Linux For Dummies, 7th Edition (Paperback)

by Dee-Ann LeBlanc (Author) "Welcome to the world of Linux, the operating system developed by over a thousand people around the world!..." (more)
Key Phrases: Fedora Core, Microsoft Windows, Red Hat (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
If you've ever wondered whether the Linux penguin knew something you should know, here's where to find out. This plain-English guide walks you through installing Linux, using the desktop and tools like OpenOffice.org, securing your system, and more. You even get to check out seven different Linux flavors and pick the one you like best.

Discover how to:

• Prepare your computer and install Linux.
• Choose and set up software.
• Connect to the Internet.
• Explore Skype® phone service.
• Use the GNOME and KDE desktops.
• Work with multimedia tools.

Includes a DVD with the full Fedora Core and Knoppix distributions plus ISO images of the other distributions.

From the Back Cover
Use the DVD to sample Linux without installing

Pick a flavor and see what this stable, economical operating system can do!

If you've ever wondered whether the Linux penguin knew something you should know, here's where to find out. This plain-English guide walks you through installing Linux, using the desktop and tools like OpenOffice.org, securing your system, and more. You even get to check out seven different Linux flavors and pick the one you like best.

Discover how to

• Prepare your computer and install Linux
• Choose and set up software
• Connect to the Internet
• Explore Skype® phone service
• Use the GNOME and KDE desktops
• Work with multimedia tools

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 422 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; Pap/Dvdr edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471752827
• ISBN-13: 978-0471752820
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #192,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 7 Distributions, including Ubuntu, July 8, 2006

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

I know, I know! I should have at least tried Linux by now. But I hadn't. Then I found this book. Among all of the books on Linux at the book store, this one said, here's seven different distributions of Linux that you can install. Furthermore, in Chapter 4 it had 35 pages describing the different distributions. Why, for instance, would I want to install Xandros, Mandriva or SuSE instead of the Fedora (Red Hat) core. (Although I did find it a little strange that Debian wasn't discussed. But with 300+ distributions to choose from you have to cut it off somewhere.)

Although this is a 'For Dummies' book, it isn't for the complete 'Dummy.' You should have some idea about setting your BIOS to boot from DVD, some idea about what particians are (or use an old PC and dedicate it to Linux - recommended) and so on.

Finally this book is primarily concerned with the operating system itself. Linux comes with tons of applications programs. If you want to learn about Open Office or other packages, that's a different book. But in learning about the operating system, not bad at all.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I will never get this time back, August 8, 2007

By	Geoffry Brown (Union City, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is terrible and makes no sense. Yes it is written in plain english and is easy to understand, but it tells you very little actually about linux. It spends time evangelizing about open systems, it spends time telling you about how to install linux from 7 different distributions. Ok the discussions of the 7 distributions were valuable for 1 chapter, maybe 2, but that was enough. It doesn't help you learn linux to have the instructions with 7 different nuances. Just say that there are these different distributions and why, then just work with the commonalities of Linux. Of the 400 pages of this book, maybe 100 were valuable.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars helpful book, January 15, 2008

By	M. Hanson (Helena, MT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has been a great reference for me, I didn't know anything about Linux before and now I am much better at it.