Customer Reviews

Point & Click Linux!

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

A good book for those of us who are new to Linux by way of SimplyMepis. The author chose to approach this one, not so much as a step-by-step guide, but more like a general parts manual that summarizes what you get when you install SimplyMepis, or run it as a Live CD. I was a little disappointed with the relative lack of general purpose information about the Linux operating system itself, basic stuff like an acronym glossary, for example. Or how about telling me what those cryptic three letter file directories contain? But I suppose there are many other books out there which cover that kind of material in detail. This, however, is the only book that I came across on the shelves that dealt specifically with SimplyMepis, which makes it well worth owning if you're a Linux newbie like me.

On the other hand, there really isn't much in the book that an experienced Windows user couldn't figure out on their own by simply pointing and clicking, as the title implies. In fact, the book seems to be aimed primarily at making Windows users feel comfortable about taking the Linux plunge. And that's a good thing! The instructional DVD is a nice touch, and the SimplyMepis CD is good to own, as well, especially if you don't have high-speed Internet access for downloading directly from Mepis.Org (downloading the 600+ meg .iso file on dial-up really isn't a good idea, LOL!). The CD/DVD bundle in combination with the well-writtten book makes this an attractive package for anyone who is looking to explore alternatives to Windows.

I think this book has the right idea but it is not executed well. I have some computer knowledge and as advertised the CD did boot. But the CD was not complete or was defective and some of the programs, open office for one, just would not boot properly. I installed the Linux version that came with the CD but without the main applications, the install was worthless. Also, I tried for many hours to connnect to my ISP using the KPPP and although they were helpful, I was unable to connect. The book was not at all helpful in my efforts to troubleshoot the problem. I even purchased a new modem that is Linux compatable ($50). Then I tried changing the script using the old hayes commands and was able to dial and make contact but it just could not engage the handshake. I then contacted othters who had purchase Point and Click Linux and they were having the same problems. Yes, after many hours and even days, this book and the Linux version on its CD still is not working and it is, to me, worthless. Don't buy it if you want to install Linux and use it productively unless you are very knowledgeable with Operating Systems.
Gene

Most of the glowing reviews for this book seem actually to be reviews of the included SimplyMEPIS CD. Of course, you can download this CD for free or order it online for a much lower price than this book - or get Ubuntu, which is the Linux I'd most recommend. My review will focus on the book.

The Linux desktop has made great advances in "user-friendliness" in the past few years and certainly lives up to the promise of this book's title. In fact, that's the problem with this book: nearly everything this book explains, you'd be able to figure out on your own by clicking around the desktop a bit and reading the free documentation that Linux distributions provide. My mother managed just fine that way and she makes no claim to Linux-guru status. When I asked her to look through the book to see if she might find anything helpful, she was unimpressed. However, she did say that it all seemed very clearly written for a non-technical audience.

Linux newbies may feel a sense of security by having a book handy to help them through any rough patches and this book will do that, but I suspect after a week or two, the book will be gathering dust.

I'd have given this four stars, but the DVD, which would have made this book an even better "security blanket" was way too brief and repeatedly referred the user to the book. It would have been better for a book of this sort - one aimed at newbies and technophobes - to have covered things like installation and using various applications in the video format. Apparently, you can download more videos online, but I know a lot more would have fit onto the DVD.

Addendum: I realize that people new to GNU/Linux (or "Linux" for short) may not know HOW to download a CD image or where to buy a CD cheaply, so my reference to that may not be helpful. I don't want to advertise on this site, so I'd recommend a google search for something like "linux cds sale" to find many of the places that will ship you a GNU/Linux CD for a very low price. And you don't have to get SimplyMEPIS or (my recommendation) Ubuntu. http://distrowatch.com/ will give you an idea of the wealth of options out there. Their recommended sites will also provide you with sources from which to order.

This isn't an alternative way to purchase the book "Point and Click Linux", so I doubt Amazon.com will object. And besides, the book itself may be useful to many users.

SimplyMepis (the variety of Linux that comes with this book) is both full-featured and friendly enough to recommend to non-expert computer users, and Point and Click Linux is the same way: plenty to get you started, but presented in a way that's casual and helpful rather than overwhelming.

If you're curious about trying "that Linux thing," and are comfortable enough to start up Microsoft Word on a machine running Windows, you're ready for this book. (Which not only costs much less than a single upgrade-only, OEM copy of Windows, but comes with scads more software than Windows does, including graphics programs, the OpenOffice.org suite -- roughly comparable to Microsoft Office, media players, buckets of games, and utilities of all kinds.)

Note that you don't have to give up a computer to experiment with Linux; Live CDs (SimplyMepis is one of the many Live CDs out there) let you run the whole OS from your CD or DVD drive; it costs a bit of speed (optical drives are slower than hard drives), but it means that until you're up to speed and really ready to drop the bundle of inconveniences called Windows, you can go on living with all the Spyware, pop-ups and email worms you can eat. (You just need a relatively recent, Windows-type PC -- last 3 or 4 years should work fine -- with a recommended minimum of 256MB of RAM. 128MB might work too, but more is always better.) By running from your CD drive, you can also ascertain whether any of your hardware is Windows-limited (some modems and printers, in particular, are dependent on Windows-specific driver software) before using the ultra-easy installation software.

Highly recommended!

If you've been waiting for the right moment to make the change to Linux, and if you've had it with Windows patches, security flaws, and the general Microsoft attitude/lock-in, you cannot go wrong with Robin's book. I mean, all the heavy lifting is already done for you -- all you have to do is this: Go get some coffee, sit down and follow the step-by-step, literally point-and-click, instructions. The book title tells it as it is: no hidden agendas here. How much easier can it get? Answer: Not much.

Plus, you get the actual Linux operating system disk and a DVD instruction disk, in addition to the easy-to-follow instructions from the author himself. Roblimo really does have a knack for boiling down complex terminology into language that just about anybody can understand.

The fact is, the world is slowly but surely (in some cases, not so slowly) looking at better ways to run computers. You should be in the know also. This book is a great introduction to this new wave of computing.

Robin Miller's book made linux very easy to understand, plus it comes with an up-to-date, fully functional version of linux. The examples were a piece of cake to follow and because of this book, I've already ditched Windows for good!

"Point & Click Linux" makes it clear that, in Warren Woodford's MEPIS, a truly functional desktop Linux has finally been achieved. In both the book and the DVD the author comes across as a thoroughly and disarmingly competent doofus who finds using MEPIS so much fun and so satisfying that he can't refrain from sharing it with the world. If this book and MEPIS had been available when I first started trying to use Linux six years ago I would probably now believe that only other operating systems cause frustration.

As the title implies, the book's emphasis is on using Linux through its graphical interface (KDE) and on getting useful things done quickly and easily, not on the gritty details of just how Linux works "under the hood". The DVD covers essentially the same material in almost the same way as the book, and thus provides effective reinforcement of the book's text. In fact, people who learn better by seeing and doing than by just reading will find the DVD an immense help.

There are people who appear to enjoy learning by trial and error; they probably should not bother with this book. Those of us who hate trial and error for its grievous waste of time and energy will welcome this book's guiding us past at least 90% of the available errors.