Ubuntu Kung Fu: Tips, Tricks, Hints, and Hacks [Paperback]

Keir Thomas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1934356220 | ISBN-13: 978-1934356227 | Publication Date: September 30, 2008 | Edition: 1

Ubuntu builds on a solid base of Debian Linux to create an award-winning operating system that's light-years ahead of its competitors. Ubuntu consistently tops lists of the most popular Linuxes amongst professionals and enthusiasts; Dell recently embraced Ubuntu in its product lines after a user survey indicated overwhelming public support.

Ubuntu Kung Fu provides hints, hacks, tweaks and tricks for every level of user. Guaranteed to be free of the usual dross that fills tips books, Ubuntu Kung Fu is written to be entertaining and, above all, readable. Its 300+ concise tips utilize and exploit hidden or lesser-known features to boost day-to-day productivity. You'll also find tips on tweaking Ubuntu, wrangling the system into shape, optimizing, enhancing security, and lots more. Learn what extraordinary things can be done with Ubuntu.

Written with the migrating Windows or Mac OS X user in mind, Ubuntu Kung Fu avoids the usual Linux/Unix folklore that can send most of us to sleep. The tips have one aim--to produce results as quickly as possible, in an environment where the reader can polish their skills as they read. This is the Linux book for the rest of us.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Keir Thomas is an award-winning author with over ten computing books to his name. A former computer magazine editor, his work has been published and translated around the world, and he has blogged professionally for the MacWorld and PCWorld websites. He previously wrote the best-selling Ubuntu Kung Fu for Pragmatic Bookshelf.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf; 1 edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934356220
• ISBN-13: 978-1934356227
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Become a Ubuntu Kung Fu master!, November 16, 2008

By 

Adam Barrett (SL, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ubuntu Kung Fu: Tips, Tricks, Hints, and Hacks (Paperback)

The book was written for version 8.04 of Ubuntu, but will work great with 8.10 too! While reading and reviewing the book, you ought to have a machine nearby to test the hacks and hints. They are absolutely amazing. There are over 300 tips in the book, and each is a gem in its own right. The tips range rom optimizing the speed of your machine, to GUI hacks, hardware, messing with media, security enhancements, and system administration.

The table of contents is really great too! First it list each hack/tip in order of the book, then it shows you the tips organized into groups of topics, system admin, security, etc. Also each tip has information on getting to the next tips that are related.

Truly this book is for anyone who is using Ubuntu who hasn't been working with the code directly and would like to know more about the OS and what it can do.

Just after reading the first few tips I was able to reduce the boot times on my laptop from minute and twenty seconds to under thirty seconds. I was also able to accurately graph the results of these changes by installing and using bootchart, a tip from the Ubuntu Kung Fu book.

If you are looking for a good book to help you enhance your understanding of Linux and Ubuntu, this is the book, get it now at Amazon, or from the Pragmatic Bookshelf.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get your black belt in Ubuntu Kung Fu!, January 5, 2009

By 

Lorin Ricker (Franktown, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ubuntu Kung Fu: Tips, Tricks, Hints, and Hacks (Paperback)

As I've noted elsewhere (see below), I've been a sucker for "Tips & Tricks" and "Annoyances" books for many years. Keir Thomas's book is, for me, a best-of-breed entry in this genre. He tackles user-level (not coder) problems and perspective, and brings Ubuntu Linux advice, techniques and tips not found elsewhere.

The book is organized into only three chapters: After an introductory chapter, one finds "2 An Ubuntu Administration Crash Course" to be a cogent and useful primer, one of the best of this sort I've found so far. The focus here is on helping with the transition from Windows to Linux/Ubuntu, and it succeeds as a quick orientation for the less experienced "system non-administrator."

The meat is all in "3 The Tips", of which there are exactly 315. One can indeed "start reading them anywhere," as they're arranged in purely random order. But there's much of value here -- I found well over 120 that I had to highlight, either for immediate application to my Ubuntu system, or to return to later. That's not a bad return on investment!

Minor grousing about the order of tip presentation aside, I think this book is nearly an exemplar of its kind, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has become, or is becoming, an Ubuntu Linux user and enthusiast. It usefully helps bridge the gap between the Microsoft Windows experience and the not-so-different world of the Linux desktop. It provides ample practical help and knowledge to advance your productive use of Ubuntu Linux.

[...]

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, November 25, 2008

By 

Annie Jean Brewer "Annienygma" (Western Ky, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ubuntu Kung Fu: Tips, Tricks, Hints, and Hacks (Paperback)

Ubuntu Kung Fu: Tips, Tricks, Hints, and Hacks

I have read a lot of linux books over the years, and this is one of the first that I really enjoyed. It is set up for both newbie and guru alike, crammed with tips and tricks, arranged in a way that you can just browse and pick, or use it kinda like a Ubuntu cookbook, if you will.

I ended up reading it cover to cover, picking and choosing my favorites and immediately implementing them upon my linux machines, and marking my favorites for my next install.

I definitely recommend this book for both novice and expert alike, it is a breath of fresh air when compared to those linux books that seem obsessed with the installation of linux and tend to forget about the neat stuff...