Red Hat Linux 6 Unleashed (Paperback)

by David Pitts (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Red Hat Linux 6 Unleashed ships with its eponymous operating system on CD-ROM. Based on that fact alone, you're ahead of the game in terms of cost when you buy this book. Way ahead, in fact, considering that this book contains some of the best printed documentation of the Red Hat distribution around. The team of authors covers installation, configuration, networking (including Internet connectivity and the Domain Name Service), system administration, and applications. There are introductory guides to programming with several languages--the sections on gawk, Python, Motif, and Tcl/Tk are the best of the group. Plus, there's a good Linux command reference.

Three kinds of people will like this book: those who want to install Linux for the first time, those who want to perform intermediate-level tasks (such as compiling a kernel or setting up a network), and experts looking for new information. The book's coverage of first-time installation takes a deliberate pace, pausing often to address potential problems. The kernel-building and network configuration sections are solid. The remainder of the book is packed with enough details about everything, including the Gnome windowing system and the K Desktop Environment (KDE), to keep the gurus happy. In short, this book ranks among the best Red Hat 6 manuals. --David Wall

Product Description
Red Hat Linux 6 Unleashed shows you how to install, configure, and manage version 6.0, the latest version of Red Hat operating system. Version 6.0 boasts the latest Linux kernel, a new and improved installation program, updated libraries and a host of other improvements. Learn how the operating system works from the inside out. The book covers everything from managing the installation processes to configuring the system as an Internet server. Extensive coverage of shells and shell programming is also covered, along with the programming tools and utilities that help the administrator and programmer perform their tasks more efficiently.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1252 pages
• Publisher: SAMS PUBLISHING; 1 edition (July 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672316897
• ISBN-13: 978-0672316890
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,870,787 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, perhaps not pretty, but useful., January 18, 2000

By	Dean Jefferson - See all my reviews

I purchased the book, read most of parts I & II andinstalled Linux on my PC using the CD ROM included. I had few problemsinstalling Red Hat Linux - Oracle 8i for Linux is another story... I agree that this book and Linux for that matter are not necessarily for nontechies. I am a techie with a background in programming, but a Linux newbie. I think some of the other reviewers need to lighten up. For this price I received a Linux distribution and more than enough information to get it installed and running. I am using the rest of the book as a reference for setting up services such as Samba file sharing and recompiling the kernel to accomodate Oracle's requirements.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you can only afford one Linux book ..., January 13, 2000

By	joe briggs (manchester, nh United States) - See all my reviews

If you can only afford one Linux book and you are running Redhat 6.0 or later, then this is definately the book to get. However, it still has a long way to go.

'Unleashed' is another one of those tomes that simply try to cover too much material in a single volume and don't seem to do any particular topic justice. I have a whole bookshelf of computer books that are each over 500 pages that I had to buy only because out of the entire book there was one sentence in one paragraph somewhere in the middle that had the tidbit of information that I needed.

These books simply have too much redundant and non-meaty stuff and too little of the really important stuff. For example, they cover installation, building the kernel, setting up NFS, the history of the internet and why you need DNS, how mail works and the different types of mail programs, how to connect to an ISP through PPP, how to write C, Perl, and Java programs, ... etc. Three things to consider here: (1) are all of those topics relative to me in the context of getting RH6.0 loaded and configured? (2) Are any of the relative topics covered in sufficient detail that I don't have to look further to complete my task? (3) Are there any glaring omissions or topics that are essential to cover in order to complete my installation and configuration?

The answer to the 1st question is absolutely not - there is no value whatsoever in including programing topics here. This is not the time nor place. I would rather buy a 2nd book on Linux programing and take about 2 lbs out of this one.

The 2nd question addresses the real meat of the problem: does the book address the relative topics in sufficient detail to get you up and running. This is where Unleashed stands above simular books (such as the O'Rielly version), but clearly doesn't go far enough. In general, I wish they would take the time and show you in detail how to use the X/GUI-version of Linuxconf - the primary configuration tool and single greatest strength of RH Linux, to demystify each major configuration evolution including building the Kernel. Here they are inconsitent and frustratingly vague. Sometimes they refer to the Linuxconf interface for a configuration evolution, sometimes they refer to the .conf files. Sometimes they simply print out a .conf file and don't offer any clarification.

Regarding question (3) they go into great detail about topics that you are not likely to encounter (such as setting up new user accounts or using command line mode to rebuild the kernel), but omit much needed information such as SAMBA troubleshooting checkpoints, potential NFS errors, an end-to-end example to configure the PPP daemon for dial-in support, or setting up a firewall via IPCHAINS or IP Masquerading.

In conlusion, I wanted to see a RH-specific book that focuses on how RH is distributed today as a GUI-oriented OS whose greatest features (if some author could please explain its use) is Linuxconf - a X/GUI application that is a single point COMPREHENSIVE configuration utility that can be run remotely. Specifically, I want a book that can walk me through these evolutions critical to getting a RH60 server or workstation up and running:

NETWORK CLIENT - configuring network adapters, multiple adapters, IP forwarding, routing (default gateway), DNS, mask, DHCP.

NETWORK SERVER - configuring a DNS server, mail (POP-3) server, dial-in PPP server, DHCP/BOOTP server, PXE server (important! ), SAMBA server. Provide insightful ways to debug or verify basic functionality - how to test that it is or is not working.

KERNEL BULDING - using the graphical 'make xconfig'. Special notes on building SMP (multi-processing) boxes. How to properly configure your LILO files, how to add SCSI support, how to add loadable modules, etc.

EXTRAS - Save the programing issues for another book!

In conclusion, Unleashed goes further and is more useful than other simular comprehensive Linux books. It does enter into using Linuxconf for system configuration but does not go into enough detail to be a true on-stop-source. It is unfortunate that the bulk of its content is redundant and not of importance to the system integrator who is likely to buy this book. I recommend that you do buy it, but you might have to buy others.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, Don't let the bad reviews fool you., December 15, 1999

By A Customer

A great book. I just read all the reviews, and I'm guessing most are by people who have no idea what they're doing. Ppl saying the book is not for Newbies apparently never read the book "Running a Perfect Website with Linux". This book is very detailed in exactly how to set up your system and get things off the ground. It is filled with information specific to this distribution of linux also, further helping Redhat 6.x users get moving without having to make them learn that not every distribution is the same. I've read several complaints here about ppl not liking there being any programming info in the book. Why would a newbie be setting up Linux if they won't be doing programming anyway? The info is only there to help you out. If you want a book that will help you set up linux at home or work so you can do what you want it for in the first place, you will love this book. If you want to buy linux because you've never used it before and want to give it a whirl, you may want to read up on it a little BEFORE you delve into the land where only gods can tread. It isn't a toy, it is a programmer's OS. It is a design and development environment. If you don't know anything about Linux and Hardware Compatibility, for example, don't just jump in. Do some research. Then if you're interested, buy this book.