LINUX: Installation, Configuration, Use (Paperback)

by Michael Kofler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Like many of its competitors, Kofler's book opens with instructions for installing Red Hat Linux 4.1 (included on the companion CD-ROM and unfortunately obsolete) and solving the problems that often accompany the procedure. Kofler then gets you started in the language with a quick tour of key Linux routines. From there, he discusses X Windows and the bash shell. Internet services get their due, but programming gets little space beyond a cursory nod at tcl/tk.

This book differentiates itself with its great coverage of LaTeX--a feature not found in other texts. Kofler explores font issues and problems associated with rendering advanced math symbols.

If you know Linux for Dummies is sort of what you want, but you fear that it'll be too basic, Linux is appropriate for you. Kofler's book patiently covers all the material in the Dummies book and more, without the gewgaws that some find annoying in the Dummies books.

Product Description
If you are looking for one book to teach you all the basics of Linux, from installation and usage to simple programming, then this is the book for you. Linux: Installation, Configuration and Use will get you up and running with Linux quickly and effectively, cutting out time-consuming installation problems and searches for on-line documentation. Whether you are a Systems Administrator or a Linux novice, this book will provide you with a cohesive, authoritative introduction to Linux handling.

Divided into four separate parts, progressing from introduction to installation and implementation, this practical, hands-on guide will help you: understand your Linux system and configure it to your own requirements; connect to the Internet in order to read and write email and news, transfer data using ftp or surf the World Wide Web; learn to program under Linux using bash (the standard shell) and Tcl/Tk; become proficient in Emacs and LaTeX; and gain an understanding of the various Linux distributions, including RedHat 4.1, Slackware 3.1, Caldera and SuSE 4.4 through a comprehensive set of appendices.

A series of icons alert you to potential problem areas, indicating possible error sources and highlighting time-saving tips and short-cuts. A further icon will notify you of on-line support and point you in the right direction whatever your particular problem.

The accompanying CD-ROM contains a complete Linux system - Redhat 4.1. This book will teach you all you need to know in order to install, configure and use it. Also provided are the entire kernel sources for version 2.0.29 and 2.1.28 as well as an extensive collection of on-line documentation, part of which can be read prior to installation via a Windows web browser.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 677 pages
• Publisher: Longman Pub Group; Bk&CD Rom edition (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201178095
• ISBN-13: 978-0201178098
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,425,092 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars right to the point - no fat, October 8, 1999

By A Customer

Very similiar in style to "Running Linux" by O'reilly (3rd edition) - In fact, these two books are complementary. I recommend buying both (I did). Many topics in one are not in the other. Together the make a very good and complete set.

They both share the same writing style - they cut right to the point, tell you exactly what you need to know and cover a lot of topics at a good level of expertise. If you know computers then these books are fine - you won't be wasting your time on general issues (like what a mouse does). If you want to configure SAMBA - Boom, done. If you want to set up lilo, boom, done. If you aren't a reasonable computer user, then you shouldn't be starting with linux.

If you know NT or a little linux, then these two books will cover almost everything just fine. The only thing they don't do is give specific references to each and every shell command or utility. You get a good overview of the important ones, and the man pages will be fine after that, but you could always buy a shell/programming reference.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for getting started with Linux, March 1, 2000

By	David Olszewski - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: LINUX, Second Edition: Installation, Configuration, and Use (Paperback)

This book was an invaluable resource as I installed and set up Linux on my 7 year old PC. Despite my older hardware, the book seemed to anticipate each difficulty and quirk I encountered and provided me with the answers I needed.

The book does a good job of providing succinct but relatively complete explanations of common installation and configuration tasks. I have some experience with Unix, although previously had none with Linux. What I greatly appreciated about this book is the degree of description provided. I've generally found many beginner books (such as the "For Dummies" series) tend to be overly wordy and simplistic. Slightly more advanced texts often end up being more complete but often are dry and short on providing a general overview of key ideas. I think this book does an excellent job of holding the middle ground. I was able to both sit down and read entire sections of the book for better understanding of key concepts or use it as a basic resource to answer quick questions that I had.

I highly recommend this book if you're looking for something to guide you through installation and configuration of Linux, especially if you already have some degree of familiarity with Unix or Linux.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good., November 29, 1999

By	Kieran Healy (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LINUX, Second Edition: Installation, Configuration, and Use (Paperback)

I suppose I'm an "intermediate beginner" on Linux: I know a good deal about Windows and have used Unix systems at work. I bought this book to help me set up Caldera OpenLinux 2.3 on my home machine. (Caldera isn't explicitly covered by this book, but I haven't found this to be a problem yet.) The book is well written, internally cross-referneced in an intelligent way, and very informative. I went and got it because I had two problems --- one with Internet access, the other with mounting a hard drive. I browsed the books at the local B&N store for a solution. This was the only one that answered both questions right away, so I got it.