Red Hat Fedora Linux 3 Bible [Paperback]

Christopher Negus (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764578723 | ISBN-13: 978-0764578724 | Publication Date: January 21, 2005 | Edition: 1

* Offering step-by-step instructions for making Linux installation simple and painless, this valuable resource explains how to take advantage of the desktop interface and use the Linux shell, file system, and text editor
* Covers key system administration skills including setting up users, automating system tasks, backing up and restoring files, and understanding the latest security issues and threats
* Addresses using and customizing the desktop menus, icons, window manager, and xterm and how to create and publish formatted documents with Linux applications
* Features expanded coverage of LDAP, 2.6 Linux Kernel, Security Enhanced Linux, and new multimedia applications including new audio and video offerings
* The accompanying DVD contains the full version of Red Hat Linux, including all binary code packages and source code

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…best marriage of an OS and an in depth manual that you are likely to find…” (PC Utilities, August 2004) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

If Fedora Linux 3 can do it, you can do it too ...

Fedora Core 3 is Red Hat's most solid Fedora to date, including features destined for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4. Use Fedora Core 3, with the latest Linux technology, to set up a personal desktop, small business server, or programming workstation. This book will teach you the basics of using Fedora while covering some exciting new features, including Mozilla Firefox Web browser, Thunderbird e-mail client, k3b CD/DVD creator, and Security Enhanced Linux.

Inside, you'll find complete coverage of Fedora Linux 3

• Learn to install Fedora using DVD, network, kickstart, or new VNC install types
• Manage digital cameras, removable storage, CDs, DVDs, and hotpluggable hardware using the new GNOME volume manager
• Master tools for controlling junk e-mail (Evolution or Mozilla Mail), safely browsing the Web (Mozilla Firefox), and keeping out intruders (iptables firewall and PortSentry)
• Understand the latest Security Enhanced Linux features for administering highly secure systems
• Try out the new KDE 3.3, GNOME 2.8, and X.Org desktop features
• Take advantage of improved hardware support in the updated Linux 2.6 kernel

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1116 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764578723
• ISBN-13: 978-0764578724
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,028,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Negus has been one of the world's leading writers of Linux books for nearly a decade. His Red Hat Linux Bible series has sold more than one-quarter million copies worldwide. Chris also authored or coauthored the books Linux Bible (2005 through 2007 editions), Linux Toys, Linux Toys II, and Linux Troubleshooting Bible for Wiley Publishing. For Prentice Hall, Chris is the editor of the Negus Live Linux Series and author of that series' flagship book, Live Linux CDs. Before becoming a full-time author, Chris Negus worked on UNIX operating system development teams at AT&T Bell Labs, UNIX System Labs, and Novell in the 1980s and 1990s. In particular, Chris worked in the areas of UNIX system administration and networking. When not working on computer books, Chris likes to spend time with his family: Sheree, Seth, and Caleb. Chris also enjoys playing soccer, singing opera (when nobody can hear him), and making things out of old computers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent starting point, October 15, 2004

By 

thailine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Hat(r) Fedora Linux(r) 2 Bible (Paperback)

Negus' series of Red Hat/Fedora Bibles are, in my humble opinion, the best and possibly only place to start ***for an outstanding overview of what Linux can do.*** You may need specialized books to flesh out a specific need: an apache book, a sendmail book, mySQL, whatever. Then again, there's a good chance you won't unless you want to do something tricky. Negus walks you through, step by step, how to configure Red Hat/Fedora for pretty much anything it's capable of doing, albeit a ***basic*** configuration.

Advice for beginners. If you are a Microsoft user, stay a Microsoft user unless you have a compelling reason to change (money and stability are usually the two best reasons to change - and stability is debatable with XP), are comfortable with computers, are willing to read your butt off, and don't need specific applications that are only written for Microsoft. Always remember: ***in general***, computers do not make money. They just don't. They ***usually*** just make doing whatever it is you do to make money easier, i.e., they save time. If you want to learn, this is a great book with which to start.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In a word: wow, September 5, 2004

By 

Patrick Thompson (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Hat(r) Fedora Linux(r) 2 Bible (Paperback)

This enormous book is nothing short of excellent!

You get the four CD's of Fedora Core 2 included.

The book is full of succinct explanations of how to do a huge number of basic and not so basic tasks in configuring Fedora. The explanantions are logical, ordered and actually work really well. In addition there are tips and windows how-tos for connecting windows to various Fedora provided services such as file servers, print servers and so on.

I am really impressed with this book because it just what the average tinkering user wishing to escape the grip of Microsoft needs to get underway and free from closed source, proprietary OS's that cost jumbo dollars...for $35 you get a really robust, excellent OS (I run it on 2 computers: 1 file/print/database server and 1 desktop) that is fun to play around with and explore as well as 1100 pages of explanations on how to do most of things you'll probably ever need to do (some linux documentation can be obscure and not overly useful if you have to wade thru masses and masses of HTML pages looking for an explanation). It's not guru depth stuff for the most part, but puts you well and truly on the correct path to guru-ness if you wanna go that way. or alternatively, is a just plain excellent if you wanna enjoy a life free of Microsoft (it's a good feeling...!) I have both this and running Linux, O'Reilly (isbn 0596002726), and personally I think this is significantly better value because of its clear content, breadth and depth, clarity in explaining how to do things and you get the OS with it!

So come on...buy it, try it, take control of your PC away from Microsoft and put it back into your hands. Christopher Negus has a lot to tell us and teach us...

This book assumes nothing about your prowess or familiarity with PC's. If you can read and follow 10 step procedures, then you're in business. Sure, there are some pages on linux games, the desktop,publishing and multimedia and such that I consider a bit obvious, but they still cater for the total newbie I guess. So they can't be bad...but the remainer is all good stuff: particularly the 200-400 page sections on administering fedora, network and server set up. Masterful!

Overall: an excellent book that is well written, clear, concise, intertesting and a gateway to opening up your vision to a truly fine OS: Fedora. It's even funny at times, in a dry sort of way.

Previous version was a 2003 Best Linux Book as voted by readers of Linux World Magazine (so it says on the front)...

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Start on Moving to Linux, January 30, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Red Hat Fedora Linux 3 Bible (Paperback)

I find it strange to say that an eleven hundred page (plus) book is really only an introductory book. Unfortunately that's the truth. What you get here is a bunch of stuff. For one thing, you get the operating system itself. And while you can download the coftware free, you'd better be prepared for a pretty long wait, at 56K about a hundred hours for the four 650 MB image disks.

I say "introductory" because there are so many subsidiary packages included in the basic Linux distribution and these can be treated only superficially. For instance MySQL gets about 35 pages. This is enough to get the software up and running, and a little bit about the SQL language. But you're not going to be a power SQL programmer after just 35 pages, you've only touched the surface. And of course each other big area (Apache Web Server, Mail Server, LDAP and a whole lot of other sets of initials) has it's own set of books to expand on what's here.

But you've got to start somewhere, and here's a good place. Mr. Negus is a far better writer than many in the computer business. He's written this as a way to get started in moving to the Linux world. And at this he does a supurb job.