Linux Timesaving Techniques For Dummies [Paperback]

Susan Douglas (Author), Korry Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0764571737 | ISBN-13: 978-0764571732 | Edition: 1

• Formerly known as Red Hat Linux, the Fedora Core distribution is an excellent, no-cost alternative to Windows, Solaris, and other expensive operating systems
• Red Hat currently controls an estimated seventy percent of the Linux market in the U.S.
• This book gives experienced and first-time Fedora users sixty concise, step-by-step, timesaving techniques to help them perform tasks with Fedora more efficiently
• Organized by topic, the techniques are presented in the friendly, easy-to-understand For Dummies style, with a minimum of technical jargon
• The techniques run the gamut of end-user, system administration, and development tasks, ranging from desktop, file system, RPM, and database tips to Internet server, e-mail server, networking, system monitoring, security, and Linux kernel tricks
• Covers the latest release of Red Hat's Fedora Core distribution

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan Douglas is the CEO of Conjectrix, Inc., a software consulting firm specializing in database- and security-related issues. When she’s not busy at the computer, Susan is probably throwing pottery, glassblowing, or horseback riding.

Korry Douglas is the Director of Research and Development for Appx Software. When he’s not working on computers, he’s making elegant sawdust in the woodshop.
Together, they are the coauthors of Red Hat Linux Fedora Desktop For Dummies and PostgreSQL.
Susan and Korry enjoy life on a farm in rural Virginia where they raise horses and small livestock. They both telecommute, so they have more time to spend with their 200 or so animal friends. If they’re not at home, they’re out riding roller coasters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (August 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764571737
• ISBN-13: 978-0764571732
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,427,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely not a title for dummies or beginners..., February 25, 2005

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Linux Timesaving Techniques For Dummies (Paperback)

Even though it's a bit beyond where I am right now with Linux, I was impressed with Susan Douglas and Korry Douglas's book Linux Timesaving Techniques For Dummies (Wiley). There are a lot of gems found in these pages...

Chapter List: Making The Desktop Work for You; Getting the Most from Your File System; Good Housekeeping with Linux; Tweaking the Kernal on Your Linux System; Securing Your Workspace; Networking Like a Professional; Monitoring Your System; Serving Up the Internet and More; Backing Up Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry; Programming Tricks; The Scary (Or Fun!) Stuff; Index

In many ways, this reminds me of a Hacks-style book. There are 62 techniques outlined here that you can use to make sure your system is running at peak efficiency or to save you time during normal administration chores. It's targeted for Fedora Core 2, SuSe, and Mandrake, so if you're running one of those distributions, you should be able to benefit from the information. So what are some of the techniques? #44 helps you get a MySQL server up and running quickly. #24 helps you learn how to customize your Linux kernel if you're really into that sort of thing. #22, Spring Cleaning Essentials, is also very beneficial both from an efficiency standpoint (fewer active processes) and a security standpoint (fewer potential paths into your system). All the tips are like this... very practical, and well documented.

And if you've had the impression that Dummies titles are majorly dumbed down, this volume will squelch that opinion. There's nothing in this book that pertains to "dummies". I consider this a good read for someone who has a few months of active Linux experience under their belt, and they want to start exploring a few topics that start to wander from just the basic commands. I'll be keeping this one with the rest of my Linux titles, and hopefully about six months from now I'll realize the full benefit from it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only for Dummies book I own, December 20, 2004

By 

Carlos F. S. Antunes "Scheidecker" (Scheidecker) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Linux Timesaving Techniques For Dummies (Paperback)

Usually I always walk away from books titled for Dummies. Mostly because I have been using Linux for some time and I do low level linux C programming and sys admin. I have to respect the work of the book's authors, it is neat and very good. I am sure that this book will help a lot of folks to use Linux and realize how powerfull it is. Best of all, doing it without wasting time.

If you are a Linux beginner you will find this book quite enlighting, if you are a Linux user chances are you will find usefull stuff inside. Also, this is not an expensive book.

Do realize I have never met the authors and I am not associated to them.

The other comments before are from the Authors and from a editor. Hey, it is not a crime to vote for yourself, isn it?

Kudos to the Douglas!

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book for some great Linux Tips!, November 15, 2004

By 

Terry Collings - See all my reviews

This review is from: Linux Timesaving Techniques For Dummies (Paperback)

I was the technical editor of this book and I can say without a doubt that this book is great. I have been using Linux for many years and have written several Linux books so I have a good grasp of Linux. I was amazed at the information I discovered reading this book and how useful it was to me.

I have used many of the techniques in this book on my home systems as well as the servers I run at work. Many of the techniques are real time savers for some everyday administrative tasks, while others are useful for maximizing your system's performance. I highly recommend this book!