Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Unleashed (Paperback)

~ (Author), Aaron Van Couwenberghe (Author), John Goerzen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Written by several members of the Debian development team, Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Unleashed does an excellent job of documenting the second most popular Linux distribution (according to most counts, Debian takes second place to Red Hat). The authors know that a large part of their audience (like the Linux user base as a whole) is coming to the operating system with only Microsoft Windows experience. They take plenty of time to explain Unix-isms (such as manually mounting file systems and the concept of interchangeable shells).

This book does a good job of interweaving task-oriented instruction with straight documentation of software, generally emphasizing command-line programs, scripting languages, and kernel options. The companion CD-ROM holds Debian GNU/Linux 2.1, so you're set to go straight out of the box.

As is almost always the case with the operating system books in the Unleashed series, the chapters on programming in big languages (like Java and C++) seem out of place. Though they serve to introduce you to the development tools, they don't teach you much about the languages and shouldn't waste space on the effort. Coverage of relatively simple programming tools (such as Python, Tcl/Tk, and Expect) is better--you can anticipate using this book to learn how to perform useful tasks in those languages. Overall, Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Unleashed is a very strong power user's guide to a robust and popular distribution of Linux. --David Wall

Topics covered: Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 for novice users, particularly those coming to the operating system from Microsoft Windows. The authors explain installation and initial configuration, and touch on the X Window System before explaining key command-line tools, text editing, and configuration of a TCP/IP network (as well as Apache and other servers to run on it). Scripting languages receive solid coverage, as do administration and security procedures.

Product Description

Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Unleashed shows you how to install, configure, and manage the latest version of Debian Linux. This book covers the most important topics to the Debian Linux intermediate/advanced user on installation and management of Debian systems. The book also provides wisdom and insights on how to control some of the more difficult to use aspects of Debian, like integrating Debian into Microsoft networks. Advanced topics show you how to set up an Internet server, set up a firewall, and install Linux on notebook computers. Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Unleashed also has extensive coverage of working with open-source databases, and covers programming in several languages and shells in detail.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1119 pages
• Publisher: Sams (December 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672317001
• ISBN-13: 978-0672317002
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,716,823 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Typical Linux book, plus the word "Debian" on the cover, April 19, 2001

By	Matthew Whitworth (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Unleashed promised to be the book I was looking for, especially when it had the 2.2 version number in the working title back in the Fall of '99. Debian was undergoing some radical transformations (X, FHS, etc.) and I wanted to know what was going on. As the Debian Team continually pushed the release of 2.2 back, I assume the publisher (determined to include a CD-ROM) eventually decided to just make it "2.1" and call it a day.

Fortunately, this book deals with Debian in such a marginal manner that the version number doesn't matter a hill of beans. This is the typical 1000+ page Linux book plus the word "Debian" on the cover. Chapter after chapter introduces UNIX, X, editors (WordPerfect?! hardly appropriate...), servers, a host of programming languages, and all of the bizarre UNIX commands we know and love, but Debian specific information about these tools is scattershot at best.

This wouldn't be so bad if, after going over a standard UNIX topic, the authors took time to explain how and why Debian implements that topic the way it does. In most situations they don't. Most of this text could've been ripped straight from the "Using Slackware Linux" book I bought in 1995.

A classic example is the woefully inadequate chapter on email. Debian installs Exim as its standard MTA. But "DG/L2.1U" contains 11 pages on sendmail and 8 pages on listar (listar?!). There is one mention of Exim in the book that basically says, Debian will install Exim as your default MTA. I guess it's up to you to figure out how to configure it.

"DG/L2.1U" devotes about 95 of its 1000+ pages to Debian topics, including dpkg, make-kpkg, the Debian bug tracking system, installing Debian, and the Debian Free Software Guidelines. But that's it. Really.

If you know very little about Linux or UNIX and you want to install Debian, you might want to buy this book. Or you might want to buy any other, it won't matter.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for non novice who likes "Linux compendium", April 12, 2000

By	"paolinux" (Rome,Italy) - See all my reviews

After receiving this book I spent about 3 hours examing most of his aspects. I have to confess that for me this book wasn't new at all having seen it before in a bookstore (and having had another half an hour to "test" it). My first impression was "it's too big" so I preferred to buy "Learning Debian GNU/Linux" by O'Reilly (which you can find, of course, in Amazon :-). Then, beeing a kind of Unix/Linux books collector, I've changed first idea and convinced myself to buy also this one. IMHO, I think this book is great (not only in dimensions !) if: 1) you are not a Linux novice and 2) you like to have a kind of "Linux compendium", I mean a book speaking of arguments from shell to Java programming, from Debian packages (some) to Samba and so on. A kind of "all-in-one", but of course with all these arguments a Linux (also a Debian GNU/Linux) encyclopedia should be at least made by 6 volumes like this. If you are a novice I suggest the other one I've mentioned before. If, like me, you are interested (I mean you have deep interests) in Debian Linux, window managers and some programming language (like Perl), you'll buy at least other 3 books (one for each subject), the official Debian distribution, and you'll like to give a donation to Debian group. P.S. Sorry for my english ...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent intro to Debian, May 13, 2001

By	"patrickkremer" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

I came into this as a Unix user, never having administered anything a day in my life. I thought it was an execllent introduction for a new user - one book can't be all things to all people. But the installation guide was great for someone who has never touched a Linux install before. I'll agree with one of the above reviewers... it could stand to be a little more in-depth with core Linux daemons like apache and sendmail. I did think the section on Samba was outstanding, but was a little confused when it came the entire section on networking and BIND. A little less on programming with TCL and Python, and a little more on the common tasks the administrator takes on every day.

Still, I think it's a great primer, and it was certainly enough that I got a box up and running without too much of a headache.