Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the money
Review: I got this book at a book store because I wanted to get off Winblows and use a real OS. Unfortunately, I hadn't realized that Amazon.com lets users rate books. I'd never have bought it had I known. Well, now I have to get another book. I couldn't get far into the installation. The directions in the book told me a totally different story than what was actually happening on the CD. An extreme waste of time and money! Do a search for a better book, this one's not good at all! (I don't know about the rest of the book, but it doesn't matter because it's impossible to install). Get Teach yourself Linux in 24 hours, which got 4 stars, instead of 2.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite good enough to buy, worth a glance
Review: This is one of the poorer Dummies titles, for the first big problem is installing Linux. If you were attracted to the format of this book, then instead wait for Linux Secrets With CDROM " by Nabajyoti Barkakati " List Price: $49.99 which leads you by the hand in a much better way, but get the SUSE installation to go with Barkakati's forthcoming (October 1998) book. The only worse book you could buy is Linux Discovered
Rating:
Summary: A confusing book
Review: In addtion to what has been said by others, installation process described in this book is not consistent with the actual installation process. I could install Linux because I followed Red Hat's wizard.Has anyone successfully set up an internet server yet? The NCSA sever, which is chosen in this book, is not available any longer. If a book is needed for Red Hat Linux and its installation, Teach Yourself Linux in 24 Hours should be chosen.
Rating: 
Summary: A Beginner's Review
Review: This book has many useful tips that are not mentioned in other books, but can sometimes lead you to a different direction. It doesn't seem to be consistant with Red Hat. I still had to figure out some configurations. Not good for the beginner.
Rating:
Summary: Don't make the same mistake I did
Review: I should have went here and looked at these reviews before I bought this book. It looked very promising looking at the table of contents. A whole section dedicated to going online. Unfortunately this book was done horribly. It tells you how to do certain things but it doesn't explain them or tell you why it works. In the online section it lists a bunch of things on how to install a server after you have downloaded it from the net, it even tells you the sites to go to, except they left one tiny detail out ... HOW TO GET ONLINE WITH LINUX. Thats right, the whole online section tells you about all kinds of cool stuff like setting up your own server, ftp, gopher, etc. but doesn't tell you how to connect to an isp and get online. The back of the book had a tiny section on connecting, it said something like " now type this ..." without any explaination. The command they gave was for a tone line and I have a pulse line. I had to try to piece together on my own how to change the command and get a pulse. I finnaly did and I followed the rest of their steps and thought I was connected but nothing worked. They talk about the web alot and don't even mention Lynx. I could go on with even more examples but I hope I've proven my point. If you buy this book then it truly is, Linux for Dummies.
Rating:
Summary: Not such a great book
Review: Well, the book gave me an OK intro to Linux, but it did leave me asking more questions. I would have liked it to get further into X. But, when you look at that Red Hat Linux costs 49.95 at the store, it seems like a DECENT deal.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing.....
Review: I must say that I agree with the majority of what has already been said. I am pretty much a 'dummy' when it comes to Linux, but I do know what constitutes good help and advice. Too often in this book I felt that I was only being told half the story. This is a reasnobly cheap book, but once I'd finished it, the words 'get what you pay for..' sprang to mind.
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTE WASTE OF TIME!
Review: I can't believe this book was actually published! I also can't believe that I was stupid enough to buy it! (The title is truly fitting in this case). If I hadn't paid for this pathetic book I would have burned it; however, it does make a great coaster or conversational piece! It tells you briefly how to install Linux by jumping from A to Z and after that well it gets worse! Overall as you can tell I was very disappointed and I'm usually not a critical customer!!! Dummies books are supposed to make things simple, but this book leaves you with many questions. The publisher should include another flavor of Linux such as Caldera's to make it worth the price! If you want a good intro to Linux book buy either Sam's Teach Yourself Linux or Sobell's Practical Guide to Linux. If the book didn't come with a copy of Red Hat 5.0 it would rate a 1. END
Rating:
Summary: Not totally useless, far worse than other Dummies books.
Review: I must agree with some of the disparaging remarks made by other readers. the book wastes far too much time on puns, and spends far too little time on commands. Example: on page 42, Chapter 4 of my edition, the book tells you to type "startx" to start the Control Panel (after installing XWindows). Inexplicably, it then doesn't tell you what to do next until page 107, Chapter 9! If the book hadn't included the CD, I would have rated it lower.
Rating:
Summary: OK for getting your feet wet, but not much more
Review: This book does a pretty good job of introducing new users to Linux, but kind of leaves them stranded once they are there. The authors seemed to pick and choose what they were going to cover with very little regard to consistency. The main reason why one might want to buy this book is the inclusion of the Red Hat 5.0 CD with the book.
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