Point & Click Linux! [Paperback]

Robin Miller (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0131488724 | ISBN-13: 978-0131488724 | Publication Date: November 19, 2004

This book is a simple, highly illustrated introduction to the Linux Desktop forWindows users. It is filled with screenshots and short, easy-to-followdescriptions that teach readers how to replace common Windows programswith user-friendly Linux equivalents. It covers a wide range of topics includingemail, web-browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, slide presentations,graphics, instant messaging, digital photography, digital music, CD burning,personal finance, games and more. Readers can actually watch Miller do all ofthis with the integrated videos on DVD. And the "Point and Click Linux"guarantee ensures that readers will have Linux up and runningin 5 minutes with the bootable Mepis Linux CD.Leo Laporte will write the Forward and provide a cover endorsement.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Robin's book will show you the benefits of switching to Linux immediately. Your computer will run faster and more reliably than you ever believed possible. Surfing the net will no longer be an exercise in paranoia. And you'll discover a whole new world of powerful, free software that can run rings around the programs available for Windows."

From the Foreword by Leo Laporte, Host of Call for Help on G4TechTV Canada and The Tech Guy on KFI 640 AM Los Angeles

The perfect gift for that Linux beginner in your life!

Have Linux up and running in 5 minutes or less with the incredible SimplyMEPIS bootable CD-ROM

Easy-to-follow videos on DVD

Linux made easy... incredibly easy!

Tired of Windows viruses, spyware, licensing hassles, and high costs? Try Linux!

Not sure Linux is up to the job? It is. Not sure you can learn Linux? You can. Linux expert and Open Source Developers' Network (OSDN) editor-in-chief, Robin "Roblimo" Miller, will teach you Linux the easy way: using the point-and-click skills you already have!

With the bootable SimplyMEPIS Linux software included on CD, you'll be running Linux in 5 minutes...no formatting, no partitioning, no technical hassles... just insert the CD, reboot your computer, and you're ready to go!!!

You don't need to be a computer expert! With Roblimo's step-by-step instructions and how-to videos, you'll master everything from word processing to the Web and email, instant messaging to CD burning... you name it.

Linux has never been this easy, this productive, or this much fun!

• Navigate Linux visually, the easy way, with KDE

• Get on the Web, send email, even build your own Web sites

• Create Microsoft Office-compatible documents with OpenOffice.org

• Instant-message and chat with all your friends—no matter what network they're on

• Import, edit, and manage your digital photos

• Burn CDs and DVDs

• Play the world's best open source games

• Download all the free software you'll ever need

• Coexist easily with Windows users

CD-ROM AND DVD-ROM INCLUDED

• CD features SimplyMEPIS Linux: start running Linux in 5 minutes, and get all the software you need to be productive!

• DVD features Roblimo explaining all you need to know in bite-sized video tutorials. All the Linux skills you really need are covered here... just watch, and do!

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

About the Author

About the Author

Robin "Roblimo" Miller started writing professionally in 1983 as a freelance reporter and feature writer in Baltimore, Maryland. He first wrote about Linux in 1997, and by 1998 he was a full-time Linux user, working as a reporter, columnist, and editor for Andover News Network, which later become the OSTG (Open Source Technology Group) division of VA Software.

Roblimo, as he has been known online since the mid-1990s, was one of the first reporters to cover the Linux phenomenon. He has spoken at computing and Internet conferences in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, India, Trinidad, Jordan, and at least a dozen U.S. states. He's been "the computer expert" for the award-winning Rise and Shine morning show on Baltimore's WJZ TV, and has been a guest on many radio and several cable TV talk shows.

Point & Click Linux! is Roblimo's second book. His first, The Online Rules of Successful Companies, was published by FT Prentice Hall in 2002. He has written over 2000 articles for various newspapers, magazines, and Web sites on topics including Linux (of course!), child support, college campus drug use, metallurgy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), software development, telemarketing, crime prevention, tax policy, online business, TV news reporting, taxi driving, and political shenanigans.

Before becoming a full-time writer and editor, Roblimo worked as a limo owner/driver (hence "Roblimo"), taxi driver, electronics technician, soldier, and auto mechanic. He is currently editor in chief of OSTG, and lives with his wife, the artist Deborah Miller, in Bradenton, Florida.

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (November 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131488724
• ISBN-13: 978-0131488724
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK for a one-time read and introduction to desktop Linux, January 16, 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: Point & Click Linux! (Paperback)

If you have never been exposed to Linux and you'd like to see what it's all about, you might want to check out Point & Click Linux! by Robin Miller. It's a high-level intro to Linux using a bootable Linux CD.

Chapter List: What You Can Do with Linux; Running the SimplyMepis CD; Working with Linux: KDE and KWrite; Installing MEPIS Linux on Your Hard Drive; KPPP - Easy Modem Dialer Application; Mozilla: Your Key to the Internet; Setting Up and Using Mozilla E-mail; Mozilla Web Browser; Making Web Pages with Mozilla; Introduction to OpenOffice.org: Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Slide Presentations, Graphics, and More; OpenOffice.org Writer; OpenOffice.org Presenter; OpenOffice.org Draw; OpenOffice.org Calc: Spreadsheets; OpenOffice.org, Microsoft Office, and StarOffice; CheckBook Tracker - Simple Bookkeeping with Linux; Kopete - IM, IRC, and General Chat; gFTP - An Easy, Powerful FTP Program; K3B - Easy CD Burning Program; The Gimp - Full-featured Graphics Application; Digikam - Importing and Organizing Digital Photos; Games! - Amusements Included with the SimplyMepis CD; Other SimplyMEPIS Applications; Downloading and Installing Software; Cooperating with Windows; Customizing Linux; Dipping a Toe Into the Command-line Waters; Joining the Linux Community; Guide to Other Popular Linux Distributions; Books that Can Help You Become More Proficient with Linux; About MEPIS and the SimplyMEPIS CD; Index

As you can see, this book attempts to cover an enormous amount of ground in 255 pages. And that's probably why I have a problem with how to rate this book...

On the positive side, if you've never had any exposure to Linux and you're wondering why it's getting so much attention, this book will help. Since it focuses on the desktop environment and the common productivity applications you'd use within Windows, the average user who wants to know what they can *do* with Linux. There are lots of screen prints, and you have all the software included in the CD that's included with the book. On the flip side, it's *very* high-level and superficial because it covers so much. Once you've read through the book and tried out the CD, you may not ever open the book again. There's not enough to be a reference guide, and you'll be able to grasp the material on first pass.

Based on what you're after, this may or may not be a good book. For pure introduction to desktop Linux, this book will help a lot. Once you've read the information (here or somewhere else), there's not much new here.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last, A Simple Distribution, December 1, 2004

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Point & Click Linux! (Paperback)

It's about time. Linux has been the tekkies choice for operating systems for some time. But making it to the desktop is necessary before it can really grow up. Finally, people are beginning to put together simple to install systems that don't take a lot of reading about strange acronyms.

This book uses MEPIS. It's software on a CD that just like the title says you point and click. You put the MEPIS CD in a PC and in a few minutes you have a graphical screen asking you just a few questions (and in English) and then you have a graphical (I hate to, but I've got to use the word) window in front of you.

No the screen isn't exactly like the other Windows, but it's fairly recognizable. You have a bunch of icons on the screen that correspond to the programs that were automatically installed on the system. Unlike Big Windows, MEPIS comes with most of the applications you'll need for traditional desktop use. This includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentation programs, graphics programs, etc. It does not include a full distribution with things like web server, database and so on, but you can install them yourself.

For you tekkies, MEPIS uses the Debian distribution, with KDE, and OpenOffice. Because Linux changes so often, instructions are included on how to go to various web sites and get the latest version.

This book has literally everything you need to get Linux running on your desktop in about five minutes. Great idea that's been a long time coming.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Promising, but some flaws in the execution, March 12, 2005

By 

R. Lodato "grey geek" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Point & Click Linux! (Paperback)

One of the roadblocks to the proliferation of Linux to personal desktops is the perceived difficulty in installing and using Linux. Robin 'Roblimo' Miller addresses the novice Linux user with his book Point & Click Linux!, published by Prentice Hall PTR. The book comes with both a distribution of SimplyMEPIS Linux on a bootable CD and a DVD with tutorials featuring Roblimo himself. Robin is the Editor in Chief for the Open Source Technology Group.
Point & Click Linux! takes a simple, top-of-the-trees format to get readers involved in Linux enough to be interested, but not so much as to make them afraid of the potential complexities. After a brief rundown of the types of things a casual user can do with Linux, Robin takes the reader through the process of running SimplyMEPIS from the CD. After a short overview of KDE and KWrite, Roblimo launches into the installation process. SimplyMEPIS is designed to install quickly and easily, and it's shown by the fact that only 9 pages needs to be devoted to the instructions.
The second section's 19 chapters provide instructions on the more commonly used programs in bite-sized pieces. The only downside is that each of them is so short (the longest is 12 pages) that not much is said. Most of the chapters in this section do little more than show you a couple of features of the program and point you to the help file, user guide, or web site. In many cases, the instructions for actually starting the program are missing from the book. It turns out that the accompanying DVD gives you the rest of the information. You really need to both read the book and view the DVD to get all the information to actually get some use of the programs.
The third and final section of the book covers the miscellaneous topics of downloading and installing new software, customizing your Linux, cooperating with Windows machines, and using the command line in its simplest form. Again, each chapter only touches on a few salient points and leaves the rest for you to research.
Roblimo has written a large number of columns for numerous publications and web sites. However, he is not a very accomplished video personality. He appears to have wanted to use a light-hearted approach on the DVD. Unfortunately, I didn't like the goofy-guy approach he took. The content of what he was saying was just fine, but I spent more time thinking how amateurish it looked than focusing on what he was saying. It was a good idea in general, but it needs polish.
Overall, Point & Click Linux! is a good book for the first-time Linux user to read so they can get their feet wet, but I feel too much was left out, forcing the reader to go elsewhere. With the application section, it would have been better if the book covered how to start the program and do the basics of what the program was designed for and the other interesting features could have been put on the DVD. That way the book would remain a comfortably small size, but it would have information a novice user would want at hand.
Point & Click Linux! by Robin 'Roblimo' Miller is a wonderful idea executed in just a middling fashion. It definitely has an audience, but some revision is needed to bring out the full potential of bringing simple Linux to the casual user. Overall, I had to rate this a 2 out of 5. It has many good topics but not enough depth, and a DVD that needs cleaning up and better production quality.