Customer Reviews

Setting Up a Linux Intranet Server Visual Black Book: A Complete Visual Guide to Building a LAN Using Linux as the OS

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I purchased this book knowing that there is a wealth of quality information available for free about Linux, but I was hoping that this would be a convenient reference documenting a variety of services authoritatively.

Sadly, this book is riddled with an apalling number of factual errors, near constant misleading comments, and nigh-unreadably strained English. The factual errors for the most part won't get the reader into trouble right away (though there are some worrying errors), but this added to the cookbook approach can provide either a dangerous feeling of adequacy or a voodoo approach to system administration - "I just did it this way because the book told me to".

I cannot encourage people to buy this book; it is very inconsistent in practices, it gives directions without rationale, and it gives no pointers to places where adequate documentation can be found.

I would give this book negative stars if I could, as I consider this book harmful to some and useful to none.

This book is really cool w/lots of Info and nice visual format. It covers pretty much everything from basic Linux to managing Linux operations and security. It also has easy-to-understand-diagrammed explanations which approach is quite unique. If you want something different to understand Linux, try this book.

I'm glad I didn't read the reviews before getting this book. I needed to get Linux running first, then I'd learn it later. This book works exactly as planned. Pictures step you through getting Samba to work, and I took an old 486 and made it work on our network. Now I've got a box on which I can learn Linux, and it's already useful on my network.

This computer user manual is a visual treasure, full of wealth of hands on, easy to follow, non-nonsense instructions on getting a Linux operating system up and running on a Local Area Network. Functionality, wonderfully diagramed procedures and ease of use are the strengths of this book.

This book is really cool w/lots of Info and nice visual format. It covers pretty much everything from basic Linux to managing Linux operations and security. It also has easy-to-understand-diagrammed explanations which approach is quite unique. If you want something different to understand Linux, try this book.

I think the map metaphor is appropriate here: We want to get to point B; a simple map shows us the way. Does that mean we don't check our oil, inquire about road conditions, ask friends about traffic, etc.? I think not, and this book does NOT tell us to follow blindly. What it does is show that Linux server setup is NOT rocket science, and will get simpler as the distros mature. These self-styled gurus are puzzle phreaks, not problem solvers.

Why any other publishers never had this approach on Linux before? I strongly recommend this book.

1) The authors failed to acknowledge the different versions of Windows (Win95/98 & NT) which can have quite different setups.

2) There is no such thing as "Linux has built-in stability and security..."

3) Linux is not "only" a server OS, we use it on desktop everyday.

4) ...just because computers are connected by a LAN does not classifies it as an "intranet"

5) TCP/IP is NOT the most common method to network PCs on a LAN -- Ethernet is.

The publisher claims "guarantee" on their technical accuracy. If this is the best they can do, I'll be very careful buying another Coriolis's book. The authors failed to understand what an intranet server really does, the book title is misleading.

Pros: earn 1 star for pretty pictures, but if you are serious about learning Linux this book "won't" give you a good start.