter 3, I'm disappointed there isn't more detail about alternate window managers. I think too many people feel KDE and GNOME are the only choices available ... or the desktop is Linux ... or don't know they can start with a blank xwindow and make their own desktop and menus.

The book should include more about shell scripting, not so much to teach it as to give an idea of the power available. I feel slighted he didn't mention Emacs in the text editor section; honestly I think this is a tremendous oversight on his part as Emacs is a popular and powerful text editor.

Another thing I didn't like was with the CD/DVD set. A lot of older computers don't have DVD readers making installation of the distros on DVD more difficult.

There are several things I like about the book. I think it gives an objective view of Linux. The author introduces and quickly acquaints the reader with the command-line. Many authors seem to feel the command line should be avoided, but Negus plunges in and makes the use of the command-line, if not easy, at least not scary. The command-line is a part of Linux. He is not afraid to expose his readers to the terminal and to its use.

The CD/DVD collection contains an excellent range of distros ... from a distro that will run from a floppy (I recently used a floppy distro to fix a forgotten password in XP) to some desktops that are a little cramped on a PIII with 512 MB memory. Negus shows, although there are some specialized distributions, most have the tools and versitiliy to handle any task. If you want to surf the web and check your email and chat on-line, build a full webhost, add a firewall to your home network, recover files from a crashed Windows system or are looking for something VERY interesting to do with your computer, Linux probably has something for you.

His instructions are generally clear and concise. Where necessary, Negus gives step-by-step examples. He explains but, to me, manages to balance between overinforming to the point of boredom and talking down to the audience. I read 2 or 3 of his other books and his style generally is informative and as technical as necessary but not overly so.

Of the several beginning to intermediate Linix books I read in the last few years, this book is the best.

This book makes a great companion for "UNIX Essentials and UNIX Core" DVD course! It is nicely written, pleasure to read and easy to follow. It is one of these books that were carefully edited and the examples work correctly. As I mentioned I have coupled it with the DVD and these two make very efficient couple!
I also appreciate the style of the writing, open not mentoring, very nice.

The word Bible in the title may be misleading. You will not become a Linux saint *(guru)* afer reading this book, nor will you be on the path of the righteous leading to that point. You are rarely explained the basic structure of the commands you are about to use. For all practical purposes the author prints the line-or lines-to be inputed in the shell and the reader is expected to be happy just because... well it has worked, as if by magic. But this is by all means not a proper way to learn, at least for me. I have to undersand exactlly what each sintax in that line means, and the author does a very poor job at explaining this. Yes, if you just want to have some help installing linux this may be the book for you. What seems to be extremelly problematic is that the author does not mention-at least not in a way to be easily found-how to install new programms (packages) and how to access them. Which is an unnecessarily tedious task in the version of Linux I have choosen. Before buying this one try to give a chance to books with less pompous titles.

Very informative, to the point material. Perfect for the novice or intermediate user. All that is left to the user is to pick the perfect Linux distribution. Try <a href="http://www.systemdisc.com">linux cds</a> http://www.systemdisc.com